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Reds Acquire Nick Solak From Rangers

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The Reds have acquired outfielder Nick Solak from the Rangers in exchange for cash considerations, according to an announcement from Texas.

Solak, 28, in January, was a second round pick of the Yankees in 2016 but was traded to the Rays as part of the 2018 three-team deal that saw the Yanks get Brandon Drury and the Diamondbacks get Steven Souza Jr. In July of 2019, the Rays flipped him to Texas for Pete Fairbanks.

After that second trade, Solak made his MLB debut with the Rangers, getting into 33 games down the stretch in 2019. It could hardly have gone much better, as Solak hit .293/.393/.491 in that stretch for a wRC+ of 126. He played second and third base in that time, giving the Rangers an exciting option for the infield.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to maintain those results since then. Over 2020 and 2021, he hit .250/.318/.357 for a wRC+ of just 88. He also struggled defensively and got pushed into a corner outfield role, putting more pressure on him to provide value offensively. He was optioned on and off the team throughout 2022, only getting into 35 big league games and not hitting too much when in the lineup. He finished the season on the IL due to a foot fracture and needed to be reinstated since the IL goes away today and doesn’t come back until Spring Training. Instead of adding him back to the roster, the club has swung a deal and sent him to Cincinnati.

For the Reds, there’s little harm in taking a shot on a bounceback. They’ve been stripping the roster down for the past couple of years and aren’t likely to be competitive here in 2023. Although Solak has struggled at the big league level in the past few years, he’s still performed well in Triple-A. In 2022, that led to a batting line of .278/.371/.489 and a wRC+ of 114.

The Reds have some other outfield options, such as Nick Senzel, TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley and Aristides Aquino, though none of them are really set in stone. Solak still has one option year remaining, which means the Reds don’t even need to commit an active roster spot for him. If he can get his bat back on track, he still has years of arbitration control remaining.

Rangers Offered Martin Perez Two-Year Contract, Expected To Extend Qualifying Offer

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The Rangers have offered left-hander Martín Pérez a two-year contract with an option for the 2025 campaign, reports Jeff Wilson. While Wilson characterizes the sides as “not too far apart,” he notes Texas is expected to tag Pérez with a $19.65MM qualifying offer tomorrow with no multi-year deal in place.

That meshes with a report from MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, who called a QO for Pérez “likely” yesterday. Texas general manager Chris Young has indicated the team is considering a QO but has thus far not made any definitive statement about the team’s course of action. If the Octagon client were to reject a QO and sign elsewhere, the Rangers would pick up a compensatory draft choice between Competitive Balance Round B and the third round (roughly 75th overall) next summer.

Assuming the Rangers go through with the QO, Pérez will have ten days to gauge interest from other teams before deciding whether to accept. A $19.65MM salary would easily be the highest single-season salary in the southpaw’s career, well above this year’s $4MM figure. That possible raise, of course, is a reflection of his All-Star 2022 campaign. The 31-year-old soaked up 196 1/3 innings through 32 starts, pitching to a 2.89 ERA while racking up grounders at a strong 51.4% clip.

That durability and reliability was particularly valuable to a Texas team that otherwise had a lackluster starting staff. Jon Gray was effective when healthy but battled some injury concerns during his first year in Arlington. Dane Dunning was a useful back-of-the-rotation arm, but the rest of Texas’ starters were inconsistent or ineffective. It’s little surprise the Rangers would look to keep Pérez around with the rotation presenting their biggest need, but there’s also reason to question how replicable his 2022 success may be.

Pérez had bounced around a bit in recent years. A top prospect early in his days with Texas, he had a decent age-22 campaign in 2013 but never took the anticipated jump to the top or middle of a rotation. Pérez posted an ERA above 4.30 every year between 2014-21, eventually moving from Texas to Minnesota to Boston. He consistently racked up innings and did a nice job keeping the ball on the ground, but his lack of missed bats limited his upside. Upon returning to the Rangers this year, he made some small tweaks to his repertoire, leaning a bit more heavily on his cutter against left-handers and turning to his sinker more frequently against righties. However, he didn’t dramatically overhaul his approach, nor were his underlying metrics too different from those of prior seasons.

