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Andre Jackson Signs With NPB’s Yokohama BayStars

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Andre Jackson has signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced. The move comes a few weeks after he was designated for assignment and released by the Pirates.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported at the time that the DFA was a mutual decision to permit him to pursue an NPB opportunity. It wasn’t then clear with what team the 6’3″ righty would be signing. That’ll be a BayStars club that also recently added lefty Anthony Kay.

Jackson, 27, has spent the past seven years in affiliated ball. Drafted by the Dodgers in 2017, the University of Utah product reached the majors in ’21. He logged 39 innings over parts of three seasons with Los Angeles, working to a 4.15 ERA. The Dodgers DFA him and flipped him to the Pirates for cash in late June.

While Jackson had pitched exclusively in relief in L.A., the Pirates used him out of the rotation at times. Jackson started seven of 12 appearances in black and gold. He turned in a 4.33 ERA across 43 2/3 innings. His 23% strikeout rate was solid, but he also walked almost 11% of opponents. Command has been the main question throughout his career. He has walked 12.7% of batters faced while fanning just under 26% of hitters in his minor league tenure.

Jackson is out of minor league options and wasn’t firmly established on the MLB roster. Had he stayed in Pittsburgh, there was a decent chance they’d have tried to run him through outright waivers at some point. Jackson instead locks in a guaranteed salary in NPB, where he might get a full season working from the rotation. He’s certainly young enough to reemerge as an option for MLB teams in future offseasons.

Mets Designate Diego Castillo For Assignment

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The Mets have designated infielder Diego Castillo for assignment, tweets Will Sammon of the Athletic. That clears the necessary 40-man roster spot for left-hander Sean Manaea, whose two-year deal was finalized.

New York claimed Castillo off waivers from the Diamondbacks a week ago. It might prove an exceedingly brief stay in the organization for the right-handed hitter. The Mets will have to trade Castillo or put him on waivers themselves within the next seven days.

The 26-year-old spent almost all of last season in Triple-A. Arizona acquired Castillo in a minor trade with the Pirates over the 2022-23 offseason. They kept him on optional assignment to their top affiliate in Reno for all but one game. The 5’10” middle infielder had a solid year for the Aces, hitting .313/.431/.410 through 556 plate appearances. Castillo only hit three home runs in a very favorable offensive environment, but he demonstrated strong strike zone discipline. He walked at a massive 17.4% rate while striking out just 14.2% of the time.

It was a reversal from his 2022 MLB work in Pittsburgh. Castillo connected on 11 homers in 283 plate appearances (roughly half a season) as a rookie. He hit .206 with a meager .251 on-base percentage in that time, largely because of a poor strikeout and walk profile. Castillo walked less than 5% of the time while striking out in nearly 27% of his plate appearances as a big leaguer.

Castillo has been more of a hit-over-power player over an eight-year professional career. He’s a .276/.346/.373 hitter in the minors. He spent the bulk of that time in the Yankees system before being traded to Pittsburgh in what turned out to be a lopsided 2021 deal sending Clay Holmes to the Bronx.

Orioles Announce Coaching Staff

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The Orioles announced their 2024 coaching staff this morning. That included three new hires: the previously reported addition of Drew French as pitching coach, Mitch Plassmeyer as assistant pitching coach, and Grant Anders as major league development coach.

Plassmeyer is the brother of left-hander Michael Plassmeyer (who signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh last week). Mitch Plassmeyer, 28, gets his first look on a big league staff. He had spent the better part of the last two years as a minor league pitching coordinator for the O’s. Before joining the professional ranks, he coached at the University of Missouri. Anders, 27, is also a first-time MLB staffer. He has worked in player development with Baltimore for four seasons.

They join a staff that remains essentially unchanged on the offensive side. Brandon Hyde is back for a sixth year at the helm. Fredi González returns as bench coach. Co-hitting coaches Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller continue to work alongside offensive strategy coach Cody Asche. Tony Mansolino and Anthony Sanders are the base coaches, while Tim Cossins (field coordinator) and José Hernández (major league coach) are also returnees.

French and Plassmeyer join pitching strategy coach Ryan Klimek in the run prevention realm. Prior pitching coach Chris Holt is returning to an overhead organizational role as director of pitching, while former assistant Darren Holmes departed and joined the Cubs as bullpen coach.

