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Pirates Sign Rowdy Tellez

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The Pirates announced the signing of first baseman Rowdy Tellez on a one-year contract. It’s reportedly a $3.2MM guarantee. Tellez, who is represented by Primo Sports Group, can earn an additional $800K in incentives.

Tellez has spent the past two and a half seasons in the NL Central as a member of the Brewers. He connected on 35 home runs as recently as 2022. Tellez’s power numbers evaporated last season, as he slumped to 13 longballs through 351 trips to the plate. His slugging percentage fell from .461 to a fringy .376 mark.

Overall, the left-handed hitter turned in a .215/.291/.376 line in 106 contests this year. That’s clearly insufficient for a player whose profile is built around the bat. Tellez doesn’t offer any baserunning value and rates as a below-average defender at first base. Combined with his career-worst showing in the batter’s box, he was below replacement level in 2023.

Pittsburgh takes a low-cost roll of the dice to see if Tellez can recapture some of his previous form. He carried a career .236/.307/.462 line into last season. While that’s still middling production from an average and on-base perspective, he’d shown legitimate power upside. Tellez’s 2023 numbers may have been impacted somewhat by health questions. He lost a couple weeks in July with right forearm inflammation before sustaining a fracture on the ring finger of his left hand in an outfield collision while chasing fly balls during batting practice. That kept him out of action until the middle of August.

The 28-year-old was eligible for arbitration for a final time this offseason. Milwaukee declined to tender him a contract at a projected $5.9MM salary. He’ll indeed come up shy of that figure on the open market but he’ll get a big league opportunity for a rebound showing. Tellez will surpass six years of service time next season and return to free agency at year’s end.

Pittsburgh had a clear need for first base help. The Bucs trade Carlos Santana at the deadline, sending the veteran switch-hitter to Milwaukee in a move that was necessitated for the Brewers by Tellez’s struggles and injuries. Pittsburgh relied mostly on Alfonso Rivas down the stretch; they waived him at season’s end and lost him to the Guardians. Santana returned to free agency, leaving the potential for a reunion, but the Bucs will take what is likely to be a lower-cost shot on Tellez instead.

A left-handed hitter, Tellez seems a likely platoon partner for Connor Joe. The latter produced a .265/.365/.452 showing against left-handed pitching last year. Tellez owns a .231/.302/.464 career slash versus righty arms.

Pittsburgh’s player payroll is up to roughly $58MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. The Bucs opened the ’23 season around $73MM. GM Ben Cherington said at the Winter Meetings the team anticipates surpassing last year’s spending level. That could leave $20MM+ in further space for the front office, which’ll likely look for a mid-rotation arm and perhaps second base help in the coming weeks.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Pirates were in agreement with Tellez. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported it was a one-year deal that guaranteed roughly $3MM and maxed out at $4MM with incentives. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette specified the $3.2MM guarantee.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rangers Sign Tyler Mahle To Two-Year Deal

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The Rangers have taken another upside shot in the rotation, signing Tyler Mahle to a two-year contract. It’s reportedly a $22MM guarantee for the ISE Baseball client, who can earn up to $5MM more in bonuses depending on his 2025 innings tally. He will have a salary of $5.5MM in 2024 and $16.5MM in 2025, and the deal comes with a limited no-trade clause. He’ll miss the start of the ’24 season as he completes his rehab from last season’s Tommy John surgery. Texas has two additional openings on the 40-man roster.

Mahle spent a season and a half with the Twins. Minnesota acquired the right-hander from the Reds at the 2022 trade deadline. It turned out to be one of the more lopsided deadline deals of the past couple summers. Cincinnati acquired Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and prospect Steve Hajjar, whom they subsequently flipped to the Guardians as part of a deal for Will Benson.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, injuries ruined their end of the deal. Mahle landed on the injured list within a few weeks of his acquisition as a result of shoulder inflammation. He returned, pitched once, then went back on the IL for the remainder of the season. Mahle looked back to form early in 2023, working to a 3.16 ERA over five starts. He suffered an elbow injury during his outing on April 27 and underwent the Tommy John procedure a couple weeks later.

That ended his season and ultimately, his tenure with the Twins. Given the approximate 14-month recovery timeline often associated with TJS rehab, he could return sometime around the All-Star Break. That would put Mahle on a similar trajectory as Jacob deGrom, who underwent the same surgery around four weeks later.