His 20.6% strikeout rate was a career-high, but it was still a bit lower than the league mark. He got swinging strikes on only 8.4% of his offerings, a figure right in line with his 2020-21 clips. Pérez’s ground-ball rate bounced back to peak levels after a recent dip, but he’s posted back-of-the-rotation numbers while getting worm-burners half the time in the past. Much of his success was reliant on surrendering just one homer for every 18 innings pitched, the third-lowest rate among qualified starters and one he’s likely to have trouble sustaining over multiple years.

Financial terms of Texas’ offer aren’t clear, although that they seemingly didn’t put forth a guaranteed three-year proposal appears to reflect the front office’s balancing of those considerations. There’s no question Pérez was immensely valuable for the club in 2022, and Texas has made no secret about their hunt for quality starting pitching. At the same time, expecting him to consistently perform at or near this year’s level without a massive spike in velocity or whiffs nor a dramatic overhaul to his pitch usage is probably unrealistic.

Regardless of whether Pérez accepts the qualifying offer or the sides do wind up working out a multi-year deal, the front office will continue its search for rotation help. Young told reporters yesterday the team was “going to explore all ends of the (free agent) market” for starting pitching and expressed a willingness to add arms via trade (link via Levi Weaver of the Athletic). Texas took a step in solidifying the rotation this evening, sending Kolby Allard to Atlanta for Jake Odorizzi. With the Braves paying down Odorizzi’s contract to just $2.5MM, that represented a low-cost move for capable back-of-the-rotation innings, and there’s no question the Rangers will continue their search for higher-impact arms over the coming months.

Zaidi: Giants In Contact With Free Agent Shortstops, Plan To Issue QO To Carlos Rodon

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The Giants are widely expected to be one of the league’s most active teams this offseason, with the front office reloading after an underwhelming 2022 season. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi met with reporters (including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle) this evening and confirmed the team could play near the top of the market.

Asked about the club’s free agent priorities, Zaidi told the media “from a financial standpoint, there would be nobody that would be out of our capability.” He went on to note they’ve already had discussions with representatives for free agent shortstops who’ve expressed a willingness to move to second base in deference to Brandon Crawford (via Jon Morosi of MLB.com). Teams technically aren’t allowed to negotiate contract terms with free agents from other teams until tomorrow evening, but they can discuss more general concepts like roster fit during the exclusive negotiation period.

Zaidi didn’t specify the players involved, although it’s not hard to infer he’s speaking about the top shortstops on the market. Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson are going to be priority targets for a number of the game’s biggest-spending teams. It’s notable that Zaidi spoke of potentially moving an external pickup to the other side of the bag while keeping Crawford at shortstop, although it’s not clear if that’s an absolute requirement for any player under consideration. Scott Boras, who represents both Correa and Bogaerts, told reporters he hasn’t heard from teams looking to push either player off the position (link via Bob Nightengale of USA Today).

While adding a top shortstop is plausible for a San Francisco club looking to get younger and more athletic this winter, Zaidi and his group are sure to cast a wide net. The mention of the financial wherewithal to pursue any player available will lead to further speculation about the market’s top free agent. The Giants are sure to be linked to Aaron Judge throughout the winter, as they’re indeed among the clubs most well-positioned for that kind of expenditure. San Francisco has roughly $72.5MM in guaranteed commitments on the books, pending a call on Evan Longoria’s option. Even with a fairly heavy arbitration class, the Giants have plenty of room before approaching this year’s $155MM Opening Day mark, and they’re nowhere near the franchise-record heights that pushed $200MM.

Of course, San Francisco is facing a few potential key departures. Ace Carlos Rodón opted out of the second year of his deal and is back on the open market. Zaidi confirmed the club’s obvious decision to tag him with a $19.65MM qualifying offer (via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area), which Rodón is a lock to reject in pursuit of a deal north of nine figures. That’d entitle the Giants to a compensatory draft choice between Competitive Balance Round B and the third round (roughly 75th overall) in next year’s draft if the star southpaw departs.

