Report: MLB Grants Yariel Rodriguez Free Agency
Right-handed pitcher Yariel Rodriguez has officially been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball, reports Francys Romero (X link). He is now free to sign with an MLB team.
Rodriguez became one of the more intriguing options on the pitching market when he was granted a release from his contract with NPB’s Chunichi Dragons a month ago. He has been conducting showcases for MLB clubs in the few weeks since but was barred from officially signing with a major league team until today. There’s nothing to suggest he’ll sign imminently, of course, but this removes the procedural hurdle he still needed to clear.
A native of Cuba, Rodriguez turns 27 in March. That’s atypically young for a free agent pitcher. He worked out of the bullpen over parts of three seasons with the Dragons. Rodriguez had a dominating showing in 2022, when he pitched to a 1.15 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate over 54 2/3 innings. He worked as a starter for his home country during the World Baseball Classic. Once that event concluded, Rodriguez decided not to report back to the Dragons. He sat out the remainder of the 2023 season — the team placed him on the restricted list — before his camp secured his release.
MLB teams figure to have differing evaluations on Rodriguez’s viability as a starter. He’s an intriguing arm with promising stuff and success at the second-highest level of professional baseball in the world. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported last month that the Rays were among 15 teams with scouts in attendance for one of Rodriguez’s recent workouts in the Dominican Republic. This afternoon, Romero listed (on X) 10 clubs that had shown interest in the hurler: the Astros, Yankees, Rangers, Pirates, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Phillies, White Sox, Mets and Giants.
Justin Turner Declines Player Option
The Red Sox announced a pair of option decisions Friday evening. Infielder Justin Turner has declined his $13.4MM player option in favor of a $6.7MM buyout. Meanwhile, the team declined its $11MM provision on right-hander Corey Kluber.
Turner signed with Boston last offseason. He inked a two-year, $21.7MM guarantee that always looked likely to send him back to the market after one season. Turner locked in an $8.3MM base salary, an extra $1MM in incentives, and the hefty buyout — which only required he’d top $6.7MM on his next contract to come out on top.
There’s no doubt he’ll beat that number after another strong season. The right-handed hitter posted a .276/.345/.455 line while connecting on 23 home runs over 626 plate appearances. The presence of Rafael Devers and Triston Casas at the infield corners consigned Turner primarily to designated hitter work. It raises questions about whether he could be an everyday third base option for another team as he enters his age-39 season.
Despite his age, there’s little doubt that Turner still projects as one of the better hitters in the class. He has topped 20 homers in two of the past three seasons, running a .277/.352/.455 slash since the start of 2021. Turner still has plus contact skills and good plate discipline.
The Kluber signing worked out a lot less favorably. Boston inked the two-time Cy Young winner to a $10MM guarantee. Kluber had turned in 164 innings with a 4.34 ERA for the Rays a season ago. His stint in Boston didn’t go well, as he was tagged for a 7.04 ERA through 55 frames. The right-hander struggled both during an early-season stint from the rotation and following a bullpen transfer in May.
Making matters worse, Kluber landed on the injured list on June 21 with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. He suffered a setback a month later and never returned to the big league club, although he did pitch twice for Triple-A Worcester in September. There was never any chance the Sox were going to retain him for $11MM. Assuming he wants to continue playing, the 38-year-old could conduct some offseason showcases in hopes of finding a major league contract elsewhere.
White Sox Outright Trayce Thompson, Clint Frazier
The White Sox have sent outfielders Trayce Thompson and Clint Frazier through outright waivers, the team announced. They’re each eligible to elect free agency, although the club didn’t indicate if either player has yet done so. Both players would have qualified for arbitration and seemed easy non-tender decisions.
It is very likely that both will head back to the open market. Thompson, a former Sox draftee, rejoined the team midseason in the Lance Lynn/Joe Kelly deal with the Dodgers. He was on the injured list at the time. Chicago reinstated Thompson on August 3. He hit .171/.261/.232 with a massive 43.5% strikeout rate in 92 plate appearances.
Between the two clubs, he finished the year with a .163/.285/.294 showing while punching out 43% of the time. Thompson had been a key contributor for Los Angeles in the second half of 2022. He’d connected on 13 homers with a .268/.364/.537 slash in 74 games, albeit with a 36% strikeout rate.