While Mahle wouldn’t bring the same level of upside as deGrom, he’d be a high-ceiling addition in his own right. The 29-year-old developed into a quality mid-rotation starter late in his time in Cincinnati. Between 2020 and the ’22 deadline, he worked to a 3.93 ERA in 332 innings spanning 62 appearances. Mahle punched out an above-average 27.4% of batters faced over that stretch against a manageable 8.9% walk rate. Despite pitching in a difficult home park, he allowed only 1.1 home runs per nine innings.

Mahle’s velocity has been down a bit over the past two seasons, which isn’t surprising given the arm issues. In 2021, he averaged 94 MPH on his four-seam with a plus cutter/slider that sat around 87 MPH. Mahle has a splitter to deploy against left-handed hitters and has posted neutral platoon numbers over his career.

If he can recapture his pre-surgery form, Mahle would fit into the middle or back end of a quality Texas rotation. The Rangers haven’t been shy about taking on injury risk to pursue high-upside starters. deGrom was the prime example, of course, but each of Mahle, Jon Gray, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney were talented fliers in the middle tiers of the starting pitching market.

Max Scherzer anchors the season-opening staff. Eovaldi, Gray, Heaney and Dane Dunning project to fill out the remainder of the Opening Day five. Texas should have more clarity on the respective health statuses of deGrom and Mahle as next summer’s trade deadline approaches.

Mahle’s contract narrowly tops MLBTR’s two-year, $20MM prediction. It’s just north of the $20MM guarantee secured by Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez, a similar caliber of pitcher who signed for two years after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May. Mahle, who turned 29 in September, is on track to get back to free agency in advance of his age-31 season in 2026.

The $11MM average annual value brings the Rangers’ competitive balance tax number to roughly $232MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. That’s just below next season’s $237MM base threshold. Texas carried an approximate $252MM luxury tax number last season. While their championship run surely brought in a fair amount of playoff revenue, the organization is also facing some uncertainty about its local television rights contract. GM Chris Young indicated at the Winter Meetings that the team would be a little quieter in free agency than they’d been in the past few offseasons.

Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the $22MM guarantee and $5MM in performance bonuses. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the specific annual breakdown and limited no-trade.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Tigers, Freddy Pacheco Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers have agreed to a new minor league deal with Freddy Pacheco, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. Detroit had non-tendered the reliever in November.

Pacheco has yet to pitch in the major leagues. A former Cardinals prospect, he was added to St. Louis’ 40-man roster going into the 2022 season. The Cards put him on waivers a year later, at which point the Tigers stepped in to place a claim. His efforts to reach the majors had been halted by an elbow injury late in the winter. Pacheco unsuccessfully attempted to rehab before undergoing Tommy John surgery in early June.

The 25-year-old remains on the mend from that procedure. It cost him his 40-man spot, as the Tigers couldn’t keep him on the injured list over the offseason. He’ll stick in the organization with an eye towards a late-season return and potential MLB debut in 2024.

Before the injury, Pacheco showed interesting raw stuff in the minors. He can run his fastball into the upper 90s and punched out more than a third of opponents in 2022. The righty combined for a 3.05 ERA in 62 innings with the Cardinals’ top two affiliates that season.

Ken MacKenzie Passes Away

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Former major league reliever Ken MacKenzie has passed away at age 89, according to the Associated Press.

Born in Ontario, MacKenzie attended Yale. He signed with the Braves out of school in 1956. MacKenzie reached the big leagues with the franchise, at the time based in Milwaukee, in 1960. He pitched 15 1/3 innings over parts of two seasons before joining the expansion Mets in 1962.

MacKenzie logged a career-high 80 innings for the inaugural team in Queens, posting a 4.95 ERA. As the AP notes, his 5-4 record made him the only pitcher with an above-.500 mark for a team that ultimately went 40-120. MacKenzie was traded twice the following season, going to the Cardinals and Giants. He also saw some action with the Astros in 1965.

Over parts of six campaigns, the left-hander posted a 4.80 ERA across 208 1/3 innings. He struck out 142 hitters and picked up eight wins. After his playing career, he coached baseball and hockey at his alma mater throughout the 1970s. MLBTR sends our condolences to MacKenzie’s family, friends and former teammates.

