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Anderson Espinoza Signs With NPB’s Orix Buffaloes

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The Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball announced the signing of right-hander Anderson Espinoza this week. Orix also signed righty Luis Castillo for the 28-year-old’s second season in Japan.

Espinoza is the more well-known of the two former big leaguers. That’s largely on account of his prospect status. At one time regarded among the top minor league pitching talents, Espinoza was dealt from the Red Sox to the Padres for Drew Pomeranz at the 2016 deadline. Unfortunately, the 6’0″ righty was then beset by myriad injuries.

Elbow soreness was a precursor to Tommy John surgery in 2017. He spent two years rehabbing only to have a setback that required a second TJS. Between the surgeries and the canceled minor league season in 2020, Espinoza didn’t throw a single minor league pitch over four years.

San Diego traded him to the Cubs for veteran outfielder Jake Marisnick during the 2021 campaign. He reached the big leagues in Chicago, tossing 18 2/3 innings over seven relief outings. Espinoza turned in a 5.40 ERA in that limited time and was outrighted from the 40-man roster at year’s end.

He signed a minor league pact to return to the Padres a year ago. The 25-year-old had a full season from the rotation with Triple-A El Paso but struggled to a 6.15 ERA through 131 2/3 frames. He fanned a below-average 19% of opponents while issuing walks at a lofty 12% clip. The Friars opted against calling him back to the majors, setting the stage for his first trip to Japan.

Castillo, the lesser-known righty by that name, reached the majors for three relief outings with the Tigers in 2022. After a decade in the minors, he made the jump to NPB a year ago with the Chiba Lotte Marines. Castillo split his time almost evenly between the Marines and their minor league club. At the NPB level, he posted a 3.12 ERA over 49 frames. His 17% strikeout rate was modest but he showed impeccable control, only walking 1.5% of opposing hitters.

Craig Breslow Discusses Red Sox’s Outfield, Rotation

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The Red Sox are open to adding another right-handed hitter to their outfield mix, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow tells Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. To that end, Abraham reports that Boston remains in contact with free agent outfielder Adam Duvall’s camp.

Duvall had a solid, if volatile, 2023 season. Signed to a one-year, $7MM contract over the offseason, he was arguably the best hitter in MLB for the first couple weeks. Duvall ran a .455/.514/1.030 line over his first 37 plate appearances before fracturing a bone in his left wrist while diving for a fly ball. The injury cost him two months.

He was mired in an extended slump upon coming off the injured list, limping to a .175/.253/.313 showing through the All-Star Break. Duvall found his stride again coming out of the Break, raking at a .293/.349/.654 clip through the end of August. The year ended on a dismal note, as he struck out in over 40% of his plate appearances while hitting .149/.177/.324 from September 1 on.

Despite the extreme peaks and valleys, Duvall’s overall offensive production was well better than average. He hit 21 homers with a .247/.303/.531 slash in 353 plate appearances. Boston’s decision to give him nearly 500 innings in center field predictably didn’t work out well, as he rated between three and five runs below average by Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved. Duvall has been a plus defender in left field throughout the course of his career though. Between the strong corner outfield defense and 30-homer upside, he’s a valuable player despite high strikeout totals and subpar on-base marks.

The Angels are the only other team that has been publicly linked to Duvall this offseason. At age 35, it seems likely he’ll sign another one-year pact, although there’s an outside chance he lands a second guaranteed season.

Breslow wasn’t with the Sox when they signed Duvall last January. Yet the front office has sought right-handed power in the outfield throughout his first offseason at the helm. Boston already swung a trade for Tyler O’Neill. They were linked to Teoscar Hernández before he signed a one-year, $23.5MM pillow contract with the Dodgers. Duvall would be significantly cheaper.

Even as the Sox pursued Hernández, they’d pointed to the rotation as their biggest priority. Boston took a rebound flier on Lucas Giolito. Not long thereafter, they subtracted Chris Sale in the trade to add Vaughn Grissom from the Braves. While Giolito seems a safer bet than Sale to log a full workload, the pair of moves leaves the Sox with the same number of starters they had at the beginning of the winter.

