Looking Ahead To Upcoming Club Options: NL West
We’re roughly a third of the way through the 2023 season. Players have had a couple months to build something of a performance track record that’ll play a role in their future contracts. With that in mind, MLBTR will take a look over the coming days at players whose contracts contain team or mutual options to gauge the early trajectory for those upcoming decisions.
We’ll go division by division and open things in the National League West:
Arizona Diamondbacks
- Andrew Chafin: $7.25MM club option ($750K buyout)
Chafin lingered in free agency over the winter after opting out of his deal with the Tigers. The seeming lack of market interest was perplexing given the lefty reliever’s consistent effectiveness over the past few seasons. He’s carried that over into his second stint in the desert. Through 20 1/3 innings, Chafin owns a 3.10 ERA. He’s punched out 36% of opposing hitters on a huge 16.2% swinging strike percentage, both of which would be career-high marks. He’s not a prototypical fireballing reliever but he’s demonstrated he’s capable of missing bats and thriving in high-leverage situations for the past few years. The $6.5MM net decision on next year’s option looks more than reasonable if he keeps this up.
- Zach Davies: $5.5MM mutual option ($300K buyout, rises to $500K with 16+ starts)
Davies has been limited to three starts by a left oblique strain. He has allowed eight runs with a modest 10:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 12 2/3 innings. There’s not much to go on yet in terms of 2023 performance but Davies looked like a borderline fifth starter the previous two years. The Diamondbacks have enough young pitching they seem likelier to buy him out unless the soft-tossing righty rediscovers his 2019-20 form for the stretch run.
- Miguel Castro: $5MM option vests with 60+ appearances; would become $6MM player option with 40+ games finished (no buyout)
Castro has already pitched 26 times since signing with Arizona over the winter. He’s on pace to easily surpass the 60-appearance threshold needed to vest next year’s $5MM option if he can avoid the injured list. It could be a closer call as to whether he can turn that guaranteed $5MM salary into a $6MM player option; Castro has finished 12 games thus far, putting him just off the 40-game pace he’d need to do so. (He’s on pace for 36 games finished). Castro has been effective — a 2.22 ERA with roughly average strikeout, walk and swinging strike numbers through 24 1/3 innings — so vesting the player option and retesting the market isn’t out of the question.
- Mark Melancon: $5MM mutual option ($2MM buyout)
Melancon struggled to a 4.66 ERA in 56 innings during his first season in Arizona. He hasn’t pitched this year on account of a Spring Training shoulder strain. Melancon might return in the second half but this is trending towards the team buying him out.
Colorado Rockies
- Germán Márquez: $16MM team option ($2.5MM buyout)
Márquez underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month. He’ll miss the majority of next season as he rehabs. A healthy Márquez would’ve made this an easy call for the Rockies to exercise but the procedure means they’ll buy him out. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Rox try to bring him back on a lesser salary or a multi-year deal with an eye towards 2025.
- Brad Hand: $7MM team option ($500K buyout)
Hand’s peripherals had fallen back between 2021-22 from his All-Star peak. He’s continued to keep runs off the board and seen a notable bounceback in his strikeout rate since a Spring Training deal with Colorado. Hand owns a 3.20 ERA through 19 2/3 frames while striking out 33.7% of batters faced on a decent 11.6% swinging strike percentage. The veteran southpaw has dominated left-handed hitters and is yet to allow a home run this season. If he maintains this form, he’ll be one of the top reliever trade candidates this summer. If Colorado hangs onto him, they could be faced with an interesting decision as to whether to keep him around for an extra $6.5MM next winter.
Los Angeles Dodgers
- Max Muncy: $10MM club option (no buyout)
The Dodgers signed Muncy to a $13.5MM deal last summer even as he was amidst his worst season since landing in L.A. They’ve been rewarded with a massive bounceback showing. Muncy is tied for second in the majors with 17 home runs. He’s only hitting .208 but carrying a strong .340 on-base percentage thanks to an elite 15.8% walk rate. The $10MM price point would be an easy decision for the Dodgers if Muncy keeps up anything approaching this pace.