Frazier signed a minor league deal with Chicago at the end of April. The club selected him onto the MLB roster a month later. The former #5 overall pick nevertheless spent much of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Charlotte. He hit .231/.363/.442 with a 26.6% strikeout rate at the top minor league level. Frazier got into 33 MLB games this year, running a .197/.303/.242 slash.
Padres To Interview Carlos Mendoza
The Padres will interview Carlos Mendoza this weekend as part of their managerial search, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Yankee bench coach has also sat down with the Mets and Guardians about their respective vacancies.
According to Acee, Mendoza is the fourth candidate to meet with San Diego brass since Bob Melvin left the organization. Internal options Ryan Flaherty and Mike Shildt have already interviewed. The other appears to be Angels infield coordinator Benji Gil, as Acee notes the Friars were impressed by Gil during a sit-down earlier in the week. Former Angels skipper Phil Nevin is reportedly of interest, although it’d seem he has yet to officially interview.
Mendoza, 43, has never managed in the majors. The Venezuela native managed for two seasons in the low minors with the Yankees in the early 2010s. He has otherwise worked in various coaching capacities for New York since concluding his minor league playing career in 2009. He joined Aaron Boone’s MLB staff as infield coach going into the 2018 campaign and has held the bench coach title for the last four seasons. In addition to Cleveland and the Mets, Mendoza has earned managerial consideration from the White Sox and Red Sox in previous offseasons and from the Giants this fall before they hired Melvin.
San Diego is one of six teams with a current vacancy. The Angels, Astros and Brewers are also presently without a bench boss. Acee writes that the Padres could tab their new skipper within the next week.
Matt Carpenter Exercises Player Option
Matt Carpenter has exercised the $5.5MM player option in his contract with the Padres, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). He’ll play out the second season of a two-year, $12MM guarantee.
Triggering the option was likely an easy call for the left-handed hitter. Carpenter had a tough 2023 campaign, hitting .176/.322/.319 with five home runs through 276 trips to the plate. He seemed to fall out of favor with the coaching staff as a result, often going extended stretches without an at-bat. His season ended in mid-September when he landed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation.
Clearly, that wasn’t what the front office envisioned when signing Carpenter a year ago. The longtime Cardinals second baseman had struggled mightily from 2020-21. When a minor league deal with the Rangers didn’t result in a big league opportunity, he considered retirement. Yet he absolutely raked over 47 games when he got a look from the Yankees in May 2022. Carpenter blasted 15 homers in 154 plate appearances, hitting .305/.412/.727. A foot fracture kept his time as a Yankee rather brief, leaving the Padres to gamble on him maintaining some kind of strong offensive form after that relatively small-sample performance.
It didn’t happen in year one. The Padres could give Carpenter another crack at securing a job on the bench, although it doesn’t seem guaranteed he’ll spend the entire offseason on the 40-man roster. In any event, he is assured of next year’s salary. With Seth Lugo making the similarly easy call to decline his option yesterday, the Padres are down to their two more borderline options on right-handers Michael Wacha and Nick Martinez.
Dodgers Sign Max Muncy To Two-Year Extension
The Dodgers announced they’ve signed infielder Max Muncy to a two-year, $24MM extension. The deal also includes a $10MM club option for 2026. The contract overwrites a $14MM option that L.A. had on Muncy’s services for next season.
A client of Hub Sports Management, Muncy will reportedly receive a $5MM signing bonus. He’ll make a $7MM salary next season and $12MM in 2025, while the deal includes additional bonuses based on his plate appearance totals. The contract has a $12MM average annual value.
Muncy, 33, has spent the past six seasons in Los Angeles. Originally an unceremonious addition via minor league contract, he quickly developed into one of the Dodgers’ most important hitters. The lefty-swinging infielder has reached the 35-homer mark in four of the five full schedules. He popped 36 longballs this past season, tying with Jorge Soler for 12th in the majors in that regard.