Breslow told Abraham the current rotation consists of four pitchers: Giolito, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta. That’d leave Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Josh Winckowski competing for the final spot. Offseason acquisitions Cooper Criswell and Max Castillo are among the depth options on the 40-man roster.

Of course, that’s not necessarily the mix they’ll take to Spring Training. Breslow conceded their efforts to add rotation help have thus far “been a challenge” but said they’re “still engaged in conversations with free agents and teams via trade.” The Sox have been loosely tied to top arms Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery (more so the latter) during the offseason, but more recent reports indicated they were looking at the next tiers down. With mid-level arms like Shota Imanaga and Marcus Stroman recently coming off the board, the free agent supply is dwindling beyond Snell and Montgomery.

That hints at payroll questions that have hung over the offseason. The Sox opened the 2023 season with a player payroll in the $181MM range, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That ranked 12th in the majors, their first time outside the top 10 this century. Roster Resource projects their 2024 payroll in a similar range, a little under $178MM. They’re almost $40MM away from next year’s base luxury tax threshold.

An offseason headlined by Giolito and trade pickups of Grissom and O’Neill presumably isn’t what many in the fanbase envisioned. That’s especially true after team chairman Tom Werner vowed in early November the organization would go “full throttle” to put their two straight last place finishes behind them.

Werner walked that phrasing back in a conversation with Sean McAdam of MassLive this afternoon. “Maybe that wasn’t the most artful way of saying what I wanted to say, which is that we’re going to be pressing all levers to improve the team,” he said. “In the end, nobody’s happy with our performance the last few years. Some years, we go after somebody who is about to be a free agent, or was a free agent, as it pertains to Trevor Story or Raffy Devers.”

After noting the organization made an unsuccessful run at Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Werner added the Sox “certainly aren’t happy with the current roster as it was at the end of last year, so if I was going to say it again, I would say that we’re going to be pressing all levers and weren’t going to be happy with just one (method) — that includes free agency, trades or talent from Triple and Double A. … In the end, we don’t have a line in terms of our payroll that we look at as much as trusting that Craig is going to deliver on his assurance that we’re going to be competitive.“

Cardinals Notes: TV Deal, Bullpen, Edman

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Cardinals officials met with reporters to close the organization’s Winter Warm-Up on Monday. The team’s local broadcasting contract was among the topics.

Owner Bill DeWitt Jr. confirmed the Cardinals would receive their full rights fees for 2024, per their contract with Bally Sports Midwest (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). The Cardinals are among 12 teams affected by the ongoing Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy. Even as MLB and the broadcasting conglomerate continue discussions about renegotiating some of the deals, St. Louis has been assured they’ll be paid in full next season.

That doesn’t provide any kind of certainty beyond 2024. There’s a real possibility Diamond ceases operation of all the Bally Sports RSNs after next season. In that case, the teams will need to find a new means of in-market broadcasting. DeWitt suggested the Cards were considering a handful of different paths. One option would be a partnership with the NHL’s Blues for a shared channel. The club could also create a standalone channel of its own or partner with some of the other MLB teams that will likely be dropped by Bally after the ’24 campaign.

However they handle their post-’24 broadcasts, they’ll have one more season at their negotiated rights fees. Goold reports that number to be around $73MM (potentially more depending on inflation adjustments). DeWitt said the Cardinals approached the 2023-24 offseason without any spending restrictions tied to the rights fees as they operated on the assumption they’d be paid at least 80% of their contract for next season.

St. Louis is on track for a similar payroll as they had a season ago. Roster Resource projects their 2024 spending around $178MM. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, they opened the ’23 campaign in the $177MM range. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak indicated last weekend there was still some room to add this offseason, even if team president Bill DeWitt III has downplayed the chance of any huge splashes.

The middle relief corps stands as perhaps the team’s top remaining priority. After the Cardinals dealt Richie Palacios to the Rays for Andrew Kittredge, Katie Woo of the Athletic writes they’re likely to continue searching for free agent bullpen help. Previous reports have linked the team to Ryan Brasier and Phil Maton, each of whom remains unsigned.

Also in attendance on Monday was center fielder/middle infielder Tommy Edman. The switch-hitter discussed his rehab from October’s arthroscopic wrist procedure. He noted he hasn’t yet been cleared to make contact when he swings a bat. He’s likely to be delayed on the hitting side in camp but said he’s “very confident” he’ll be at full strength by the start of the season (Post-Dispatch link via Goold).