- Daniel Hudson: $6.5MM team option (no buyout)
Los Angeles brought Hudson back last summer on the heels of a season-ending ACL tear. The veteran reliever hasn’t recovered as quickly from that procedure as he’d hoped. Hudson hasn’t pitched yet this season. He told reporters last night he’ll throw a bullpen session this week but is without a timeline for a return to game action (via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times). It remains to be seen how he’ll look when he takes the mound.
- Alex Reyes: $3MM team option with escalators ($100K buyout)
The Dodgers took a $1.1MM flier on Reyes after he lost the 2022 season to shoulder surgery. He’s on the 60-day injured list and not expected to be a factor until around the All-Star Break. This one remains to be determined based on his post-rehab form.
- Blake Treinen (option value between $1-7MM dependent on time spent on IL)
Treinen underwent surgery to repair the rotator cuff and labrum in his throwing shoulder last November. He won’t pitch much, if at all, this season. Treinen’s contract contains an option with a floating value between $1MM and $7MM depending on how much time he spends on the injured list and the issue that puts him on the shelf. Its precise value is yet to be determined, but MLBTR has confirmed it’ll land towards the lower end of that range given Treinen’s surgery.
San Diego Padres
- Nick Martinez: team has two-year, $32MM option; if declined, Martinez has two-year, $16MM player option
Martinez has taken on a similar swing role as he served during his first year in San Diego. The right-hander started his first four outings and pitched reasonably well. He was nevertheless bumped back into relief thereafter. For the second consecutive season, Martinez has proven a key multi-inning arm out of the bullpen. He’s posted a 1.35 ERA with a quality 20:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 20 relief innings, holding opponents to a pitiful .240/.278/.267 batting line.
There’s little question of Martinez’s effectiveness in a relief role, though a $16MM average annual value could be pricy if the organization isn’t planning on giving him another look out of the rotation. Perhaps Martinez’s production over the final four months makes this a clearer decision for San Diego by season’s end. As of now, it looks like a borderline call — not too dissimilar from Martinez’s question of whether to opt out of three years and $18MM last winter. The Padres liked him enough to subsequently re-sign him to a $26MM guarantee with the complex option structure.
- Michael Wacha: team has two-year, $32MM option; if declined, Wacha has $6.5MM player option (with successive player options for 2025-26)
Wacha lingered in free agency last winter. Clubs seemed reluctant to buy into his solid results for the Red Sox, a reflection of middling strikeout and ground-ball numbers. Since landing in San Diego, he’s basically repeating last year’s script. The run prevention is excellent; he’s allowed a 3.45 ERA through 57 1/3 innings over ten starts. Wacha is again throwing strikes and keeping runs off the board despite roughly average strikeout and swinging strike rates.
Maintaining a mid-3.00s ERA for a second straight season might build confidence in his ability to outperform ERA estimators that suggest he’s more of a solid #4 starter than a mid-rotation arm. That said, Wacha doesn’t look all that different now than he did three months ago, when he signed a four-year guarantee with a $6.5MM average annual value. A jump to the $16MM per-year range could be a tougher sell for San Diego, although there’s little doubt Wacha would opt out of the final three years and $18.5MM on his contract if he keeps pitching like this and the Padres decline their end.
San Francisco Giants
- Alex Cobb: $10MM team option ($2MM buyout)
Cobb has pitched well since signing a two-year deal with San Francisco over the 2021-22 offseason. He carries a 3.05 ERA through his first 11 starts this year. Cobb’s 60.6% ground-ball rate is stellar and he’s posted average strikeout and walk numbers (21.3% and 6.7%, respectively). An $8MM net decision would be an easy call for the Giants to exercise if Cobb maintains this pace. He’s dealt with injuries in the past but managed 149 2/3 innings over 28 starts last year and has avoided the IL in 2023.
All stats through play Monday.