Phillies Meeting With Yoshinobu Yamamoto

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Phillies officials are meeting with right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto this afternoon, tweets John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Philadelphia joins the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Giants, Blue Jays and Red Sox among the teams that has met or is scheduled to chat with the Japanese star.

Yamamoto’s camp has made the rounds this week. The 25-year-old has gotten attention from the majority of large-market franchises, particularly those on the coasts. Last week, Will Sammon of the Athletic suggested that seven teams had emerged as strong suitors for the 5’10” pitcher. With seven clubs known to have meetings scheduled with Yamamoto, it’s possible the field is essentially finalized. In a full column, Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that there’s no indication the Cubs or Cardinals are planning to meet with Yamamoto.

Of the group that seems to remain in the mix, Philadelphia might have the longest odds. The Phils already made one major rotation splash this winter, retaining Aaron Nola on a seven-year, $172MM pact. A starting five of Nola, Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez, Taijuan Walker and Cristopher Sánchez is already strong. The Phils could certainly bump Sánchez back into relief to make way for Yamamoto, who is regarded as a likely top-of-the-rotation arm in the majors. Yet it’s possible teams like the Dodgers, Mets or Yankees will feel greater pressure to dish out a megadeal for rotation help.

Yamamoto is coming off a 1.21 ERA in 164 innings, arguably the best performance of an exceptional career in Japan. He has been named NPB’s best pitcher in each of the past three seasons. MLBTR predicted a nine-year, $225MM guarantee at the start of the offseason. In recent weeks, there’s been increasing speculation that a deal could approach or exceed $300MM. The signing team would owe a posting fee to the Orix Buffaloes on top of the guarantee to Yamamoto.

Roster Resource projects the Phillies payroll around $237MM for the upcoming season. That’s a little shy of the $243MM range that they carried to start this year. The Phils have roughly $252MM in luxury tax calculations, which puts them into the first tier of penalization and not far off the $257MM second threshold.

Reds Sign Austin Wynns To Major League Deal

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The Reds announced the signing of Austin Wynns to a major league contract. The Ball Players Agency client reportedly inked a split deal that pays $950K for time spent on the MLB roster and a $300K rate in the minors. To clear space on the 40-man roster, Cincinnati designated outfielder TJ Hopkins for assignment.

As was the case a season ago, the Reds are likely to carry three catchers on the MLB roster. Wynns joins Luke Maile as glove-first veterans to work alongside Tyler Stephenson, who seems set to log the majority of his time at designated hitter.

Wynns, 33, has appeared in the majors in five straight seasons. He spent his first few seasons with the Orioles before bouncing around over the last two years. Wynns played for a trio of NL West clubs in 2023, following brief stints in San Francisco and Los Angeles with a more extended run in Colorado.

The Rockies carried Wynns on the MLB roster from early May onwards. Originally claimed off waivers from the Dodgers, he operated as the backup to Elias Díaz. Wynns didn’t offer anything at the plate despite the hitter-friendly home park, turning in a .214/.273/.282 slash. He owns a .226/.273/.324 line across 653 big league plate appearances overall.

Wynns posted stronger results on the other side of the ball. Statcast graded him slightly positively as a pitch framer for the first time in his career. He cut down nearly 31% of opposing basestealers, well above last year’s 19.8% league average in a much more favorable environment for baserunners.

The Rockies nevertheless cut him loose at the end of the season as a result of his lack of offensive production. Wynns secures a 40-man roster spot in the short term, although the split contract suggests there’s a chance the Reds waive him at some point. Wynns is out of options, meaning Cincinnati can’t send him to Triple-A unless he first clears waivers.

As a player with between three and five years of MLB service, Wynns would have the ability to decline a minor league assignment but would forfeit any guaranteed money to do so. By guaranteeing a $300K salary for whatever time he spends on a minor league roster, the deal could incentivize Wynns to accept a stint in Triple-A if the Reds do run him through waivers at any point. If he remains in the majors all year, he’d be eligible for arbitration again next offseason.

For now, Wynns is on the roster. That necessitated a move which makes Hopkins available to other clubs. A ninth-round pick in 2019, Hopkins reached the big leagues in June. The South Carolina product didn’t see much action in his first MLB stint, tallying 44 plate appearances through 25 games. He hit .171/.227/.171 with 17 strikeouts and two walks.