Dodgers Hire Raul Ibanez In Baseball Operations

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The Dodgers have hired Raúl Ibañez as their vice president of baseball development and special projects, tweets Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic. He returns to the L.A. organization, where he worked in Andrew Friedman’s front office between 2016-20.

Ibañez had a 19-year playing career in the major leagues. The left-handed hitting outfielder suited up with the Mariners, Royals, Phillies, Yankees and Angels between 1996-2014. He played through his age-42 campaign and remained in the sport almost immediately after hanging up his spikes. He was a finalist in the Rays managerial search within weeks of his retirement but ultimately backed out of the running. (Things worked out well for Tampa Bay, who ended up hiring Kevin Cash.)

After one year off, he joined the Dodgers in a special assistant capacity. Ibañez would hold that position for five seasons before moving to the MLB offices. He joined the league as a senior vice president of on-field operations. Ibañez was among a number of recently retired players working alongside the commissioner on various initiatives — in his case, primarily with regards to rules and on-field technology.

Ibañez spent three seasons in that role. The 51-year-old now heads back to the team side, reuniting with many former colleagues in Los Angeles. Whether this could set the stage for an eventual jump to a more significant front office or coaching position remains to be seen. In addition to the Rays, Ibañez has been mentioned in managerial searches in Houston, San Francisco and with the Yankees and Cubs over the years.

Latest On Diamond Sports Group Bankruptcy

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Major League Baseball and Diamond Sports Group are continuing discussions about the broadcasting conglomerate’s ongoing bankruptcy. A hearing initially scheduled for Wednesday morning was delayed to Friday, January 19, according to Evan Drellich of the Athletic.

That suggests MLB and representatives for Diamond feel there’s still something to be gained from talks. At the same time, it moves ever closer towards Opening Day without a firm resolution for teams whose local broadcasting deals run through the Bally Sports networks.

As recently as last season, Diamond’s Bally Sports RSNs carried in-market broadcasts for 14 teams. The struggling corporation dropped its contracts with the Padres and Diamondbacks midseason, leading MLB to take over local broadcasts for those franchises. Bally’s contract with the Twins ran its course at the end of the 2023 season.

That presently leaves 11 teams* who have deals with Diamond for in-market broadcasting in 2024. However, Diamond has suggested it could abandon its contracts with the Guardians and Rangers this offseason unless the terms of those deals are renegotiated. Meanwhile, Drellich reports that Diamond and MLB are in discussions about a possible contract to carry Twins’ games for another season.

It is unclear if Diamond will operate in any capacity after the ’24 campaign. The Wall Street Journal reported last month the company was in discussions with Amazon about potentially selling streaming rights for a short-term influx of cash that could help keep Diamond afloat.

However, Diamond only holds streaming rights for five of the 11 teams with which it has a TV deal. MLB has been reluctant to provide further streaming opportunities. The New York Post’s Josh Kosman reported on Monday that MLB shot down discussions between Diamond and Amazon — potentially with an eye towards negotiating a separate streaming deal with Amazon directly.

* Those clubs are the Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Guardians, Marlins, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, and Tigers.

Yankees Have Made Offer To Blake Snell

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The Yankees have made an opening contract offer to free agent starter Blake Snell, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Terms of the proposal aren’t clear, but Heyman adds the team and Snell’s representatives at the Boras Corporation remain “far apart” in talks.

New York is one of the teams that has been most frequently connected to Snell in recent weeks. That’s at least in part because they’re seemingly involved on most or all of the big-name pitchers available. They’ve been linked to old friend Jordan Montgomery and right-hander Marcus Stroman in free agency. On the trade front, reports have tied the Yankees to the likes of Dylan Cease, Jesús Luzardo and Shane Bieber.

It doesn’t seem they’re all that close on any of those players. Heyman reports the Yankees have thus far balked at Chicago’s asking price on Cease, which he adds involves a prospect package centered around 2022 first-round pick Spencer Jones. Baseball America recently ranked Jones, who hit .268/.337/.450 with 13 homers in High-A last year, as the #2 talent in the New York farm system. That’s consistent with various reports that Chicago wants multiple high-end prospects for Cease.

Meanwhile, Heyman notes there’s been “no traction” between the Yankees and Miami on talks involving Luzardo or righty Edward Cabrera. It’s unclear whether rentals like Bieber or Corbin Burnes will move this offseason. If New York doesn’t pick up steam on any of their trade conversations — they’ve surely discussed possibilities beyond what has been publicly reported — that could increase their urgency to add a top-of-the-rotation starter via free agency.