Edman also discussed his contract situation as he prepares for a potential arbitration hearing. He’s one of 22 arbitration-eligible players in MLB — and the only Cardinal — who didn’t reach a settlement before last Thursday’s deadline to exchange filing figures. Edman’s camp filed for a $6.95MM salary, while the team countered at $6.5MM. Like most clubs, St. Louis takes the “file-and-trial” approach and won’t continue negations on a one-year salary past the filing deadline.

Even “file-and-trial” teams are typically willing to discuss multi-year pacts after exchanging figures, however. Edman said he hasn’t heard anything about a multi-year deal to this point but suggested he expects there to be some discussion between the team and his representatives before the hearing. Edman has between four and five years of service time. A two-year deal would allow the sides to avoid a hearing without affecting his free agent trajectory.

Cubs Continuing Search For Bullpen Help

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Bolstering the relief corps is “a focus” for the Cubs, writes Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. They’ve shown interest in Guardians’ closer Emmanuel Clase, Levine adds.

Almost every team probably has some degree of interest in Clase. He has led MLB in saves and games finished in each of the last two seasons. The 25-year-old righty has made the All-Star Game in consecutive years. He has essentially been an elite reliever from the time Cleveland was able to put him on the mound.

Cleveland acquired Clase in what turned out to be a very lopsided trade sending former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber to the Rangers during the 2019-20 offseason. His tenure with the club couldn’t have begun much worse, as Clase was suspended for the shortened season after a failed PED test. Once he took the Progressive Field mound, he was dominant. The fireballing righty turned in a 1.29 ERA over 69 2/3 frames as a rookie.

The Guardians signed Clase to a $20MM extension the following April. He responded with a 1.36 ERA over a league-leading 77 appearances. Clase’s numbers took a step back last season, as he allowed 3.22 earned runs per nine. After running a 27.5% strikeout rate between 2021-22, he fanned a slightly below-average 21.2% of hitters last year. Ground-ball rates that had sat north of 60% in each of his first two years in Cleveland dropped, albeit to a still excellent 55% clip.

Even if Clase wasn’t quite as dominant last season, he’s still one of the best relievers in the game. His primary pitch, his cutter, averages more than 99 MPH. He’s one of the sport’s top ground-ball pitchers and rarely issues free passes.

The contract only adds to the appeal. Clase will make just $2.5MM next season. He’s due respective $4.5MM and $6MM salaries in 2025-26. The deal contains $10.5MM club options (with $2MM buyouts) covering 2027-28, although he’s likely to escalate the value of those options to $13MM apiece. He’d also receive a $1MM assignment bonus in the event of a trade. That’s nevertheless affordable enough to comfortably fit in the budget for any team, including the Guardians, at least for the next three seasons.

That seemingly makes it a long shot Cleveland pulls the trigger on a deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported shortly before the Winter Meetings the Guardians were open to offers, however. They’d presumably only do so for a package built around multiple top prospects given Clase’s ceiling and five years of club control.

Clase is one of a number of possibilities. Top free agent reliever Josh Hader remains unsigned. So does Robert Stephenson, arguably the top righty reliever in this year’s class (and a player in whom the Cubs have shown interest). Hector Neris and Phil Maton are solid middle relief options.

A run at anyone in that group would require a pivot from the Cubs’ general approach to the relief corps. Chicago has shied away from notable free agent investments since their signing of Craig Kimbrel. As shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the Cubs haven’t guaranteed more than one year or $5MM to a free agent bullpen arm over the past five offseasons.

Hoyer spoke generally about that reluctance to commit top dollar in the relief corps. “The elite, elite closer, the leverage they pitch in can make a difference,” he said (via Levine). “But the bullpen performances are the most volatile on the baseball field. … The pen is a higher volatility and aggression area. So you want to put your dollars to use in the areas you are most certain about.”

That could point to a preference to add to the group via trade if possible. The bullpen and third base are potential targets a month from Spring Training. At least week’s Cubs Convention, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer downplayed the chances of signing another starter after the four-year deal for Shota Imanaga (link via Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic).

