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KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Re-Sign Ricardo Sanchez

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The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization re-signed lefty Ricardo Sánchez yesterday, the team announced (h/t to Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News). He’ll receive a $100K signing bonus and a $500K salary, while the contract contains another $150K in incentives.

Sánchez signed with the Eagles in April, landing a $400K contract to spend the bulk of the 2023 campaign there. The 5’10” hurler had a decent debut in Korea. He pitched to a 3.79 ERA through 126 innings. Sánchez’s 18.3% strikeout rate was modest, even in the context of a high-contact KBO environment. He showed good control, though, keeping his walk rate around 5%.

Before signing with the Eagles, Sánchez had been in Triple-A with the White Sox. He only made three appearances for the Sox’s top affiliate, leaving him without much time to put together a case for a big league call. His MLB experience consists of three relief appearances for the Cardinals in 2020. Sánchez has also spent minor league time with the Angels, Braves, Mariners, Phillies and Tigers since entering the professional ranks in 2014.

The Eagles have filled their allotted three spots for foreign-born players to open next season. They also re-signed pitcher Félix Peña while brining in former Cubs minor leaguer Yonathan Perlaza (who has never played in the majors) last month.

Latest On Red Sox’s Free Agent Pursuits

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The Red Sox have yet to make any waves on the free agent market. Boston’s offseason spending thus far consists of a $1MM signing of depth arm Cooper Criswell. Boston has been linked to a number of high-profile players in recent weeks, many of whom remain available. The Sox were at least on the periphery of the Yoshinobu Yamamoto bidding in its final few days. With free agency’s top pitcher headed to Los Angeles, first-year chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and his staff are looking elsewhere.

The Red Sox have been linked to Jordan Montgomery and, to a lesser extent, defending NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell at points this offseason. While there’s no indication they’re out of the market for either player, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe wrote over the weekend they appeared more engaged with the next tier of free agents.

Speier indicates the Sox remain involved on Shota Imanaga and Lucas Giolito on the rotation front while showing interest in outfielder Teoscar Hernández — all of whom have previously been reported as targets. Of that group, Imanaga figures to have the highest price tag. The #2 pitcher moving from Japan this offseason, he’s coming off a 2.80 ERA with an NPB-leading 174 strikeouts over 148 innings.

Imanaga doesn’t have the ceiling that Yamamoto possesses, but he’s generally viewed as a likely mid-rotation starter. As with Yamamoto, Imanaga is available via the posting system. The Yokohama BayStars formally posted him on November 27. That opened a 45-day window for the southpaw to sign with a major league club. He’ll land with an MLB team by January 11 at the latest. Speier reports that Imanaga will travel to the U.S. shortly after the New Year to meet with interested teams. The Giants, Cubs and Yankees are among the others linked to Imanaga within the past month.

While Imanaga figures to secure four or five guaranteed years, a reunion with James Paxton would be a much shorter commitment. WEEI’s Rob Bradford recently reported the Sox were interested in bringing the southpaw back. Chris Cotillo of MassLive wrote this evening that the team has maintained contact with Paxton throughout the offseason, although there’s no indication a deal is imminent.

Paxton, 35, pitched to a 4.50 ERA over 19 starts last season. He struck out almost a quarter of opponents while inducing swinging strikes on 12.7% of his offerings. Paxton is still capable of missing a decent number of bats behind a fastball that sits in the mid-90s, but he hasn’t been able to shoulder many innings. He made only six appearances between 2020-22, missing most of that stretch to Tommy John surgery and a pair of lat strains. Paxton had a pair of injured list stints last season, landing on the shelf early with a hamstring strain before knee inflammation ended his year in early September.

Kyle Keller Signs With NPB’s Yomiuri Giants

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Reliever Kyle Keller has signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced. He’ll spend a third season in Japan after pitching for the Hanshin Tigers between 2022-23.

Keller, 30, pitched in the majors between 2019-21. The right-hander logged big league time with the Marlins, Angels and Pirates. He set a personal high with 33 1/3 innings for the Bucs in 2021, albeit with a lackluster 6.48 ERA, before making the move to Japan.