Snell and Montgomery are the clear top two options available. The incumbent Rangers have been linked to Montgomery throughout the offseason. Teams like the Angels, Giants, Phillies and Red Sox have been tied to both left-handers. The Giants and Halos have been more frequently linked to Snell than have the latter two clubs.

The Yankees are the first team known to have an offer on the table (although that’s certainly not to say there aren’t others that were unreported). Snell is coming off his second career Cy Young campaign. He worked to an MLB-best 2.25 ERA over 180 innings. He fanned over 31% of batters faced and was utterly dominant down the stretch, posting a 1.23 ERA from June 1 onward. His command is erratic, but few pitchers are as difficult to hit when they’re on.

A pursuit of Snell is fairly reminiscent of last winter’s run at Carlos Rodón, another left-hander with huge stuff coming off an excellent platform year despite some career inconsistency. Rodón’s six-year, $162MM deal looked disastrous in year one. While one could argue that should make the Yankees gun-shy about pursuing a similar pitcher, it also increases the need for another high-end starter. Neither Rodón nor Nestor Cortes looked like top-of-the-rotation arms last season. That leaves New York looking for another star to pitch behind Gerrit Cole and reduce some of the pressure on Rodón and Cortes.

MLBTR predicted a seven-year, $200MM deal for Snell, who turned 31 last month. A signing team would also forfeit draft compensation because he rejected a qualifying offer from the Padres. For a team that paid the luxury tax like the Yankees, that’d be their second- and fifth-highest selections next year and $1MM in international signing bonus space. New York’s luxury tax payroll sits around $291MM, according to Roster Resource. They’re taxed at a 95% rate on spending up to the $297MM mark and will pay a 110% tax on every dollar beyond that figure.

Reds To Sign Brent Suter

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The Reds are in agreement with left-hander Brent Suter on a one-year deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’s a $3MM guarantee that takes the form of a $2.5MM salary in 2024 and a $500K buyout on a $3.5MM club option for ’25. The deal is still pending a physical for the Diamond Sports Management client. Cincinnati will need to make a corresponding move to clear a spot on the 40-man roster once the contract is finalized.

It’s the latest move in a pitching-heavy offseason. The Reds have added Frankie Montas to the rotation and Emilio Pagán to the late innings. Swingman Nick Martinez could contribute in either role. Suter seems ticketed for the bullpen, although he reportedly drew some interest as a starting pitcher this winter.

The 34-year-old has spent the past half-decade in relief. Suter saw some work out of the rotation early in his career with the Brewers. Despite finding a decent amount of success, he was pushed to the bullpen by 2019 as Milwaukee graduated pitchers with higher caliber stuff.

While Suter isn’t a prototypical power reliever, he has been a valuable bullpen piece. The Harvard product has turned in a sub-4.00 ERA in five straight seasons. Suter’s profile has been built around strong control and excellent contact suppression. He has posted better than average ground-ball rates over the past five seasons and is consistently one of the game’s toughest pitchers to square up.

Opponents have averaged between 84-86 MPH in exit velocity in each of the last four seasons, per Statcast. That ranked in the 95th percentile or better in all four years. Batters made hard contact (an exit velocity at or above 95 MPH) on only 26.3% of their batted balls a season ago. Among qualified pitchers, only Phil Maton, Tom Cosgrove and Tanner Scott did a better job avoiding authoritative contact.

The ability to stay off barrels allowed Suter to overcome hitter-friendly home environments. He turned in strong results in Milwaukee and had no issues acclimating to Colorado’s Coors Field after a waiver claim last offseason. In 69 1/3 innings, he turned in a 3.38 ERA for the Rockies, including a 3.66 mark in 32 frames in Denver. A track record of success in difficult home parks is surely appealing to a front office building a pitching staff in Great American Ball Park.

Nevertheless, teams generally harbor skepticism about a pitcher who succeeds on guile and command without overpowering pure stuff. Suter’s only season with an above-average strikeout rate came during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. Last year, he punched out just 18.8% of opponents while sitting in the mid-upper 80s with his sinker and four-seam fastball.

Suter’s age and lack of velocity was always likely to limit his market. It’s still somewhat surprising that he landed a $3MM guarantee. Next year’s salary is a half million dollars below the $3MM he made last year, his final arbitration season. Suter grew up in Cincinnati and attended high school there, so it seems fair to presume that geography played a role in his decision — particularly if his camp was sorting through a number of low-cost, one-year offers.