San Francisco also sees corner outfielder Joc Pederson hit the open market, and while he certainly won’t receive a QO, Zaidi reiterated the team would like to keep him around (Shea link). The lefty-hitting outfielder posted a .274/.353/.521 line after signing a $6MM guarantee last offseason, and the club has discussed a potential extension as far back as September. Pederson is sure to beat $6MM this time around and looks to have a good shot at a multi-year contract after his quality platform year.

White Sox Likely To Prioritize Trades Over Free Agency As They Navigate Payroll Constraints

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The White Sox go into the offseason looking to bounce back from an average season. That registered as a major disappointment for a team that entered 2022 as favorites in the AL Central, leaving the front office to regroup in a renewed effort at competing for the division.

It doesn’t seem Chicago will have much leeway to make many free agent acquisitions. General manager Rick Hahn told reporters yesterday that trades are the likelier avenue to improving the roster (link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). Hahn indicated the team would open 2023 with a player payroll similar to this year’s mark. Chicago opened the 2022 campaign with a payroll around $193MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, but James Fegan of the Athletic reports the club is eyeing a figure more in the $180MM range to start next season.

There’s no indication $180MM represents a strict cap for the Sox front office, but anything in that range would limit Hahn and his staff in taking on many salaries of note. Chicago has around $139MM in guaranteed commitments on next year’s books, including option buyouts for AJ Pollock, Josh Harrison and Dallas Keuchel, according to Roster Resource. Arbitration-eligible players are projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for roughly $26MM in additional salaries, and pre-arbitration players rounding out the roster would cost around $10MM. Non-tendering Adam Engel would knock a couple million dollars off that figure, but the Sox still have roughly $173MM allocated to the roster before looking outside the organization.

Much of that money is committed to key players coming off down years. Yasmani Grandal, Yoán Moncada and Lance Lynn each have salaries in the $18MM range. Grandal and Moncada had rough 2022 campaigns and would be impossible to move without eating a notable chunk of salary. The Sox could probably find a taker for Lynn, but dealing him would only weaken a starting rotation that’s already one of the team’s biggest question marks.

Dylan Cease is locked in at the top of the staff, with Lynn and Lucas Giolito following him. Giolito is projected for a $10.8MM salary in his final year of arbitration. He’s coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, but there’s no chance the Sox would non-tender him and a trade seems like an unlikely sell-low. Hahn expressed confidence in the righty’s ability to bounce back, pointing to his work ethic and relationship with pitching coach Ethan Katz (via Van Schouwen). Michael Kopech figures to have the fourth rotation spot locked down, but Chicago will have to replace free agent Johnny Cueto. Hahn suggested Davis Martin could compete for the fifth spot but admitted that filling it externally would be ideal. The GM suggested Reynaldo López and Jimmy Lambert — each of whom has started in the past — were locked into the bullpen at this point.

The relief corps should be the backbone of the club, with Liam Hendriks, Kendall Graveman, Joe Kelly and López taking high-leverage innings. Chicago has invested heavily in that area in recent offseasons, but another splash there looks unlikely given the payroll limitations and needs elsewhere on the roster.

On the position player side, second base and right field have been persistent questions. Chicago bought out Harrison, leaving them with some combination of Leury García, Lenyn Sosa and Danny Mendick as the favorites for second base playing time. Jean Segura is the top option in a weak free agent class there, while players like Cavan Biggio and Kevin Newman could be attainable via trade.

Right field was unexpectedly vacated by Pollock declining his player option yesterday. Andrew Vaughn has played there but is headed to his natural first base position with José Abreu highly likely to depart in free agency. Engel, Gavin Sheets and Mark Payton are part of a lackluster collection of internal options. Hahn name-checked Oscar Colás, coming off a .306/.364/.563 showing in Double-A, as a candidate for the right field job, but the 24-year-old has just seven games of MLB experience.