Over his two NPB seasons, Keller has found more success than he had during his big league run. He posted a 3.31 ERA with a stellar 46:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 32 2/3 innings in 2022. This year, his run prevention improved while his peripherals went in the other direction. Keller allowed only 1.71 earned runs per nine but issued 16 walks while fanning 28 across 26 1/3 frames. He spent some time with the Tigers’ minor league affiliate, making 18 appearances there.

FanSided’s Robert Murray reported last month that Keller was receiving some attention from MLB clubs. That apparently wasn’t robust enough to result in a better opportunity than the one he’ll receive from the Giants. If Keller can combine this year’s run prevention with something closer to his ’22 strikeout and walk profile, he could find stronger MLB interest next winter.

Mets Sign Chad Smith To Minor League Contract

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The Mets signed reliever Chad Smith to a minor league contract over the weekend, according to the Associated Press. He’ll be in MLB camp as a non-roster Spring Training invitee.

Smith, a 28-year-old righty, has made brief appearances at the MLB level in each of the past two seasons. The Ole Miss product debuted with the Rockies in 2022, allowing 15 runs across 18 innings. Colorado traded him to the A’s a little more than a year ago. Smith pitched 10 times for Oakland, tossing 13 2/3 frames of 10-run ball. Between the two clubs, he owns a 7.11 ERA at the highest level.

While those aren’t especially impressive results, Smith has kept the ball on the ground at a huge 55.2% clip in his limited MLB time. He has posted high grounder marks throughout his professional career. Smith has also run decent strikeout numbers in the minors, including a 26.6% rate over three years in Triple-A.

That combination of whiffs and grounders has thus far been undercut by subpar control. Smith has walked more than 15% of batters faced in his big league time while handing out free passes at a 13.4% clip in Triple-A. His already alarming walk percentage spiked to 17.3% for the A’s top affiliate a season ago. That contributed to a 7.53 ERA over 35 appearances, leading Oakland to outright him from their 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason.

The Mets have added a number of depth players in David Stearns’ first winter leading baseball operations. New York has signed Trayce Thompson, Rylan Bannon, Taylor Kohlwey and José Iglesias to non-roster deals, while Smith joins Cole Sulser, Kyle Crick, Cam Robinson and Andre Scrubb as minor league additions to the relief corps. The Mets have also added Yohan Ramirez, Michael Tonkin, Jorge López and Austin Adams to the 40-man roster via modest acquisitions.

Braxton Garrett’s Rotation Emergence

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Braxton Garrett did not begin the 2023 season in the Marlins’ rotation. His first appearance was a three-inning relief outing on April 1. The Fish optioned him two days later but recalled him within a day as Johnny Cueto went on the injured list.

Cueto’s injury opened a spot for Garrett to assume the #5 starting job behind Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Trevor Rogers and Edward Cabrera. The left-hander was a quality depth option, a former #7 overall pick who had turned in a 3.58 ERA over 17 starts in 2022. That the Marlins nevertheless brought in Cueto and began with Garrett sixth on the depth chart suggests the front office had trepidation about his ability to repeat those results.

Once injury pushed Garrett back into the starting mix, he didn’t look back. The 26-year-old made 30 starts from that point forward, ultimately logging 159 2/3 innings. He finished third on the team in workload while allowing 3.66 earned runs per nine. That came with above-average peripherals across the board. Garrett punched out a solid 23.7% of batters faced while keeping the ball on the ground nearly half the time. He walked only 4.4% of opposing hitters, showcasing the plus control which evaluators had praised during his time as a prospect.

It’s not an overpowering profile. He averaged just 90.5 MPH with the sinker that serves as his primary offering. Despite the pedestrian velocity, Garrett has shown the ability to miss bats with his assortment of secondary pitches. He generated above-average whiff rates on each of his slider, cutter and changeup. The well-rounded arsenal allowed him to avoid significant platoon issues. Garrett’s strikeout and walk profile was better than average regardless of the opponent’s handedness. Right-handed hitters made more authoritative contact than southpaws, but neither side produced much overall.

Garrett’s development into a mid-rotation arm has taken on extra importance given other setbacks in the starting staff. Alcantara underwent Tommy John surgery in October, knocking him out of the mix for 2024. Rogers injured his left biceps and right (non-throwing shoulder), limiting him to four starts. Cabrera, a former top pitching prospect, has shown promising stuff but continues to issue plenty of free passes. The Cueto signing didn’t work.

