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Tigers, Ashton Goudeau Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Tigers are in agreement with right-hander Ashton Goudeau on a minor league deal, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. The right-hander adds some pitching depth to the upper levels of the Detroit system.

Goudeau, 30, has appeared at the major league level in three consecutive seasons. Aside from five innings with the Reds in 2021 as part of some shuffling around on the waiver wire, Goudeau has spent his entire MLB career with the Rockies. He’s worked 63 innings over 32 relief outings, compiling a 5.57 ERA with a modest 14.6% strikeout rate and somewhat lofty 10.6% walk percentage.

That included 20 1/3 innings over 12 outings fairly early into the year for Colorado last season. Goudeau surrendered a little over seven earned runs per nine frames and lost his spot on the 40-man roster in early August. He went unclaimed on waivers and finished out the season in Triple-A before reaching minor league free agency at year’s end.

Goudeau had a brutal year with the Rox’s top affiliate in Albuquerque. He started 15 of 20 appearances there and compiled 64 1/3 innings. He was tagged for a 9.51 ERA in one of affiliated ball’s toughest environments for pitchers. Goudeau’s 7.3% walk rate there was solid but he didn’t miss many bats and allowed over two home runs per nine.

He’ll look to put that nightmarish season behind him in a new organization. Goudeau has had a tough time in hitter-friendly atmospheres at both the MLB and Triple-A levels, but his lower minors track record is more solid. He carries a 4.25 ERA in 279 1/3 career Double-A frames. He’s shown a three-pitch mix at the big league level, backing up a low-90s fastball with a curveball and changeup. He’ll add some rotation or multi-inning relief depth to the Detroit system and figures to open the season with Triple-A Toledo.

Tim Anderson Hoping For Extension Talks With White Sox

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White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson is hoping for a healthier season after a torn tendon in his left middle finger ended his 2022 campaign at the beginning of August. Now healthy and back in camp, the two-time All-Star also expressed a desire to sort out his long-term contractual status.

Speaking with Scott Merkin of MLB.com, Anderson noted he “kind of (wants) to know where (his) feet are going to be at the next whatever years it is.” The former batting champion said he’s “so comfortable” in Chicago and hopeful of getting another deal done as quickly as possibly. “I have a lot of things that are going on with kids and just family. Being comfortable is huge for me,” he told Merkin. “No, I’m not promoting ‘pay me.’ It’s just that’s what’s really going on. Everybody knows I want to be here. It’s no secret.”

Whether the organization has a similar level of urgency isn’t known. Chicago is not facing Anderson’s imminent departure. The sides have already worked out one long-term deal, guaranteeing him $25MM back in March 2017 at a time when he had less than one year of major league service. He’s under contract for $12.5MM for the upcoming season and has a $14MM club option (or a $1MM buyout) for the 2024 campaign. It’d take a disastrous season for the club to consider the buyout, as the net $13MM decision is well below Anderson’s present open market value.

With Anderson far more established and much closer to free agency than he was at the time of his first extension, any new deal would be at a completely different level financially. Anderson told Merkin he’s not interested in signing a below-market pact to ensure an agreement gets done. “No discounts. That’s not to … put anything out there that might seem negative or think I want the most money. I just want to be treated fair and want both ends to be happy like we did last time, whichever way it goes,” he said. “This has been home. This is all I know. I would be disappointed if that came to an end. But at the end of the day, I understand the process.”

If he were to simply play out his current deal (assuming the ’24 option is exercised), Anderson would first reach free agency in advance of his age-31 season. That’s two years older than Trevor Story and Javier Báez were when signing their free agent deals over the 2021-22 offseason and two years older than Dansby Swanson was this winter. Anderson would be the same age as Marcus Semien was two offseasons back.

Each of those players secured deals of six-plus years with guarantees in the $140MM to $180MM range. Anderson isn’t the same style of hitter as those other players, hitting for a little less power but more consistently running excellent batting averages than each. He’s been similarly effective overall though.