Tigers To Select Jake Marisnick
The Tigers are selecting newly-acquired outfielder Jake Marisnick onto the major league roster, manager A.J. Hinch informed reporters (including Evan Woodbery of MLive). Detroit will announce corresponding moves tomorrow. The 40-man roster is at capacity, so they’ll either have to designate someone for assignment or place someone on the 60-day injured list.
Detroit’s primary center fielder, Riley Greene, left tonight’s loss to the Rangers due to left leg discomfort. Hinch stressed that the decision to call-up Marisnick is independent of Greene’s situation — the team presumably planned to promote him from the moment they landed him from the White Sox this afternoon — but it could prove a fortuitously timed pickup if Greene requires an injured list stint.
Marisnick adds a glove-first veteran to the Detroit outfield mix. He’s appeared in parts of 11 big league campaigns, including a nine-game showing for the ChiSox earlier this season. Marisnick is a career .228/.281/.384 hitter. He’s thrice reached double digits in home runs but consistently posts worse than average strikeout and walk rates.
The biggest appeal is in his defensive acumen. Marisnick has drawn strong reviews from public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average for his center field work. His marks have predictably dipped from peak levels as he’s gotten into his 30s but he’ll still offer some stability with the glove off the bench.
Greene has started 49 of the 53 games in center field. The former fifth overall pick has been Detroit’s most productive position player, carrying a .296/.362/.443 line with five home runs. Matt Vierling landed on the injured list today, leaving Marisnick and Akil Baddoo as the top options for center field work if Greene requires some time off.
Giants Designate Matt Beaty For Assignment
The Giants announced they’ve designated corner bat Matt Beaty for assignment. The move opens a spot on the 40-man roster for reliever Luke Jackson, who is back from the 60-day injured list. San Francisco had already optioned infielder David Villar to create space on the active roster.
Beaty has spent the bulk of his time in the organization with Triple-A Sacramento. Acquired from the Royals on Opening Day, he has appeared with San Francisco just four times. He singled while striking out twice in five at-bats. Beaty has hit well for the River Cats, compiling a .272/.406/.447 batting line over 129 trips to the plate. He’s walking at a quality 10.9% clip and has kept his strikeouts to a lower than average 18.6% rate.
Unfortunately for Beaty, that wasn’t enough to get him a longer look at Oracle Park. He’s appeared in just 24 MLB games dating back to the start of the 2022 season. The left-handed hitter showed some upside in prior looks with the Dodgers, including a .270/.363/.402 slash over 234 plate appearances during the ’21 campaign. He’s a career .249/.319/.405 hitter at the major league level and owns a .286/.388/.415 line through parts of five Triple-A campaigns.
Beaty clearly has offensive ability, but he’s struggled to carve out a consistent defensive role. He’s played all four corner positions at the major league level, the bulk of that time coming at first base and in left field. Those are the only two positions at which he’s started a game this year in Triple-A.
The Giants will have a week to explore trades or try to run Beaty through waivers. He has between three and four years of service time and is in his final option year, which could draw some attention from other clubs. Were he to go unclaimed on waivers, he’d have the right to test minor league free agency by virtue of both his MLB service time and a previous career outright.
Rockies Recall Blair Calvo
The Rockies announced they’ve recalled reliever Blair Calvo from Triple-A Albuquerque. He’ll be in Bud Black’s bullpen tonight against the Diamondbacks following his first major league call. Karl Kauffmann was optioned out in a corresponding move.
Calvo, 27, has played four-plus seasons professionally. Signed for just $3,000 as a 23rd round draftee out of Florida’s Flagler Junior College in 2019, he’s worked almost exclusively out of the bullpen in the minors. He’s never appeared on an organizational prospects ranking at Baseball America, though Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs praised his plus slider and called him a potential middle reliever this spring.
In 153 2/3 career minor league frames, Calvo has a 4.86 ERA. He’s had the misfortune of working in some hitter-friendly environments on his way up the ladder. That includes this year’s run in Albuquerque, where the righty has allowed 18 runs in as many innings. A huge .426 batting average on balls in play hasn’t done him any favors. Calvo’s 29.2% strikeout rate and 49% ground-ball percentage are both solid, though he’s also walked batters at a 10.1% clip.