The 26-year-old (27 next month) had a much better performance in Triple-A. Hopkins posted an excellent .308/.411/.514 slash with 16 homers over 393 trips to the plate in the International League. He walked a massive 14% clip against a slightly elevated 23.9% strikeout rate. Hopkins spent the majority of his time in the corner outfield after seeing scattered center field work early in his professional career.

Cincinnati has a week to trade him or place him on waivers. Between the strong upper minors production and pair of remaining option seasons, there’s a decent chance he changes organizations for the first time in his career.

Mark Sheldon of MLB.com first reported the contract terms.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

The Challenge Of Trading Jake Cronenworth

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After the Scott Barlow and Juan Soto/Trent Grisham trades, Roster Resource projects the Padres payroll for the 2024 season in the $154MM range. They’re at roughly $209MM in luxury tax commitments, about $28MM shy of next year’s lowest threshold.

San Diego now has some space to add, but their series of free agent losses and trade departures have created a number of holes. With a need for at least one starting pitcher, a back-end reliever and likely multiple outfielders, the front office could continue looking for ways to create spending room. One path the front office is seemingly pursuing: moving some of the money owed to Jake Cronenworth.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweeted last week that Cronenworth had emerged as a trade candidate. Dennis Lin of the Athletic similarly wrote over the weekend the Padres were open to discussions on the fifth-year infielder. That’s to be expected, as Cronenworth is coming off the worst season of his career.

That’s not ideal for a player entering the first season of a seven-year contract. Last spring, San Diego signed Cronenworth to an $80MM extension covering the 2024-30 campaigns. It was an odd decision at the time, as the Padres already had arbitration control through his age-32 season. It looks worse in hindsight after his 2023 performance.

Cronenworth hit .229/.312/.378 with 10 home runs through 522 plate appearances. He had the lowest mark of his career in all three slash stats. That’d be more tolerable at his natural second base position, but the Friars also kicked him primarily to first base after signing Xander Bogaerts to keep Ha-Seong Kim at the keystone. Cronenworth’s hit-over-power approach isn’t a great fit at first base, where most teams receive far more offensive productivity. Among 25 primary first baseman to reach 500 plate appearances, Cronenworth ranked 23rd in both on-base percentage and slugging. His season finished in late August when he fractured his right wrist.

The Padres certainly expect better than that in 2024. Going into last season, the Michigan product had a much superior .256/.338/.431 career batting line. Yet he has also trended downwards offensively in each season since his rookie year. With Kim and Bogaerts likely to again occupy the middle infield, Cronenworth isn’t a great fit for the San Diego roster. Offloading a portion of his contract and bringing in a more traditional slugging first baseman could mollify some of their problems getting production from the bottom half of the lineup.

San Diego wouldn’t find a taker for the entire contract. Aside from a $2MM signing bonus, Cronenworth’s extension hasn’t yet kicked in. Were he a free agent this offseason, he would not receive seven years or $78MM.

For reference, Jeimer Candelario was on the open market this winter. He’s a few weeks older than Cronenworth, has nearly identical offensive production over the past four seasons, and is coming off a much better ’23 campaign (.251/.336/.471 with 22 homers). Candelario signed a three-year pact that guaranteed $45MM. Even with Cronenworth having a slight defensive edge based on his ability to play an above-average second base, he likely wouldn’t have beaten Candelario money.

The Padres owe Cronenworth a $7MM salary for next season, followed by $11MM in 2025. He’s due $12MM annually between 2026-30, covering his age 32-36 campaigns. If the Friars were simply prioritizing shedding next year’s money, they’d likely find a trade partner. Paying $7MM for Cronenworth in ’24 is good value, particularly if a team can move him back to second base. The Padres would have to agree to kicking in some money beyond the next season or two in order to reduce the longer-term downside for an acquiring team.

Whit Merrifield and Tim Anderson are the top open market options. Neither is demonstrably better than Cronenworth. There are other trade possibilities (e.g. Jorge Polanco, Kyle Farmer, Jonathan India) but teams looking for second base help could have to turn to the trade market.

The Royals project to turn the position back to Michael Massey, who hit .229/.274/.381 a season ago. K.C. has a decent amount of long-term payroll room and generally prefers hit-over-power, athletic players who align with their spacious home park. The Red Sox had a revolving door at second base last season, receiving a .240/.286/.376 line overall. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow acknowledged last week the Sox were likely to trade for a second baseman, although he called a right-handed hitter an ideal pickup.