Hoyer and skipper Craig Counsell have each suggested trade pickup Michael Busch could address their first base vacancy (link from Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). If the Cubs are content with Christopher Morel at designated hitter and the combination of Mike Tauchman and Pete Crow-Armstrong to handle center field, that leaves the hot corner and bullpen as the biggest areas of concern.

Mariners, Ty Buttrey Agree To Minor League Deal

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Reliever Ty Buttrey agreed to a deal with the Mariners, he announced this afternoon (on X). It’s presumably a minor league contract with a Spring Training invite.

Buttrey, 31 in March, is looking to get back to the majors for the first time since 2020. The former fourth-round draftee pitched in the big leagues each year between 2018-20. Buttrey made 115 appearances for the Angels, allowing fewer than four earned runs per nine innings in each of his first two seasons. He struggled during the shortened season, posting a 5.81 ERA in 26 1/3 frames.

On the eve of the 2021 campaign, Buttrey announced he was stepping away from baseball. He sat out that season but made his return in ’22. The righty spent that year in Triple-A with the Halos, losing his spot on the 40-man roster midseason. He signed a minor league pact with the Astros for 2023.

Buttrey opened the season on the minor league injured list. He missed three months before being reinstated on June 30. He went on to make 14 appearances with Houston’s Triple-A team. Buttrey allowed 11 runs in 13 2/3 innings, largely thanks to the 13 walks he issued. That understandably wasn’t sufficient to get him a big league look, leading the Astros to release him at the beginning of August.

While Buttrey hasn’t found much success in the last couple years, there’s no risk for the Mariners in taking a look at him in camp. During his first couple seasons with the Halos, he looked like an above-average MLB reliever. Between 2018-19, Buttrey struck out 27.4% of opponents with a 3.86 ERA in 88 2/3 innings while sitting in the 96-97 MPH range with his fastball. He’ll likely open next season at Triple-A Tacoma as bullpen depth. Seattle also added righty Joey Krehbiel on a minor league pact this afternoon and has signed similar deals with Cory Abbott, Jhonathan Diaz, Kirby Snead, Brett de Geus and Tyson Miller over the offseason.

Notable International Signings: 1/15/24

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January 15 marks the official opening of the international signing period. While the vast majority of top talents have reached verbal agreements with teams months or years in advance, they’re allowed to formally put pen to paper to begin their affiliated careers. The signing period technically runs until December 15, but the top signees will ink their contracts as soon as first eligible.

Ben Badler of Baseball America and Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com are among those covering the activity. At MLBTR, we’ll highlight a few of the top signees. Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline provide scouting reports and bonus information on more of the highly-regarded prospects. They’re each worth full reads for those interested in the class.

Note: MLB Pipeline ranks the class on talent. Baseball America orders the players by bonus amount, not on evaluations of the players’ ability. Since international amateurs are so young and tend to agree to their bonuses well in advance of signing day, a player’s profile can change significantly between the time they reach agreement on a bonus and the official opening of the window.

Some of the top names (ordered by signing bonus):

  • Jose Perdomo, SS, Braves: A right-handed hitting infielder from Venezuela, Perdomo leads the class with a $5MM signing bonus. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the #3 prospect in the group. He’s regarded as a polished hitter with a good chance to stick somewhere on the infield. Badler notes (on X) that the $5MM bonus is the largest ever for a Venezuelan player.
  • Leodalis De Vries, SS, Padres: De Vries lands the second-highest bonus at $4.2MM. Sanchez and Badler each indicate he’s now regarded as the most talented prospect in this year’s class. It’s the second straight year in which San Diego landed the #1 player in the international period after last year’s signing of catcher Ethan Salas. De Vries, a native of the Dominican Republic, is a 6’1″ switch-hitter. He draws praise for a well-rounded offensive profile with power potential and a chance to stick at shortstop.
  • Fernando Cruz, SS, Cubs: A $4MM signee out of the Dominican Republic, Cruz is a 5’11” infielder. Evaluators praise his bat speed and all-fields power potential. He draws attention for his athleticism and defensive toolset at shortstop. MLB Pipeline notes he has an aggressive offensive approach, while BA indicates some scouts have expressed concern about the length in his swing. MLB Pipeline ranks Cruz as the #4 talent in the class.
  • Dawel Joseph, SS, Mariners: Signed for $3MM from the Dominican Republic, Joseph is a right-handed hitter with a 6’2″ frame. That build leads to ample raw power projection. BA and Pipeline each indicate that Joseph has lost some of his formerly elite speed as he has grown, although he still has a shot to play somewhere up the middle. Both outlets suggest he sports more of a power-over-hit offensive profile.