The Rockies added Calvo to their 40-man roster last offseason. He’d have otherwise been eligible for the Rule 5 draft. As a result, Colorado doesn’t need to make any 40-man transactions to accommodate his promotion. He’s in his first of three minor league option years and can bounce between Coors Field and the upper minors for the foreseeable future without landing on waivers.
Mariners, Adam Engel Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have signed outfielder Adam Engel to a minor league contract, tweets Triple-A broadcaster Mike Curto. He’s reporting to the M’s top affiliate in Tacoma for his organizational debut this evening. The Icon Sports Management client finds a new landing spot less than a week after being released by the Padres.
Engel only appeared in five major league games for San Diego. Signed to a one-year deal over the offseason after being non-tendered by the White Sox, he opened the season on the injured list with a strained left hamstring. Engel returned from the IL on May 5 but only logged six plate appearances over the next two weeks before the Friars cut him loose.
While his 2023 track record is limited, Engel has had a fairly lengthy run in the major leagues. He’d previously only ever played for Chicago, suiting up for the Sox between 2017-22. Aside from a small sample offensive spike between 2020-21, he’s been a lighter-hitting defensive specialist. The Louisville product is a career .224/.279/.349 hitter in over 1500 plate appearances. A right-handed hitter, Engel hasn’t produced much against pitchers of either handedness.
He’s nevertheless gotten a decent amount of MLB time because of his glove and speed. Engel has 47 career stolen bases and generally rates as a productive overall baserunner. He’s capable of playing anywhere in the outfield and has gotten strong reviews from both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast for his center field work. The Mariners will pencil in Julio Rodríguez daily so long as he’s healthy, while Teoscar Hernández and the platoon of Jarred Kelenic and AJ Pollock are manning the corner outfield.
Neither Hernández nor Pollock has performed well this season and center field prospect Cade Marlowe has posted below-average numbers in Triple-A. The M’s also have Taylor Trammell, Cooper Hummel and utilityman Sam Haggerty on the 40-man roster. Engel adds an experienced glove-first depth option behind that group. He has over five years of MLB service, so if he’s promoted at any point, the Mariners would have to keep him in the majors or designate him for assignment.
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Rockies Reinstate Ryan Rolison, Transfer Ryan Feltner To 60-Day IL
The Rockies reinstated left-hander Ryan Rolison from the 60-day injured list this afternoon. Colorado optioned the former first round pick to Triple-A Albuquerque, so he won’t make his major league debut quite yet. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the Rox transferred righty Ryan Feltner from the 15-day to the 60-day IL. Colorado also placed Charlie Blackmon on the bereavement list and recalled Elehuris Montero before today’s game against the Diamondbacks.
Rolison has been out for almost a year. The Ole Miss product underwent shoulder surgery last June. Had he been healthy, he might’ve reached the majors last season. Rolison was already on the 40-man roster and had reached Triple-A in the second half of the 2021 campaign. Instead, the shoulder problem cost him all of 2022 and the first couple months of this season.
Colorado sent Rolison on a minor league rehab stint a couple weeks ago. He logged six innings over two starts in Low-A before tossing four innings of five-run ball for Albuquerque on Saturday. He’ll remain with the Isotopes and continue building up but could find himself in the mix for a big league look before long. The 25-year-old only has a 6.34 ERA in 49 2/3 innings in Triple-A but he’s punched out roughly a quarter of batters faced in his minor league career.
The Rockies have battled rotation uncertainty all season. Germán Márquez underwent Tommy John surgery and Antonio Senzatela suffered an elbow sprain. Feltner, meanwhile, was struck in the head by a Nick Castellanos line drive on May 14. He was eventually diagnosed with a skull fracture. Feltner told reporters over the weekend he hoped to make it back to the majors this season but understandably indicated his present focus is on getting back to normal after battling concussion symptoms. Today’s IL transfer officially rules him out of action through the All-Star Break.