Seattle could look to improve upon Josh Rojas. Cronenworth would align with their goal of adding more contact if they view him as reasonable buy-low target. The Angels and Blue Jays may add an infielder, although their respective in-house options might be productive enough they don’t see Cronenworth as a clear upgrade.

Teams like the Brewers (Brice Turang), Rockies (Brendan Rodgers) and Nationals (Luis García) have young players they’ll probably try to give one more opportunity. The White Sox have targeted stopgap types like Nicky Lopez and Paul DeJong. The Pirates seem unlikely to take on notable money on a seven-year commitment. The Tigers have short-term uncertainty at second base but presumably won’t want to block prospects like Colt Keith and Jace Jung.

In the absence of many clear trade partners, the Padres front office will have to determine how motivated they are to shed a portion of the contract. While selling low on Cronenworth less than 12 months after extending him isn’t ideal, the Soto trade made clear they’re open to ways to reshape the roster as they try to remain competitive while cutting spending.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Clayton Kershaw “Doing Really Well” Early In Recovery From Shoulder Procedure

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Free agent starter Clayton Kershaw spoke publicly for the first time since announcing he underwent shoulder surgery on November 3. In a chat with David Vassegh of 570 AM’s Dodger Talk, the three-time Cy Young winner indicated he’s recovering nicely in the first five weeks after the operation.

“I think I’m doing really well. I don’t have a lot to compare it to. I’ve never had surgery before, but I really do feel great, all things considered,” Kershaw told Vassegh. “I’m doing a lot of movement stuff now, starting to strengthen it. … I’m excited to pitch again, and I really do think it’ll be this summer at some point. I feel good about that.”

A summer return is in line with what Kershaw projected in the immediate aftermath of the procedure. It’s nevertheless encouraging to hear he remains on that track after the earliest stages of his rehab process. While the 35-year-old has loosely floated the possibility of retiring in previous offseasons, he reiterated this evening that he’s not considering stepping away at this point.

Kershaw indicated he has the support of his family to continue playing. He added that he didn’t want to conclude his career on what would’ve been a very sour note. Kershaw, working with clearly diminished stuff as he pitched through the shoulder pain, was hammered for six runs without getting out of the first inning in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Diamondbacks. Arizona swept that series en route to the pennant.

The 10-time All-Star declined to speculate on where he expects to play in 2024 or when he might sign. It’s hard to envision the career-long Dodger in another uniform. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has repeatedly expressed that the organization would welcome Kershaw back for as long as he wants to continue pitching.

L.A. has Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler anchoring the rotation. Ryan Pepiot currently projects as the #3 starter, but his name has been floated in chatter about a potential trade for Rays ace Tyler Glasnow. Pitchers like Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove and Ryan Yarbrough are in the mix at the back end.

Regardless of Kershaw’s decision, the Dodgers figure to bring in multiple starters. If Kershaw were to re-sign, he’d join Dustin May as potential midseason injury returnees. May underwent a flexor tendon procedure in early July. Tony Gonsolin, who had Tommy John surgery in late August, appears likely to miss the entire season.

Marlins Remain Open To Catching Addition

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The Marlins added to the catching corps over the weekend, bringing in Christian Bethancourt in a trade with Cleveland. The former Ray looks to have the top spot on the depth chart, nudging Nick Fortes to the backup role. Those two are the only catchers on the 40-man roster, leaving room for another acquisition.

Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald report that the Fish remain open to adding another catcher. To that end, Jackson and Mish indicate they’ve considered Andrew Knizner as a low-cost free agent target. The 28-year-old (29 in February) became a free agent when he was non-tendered by the Cardinals last month.

A former seventh-round pick, Knizner had spent his entire career in St. Louis. He was a prospect of some regard during his run in the Cards’ farm system. The presence of Yadier Molina kept Knizner from getting many extended reps, though, and he didn’t produce much in his limited opportunities. He hit .204/.292/.288 in 553 plate appearances between his 2019 debut and the end of the 2022 season. That contributed to the club’s decision to sign Willson Contreras to a five-year free agent deal after Molina’s retirement.