Since the start of the 2019 season, Anderson owns a .318/.347/.473 line in over 1600 plate appearances. His 123 wRC+ indicates that production checks in 23 percentage points above that of the league average batter. His 2022 campaign was a little down relative to his previous three seasons, with a .301/.339/.395 line before his season-ending hand injury. Nevertheless, the broader track record at the dish is in line with those of Semien, Story and Báez and a little above Swanson’s. Semien, Story and Báez each had a wRC+ between 113 and 119 over the four-year stretch preceding their free agent deals, while Swanson had a cumulative 104 mark but had posted his three best seasons leading up to free agency.

Anderson is perhaps not the same caliber of defender as Báez or Swanson, though he typically rates as a slightly above-average shortstop by public metrics like DRS and Statcast’s Outs Above Average. Story and Semien each came with questions about whether they were better suited for second base in the relatively near future. There aren’t expected to be those same concerns with Anderson.

Those comparisons lend a rough idea to the kind of range Anderson and his reps could target in free agency. There’s additional risk with Anderson considering he’s still two years from the open market, and the ChiSox may be reluctant to offer true market value prices to buy out his mid-30’s this far in advance. That said, any extension would require the largest investment in franchise history by a wide margin. The White Sox have never guaranteed above $75MM to an individual player — on their five-year deal with Andrew Benintendi this winter — and Anderson could reasonably look to more than double that amount.

If the Sox don’t get an extension done this spring, there’s at least some chance Anderson’s future with the organization could come into doubt by the middle of the season. Chicago showed no interest in trading him this offseason, an unsurprising stance for a club counting on a return to contention after an injury-marred year that culminated in an average showing. If they struggle early in the upcoming season and fall out of the playoff mix, the organization could have to consider larger-scale changes as the deadline nears. The Sox have arguably the game’s worst farm system and key players like Anderson, Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn are all within two years of free agency. Another non-competitive season could lead the front office to consider a reboot during the summer.

Chicago is certainly hoping it doesn’t come to that, either because a long-term deal for Anderson takes a trade firmly off the table or the club is in strong enough position to buy at the deadline. The Sox have a decent amount of payroll flexibility past the 2024 campaign, with only Benintendi ($16.5MM) and Luis Robert ($15MM) under guaranteed deals. Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, Andrew Vaughn and Garrett Crochet will be deep into their arbitration seasons by then, however, and the organization will have to retain or replace Giolito, Yoán Moncada and Eloy Jiménez. There’s opportunity but a decent number of decisions facing general manager Rick Hahn and his staff as things play out.

MLB Monitoring Diamond Sports Group Uncertainty

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Diamond Sports Group, the corporation which owns the Bally Sports networks responsible for local broadcasts of a number of MLB teams, forewent interest payments worth roughly $140MM to creditors last Wednesday (Associated Press link). The decision kicked off a 30-day window for Diamond to determine whether it is capable of meeting its debt obligations or is going to default on its commitments.

The missed payment came as no surprise, with various reports noting Diamond’s rough financial situation for months. Should the corporation default and potentially file for bankruptcy, it’d likely have a few options: honor its existing contractual commitments, withdraw from the deals, or attempt to renegotiate its contracts at more manageable rates. Diamond has separate broadcasting deals with all 14 MLB clubs* with which it has contracts; renegotiations, if things come to that, would be at a team-by-team level rather than in any kind of package deal.

There’s still plenty to be determined about the company’s next steps. Its precarious financial position places a great deal of uncertainty about the stability of local TV rights for the clubs that have contracts with Diamond, however. Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the situation at last week’s owners meetings, noting that the league is exploring alternatives to make sure those teams don’t lose in-market broadcasting (link via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN).

“Obviously, our first choice would be that Diamond pay the clubs what they’re contractually obligated to pay them, but because I guess I’m a contingency planner by nature, we are prepared no matter what happens with respect to Diamond to make sure that games are available to fans in their local markets,” Manfred said. “We think it will be both linear in the traditional cable bundle and digitally on our own platforms, but that remains to be seen. … Our first hope is that Diamond figures out a way to pay the clubs and broadcast the games like they’re contractually obligated to do.”

The league makes most out-of-market games available to subscribers to its MLB TV package. However, clubs’ local broadcasting deals supersede the league platform, leading to blackouts of in-market games on MLB TV. Manfred broadly indicated a desire to eventually permit MLB TV consumers to purchase various broadcasts both within and out of market (via Hannah Keyser of Yahoo! Sports), though that certainly won’t happen on a league-wide level anytime soon.