A’s Designate Jesus Aguilar For Assignment
2:37pm: Oakland officially announced Aguilar’s DFA and Blackburn’s activation from the IL. They also recalled infielder Jonah Bride from Triple-A Las Vegas and optioned reliever Garrett Acton. (Bride’s promotion was first reported by Martín Gallegos of MLB.com.) The 40-man roster tally drops to 39.
10:04am: The A’s are designating first baseman Jesús Aguilar for assignment, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El ExtraBase (Twitter link). The team has not yet announced the move, though it’ll free an active roster spot for right-hander Paul Blackburn once made official. Blackburn is expected to be reinstated from the 15-day injured list to make his season debut tonight against the Braves.
Aguilar’s time in Oakland will prove relatively brief. The A’s signed the right-handed hitter to a $3MM free agent deal at the end of January. It was a buy-low flier on a former All-Star and 35-homer bat who’d had a down 2022 campaign. Aguilar had slumped to a .235/.281/.379 showing in 129 games last season. Towards the end of the year, he was DFA by the Marlins but caught on with the Orioles as part of the September roster expansion.
The Venezuela native didn’t hit well at either spot. Those offensive struggles continued in green and gold. Aguilar has tallied 115 plate appearances over 36 games with the A’s. He’s slumped to a .221/.281/.385 batting line. He has just five home runs and a personal-low 29.3% hard contact rate. His strikeout percentage has jumped a couple points from last year’s 23.5% clip, as he’s gone down on strikes 27% of the time.
Going back to the start of the 2022 campaign, Aguilar carries a .232/.281/.380 slash over 622 trips to the plate. For a player who doesn’t offer much defensive or baserunning value, that production hasn’t been sufficient to hang onto a roster spot. Aguilar was a slightly above-average hitter two seasons back, when he connected on 22 homers with a .261/.329/.459 showing for Miami. He’s now five seasons removed from his aforementioned All-Star showing, when he put up an excellent .274/.352/.539 line for the 2018 Brewers.
Aguilar is still due around $2MM through season’s end. It’s unlikely another team will pick up that tab given his continued struggles. While the A’s have a week to explore trade possibilities, it’s probable Aguilar will return to free agency in the coming days. That could come via release or rejection of an outright assignment in favor of free agency. Aguilar has well over five years of MLB service and can therefore decline a minor league assignment while collecting his entire salary.
The A’s have used the lefty-swinging Ryan Noda as part of a first base platoon with Aguilar of late. A Rule 5 draftee from the Dodgers’ system, Noda has impressed with a .241/.400/.451 showing through his first 50 MLB games. Oakland could give him a few more reps against southpaws, gauging whether he can be more than a platoon bat moving forward. If skipper Mark Kotsay wants to keep Noda in a more sheltered role, Brent Rooker or Aledmys Díaz could pick up a few first base reps against left-handed pitching.
Brewers Designate Luke Voit For Assignment
The Brewers are designating first baseman Luke Voit for assignment, tweets Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Meanwhile, reliever Alex Claudio has been outrighted to Triple-A Nashville after going unclaimed on waivers, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter link).
Voit’s time in Milwaukee likely comes to a close after 22 games. The Brewers signed him to a minor league deal over the offseason. He opted out of that contract towards the end of Spring Training but quickly re-signed on a major league contract with a $2MM base salary for time spent in the majors. Voit was slated to pair with the lefty-swinging Rowdy Tellez at first base and designated hitter.
The 32-year-old didn’t find his footing in Milwaukee. He didn’t connect on a single home run in 74 trips to the plate. Voit hit .221/.284/.265 overall, striking out 27 times while drawing four walks. While he’s always had a fair amount of swing-and-miss, his 36.5% strikeout rate in this year’s small sample would be the worst of his career. He was eventually shelved by a neck strain on May 15.