That power production comes with one of the sport’s more extreme offensive approaches. Muncy is a prototypical three true outcomes hitter. He pairs the home runs with an extremely patient plate approach. The deep counts translate to plenty of walks, as he has drawn a free pass in 15% of his career plate appearances. Yet he’s also prone to strikeouts and runs very low averages on balls in play thanks to a fly-ball heavy swing.
As a result, Muncy has one of the lower batting averages among everyday players. He hit .212/.333/.475 through 579 trips to the plate this past season. That’s on the heels of a .196/.329/.384 showing. Over the last two years, the two-time All-Star sports a .204/.331/.430 line in a little more than 1100 trips to the plate.
That isn’t quite as impressive as Muncy’s production over his first few seasons in Southern California. The overall offensive production is still clearly above-average, however. Muncy’s 118 wRC+ this year indicates he was 18 percentage points better than an average batter. The front office clearly values his contributions, as they’ve now signed him to three separate extensions.
Muncy has a decent amount of experience at first and second base. He spent the entire ’23 campaign at third base, logging a personal-high 1052 innings there. Metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average estimated he was between three and five runs below par at the hot corner. That’s hardly disastrous but aligns with his reputation as a bat-first player.
As he gets into his mid-30s, that profile seems likely to skew increasingly towards offense. Whether Muncy sees another 120+ starts at third base may well be determined by the Dodgers’ subsequent offseason moves. Freddie Freeman is locked in at first base. The club should welcome Gavin Lux back from the ACL tear that cost him all of 2023, likely securing second base. Miguel Vargas, Michael Busch and Chris Taylor are among the possibilities for third base reps, although Muncy is clearly above that group on the depth chart.
The designated hitter role will be one of the stories of the offseason. L.A. will see J.D. Martinez hit free agency in the coming days, although they could make him a qualifying offer. They’re sure to make a run at Shohei Ohtani, a potential addition that would push Muncy back to third base.
Even with this deal in place, the Dodgers have plenty of breathing room financially. Roster Resource projected the 2024 payroll around $127MM before this extension. That’ll sit a little under $140MM now, well below this year’s $223MM Opening Day estimate. The $12MM AAV pushes their luxury tax projection to roughly $155MM. That’s more than $80MM south of next year’s $237MM base threshold.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Dodgers and Muncy were seriously discussing a two-year extension. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first suggested the deal was agreed upon. Murray had the specific salary breakdown.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
A’s Decline Option On Drew Rucinski
The Athletics are declining a $5MM option on right-hander Drew Rucinski, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). That was the expected decision.
Oakland signed Rucinski to a $3MM guarantee last offseason. It was a low-cost flier after the 34-year-old had turned in a 2.97 ERA with the Korea Baseball Organization’s NC Dinos. Injuries derailed his effort to establish himself as an MLB starter. Rucinski made only four starts, allowing 22 runs (18 earned) across 18 innings. He walked 14 while striking out just six.
Rucinski landed on the injured list in mid-May. The team announced the problem as a stomach illness. A bit thereafter, the team announced he was dealing with a degenerative back condition. Rucinski underwent a surgical procedure in July. Alexander notes the rehab is expected to carry into 2024, leaving it unclear when he might be able to take the mound.
Pirates Place Miguel Andujar, Angel Perdomo On Waivers
The Pirates have placed outfielder Miguel Andújar and reliever Angel Perdomo on outright waivers, reports Alex Stumpf of DK Pittsburgh Sports. They join righty Yerry De Los Santos as Pittsburgh players known to be on the waiver wire. Both Andújar and Perdomo will become free agents if they aren’t claimed.
Pittsburgh ran Andújar through waivers twice this past season. The former Rookie of the Year runner-up got into 30 big league contests, hitting .250/.300/.476 with four home runs across 90 plate appearances. He had a very strong offensive showing at Triple-A Indianapolis, running a .338/.404/.536 line while connecting on 16 home runs in 103 games. Andújar walked at a strong 10.1% clip and struck out only 11.8% of the time.
The 28-year-old hasn’t found much major league success since his excellent 2018 debut with the Yankees, however. Paired with questions about his defensive profile, he has fallen into a depth role. With a projected $2.2MM arbitration salary, he looked a very likely non-tender.