Trade possibilities in right field include Teoscar Hernández, Anthony Santander, Max Kepler and Jake McCarthy. Given Hahn’s comments, dipping into that market seems likelier than a run at Andrew Benintendi, Mitch Haniger or Joc Pederson, although platoon options like Wil Myers, Robbie Grossman and Tyler Naquin would be attainable in free agency for a few million dollars.

Shoulder Surgery Under Consideration For Blake Treinen

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Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen battled shoulder discomfort in 2022 and missed the bulk of his year. Unfortunately, that remains a problem heading into the offseason, and it seems as if the injury will carry into next season.

L.A. general manager Brandon Gomes told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) this evening the team and Treinen are still working through treatment possibilities. While Gomes characterized surgery as one of multiple options under consideration, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register ominously reports that a procedure is “likely.” If Treinen did have to go under the knife, Plunkett adds, he’d require a 10-month recovery period and thus miss most or all of the 2023 campaign.

Treinen was limited to just five regular season appearances this year. He was on the injured list from April to September. Reinstated at the start of September, he made just two appearances before going back on the IL. The Dodgers activated Treinen for the postseason, calling upon him just once.

The injuries that caused that stop-and-start remain a concern, and Plunkett writes that both Treinen’s rotator cuff and labrum would be fixed if he goes under the knife. That’s certainly not what the Dodgers envisioned when signing the right-hander to an $8MM contract for 2023 in May. That deal also contains a club option for the 2024 campaign that’d be valued anywhere between $1MM and $7MM depending upon Treinen’s health for next season. Obviously, surgery wiping out much or all of his season — if necessary — would make it unlikely the Dodgers would trigger the option.

During his last healthy season, the veteran sinkerballer was one of the sport’s top late-game arms. The former All-Star worked to a 1.99 ERA across 72 1/3 innings in 2021, racking up grounders at a 52.6% clip.

Red Sox Planning To Use Garrett Whitlock As Starter In 2023

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The Red Sox are planning to deploy right-hander Garrett Whitlock out of the rotation in 2023, general manager Brian O’Halloran told reporters at the GM Meetings (link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). O’Halloran added that Tanner Houck could get a look as a starter as well, although that decision hasn’t yet been made.

“With Whit, we told him to plan to be a starter and we expect him to be a starter,” the GM told reporters. “With Tanner, we said something similar. We talked through that he will go through the offseason planning to be a starter and we’ll build him up as such. But there’s a little bit (less) definition around his role and he knows it could go in either direction.”  O’Halloran added the decision to move Whitlock to the rotation “was a little bit more clear and definitive” than the situation with Houck, whose role figures to be determined in part by the course of the Boston offseason.

Whitlock has worked almost exclusively as a reliever in his MLB career. Since being selected from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft, the UAB product has made 68 relief appearances and nine starts. Whitlock has frequently worked multiple innings out of the bullpen, however, emerging as one of the league’s most valuable relievers. He’s tallied 112 2/3 innings of 2.24 ERA ball as a reliever, striking out a well above-average 28.1% of opponents. Whitlock predictably hasn’t been quite so dominant as a starter, but he owns a 4.15 ERA with a decent 23.5% strikeout rate and a stellar 5.5% walk percentage in that time.

The 26-year-old doesn’t have much experience turning a big league lineup over three times, but he mixes three pitches and has handled hitters from both sides of the plate. That gives Whitlock a chance to be a quality starting pitcher, the role he filled throughout his time in the minors.

Boston signed Whitlock to an $18.75MM guarantee during Spring Training. He’s controllable via a pair of club options through 2028, and Cotillo notes that deal contains some innings-based incentives — ones which Whitlock cementing himself in the rotation would help him unlock.