Miami’s rotation was productive overall. Luzardo also took a step forward, while 20-year-old Eury Pérez posted a 3.15 ERA over 19 starts as a rookie. That the Fish turned to Garrett in the second game of their Wild Card series with the Phillies still hints at both the strength of his ’23 campaign and some of the hits Miami took above him on the season-opening depth chart.

Garrett has just under two years of major league service. He’ll surely qualify for early arbitration next offseason as a Super Two player but remains under club control for five additional seasons. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote in late November the Fish were receiving trade interest in their young starters but were likely to consider Garrett off limits. There’s no question of his place in the rotation heading into 2024.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Giants Sign Tom Murphy

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TODAY: The Giants officially announced the signing.

DECEMBER 18: The Giants are in agreement with free agent catcher Tom Murphy on a two-year deal with a 2026 club option, according to multiple reports. The Ballengee Group client is reportedly guaranteed $8.25MM, including a $250K buyout on the option. The deal can max out at $12MM.

Murphy heads to the Bay Area after five seasons in the Pacific Northwest. The right-handed hitter played a semi-regular role during his time with the Mariners. On a rate basis, Murphy has been one of the most productive power bats at the catcher position.

In 807 plate appearances with Seattle, Murphy blasted 38 home runs. He hit .250/.324/.460 overall, well above-average offense in one of the sport’s more pitcher-friendly home parks. That’s excellent production for a #2 catcher. However, that Murphy has only stepped to the plate 807 times over the last five years also points to a concerning injury history.

Going back to the start of 2020, the Buffalo product has missed time with a fractured left foot, a left shoulder dislocation and a sprained left thumb. The foot injury cost him the entire shortened season, while the shoulder limited him to 14 games in 2022. Last season’s thumb issue, suffered in mid-August, ended his year.

Despite the injury history, it’s easy to see the appeal of bringing Murphy aboard on a fairly low-cost contract. He’ll add a legitimate power presence as the backup behind 24-year-old Patrick Bailey. He’ll strike out a fair amount as well, but there aren’t many depth catchers who have the same kind of slugging upside that Murphy possesses.

The 32-year-old (33 in April) isn’t as highly-regarded on the other side of the ball. Statcast graded him below average from both framing and blocking perspectives. He only threw out one of 28 attempted basestealers in 2023. While that’s not entirely on the catcher — a pitcher’s ability to hold runners is also a factor — Statcast ranked Murphy 69th out of 74 catchers (minimum 10 throws) in average pop time to second base.

Signing Murphy could signal the forthcoming end of Joey Bart’s time in San Francisco. The second overall pick in 2018, Bart has hit only .219/.288/.335 in 162 big league contests. This year marked his final minor league option season, meaning San Francisco will have to carry him on the MLB roster or make him available to other clubs via trade or waivers.

Bailey and Murphy are the top two on the depth chart. Blake Sabol also seems ahead of Bart on the organizational hierarchy, although he has a trio of options and could play the corner outfield. Even if the Giants were to send Sabol to Triple-A, there’s not much value in keeping Bart as a sparsely-used third catcher. A sell-low trade of the former top prospect this offseason seems likely.

The Giants had a payroll in the $155MM range before the Murphy signing, according to Roster Resource. A $4MM salary would push that north of $158MM. The contract’s $4.125MM average annual value puts their luxury tax number around $192MM, about $45MM below next year’s lowest threshold.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported the sides were nearing a multi-year deal, as well as the $8MM guarantee. Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first with an agreement. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported it was a two-year guarantee with a third-year option. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first with the $250K option buyout, which Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 specified was not in the originally reported $8MM total. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the $12MM maximum value.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Tigers Not Pursuing Trades From Rotation

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The Tigers added a pair of right-handers to the middle of the rotation early in the offseason. Detroit signed Kenta Maeda to a two-year pact and took a one-year rebound flier on Jack Flaherty. That duo helps compensate for the loss of Eduardo Rodriguez, who opted out and signed a four-year pact with the Diamondbacks.

Detroit president of baseball operations Scott Harris spoke with reporters yesterday at the press conference to announce the Flaherty signing. Most notably, the front office leader downplayed the odds of another significant rotation move — either via an acquisition or trading away someone bumped from the staff by the Maeda and Flaherty pickups.