MLB has already branched out into various streaming deals. The league agreed to contracts with Apple and NBC for broadcasting arrangements on those companies’ respective streaming services last year. It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see MLB negotiate similar deals with other platforms over coming seasons. Those contracts — paired with various postseason TV deals, including a new broadcasting contract with ESPN tied to the creation of the Wild Card round in the most recent CBA — highlight the kind of national revenue bases the league will certainly continue to explore outside the realm of local broadcasting. Nevertheless, the uncertainty with Diamond is sure to be an area of concern within the league office over the coming months.

Diamond first purchased various regional sports networks, which had been under the Fox Sports moniker, from Disney in 2019. The company reportedly took on roughly $8 billion in debt to facilitate that transaction. As Travis Sawchik of The Score explored last month, rates of cable ownership have dropped precipitously over the past couple years, contributing to Diamond’s revenues falling short of its expectations. Declining cable rates are generally expected to continue in the future given the ongoing rise of various streaming platforms.

Concerns about a potential default have raised questions about the player payrolls for the teams that rely on local broadcasting fees from Diamond. It’s still too early in the process for clubs to have a firm idea if/how Diamond’s situation will affect player spending, though it’s something those organizations are surely monitoring.

Cardinals’ chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. addressed the situation shortly before Diamond failed to make its February 15 interest payment, for instance. “It’s a concern and a fluid situation, there’s no question about it,” he said last week (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). “Something is going to happen sooner rather than later. It’s a big part of our revenue stream. We have nice rights fees. The (RSN) model is at risk. We’re operating like, no, it’s going to stay, but the reality is there’s going to be change.”

The situation has led to concerns about the possibility of a lowered salary cap in both the NHL and NBA. Those leagues, which have player spending fixed to league revenues as part of their respective collective bargaining agreements, each have a number of clubs with broadcasting agreements with Diamond. MLB, of course, has no salary cap. The MLB Players Association has steadfastly resisted any hard limitations on team spending throughout past CBA negotiations.

Questions about a potential league push for a cap arose again over the weekend. MLB created an Economic Reform Committee, which the commissioner indicated was in response to both this ongoing local TV uncertainty and more longstanding concern about revenue disparities between franchises. There’s little chance of the MLBPA entertaining a cap during the next round of collective bargaining negotiations in 2026, however. That would’ve been true regardless of the status of local RSN contracts but seems apparent as ever in light of the questions facing those cap leagues.

* The Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Guardians, Marlins, Padres, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Tigers, and Twins are all broadcast by Bally.

Rockies Notes: Bryant, Bird, Suter

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Kris Bryant’s first season in Colorado didn’t go as envisioned, with injuries combining to limit the former MVP to 42 games. Bryant hit well in that limited look, posting a .306/.376/.475 line with a career-low 14.9% strikeout rate, but he spent virtually the entire second half on the injured list due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

Now healthy for Spring Training, Bryant will get a second crack at serving as Colorado’s primary left fielder. Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette writes that the four-time All-Star also remains open to logging some time on the infield if needed. Bryant played exclusively left field or designated hitter during his first season in Denver, though he obviously has plenty of corner infield experience from his time with the Cubs and Giants.

The Rox already have a decent amount of corner infield depth. C.J. Cron and Ryan McMahon are again lined up for work at first and third base, respectively. Michael Toglia and Sean Bouchard are on hand as first base options behind Cron. Offseason acquisition Nolan Jones and second-year player Elehuris Montero are bat-first players but can cover either corner infield slot. Alan Trejo and non-roster invitee Harold Castro are also in the mix as infield defenders with some flexibility to move around the diamond.