In conjunction with Voit’s IL placement, Milwaukee signed Darin Ruf to a major league deal. Also a veteran right-handed hitter at the bottom of the defensive spectrum, Ruf looked like a curious fit on a club that already employed Voit. It seemed likely the Brewers would part ways with one of that duo once Voit were healthy. They’ll stick with Ruf, who’s hitting .250/.348/.300 over his first nine games.
Voit’s stock has fallen swiftly over the past three seasons. He was an impact power bat for a time with the Yankees, leading the majors with 22 home runs during the shortened 2020 campaign to secure a ninth-place finish in AL MVP balloting. Voit had hit .263/.378/.464 over a full season the year prior, so that production wasn’t a one-off product of the truncated schedule. He battled various injuries in 2021, though, leading the Yankees to bring in Anthony Rizzo from the Cubs at the trade deadline.
With Voit more or less displaced in the Bronx, the Yankees dealt him to the Padres coming out of the lockout. He hit .225/.317/.416 for San Diego and was packaged to the Nationals in the Juan Soto blockbuster. He slumped on a rebuilding Washington club and was non-tendered. This year’s struggles bring his cumulative batting line to .229/.311/.399 in just shy of 900 plate appearances over the past three seasons.
The Brewers have a week to explore the trade market. If they can’t find a taker, they’ll place Voit on waivers. He surpassed five years of major league service this season. That gives him the right to decline a minor league assignment in favor of free agency while still collecting his entire guaranteed salary if he goes unclaimed.
Claudio has that opportunity as well. The veteran southpaw was designated for assignment on Saturday. He’d pitched only once since his contract was selected a month ago. The 31-year-old had worked to a 2.63 ERA over 13 2/3 innings with Nashville before being called up.
Lance McCullers Jr. No Longer Throwing Off Mound
Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. is no longer throwing from a mound, manager Dusty Baker informed reporters before today’s matchup with the Twins (relayed by Chandler Rome of the Athletic). Baker didn’t provide any additional specifics, noting only the club will “take it slow with Lance until we know that he’s 100 percent.”
It’s unclear how significant this latest development will be — the Astros are as cagy as any team about providing injury updates — but it represents a scaling back from where McCullers was a couple weeks ago. He’d progressed to bullpen sessions in mid-May but had moved back to throwing from flat ground of late. General manager Dana Brown recently pegged the All-Star Break as a loose estimate for his return to a big league mound; it’s unclear if or to what extent that timeline might now be delayed.
McCullers hasn’t pitched this year on account of a muscle strain in his forearm that was diagnosed over the offseason. It marked the continuation of arm issues for the 29-year-old, who was diagnosed with a flexor strain during the 2021 postseason. That cost him until mid-August last year. McCullers returned to make 11 starts between the regular season and playoffs to help the Astros to a World Series title but unfortunately again battled arm soreness over the winter.
The right-hander also has a Tommy John surgery in his history, having undergone the procedure over the 2018-19 offseason. There’s nothing to suggest he’s in danger of going back under the knife to address the current issue but it adds another reason for the Astros to be particularly cautious as they navigate any bumps in his recovery process.
McCullers has proven a very effective pitcher when healthy. He owns a career 3.48 ERA in 718 2/3 regular season innings and has a nearly identical 3.47 mark over 72 2/3 postseason frames. He allowed only 2.27 earned runs per nine innings over his eight regular season starts last year. McCullers’ upper mid-rotation form led the Astros to sign him to a five-year, $85MM extension in March 2021. That deal covers the 2022-26 campaigns. He’s making $15.25MM this season and will be paid $17MM annually over the next three years.
His absence is one of a number of rotation issues for the Astros. Houston lost Luis Garcia to Tommy John surgery earlier this month. José Urquidy is battling shoulder discomfort and might not be back until around the All-Star Break. Cristian Javier, Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown have been fantastic, but the injuries have forced Houston to lean on depth options like J.P. France and Brandon Bielak at the back of the staff. There’s virtually no experienced depth in the organization beyond that quintet, so the rotation figures to be a deadline target area for Brown and his front office.