As for Houck, he started 13 of 18 appearances in 2021 but came out of the bullpen 28 of 32 times this year. Houck also worked multiple innings frequently, but he’s had more marked platoon splits than Whitlock has. Left-handers this year had a .259/.376/.400 line against the 26-year-old hurler, who stifled righties to a .205/.269/.227 line. Houck’s heavy reliance on his fastball and slider at the expense of a changeup or splitter have led to some concern among evaluators about his ability to turn lineups over three times as a starter.

Boston will unquestionably add to their rotation over the coming months. At present, the Sox have just Nick Pivetta, Chris Sale, James Paxton and now Whitlock as rotation pieces for 2023. Former top prospect Brayan Bello could get into that mix, as could Houck, but only Pivetta looks like a safe bet for innings. Sale and Paxton have barely pitched the past couple years because of injury, while Bello’s rookie season was up-and-down. The Sox are seeing Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill hit free agency.

Mets Decline Mutual Option On Mychal Givens

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The Mets have declined their end of a mutual option with reliever Mychal Givens, general manager Billy Eppler informed reporters (including Will Sammon of the Athletic). He’ll collect a $1.25MM buyout and head back to the open market.

New York added Givens from the Cubs at the trade deadline. Chicago had inked him to a $5MM guarantee over the offseason, and the righty provided them with a 2.66 ERA through 40 2/3 innings. New York sent minor league pitcher Saúl González to the North Siders to add him for the stretch run, but Givens had a somewhat disappointing couple months in Queens.

The 32-year-old posted a 4.79 ERA over 20 2/3 innings for skipper Buck Showalter. He had a roughly average 22.7% strikeout rate and a 45% ground-ball percentage, but he was plagued by an elevated .368 batting average on balls in play. Givens cut his walks to just 6.8% with the Mets, but he’d walked 11% of opposing hitters as a Cub.

The longtime Oriole heads back to the open market. He’s appeared with five different teams over the last three years, generally missing bats in the middle innings but battling inconsistent control. Givens has posted an ERA between 3.00 and 4.00 in each of the last three seasons, and he’s likely to find another one-year deal in free agency this winter.

Rockies Outright Three Players

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The Rockies announced they’ve outrighted three players — pitchers Ty Blach and Helcris Olivarez and outfielder Wynton Bernard — off their 40-man roster. Colorado also confirmed the losses of catcher Dom Nuñez and infielder Ryan Vilade on waivers. Removing those five from the 40-man drops their tally to 32.

A former Giants starter, Blach inked a minor league deal with his hometown Rockies over the offseason. He made Colorado’s roster out of Spring Training and pitched in long relief. Blach soaked up 44 1/3 mostly low-leverage innings for the Rox, posting a 5.89 ERA. The soft-tossing southpaw only struck out 15% of batters faced but had an excellent 5.7% walk rate and a useful 43% grounder rate. He has between three and four years of big league service and would’ve been eligible for arbitration this offseason. Blach was only projected for an $800K salary, but the Rox will reallocate his roster spot.

Olivarez has never pitched in the big leagues. Colorado selected him onto the 40-man roster over the 2020-21 offseason to keep him being taken in the Rule 5 draft. The hard-throwing southpaw had been a quality prospect during his early days in the farm system, but he managed only a 6.05 ERA in 99 2/3 High-A innings in 2021. He spent almost all of this year on the injured list with a shoulder strain.

Bernard is a minor league veteran who began his professional career a decade ago. He made his MLB debut at age 32 this August, earning the long-awaited call after a .333/.387/.590 showing in Triple-A. He started 10 games in the big leagues and collected 12 hits in 42 at-bats, but he didn’t draw a walk and only managed one extra-base hit (a double).

Blach and Bernard have the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency. Olivarez, on the other hand, will stick in the organization for 2023 and look to work his way back onto the 40-man roster.

Giants Claim Dom Nunez, Select Isan Diaz

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The Giants announced they’ve claimed catcher Dom Nuñez off waivers from the Rockies. San Francisco also selected infielder Isan Díaz onto their 40-man roster. The Giants announced that infielders Ford Proctor and Taylor Jones, outfielders Bryce Johnson and Austin Dean, and right-hander Zack Littell all went unclaimed on waivers.