In other news out of Colorado:

  • Right-hander Jake Bird recently strained his left oblique, manager Bud Black informed reporters (including Thomas Harding of MLB.com). He’s expected to miss the next four to six weeks. That takes the 27-year-old out of play for the World Baseball Classic — where he’d been slated to represent Israel — and, of more import to Colorado fans, puts his availability for the start of the season in jeopardy. Bird made his major league debut last June and was a fairly frequent bullpen option down the stretch. He got into 38 contests, posting a 4.91 ERA across 47 2/3 innings. Bird’s strikeout and walk profile wasn’t especially impressive but he induced grounders on an excellent 55.7% of batted balls.
  • A pair of veteran bullpen pickups marked some of the biggest moves in a quiet Colorado offseason. Righty Pierce Johnson signed a one-year free agent deal, while the Rox claimed veteran southpaw Brent Suter off waivers from Milwaukee. Black told reporters he’d been among those pushing general manager Bill Schmidt to put in a claim once Milwaukee put Suter on waivers back in November (link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). With the Harvard product eligible for arbitration for a final time, the Brewers waived Suter after determining they weren’t going to tender him a contract. Colorado was happy to keep Suter around for his last arbitration season, with the sides agreeing to a $3MM salary within two weeks of the waiver claim. The 33-year-old posted a 3.78 ERA over 66 2/3 innings of long relief last season. He doesn’t throw hard or pick up many whiffs, but he consistently keeps the ball on the ground and fills the strike zone. The latter trait seems especially appealing to Colorado brass, as Black told reporters the club is emphasizing better strike-throwing at the back end of games. Rockies relievers walked 9.9% of opponents last season, the fifth-highest rate in the league.

The Rangers’ Multi-Inning Relief Weapon

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The Rangers spent most of last year out of playoff contention, in significant part due to an inability to win close games. Texas finished 26 games under .500 despite a relatively modest -36 run differential, with a staggering 15-35 record in one-run contests dooming any chance they had of sticking around the periphery of the Wild Card race.

Any time a team is that bad in close games, it’s safe to assume they were victimized by a lack of clutch hitting. That was true of Texas, although their struggles also reflected a middling relief corps. Ranger relievers finished 21st in strikeout/walk rate differential and tied for sixth in blown saves (28). Nevertheless, the Rangers shied away from any splashy additions to the bullpen this winter. They instead poured virtually all their resources into completely overhauling the starting rotation.

That’s a strong show of faith in the club’s internal bullpen options. It’s a relatively young group but one that has a few players coming off strong 2022 seasons. Hard-throwing righties José Leclerc and Jonathan Hernández returned from Tommy John rehabs to impress down the stretch. Meanwhile, left-hander Brock Burke quietly put forth an excellent year as a multi-inning weapon.

Burke underwent a significant surgery of his own a few years back. He’d debuted in the big leagues with six unsuccessful starts in 2019 and required a procedure to fix a labrum tear in his throwing shoulder the ensuing offseason. Burke would’ve missed the entire ’20 season regardless of whether a full schedule were played. He returned to health in 2021 but spent the whole year on optional assignment to Triple-A Round Rock.

When he took the mound for his 2022 debut on April 10, it represented his first big league outing in two and a half years. The Rangers unsurprisingly deployed him in mostly low-stakes innings for the season’s first month. After posting a 20:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio through the end of April, Burke increasingly found himself in more meaningful game states. He’d remain a consistent weapon throughout the year, posting an ERA below 4.00 in each month — including a sub-3.00 mark for the first four months of the season.

Called upon 52 times, Burke soaked up an MLB-leading 82 1/3 innings of relief. No reliever faced more than the 328 batters that stepped in against him. Despite frequently going into a second inning, Burke remained very productive on a per-batter basis. He held opponents to a putrid .211/.275/.356 line, striking out an above-average 27.4% of batters faced with a solid 7.3% walk rate. He compiled a 1.97 ERA. Estimators like FIP and SIERA felt his production was more akin to that of a low-3.00’s ERA hurler, but even regression to that level would leave Burke as a quality high-leverage arm.

Now 26, Burke had been a solid prospect prior to his shoulder injury. Acquired from the Rays in the three-team deal that sent Jurickson Profar to Oakland over the 2018-19 offseason, he appeared among Texas’ top 30 farmhands at Baseball America over his first two years in the organization. Evaluators regarded him as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter, though his injury threw that off course. Burke told reporters (including Levi Weaver of the Athletic) over the offseason he was hopeful of getting another crack in the rotation. The Rangers’ activity in that regard rules that out, at least to open the year, and the former third-round draftee added he was content with whatever role he’s assigned.