Perdomo, a 6’8″ southpaw, made 30 appearances for the Bucs this year. He posted a 3.72 ERA with a massive 37.6% strikeout rate across 29 innings. Perdomo looked as if he’d stake a claim to a spot in the Pittsburgh bullpen before landing on the injured list with season-ending elbow discomfort in August.
Ian Kennedy To Retire
Right-hander Ian Kennedy is retiring, he told Evan Thompson of Sport Relay during last night’s World Series celebration. While Kennedy indicated he had made the decision that this would be his final season going into 2023, he acknowledged “there’s no better way to go out” than as a member of a Rangers team that clinched the franchise’s first title.
The Yankees selected Kennedy in the first round of the 2006 draft. The USC product reached the majors a little more than a year later, debuting as a September call-up in ’07. He saw limited action in the Bronx over the next two-plus seasons. During the 2009-10 offseason, the Yanks dealt Kennedy to the Diamondbacks as part of the three-team blockbuster that moved Max Scherzer to Detroit and Curtis Granderson to New York.
Kennedy spent three and a half seasons as a key piece of the Arizona rotation. He led the National League with 21 wins while pitching to a 2.88 ERA across 222 innings in 2011, securing a fourth-place finish in NL Cy Young balloting. At the 2013 deadline, the Snakes flipped Kennedy to the Padres for Joe Thatcher. He worked out of the San Diego rotation for two and a half seasons, eating around 200 innings annually with a combined 3.97 ERA.
Going into 2016, the Royals signed the hurler to a five-year, $70MM free agent pact. After posting a 3.68 ERA across 33 starts during his first season in K.C., Kennedy struggled in 2017-18. He reinvented himself as a closer in 2019, saving 30 games while posting a 3.41 ERA. He was hit hard in the shortened season and landed with the Rangers on a minor league pact in 2021.
Kennedy had a strong rebound showing in Texas, emerging as one of the better rental relievers on that summer’s trade market. The Rangers dealt him alongside Kyle Gibson to the Phillies. He played out the stretch with Philadelphia, then returned to Arizona on a $4.75MM free agent deal. Kennedy’s return to the desert didn’t go well. He re-signed with the Rangers for 2023, logging 16 1/3 frames over a pair of stints. While he wasn’t on the active roster for Texas’ playoff run, he capped off his playing days with a ring.
It was a storybook punctuation to a 17-year run in the majors. Kennedy logged a little over 1900 innings between six teams, posting a 4.16 ERA. He struck out 1775 hitters, won 104 games and collected 66 saves after his late-career bullpen move. According to Baseball Reference, he banked over $101MM in career earnings. MLBTR congratulates Kennedy on an excellent run and wishes him the best in retirement.
Blue Jays, Whit Merrifield Decline Mutual Option
The Blue Jays informed reporters that second baseman Whit Merrifield has become a free agent (relayed by Kaitlyn McGrath of the Athletic). Both parties declined their end of the $18MM mutual option in his contract. Merrifield will collect a $500K buyout and head to the open market for the first time.
Toronto acquired Merrifield, who turns 35 in January, from the Royals at the 2022 trade deadline. It was a buy-low move for the two-time hits leader, who carried a .240/.290/.352 line at the time. Merrifield turned things around in Canada, hitting .281/.323/.446 down the stretch. He carried that into the first half of this year, posting a .286/.342/.392 slash to secure his third career All-Star nod.
Unlike 2022, Merrifield didn’t perform well in the second half. He limped to a .212/.250/.288 showing from August 1 onward, although his overall season line was still respectable. He concluded the year with a .272/.318/.382 line with 11 home runs through 592 trips to the plate. He stole 26 bases while getting thrown out 10 times.
Merrifield has plus contact skills and is one of the best players in a weak class of free agent middle infielders. He’s arguably the top second baseman available. The White Sox have reportedly identified him as a target, while teams like the Red Sox, Mariners and Pirates could explore the market.
The Jays may remain in that bidding as well. Cavan Biggio, rookie Davis Schneider and Otto López are among the in-house options. They’re certainly not going to offer Merrifield a salary approaching $18MM on an annual basis, but a two-year pact at a lesser value could be attainable. Jean Segura landed a $17MM guarantee over two years last winter when he was coming off a .277/.336/.387 platform showing.