A few others with a noteworthy signing figure and/or placement on MLB Pipeline’s prospect rankings:

  • Yovanny Rodriguez, C, Mets: $2.85MM signing bonus, Venezuela native, MLB Pipeline’s #6 prospect
  • Victor Hurtado, OF Nationals: $2.7MM-2.8MM signing bonus*, Dominican Republic native, MLB Pipeline’s #20 prospect
  • Adolfo Sanchez, OF, Reds: $2.7MM signing bonus, Dominican Republic native, MLB Pipeline’s #5 prospect
  • Joswa Lugo, SS, Angels: $2.3MM signing bonus, Dominican Republic native, MLB Pipeline’s #37 prospect
  • Yandel Ricardo, SS, Royals: #9 on BA’s bonus board (specific number unreported), Cuba native, MLB Pipeline’s #16 prospect
  • Emil Morales, SS, Dodgers: #10 on BA’s bonus board (specific number unreported), Dominican Republic native, MLB Pipeline’s #14 prospect
  • Paulino Santana, OF, Rangers: $1.3MM signing bonus, Dominican Republic native, MLB Pipeline’s #2 prospect

* BA reports Hurtado’s bonus at $2.7MM, while MLB.com pegs it at $2.8MM

Sacramento Among Potential Home Venues For A’s In 2025

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In mid-November, the A’s were officially granted approval from MLB to relocate to Las Vegas. Their planned 33,000-seat stadium on the Vegas strip won’t be ready until 2028. With the team’s lease at the Coliseum in Oakland expiring at the end of next season, they’re still sorting through possibilities for the intervening three years.

A handful of options are on the table. Team president Dave Kaval has floated the possibility of a short-term lease extension at the Coliseum, but that’d require approval from Oakland officials. Given the broken relationship between the organization and city, that seems unlikely. Reports have suggested city officials could condition a lease extension on the franchise leaving the A’s moniker behind, which would be a non-starter for the organization. Other options include sharing Oracle Park with the Giants or playing at their Triple-A affiliate’s field in Summerlin, Nevada.

John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle added a fourth possibility this morning, reporting that the A’s are considering Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. That’s also a Triple-A venue — in this case, the home of the Giants affiliate, the River Cats.

One of the factors for the A’s is their local broadcasting contract. Their TV rights deal with NBC Sports California runs through 2033. The A’s lose those broadcasting revenues once they depart the Bay Area. If they’re hoping to retain the revenues between 2025-27, they’d need to find a park in the area.

A lease extension at the Coliseum or an agreement to share Oracle Park would meet that criterion. Shea notes that Sacramento, on the other hand, is outside the bounds of their contract. However, he reports the sides could renegotiate the deal at a lesser value if the A’s were to land in Sacramento. A new agreement could allow the A’s to continue receiving some portion of the revenue while getting the network off the hook for a chunk of the money which they wouldn’t be able to shed if the A’s stayed in Oakland or San Francisco until 2028.

While the broadcasting situation remains uncertain, the organization has ensured another key revenue source. The collective bargaining agreement provided that the A’s would lose their status as a revenue sharing recipient if they didn’t reach a binding stadium agreement by today. Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal confirmed earlier this month the stadium deal is sufficient to maintain revenue sharing. That’s despite the fact that community benefits and lease agreements technically still need to be finalized for the A’s to receive their $380MM in agreed-upon public funding for the park’s construction.

Giants Hire Dusty Baker As Special Assistant

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The Giants are hiring Dusty Baker as a special assistant, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (X link). He’ll add an experienced voice to work with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi; Nightengale adds that Baker will also assist CEO Larry Baer on certain business operations.

It’s an unsurprising development. Baker revealed last month that he was in talks with the Giants about some kind of non-coaching role. It allows the baseball lifer to remain involved with the game in a less demanding capacity than the managerial position in Houston from which he stepped down after the 2023 campaign. Changing teams also allows Baker to work closer to his home in Sacramento.