The Rangers seem poised to count on him even more heavily out of the bullpen. General manager Chris Young left open the possibility of Burke getting some ninth-inning work for the first time in his career, though he suggested the multi-inning fireman role might be more valuable for first-year skipper Bruce Bochy. Young implied the team could look to get Burke as many as 100 innings of relief in 2023, a tally only once reached in MLB over the past decade (by then-Rays southpaw Ryan Yarbrough, who frequently operated as a bulk pitcher behind an opener, in 2018).

Whatever the role, it’s clear Burke has put himself among Texas’ most important relievers. The club watched Matt Moore sign with the division-rival Angels and lost Brett Martin for at least the bulk of the upcoming season to shoulder surgery. Taylor Hearn, John King and non-roster invitee Danny Duffy are still in the mix, but the Rangers’ left-handed bullpen contingent isn’t as strong as it was six months ago. Burke certainly won’t function in a lefty specialist capacity but is certain to get plenty of looks against opposing teams’ best hitters from either side of the dish. While that wasn’t the case at this time a year ago, he’s now entrenched in the bullpen after his breakout season.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Diamondbacks Have Opened Extension Conversations With Corbin Carroll

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The D-Backs have opened discussions with rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll about a potential long-term extension, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Neither the numbers under consideration nor likelihood of a deal coming together are known, though Piecoro cautions no agreement appears imminent.

It’s no surprise to hear Arizona would like to keep Carroll around for even longer than their allotted six seasons of club control. The Snakes selected the 22-year-old in the first round of the 2019 draft and quickly saw him blossom into one of the sport’s most touted young players. Carroll combined for a .307/.425/.611 line in the minors last season, earning his first major league call in late August. He made it into 32 big league games, starting off with a .260/.330/.500 showing with four home runs through his first 115 plate appearances.

Carroll is now cemented on the major league roster. Arizona dealt Daulton Varsho to Toronto for young catcher Gabriel Moreno, thanks in large part to their surplus of left-handed hitting outfielders. Piecoro writes that Carroll is ticketed for left field work during the upcoming season, presumably leaving center field to Alek Thomas and right field to some combination of Jake McCarthy, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Kyle Lewis.

Among that group, none is more highly-regarded than Carroll. Each of Baseball America, ESPN and The Athletic slotted him among the game’s top three prospects this offseason, with The Athletic’s Keith Law naming him the sport’s best rookie talent. Carroll is regarded as a potential face-of-the-franchise player, with evaluators effusive in their praise for his contact skills, power and athleticism.

The D-Backs already control the Seattle native at least through the 2028 season. He won’t qualify for arbitration until after the 2025 campaign at the earliest. Arizona surely doesn’t envision sending Carroll back to the minors, though if he struggles and winds up demoted at any point, his path to arbitration and/or free agency could be delayed further.

Even if Carroll is in the majors to stay, the six-year control window means the Snakes aren’t facing any urgency to keep him off the market. That said, the chances of pushing back his path to free agency would only figure to decrease over time if Carroll performs at the level the organization expects.

It’s not uncommon for teams to try to hammer out early-career deals with young players of this caliber. A handful of players have signed extensions even before making their MLB debuts, with Luis Robert securing the largest guarantee among that subset of players. Robert — regarded by Baseball America as the game’s #2 prospect at the time — signed a six-year, $50MM guarantee that included a pair of club options over the 2019-20 offseason to extend Chicago’s window of control by two seasons. Carroll already has a bit of MLB success under his belt and is assured of a major league roster spot heading into next season. It stands to reason his camp would aim higher than the Robert deal, particularly since the extension market has advanced over the past couple years.

Rays shortstop Wander Franco and Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez have signed massive extensions within the last 14 months. Franco’s deal guaranteed $182MM over 11 years and included a club option for a 12th season. Rodríguez’s deal was more complex, guaranteeing $210MM over 12 years and including a number of club/player options that could keep him in Seattle for an eye-popping 18 seasons.

The Franco extension more closely aligns with where Carroll is at in his career. Rodríguez had already made Seattle’s Opening Day roster before signing his extension midway through last season. He was well on his way to the Rookie of the Year award and was certain to accrue a full year of service time, essentially putting him in the 1-2 year service bucket at signing.