Nuñez changes organizations for the first time in his career. The left-handed hitting backstop entered pro ball as a sixth-round draftee of Colorado back in 2013. Nuñez made his MLB debut in 2019 and has appeared in three of the last four seasons, mostly as a depth player. He has appeared in 111 big league games, tallying 347 plate appearances of .180/.280/.373 hitting. Nuñez has walked in an excellent 12.4% of his plate appearances but struck out at an untenable 34% rate in the majors.

The 27-year-old has one minor league option year remaining. If he holds his spot on the Giants 40-man roster all winter, they can freely bounce him between San Francisco and Triple-A Sacramento next season. An Elk Grove native, Nuñez has a .240/.336/.400 line in parts of eight minor league seasons. He joins Joey Bart and Austin Wynns as catchers on the 40-man roster.

Díaz is a former top prospect who went to the Marlins in the Christian Yelich trade. He hit only .185/.275/.287 over 500 trips to the plate from 2019-21. Miami outrighted the switch-hitting second baseman off the 40-man roster in March, and he cleared waivers at the time. The Giants acquired him for cash not long after and assigned him to Sacramento for the 2022 campaign.

The 26-year-old connected on 23 longballs in 83 Triple-A games this year. He posted an excellent .275/.377/.574 line with a 13% walk rate to put himself back on the radar. San Francisco didn’t call up Díaz at any point during the season, but they’ll devote him a 40-man roster spot for now to keep him from hitting minor league free agency. He still has a minor league option remaining, so he can bounce between San Francisco and Sacramento if he holds the 40-man spot over the winter.

San Francisco acquired Proctor from the Rays in August. He made his big league debut late in the season, appearing in seven games. Jones came over from the Astros on waivers in September, while Dean was claimed last offseason. Johnson is a former sixth-rounder who made his MLB debut in September, getting into 11 games.

Littell has the most experience of the group of outrighted players. The right-hander has pitched in parts of five big league seasons with the Twins and Giants. Littell was a high-leverage arm in 2021, pitching to a 2.92 ERA across 61 2/3 frames. He only managed a 5.08 ERA through 44 1/3 innings this year. Rather than tender him an arbitration contract in the $900K range, San Francisco ran him through waivers.

Proctor and Johnson will remain in the organization and try to play their way onto the 40-man roster. Littell, Dean and Jones will have the ability to qualify for minor league free agency.

Mets Claim Tayler Saucedo From Blue Jays

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The Mets have claimed reliever Tayler Saucedo off waivers from the Blue Jays, according to announcements from both teams. Toronto also announced that righty Casey Lawrence went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster.

Saucedo has pitched in the big leagues in each of the last two seasons. He made 29 appearances in 2021 but only got into four big league games this year. In 28 1/3 combined innings, the southpaw has posted a 5.40 ERA. He’s only punched out 15.3% of opposing hitters, but he’s racked up ground balls at an incredible 58.7% clip. Saucedo has also held left-handed batters to a meager .182/.280/.295 line in 50 plate appearances, giving him an opportunity to carve out a role as a left-on-left specialist.

He had a much different profile with Triple-A Buffalo this year, only inducing grounders at a 40.5% clip but punching out 34.1% of batters faced. The Tennessee Wesleyan product has a 3.77 ERA in 93 career innings at the Triple-A level. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, meaning he can move back and forth between Queens and Triple-A Syracuse over the next couple seasons if he holds his 40-man roster spot. The Mets relied primarily on Joely Rodríguez as their left-handed bullpen arm this year, but he’s now a free agent. Adding further lefty depth figures to be a priority for general manager Billy Eppler and his staff.

Lawrence returned to the majors this season for the first time since 2018. The swingman soaked up 18 innings across six relief appearances, putting up a 7.50 ERA with a 13.9% strikeout rate. The 35-year-old had a strong 2.79 mark across 126 innings with Buffalo. He’s previously been outrighted, so he’s likely to decline the outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency.

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