Knizner picked up 241 plate appearances in a depth role last season, the second-highest workload of his career. His .241/.288/.424 batting line marked a step up from his early-career work, at least from a power perspective. The right-handed hitter knocked 10 homers while making hard contact on a solid 40.9% of his batted balls. While still below-average offense overall, Knizner’s production was in line with the .236/.303/.394 league slash for catchers.

That the Cards nevertheless moved on from Knizner despite a modest $2MM arbitration projection hints at continued struggles on the other side of the ball. A late conversion to catching during his final season at North Carolina State, Knizner has always been viewed as a work in progress defensively. Statcast consistently grades him below average at framing pitches. He also ranked 65th out of 74 catchers (minimum 10 throws) in average pop time to second base.

Defensive questions aside, Knizner is coming off a better year at the plate than either Bethancourt or Fortes managed. He’d likely be available for a little more than the league minimum salary and would be eligible for arbitration after next year. He also still has a minor league option remaining (as does Fortes), meaning a signing team could send him to Triple-A — at least until he reaches five years of MLB service, which won’t happen until late August at the earliest. Beyond Knizner, players like Austin Nola, Martín Maldonado, Yasmani Grandal and Eric Haase are likely looking at one-year free agent contracts.

In other news, Jackson and Mish write that the Fish are considering giving right-hander George Soriano a rotation look next spring. The 24-year-old has worked in relief over the past two seasons, including during his 52-inning MLB debut this year. Soriano worked to a 3.81 ERA with a reasonable 22.8% strikeout rate against an elevated 10.1% walk percentage while frequently working two innings per appearance.

The Fish have already indicated that left-hander A.J. Puk will stretch out as a starter in exhibition play. Even if they do the same with Soriano, they could determine both pitchers are ultimately best suited to open the year back in the bullpen. Miami presently projects for a starting five of Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, Eury Pérez, Edward Cabrera and Trevor Rogers.

First-year president of baseball operations Peter Bendix comes from a Tampa Bay front office that hasn’t been shy about converting bullpen arms to starters, often in response to midseason injuries. The Rays found success with rotation moves for Drew Rasmussen, Jeffrey Springs and Zack Littell over the past two years (although Rasmussen and Springs have since sustained injuries that necessitated arm surgery).

Tommy Hunter Officially Retires

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Longtime big league reliever Tommy Hunter has officially retired, he tells Britt Ghiroli of the Athletic (X link). Hunter first indicated he was retiring on former teammate Adam Jones’ podcast in October, news that eluded MLBTR at the time.

Hunter, 37, pitched parts of 16 seasons in the majors. The Rangers selected the University of Alabama product in the supplemental first round of the 2007 draft. He got to the big leagues the following August. Operating as a starter for three seasons, Hunter compiled a 4.36 ERA before being dealt alongside future home run champ Chris Davis to the Orioles for Koji Uehara.

While Davis turned out to be the star of that return, Hunter was a very productive player for Baltimore in his own right. He struggled as a starter over the next season and a half but found a new gear upon moving to the bullpen in 2013. The right-hander turned in consecutive sub-3.00 ERA showings while surpassing 60 innings in 2013 and ’14, combining for a 2.88 ERA over that stretch.

Hunter found himself in another deadline trade in 2015. As an impending free agent on an average Baltimore team, he was flipped to the Cubs in a swap for outfielder Junior Lake. Hunter bounced around as a middle reliever from that point forward, suiting up with the Indians, Orioles again, Rays and Phillies through 2020. He saw action with the Mets in each of the past three seasons. Hunter was generally effective for the majority of that time, although he finished with a 6.85 ERA in 23 2/3 innings before New York released him this past June.

In the decade after his move to the bullpen, he allowed 3.33 earned runs per nine in 410 appearances with six franchises. Hunter never posted huge strikeout tallies, but he had consistently strong command and turned in five seasons with 50+ innings and an ERA below 4.00. He was part of the 2010 Texas team that won the American League pennant and started Game 4 of that year’s Fall Classic, allowing two runs over four innings in a 4-0 loss.

For his career, Hunter posted a 4.07 ERA across 917 1/3 frames. He recorded 639 punchouts, won 56 games, picked up 103 holds and collected 22 saves. Baseball Reference calculated his career earnings in the $36MM range. MLBTR congratulates Hunter on his productive, very lengthy run at the highest level and wishes him the best in his post-playing days.

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