“We did not add Jack intending to trade one of our starters,” Harris told reporters (link via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press). “We’re always going to listen to opportunities to make trades to make the organization better, but that was not the goal of adding Jack.” At the same time, Harris acknowledged that while the organization is broadly open to stockpiling pitching depth as a matter of due course, he “(doesn’t) know that we’re going to be in the starting pitching market anymore after this signing.”

Maeda and Flaherty step in as veteran additions to a fairly young rotation. Tarik Skubal is the staff ace. The left-hander’s 2022 breakout was cut short by an unfortunate forearm injury that required flexor surgery. Upon returning from a nearly year-long rehab process in early July, he was even better than he’d been before the procedure. Over 15 starts, Skubal turned in a 2.80 ERA while striking out almost a third of batters faced. The 27-year-old kept his walk rate below 5% while averaging 95.8 MPH on his fastball, nearly two ticks higher than he’d shown the preceding season.

Barring an injury in Spring Training, Skubal, Maeda and Flaherty are locks for the Opening Day starting five. The last two spots will likely go to some combination of Reese Olson, Matt Manning, Casey Mize and Sawyer Gipson-Long.

Olson and Gipson-Long debuted last season with solid results. The former built a lengthier résumé, pitching 103 2/3 innings over 21 appearances. He allowed just under four earned runs per nine with better than average strikeout and walk rates (24.4% and 7.8%, respectively). Gipson-Long was a September call-up in his age-25 season. He had excellent numbers over his first four starts, allowing a 2.70 ERA with a 31.7% strikeout rate across 20 innings. That came against a very weak group of opposing lineups — the Angels, White Sox, Royals and A’s — but aligns with his minor league track record of running big strikeout tallies.

Mize and Manning are former top 10 picks who have posted back-of-the-rotation results in their MLB time. Both pitchers have battled injury issues, with Mize missing all of 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He’s at full strength going into Spring Training, although it’s likely he’ll be limited from an innings perspective. The Auburn product only made two starts in 2022 before the injury, so he has 10 innings over the last two years.

Manning has started between 12 and 18 MLB games since making his debut midway through the ’21 season. Shoulder issues sidelined him for a good portion of the 2022 campaign. His injuries last year were more fluky, as he fractured his foot upon being struck by a comebacker on two separate occasions.

That’s seven viable starters. Joey Wentz and Alex Faedo are still on the roster after making 12+ starts apiece last year, although neither pitched well enough that they’re likely in the Opening Day rotation mix. Teams almost never get through a 162-game schedule with only five starters, so it’s not surprising the front office is content to hold everyone in the group. Petzold writes that the Tigers aren’t considering a six-man rotation, though, so there could be camp battles between Mize, Manning, Olson and Gipson-Long for season-opening jobs.

Giants Out Of Bidding For Yoshinobu Yamamoto

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9:06pm: Yamamoto could make his decision within the next 48 hours, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

7:55pm: MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that Yamamoto has at least one offer of $300MM or more in hand.

6:59pm: The Giants have been informed they’re out of the running for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, reports Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (X link). While there’s no indication that Yamamoto has made his final decision, Pavlovic adds the Giants expect he’ll sign with the Dodgers or one of the New York clubs.

Andy Martino of SNY tweets that the Mets have not received any indication they’re out of the running. That’s also true of the Yankees, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). Heyman indicates the Yankees have put a “significant bid” on the table.

Crossing San Francisco off the list technically leaves six known finalists. In addition to the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees, the Blue Jays, Phillies and Red Sox have been involved. Philadelphia has made an offer this week. That said, reports have cast the Phils, Jays, and (to a lesser extent) the Sox as longer shots.

Yamamoto has been weighing offers throughout the week. While he technically has until the evening of January 4 to sign, the expectation is that he won’t take things to the wire. That his camp is now in the process of whittling the field lends credence to the idea that a decision might not be far off.

The bidding seems as if it’ll surpass $250MM, before accounting for a posting fee owed to the Orix Buffaloes that could tack on another $45-50MM. That fee is in proportion to the contract size, calculated as 20% of the deal’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of additional spending. That reflects Yamamoto’s atypical youth for a free agent pitcher (25) and his sheer dominance in Japan. Named NPB’s best pitcher three years running, he’s coming off a 1.21 ERA while striking out nearly 27% of opponents in 164 innings.