He joins Sam Moll and Alex Young as left-handed relief options for skipper David Bell. The Reds have Alexis Díaz in the ninth inning and brought back Buck Farmer to join Pagán and Lucas Sims as right-handed setup candidates. Ian Gibaut, who is out of options, could compete with Fernando Cruz and Tejay Antone for the final spot or two in the middle innings.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Cubs Designate Brian Serven For Assignment

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The Cubs announced they’ve designated catcher Brian Serven for assignment. The move clears the necessary opening on the 40-man roster for the two players acquired in this afternoon’s trade with the Dodgers: Michael Busch and Yency Almonte.

Serven is a newcomer to the Chicago organization in his own right. The Cubs claimed him off waivers from Colorado six days ago. They’ll now trade him or, more likely, put him back on waivers within the next week.

Until that claim, Serven had spent his whole career with the Rockies. Colorado selected him in the fifth round of the 2016 draft out of Arizona State. He reached the majors six years later and worked as their backup catcher for a good portion of the ’22 campaign. The right-handed hitter posted a .203/.261/.332 batting line over 62 contests as a rookie.

Colorado went with a catching tandem of Elias Díaz and Austin Wynns for the bulk of last season. Serven only appeared at the MLB level 11 times. He got into 38 contests with their Triple-A team in Albuquerque. Despite an extremely favorable environment for hitters, he managed only a .199/.241/.331 slash over 162 plate appearances.

Serven had turned in better offensive results earlier in his minor league career. He’s a .240/.310/.418 hitter in a little under 1500 minor league plate appearances. That’s still fairly tepid work at the dish, but the Cubs placed a claim a week ago on the strength of his defensive reputation. Serven received solid marks for his pitch framing in 2022 and has strong caught stealing numbers throughout his minor league tenure.

Cubs Acquire Michael Busch, Yency Almonte

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The Dodgers and Cubs announced a trade sending rookie infielder Michael Busch and reliever Yency Almonte from Los Angeles to Chicago for prospects Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope. The deal clears a pair of 40-man roster spots for L.A. — one of which will go Teoscar Hernández once his free agent pact is finalized. The Cubs designated catcher Brian Serven for assignment in a corresponding move.

Busch has the more significant value of the players headed to Chicago. Los Angeles selected the UNC product with the 31st overall pick in the 2019 draft. Regarded as a bat-first prospect with questions about his defensive fit, Busch has mostly lived up to that billing during his time in the minors.

Over parts of four seasons, the left-handed hitter owns a .283/.390/.529 line. That includes a robust .293/.385/.544 showing in just under 1000 plate appearances at Triple-A. Busch has connected on 48 home runs and 58 doubles with an excellent 11.8% walk rate at the top minor league level. His 22.5% strikeout rate is closer to league average, but Busch has shown a strong combination of power and patience.

Despite his excellent Triple-A production, the 26-year-old hasn’t gotten much of an MLB opportunity. He didn’t reach the majors until last April. He appeared in 27 games scattered over the course of the season. Through his first 81 plate appearances, he hit only .167/.247/.292 with a pair of home runs. He struck out in a third of his trips.

There’s not much to be gleaned from such a small sample of MLB work. At the same time, that the Dodgers haven’t given Busch extended run is indicative of a few factors. The Dodgers have had strong position player groups in recent years. That’s an impediment to a young hitter, but L.A. had some questions at second base and left field last season. Were Busch regarded as a better defensive player, perhaps he’d have forced his way into the discussion at one or both of those spots.

L.A. has given Busch opportunities at a few positions in the minors. While he has played primarily second base, he’s also gotten work at both corner infield spots and in left field. Prospect evaluators have graded him as a below-average defender at every spot, raising questions about his athleticism and arm strength. Baseball America nevertheless ranked him as the top prospect in the Dodgers system this offseason on the strength of his offensive ceiling.

In some respects, the Cubs will face the same question on Busch as they do on Christopher Morel — where to find at-bats for a promising hitter who hasn’t defended well at any position. That’d most likely come at a corner infield spot or at DH. Morel projects for a starting role at either first base or DH. Some combination of Patrick Wisdom and Nick Madrigal are the top options at the hot corner. The Cubs could still pursue a free agent target at either spot — they’ve been tied to Rhys Hoskins and Matt Chapman this winter — but Busch adds an affordable, high-upside lefty bat to the mix.