Franco, on the other hand, signed his deal over an offseason when he had some MLB time but less than a full year of service. That makes Carroll an apples-to-apples comparison from a service perspective, although the Tampa Bay shortstop arguably had a stronger negotiating platform than the Arizona outfielder does now. Franco had played in a little more than twice as many MLB games as Carroll has, suiting up 70 times for the Rays during his debut season. He’d hit .288/.347/.463 with seven homers and a minuscule 12% strikeout rate over 308 regular season plate appearances and posted an OPS north of 1.100 in four playoff games.

That’s a more robust MLB résumé than Carroll has yet been able to accrue. Franco was also a year younger last winter than Carroll is now and arguably an even more highly-regarded prospect. Franco had ranked as the sport’s #1 prospect at Baseball America in both 2020 and ’21. He’d also played in 82 more minor league games than Carroll has. That’s attributable to a 2021 labrum tear for the Diamondback, one which required season-ending surgery after just seven High-A games.

Clearly, Carroll showed no ill effects of that procedure in 2022. He rebounded with an excellent season and is now universally regarded as one of the league’s top young talents. Yet Franco was probably a slightly safer long-term bet at the time of his contract — thanks both to the absence of any serious injuries on his history and his lengthier big league track record.

The Braves worked out a long-term deal with the eventual National League Rookie of the Year last summer as well. Michael Harris II signed for eight years and $72MM with a pair of club options in August. Harris had less than a year of service at the time of his deal but his eventual award win would earn him a full service year at season’s end. He’d already established himself as a Gold Glove caliber center fielder at the time of his contract, though his offensive projection is perhaps a bit more uncertain than Carroll’s. Harris carried an excellent .287/.325/.500 line in 268 MLB plate appearances at the time of his contract, albeit with some questions about the sustainability of his .345 average on balls in play.

Arizona’s long-term payroll outlook is wide open. The D-Backs have just $42MM in estimated commitments on the books by the 2024 season, according to Roster Resource. Only Ketel Marte has a guaranteed deal that runs beyond ’24, with respective salaries of $16MM, $16MM and $14MM between 2025-27. Arizona will open this season with a player payroll around $119MM, so there’s certainly room on the books for an extension for a player whom the organization views as a cornerstone.

That might all prove a moot point if Carroll and his camp aren’t anxious to negotiate a longer-term agreement. It’s possible he’d prefer to bet on himself to establish more of a track record before discussing an extension, particularly since he received a signing bonus worth just under $3.75MM out of high school. Whether negotiations progress will make for an interesting subplot to D-Backs’ camp over the coming weeks.

Rangers To Sign Joe Palumbo To Minor League Deal

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Left-hander Joe Palumbo took a physical today to finalize a minor league contract with the Rangers, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Assuming all went as planned, he’ll return to the organization where he began his professional career as a 30th-round draftee in 2013.

Palumbo reached the highest level with Texas between 2019-20. He combined for nine MLB appearances over those two seasons, starting four games. He threw 19 innings and allowed 20 runs, surrendering a staggering eight home runs. Palumbo struck out 26 hitters (an above-average 27.4% rate) but struggled with both walks and hard contact in that brief look.

At the beginning of the 2021-22 offseason, Texas took Palumbo off the 40-man roster. The Giants claimed him but almost immediately non-tendered him, sending him to free agency. Palumbo returned to San Francisco on a minor league pact but only pitched three times in Triple-A before being released. He’d barely pitched in 2020-21 either, spending most of that two-year stretch on the injured list.

All told, Palumbo has logged just 14 innings between MLB and the minors over the last three seasons. Prior to the injury concerns, the New York native had been regarded as one of the better prospects in the Rangers’ system. He slotted among the top 11 Texas farmhands at Baseball America each year between 2017-20, drawing particular praise for his curveball.

Palumbo is expected to be assigned directly to minor league camp once his deal is finalized. That suggests he’s not under consideration for an Opening Day roster spot but positions him to head to Triple-A Round Rock to open 2023. The 28-year-old has pitched in parts of nine minor league campaigns, carrying a 3.03 ERA with a 28.3% strikeout rate and a 9.8% walk percentage in a little less than 400 minor league innings.

Rays Notes: Diaz, Poche, Arbitration, Stadium

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The Rays expect to deploy Yandy Díaz frequently at first base during the upcoming season, manager Kevin Cash informed reporters (link via Joe Trezza of MLB.com). He’ll presumably pick up the lion’s share of at-bats there after Tampa Bay dealt Ji-Man Choi to the Pirates at the start of the offseason.