It’s a tough blow for the Giants, who come up short on another top-tier free agent. The Giants have missed on pursuits of Aaron Judge, Trea Turner and Shohei Ohtani within the past two offseasons alone, while their deal with Carlos Correa fell through because of the physical. Yamamoto will join that list. San Francisco did land KBO star Jung Hoo Lee on a six-year, $113MM pact — the largest deal of Farhan Zaidi’s tenure as baseball operations president — but they haven’t gotten a truly elite free agent in some time.

San Francisco still has plenty of spending capacity as they decide on their next steps. Roster Resource projects their 2024 spending around $158MM. That’s about $30MM below this year’s Opening Day figure. From a luxury tax perspective, they’re almost $45MM south of the base threshold. That opens the possibility for a run at any of the top remaining free agent talents. Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery headline the rotation class, while Matt Chapman was on the radar earlier in the offseason. So was the top available hitter, Cody Bellinger, although the Lee signing seems to rule out a pursuit of another lefty-swinging center fielder.

Pirates Designate Andre Jackson For Assignment

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The Pirates are designating right-hander Andre Jackson for assignment, as first reported by Alex Stumpf of DK Pittsburgh Sports. Pittsburgh needed to create a 40-man roster spot after re-signing Andrew McCutchen yesterday. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (on X) that Jackson sought his release to pursue a deal with a team in Japan.

Pittsburgh acquired Jackson from the Dodgers in a minor trade in June. He’d been designated for assignment by Los Angeles leading up to that deal, which saw the Bucs send cash the other way. The 27-year-old started seven of 12 appearances down the stretch, his first rotation work at the major league level. Jackson turned in decent results, pitching to a 4.33 ERA across 43 2/3 innings. He struck hitters out at a solid 23% clip, although his 10.7% walk rate hinted at the control questions that have persisted for his entire career.

Jackson has long shown a combination of intriguing stuff and wobbly strike-throwing ability. He has pitched parts of three seasons at the MLB level, working to a 4.25 ERA through 82 2/3 frames. The Houston product has a less imposing 5.07 mark in 140 1/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level, where he has walked almost 15% of batters faced.

The control inconsistency meant that Jackson could have found himself on the roster bubble in 2024. This was his final minor league option season, so he’d have had to remain on Pittsburgh’s MLB team, be placed on waivers or traded. Given the chance that he’d have landed on the waiver wire, he apparently preferred to head to NPB and lock in some guaranteed money. He’ll technically land on waivers in the next few days but figures to go unclaimed and be released.

Rockies, Ty Blach Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Rockies are re-signing lefty Ty Blach to a minor league contract with a Spring Training invitation, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams (on X). Blach turned down an opportunity in the Korea Baseball Organization to return for a third year with Colorado.

Geography surely plays a role in that decision, as Blach is a Denver native. He’s clearly comfortable with the Rox, as this marks a third straight offseason in which he has inked a minor league deal. Blach reached the majors early in each of the last two seasons. He logged 44 1/3 innings of 5.89 ERA ball in 2022 before tallying 78 frames — the third-highest workload of his career — last season. Blach allowed 5.54 earned runs per nine at the MLB level, leading Colorado to outright him from the 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason.

The Rox will keep him around as a non-roster depth option. Blach doesn’t throw hard, averaging 89.3 MPH on his sinker this year. He has never missed many bats as a result, but the Creighton product has strong control. Blach has walked a little over 7% of opponents in his MLB career. He kept that to a 6.8% rate in the majors last season and handed out free passes to just 6% of batters faced at Triple-A Albuquerque. Blach posted a 4.40 ERA over 30 2/3 Triple-A innings, deceptively solid results in one of the toughest environments for pitchers in affiliated ball.

Now 33, Blach will look to earn a long relief or back-end rotation spot. Colorado only has three pitchers — Kyle Freeland, Cal Quantrill and Austin Gomber — who seem to have an inside track at a rotation spot. The front office will surely add more starting pitching options this offseason, but Blach’s ability to work multiple innings has gotten him extended run on Bud Black’s pitching staff two years running.

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