Busch still has a pair of minor league option years, so he’s not a lock to open the season on the MLB roster. He’s at least three years from arbitration and won’t be eligible for free agency for at least six seasons. Future minor league assignments could push that back even further.

A secondary part of the return, Almonte steps into the middle relief corps. The 29-year-old righty pitched in 49 games a year ago, working to a 5.06 ERA across 48 innings. He struck hitters out at a solid 23.6% clip but issued free passes to more than 11% of opponents. That continues an up-and-down career for Almonte, who has three seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA and a trio of campaigns allowing more than five earned runs per nine.

Almonte and the Dodgers already agreed to a $1.9MM arbitration salary back in November. The Cubs will take on that near-$2MM sum to add a pitcher with a mid-90s fastball and a low-80s sweeper that has generated a strong number of whiffs throughout his career. He’s out of options, so he’ll very likely have a spot in the Opening Day bullpen. The Cubs could control him via arbitration for the 2025 season as well.

To add immediate MLB help, Chicago parts with two promising lower-level players. Ferris, who turns 20 next week, was a second-round pick in the 2022 draft. A 6’4″ left-hander, he signed for a well overslot $3MM bonus as a high school prospect. Ferris made his professional debut last season, turning in a 3.38 ERA over 18 starts for Low-A Myrtle Beach. He punched out nearly a third of his opponents while walking almost 14% of batters faced.

As a young, lanky pitching prospect, it’s not particularly surprising that Ferris has yet to dial in his control. Baseball America praised a 93-95 MPH fastball and a pair of potential above-average or plus breaking balls this offseason, slotting him as the #10 prospect in the Chicago system. He’s a high-upside development play whose future will largely be determined by how well his command develops.

Hope was an overslot signee for $400K in the 11th round last summer. A left-handed hitting outfielder from a Virginia high school, he played in 11 rookie ball games after the draft. In a pre-draft report, BA wrote that Hope was among the fastest players in last year’s class. He’s regarded as a viable fit in center field with a line drive approach, although BA expressed trepidation about his aggressiveness at the dish.

Juan Toribio of MLB.com first reported the Dodgers were discussing Almonte and Busch in trades with the Cubs. Jon Heyman of the New York Post confirmed an Almonte deal was agreed upon. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the Dodgers were receiving two players not on the 40-man roster, which Toribio specified included a highly-regarded pitching prospect. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 was first to report L.A. would receive Ferris and Hope.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Braves, Max Fried Avoid Arbitration

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The Braves and Max Fried agreed to a $15MM contract to avoid arbitration, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). That’ll avoid a hearing in his final year going through the process.  Fried is represented by CAA Sports.

Fried, who turns 30 next week, put up a 2.55 ERA in 2023.  He made 14 starts spanning 77 2/3 innings, enduring a three-month absence for a forearm strain.  The abbreviated season resulted in a $1.5MM raise for the lefty.

This represents Fried’s fourth and final time through arbitration, as he achieved Super Two status after the 2020 season.  He reached an agreement with the Braves for ’21, won a hearing against them for ’22, and lost a hearing against the club for ’23.  Fried had submitted a $15MM figure at his hearing nearly a year ago, but the arbitration panel instead chose the team’s $13.5MM figure.  So now in 2024, he will earn the amount he was hoping to earn in ’23.

Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in December that the Braves discussed an extension with Fried’s agency prior to the ’23 season.  Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos has given out 18 extensions since being hired in November 2017, according to our MLB Contract Tracker.  His longest deal for a pitcher was Spencer Strider’s six-year pact, though Strider had one year of MLB service at the time.  Otherwise he hasn’t given a multiyear deal to any starting pitcher, if you don’t count Reynaldo Lopez as one.  Though they’ve signed many players to extensions, the Braves did ultimately let Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson leave as free agents, as noted by Toscano.

Fried is a special case, given a run of success for the Braves that has included Cy Young votes in the 2020 and ’22 seasons as well as the clinching win in Game 6 of the 2021 World Series.  Starting pitchers who signed deals worth $100MM+ with five years of service in the last decade include Clayton Kershaw, Homer Bailey, Stephen Strasburg, Jose Berrios, Joe Musgrove, and Luis Castillo.  After back to back years of arbitration hearings, perhaps Fried reaching an agreement for ’24 can be viewed as a mild positive in his relationship with the team.

If he reaches the open market, Fried would be one of many interesting starting pitchers in the 2024-25 class.  You can check that out here.

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