Díaz has plenty of experience at the position, logging just under 1000 MLB innings there. He led the team in first base playing time as recently as 2021 — narrowly topping Choi that season — but spent the bulk of his 2022 campaign at third base. Díaz started only 15 games at first last season and was penciled in at the hot corner on 97 occasions. Public defensive metrics have never rated him especially favorably there. Last season was no exception, with both Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved grading him among the league’s bottom five defensive third basemen.

The 31-year-old is coming off arguably the best season of his career on the other side of the ball, however. Díaz hit .296/.401/.423 with nine home runs and more walks than strikeouts in 558 trips to the plate. The Rays rewarded him with a three-year deal to buy out his final two arbitration seasons and extend their window of club control by potentially two years (including a 2026 club option). He’ll surely be in the lineup on most days and manning first base would lighten his defensive responsibilities while leaving greater opportunities at the hot corner for players like Isaac Paredes and Taylor Walls.

In other news out of Tampa:

  • The club won arbitration hearings over relievers Colin Poche and Ryan Thompson over the weekend. After the decisions were handed out, Poche expressed some frustration with the arbitrators who heard his case (link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). “I thought my agency, and the lawyers from the Players Association, made a really strong case. I thought we had a good chance,” Poche said. “But that’s kind of what happens when you leave it up to a panel of arbitrators who have experience in the process, but they’re outside the realm of baseball. So there’s a lot of things that maybe we place more importance on that they don’t fully grasp the same level of importance.” The left-hander indicated he felt the panel wasn’t properly suited to value non-closing relievers, in particular, and opined the arbitrators didn’t place enough emphasis on his 23 holds last season. Poche stressed he had no gripes with the Rays or the manner in which they presented their case (as did Thompson), confining his criticism to the arbitrators themselves. Both players had small filing gaps relative to the salaries they’ll wind up making. Poche will make $1.175MM rather than his desired $1.3MM, while Thompson will collect $1MM instead of a $1.2MM filing figure.
  • The Rays’ efforts to get a new stadium in the Tampa area took a step forward a few weeks back when St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch backed the club’s proposal for a redevelopment plan of the city’s Gas Plant district. That doesn’t tie the franchise to the city but sets the stage for continued negotiations. Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times provided an update on the process over the weekend, reporting the city has begun drafting a term sheet that’d commit the Rays to St. Petersburg for an initial term of 30 years if eventually agreed upon. Those drafts have yet to specify any proposed funding commitments between the city, Pinellas County and the Rays’ organization. That’ll obviously be a key issue to hammer out over the coming months, with the process expected to continue well into the summer. Wright notes the city retained a Minneapolis-based law firm last week in preparation for negotiations.

Mariners, Kean Wong Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners are signing infielder Kean Wong to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. He joins older brother Kolten Wong in the organization.

Kean Wong, 27, is a former fourth-round draftee of the Rays. He split the 2019 campaign between Tampa Bay and the Angels, later suiting up with the Halos for 32 contests in 2021. Wong has 84 MLB plate appearances to his name, carrying a .167/.188/.218 line with 23 strikeouts and two walks in that brief look.

Like his brother, the younger Wong is primarily a second baseman. He has played nearly 5000 innings at the keystone over parts of nine professional seasons. Wong also has a decent amount of experience at third base and has logged some corner outfield work.

The left-handed hitter re-signed on a minor league deal with the Angels last winter after being designated for assignment. He spent the whole year with their highest affiliate in Salt Lake, tallying 565 plate appearances through 128 games. Wong hit .262/.342/.332 with a lofty 10.8% walk percentage and average 22.1% strikeout rate. His on-base numbers were solid but came without much power, as he connected on only three home runs, 18 doubles and four triples despite playing in the extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Wong did steal 41 bases in 47 attempts for the Bees, bringing him to 126 stolen bases over his minor league career. He’s now a .285/.352/.399 hitter over parts of five Triple-A campaigns. Wong joins Colin Moran, Drew Ellis and Mike Ford among the non-roster infielders with big league experience who’ll be in camp.

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