Baker is plenty familiar with the Giants. He managed for a decade in San Francisco, winning a trio of Manager of the Year honors along the way. Baker led the Giants to an 840-715 showing from 1993-2002. He helmed them to an NL pennant in ’02. Baker capped off what’ll very likely be a Hall of Fame career when he led Houston to a World Series in 2022.

Rays Sign Jacob Waguespack To Minor League Contract

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The Rays announced the signing of right-hander Jacob Waguespack to a minor league deal. He’ll get a look in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Waguespack, an Ole Miss product, is familiar with the AL East. His MLB experience came with the Blue Jays between 2019-20. He started 13 of 18 appearances as a rookie, working to a 4.38 ERA over 78 innings. His follow-up season didn’t go as planned, as he surrendered 20 runs in 17 2/3 frames of relief. Toronto outrighted him from the roster during Spring Training in 2021.

After spending the ’21 season in Triple-A, Waguespack headed overseas. He signed with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He found success in his first NPB campaign. In 72 2/3 innings spanning 32 games, he posted a 2.97 ERA with an impressive 26.2% strikeout rate. That led the Buffaloes to keep him around last year, but he struggled in his second season.

Waguespack allowed 5.77 earned runs per nine in 43 2/3 frames. Control was the main issue, as he walked almost 13% of opposing hitters. On the plus side, Waguespack continued to miss plenty of bats. He punched out a third of batters faced last season. Over his two-year tenure, he ran a strikeout rate above 29%.

The Rays will see if the 30-year-old can carry some of that swing-and-miss stuff against MLB hitters in Spring Training. He’ll likely open the season with Triple-A Durham as a long relief depth hurler. The Rays frequently shuttle multi-inning bullpen arms between Durham and Tampa Bay. Waguespack still has a pair of options, so the Rays could move him freely to the minors if he earns a spot on the 40-man roster at any point.

White Sox Sign Rafael Ortega To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox signed Rafael Ortega to a minor league contract last week, as reflected on the MLB.com transaction log and the outfielder’s Instagram page. It’s likely he’ll be in MLB camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.

Ortega is looking to get back to the majors for a fourth straight season and an eighth campaign overall. The left-handed hitter has appeared for six different teams. The only time he spanned multiple seasons with the same club came on the other side of Chicago. Ortega was a Cub between 2021-22, operating as their starting center fielder and leadoff hitter for a time.

Those years on the North Side have been Ortega’s most productive to date. He combined for a solid .265/.344/.408 batting line in just over 700 plate appearances. That made it moderately surprising both that the Cubs non-tendered him last offseason and that he was forced to settle for a minor league deal with the Yankees.

Ortega didn’t secure an outfield spot in the Bronx, kicking off a nomadic 2023. He was granted his release from the Yankees. A minor league pact with the Rangers also didn’t get Ortega back to the majors. He signed another non-roster pact, this time with the Mets, in mid-June. After New York fell out of contention and traded Mark Canha and Tommy Pham at the deadline, they brought Ortega to the majors.

He didn’t hit at the level he had with the Cubs. Ortega reached base at a solid .341 clip but only hit one home run over 136 plate appearances. His .213/.341/.272 slash was well below average. New York outrighted him off the 40-man roster at the end of the year, the equivalent of an early non-tender.

For the second straight spring, Ortega will try to secure a roster spot in Spring Training. The 32-year-old can play all three outfield spots but is a better fit in a corner than in center field. Chicago has Luis Robert Jr. locked into center and Andrew Benintendi set for a bounceback opportunity in left. Right field, where the Sox got a .219/.271/.344 showing last year, is wide open. As thing stand, Óscar Colás and Gavin Sheets project to split time.

General manager Chris Getz acknowledged on Tuesday the front office could add a more established option. Ortega shouldn’t stand in the way of that pursuit. The transaction tracker indicates his deal was signed on January 5, even if it wasn’t officially logged until yesterday. Getz was surely aware Ortega was part of the organization before Tuesday’s comments about a potential right field acquisition. Brett Phillips, Wynton Bernard and Mark Payton are also in the organization as non-roster players.

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