Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Orioles Claim Roansy Contreras, Designate Liván Soto

By | at

The Orioles announced that they have claimed right-hander Roansy Contreras off waivers from the Reds. Cincinnati had designated him for assignment earlier this week. In order to open a roster spot, the O’s designated infielder Liván Soto for assignment.

Contreras, 25, has been bouncing around the league over the past year. That’s likely a reflection of his uneven performance and out-of-options status. He made his major league debut with the Pirates and had some intriguing results with them, but exhausted his final option in 2023. He opened last year with Pittsburgh but was designated for assignment in May and flipped to the Angels. He spent the rest of the season with the Halos but was put on waivers in October and claimed by the Rangers. He went to the Reds on another waiver claim last month and has now been claimed again.

A notable Yankee prospect, Contreras was flipped to Pittsburgh in the January 2021 trade that sent Jameson Taillon to the Bronx. In 2022, he seemed to establish himself as a viable big league starter. He made 21 appearances for the Pirates that year, 18 of those being starts, tossing 95 innings while allowing 3.79 earned runs per nine. His 21.1% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate were fairly close to league par while his fastball averaged 95.6 miles per hour. Since he was only 22 years old at the time, it seemed fair to expect that was just the beginning.

But things have soured since then. Contreras posted a 6.59 ERA in 2023, which prompted the Bucs to send him to the minors, burning his final option. They moved him to a primary relief role in 2024 but, as mentioned, bumped him off the roster in May.

Between the Bucs and the Angels, he had some passable but not outstanding results. He finished the year with 68 1/3 innings between the two clubs and a 4.35 ERA. But his 18.8% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate were both subpar. His .265 batting average on balls in play and 75.1% strand rate were both on the fortunate side, leading to his 5.16 FIP and 4.55 SIERA being worse than his ERA.

Despite the up-and-down results, Contreras is still young and throws hard, averaging almost 95 mph last year with both his four-seamer and his sinker. He has just over two years of MLB service time, meaning he can be retained for four seasons before he would qualify for free agency. The fact that he is out of options means that he’ll need a roster spot on Opening Day but the Orioles could also try to run him through waivers later in the offseason to retain him as non-roster depth.

As for Soto, 25 in June, the Orioles seem to engaging in some sort of contest to see how many times they can bump him on and off the roster. This is the sixth time he’s been designated for assignment in the past year, three of those coming at the hands of the Orioles, two from the Angels and one from the Reds.

He has a strong .351/.407/.494 batting line, though in a small sample of 87 plate appearances over the past three big league seasons. In 370 Triple-A plate appearances last year, he slashed .283/.377/.381 for a 103 wRC+. He didn’t produce much power, hitting four homers in 88 games, but his 12.4% walk rate and 16.8% strikeout rate were both strong numbers.

The O’s will now have a week to either trade Soto or run him through waivers. Since the waiver process takes 48 hours, any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days. He still has one option year and plenty of minor league experience at the three infield positions to the left of first base. He seems to be a popular depth target around the league so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him acquired by another club in the coming days.

Pirates Sign Caleb Ferguson

By | at

The Pirates added to their pitching staff Friday, announcing a one-year deal with free agent left-hander Caleb Ferguson that will reportedly pay the Excel Sports client $3MM. The Bucs have open roster spots and thus do not need to make a corresponding move.

Ferguson, 28, has been a solid southpaw reliever in the big leagues for a few years now. He missed the 2021 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery but put up good numbers in the three seasons before that, followed by the three seasons after the procedure. Overall, he has logged 261 2/3 innings, allowing 3.68 earned runs per nine. His 9.4% walk rate is a bit higher than average but barely so, while his 27.5% strikeout rate is a few ticks better than par and his 45.6% ground ball rate above average as well.

His ERA ticked up a bit in 2024, though a deep dive on the numbers suggests he was as effective as before, with bad luck contributing to the extra runs allowed. Between the Yankees and Astros, he tossed 54 1/3 innings with a 4.64 ERA. But his 26.9% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 46.7% ground ball rate were all pretty close to his career norms. His .340 batting average on balls in play and 66.6% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side of average, which is why metrics like his 3.74 FIP and 3.43 SIERA were closer to his career ERA.

He’s a sensible pickup for the Pirates, who lost each of Aroldis Chapman, Jalen Beeks and Ryan Borucki to free agency at season’s end. The departure of those three southpaws left them with Joey Wentz, a September waiver claim with a 5.56 career ERA, as the only lefty reliever on the roster. Ferguson immediately becomes the top southpaw in Pittsburgh’s bullpen.

That doesn’t mean he’ll be limited to a specialty role, as his splits aren’t too drastic. He has naturally been better against left-handed hitters, holding them to a line of .231/.333/.375 in his career, but righties have been only marginally more effective against him with a .245/.321/.381 line. He has earned six saves and 49 holds in his career, so perhaps he will step into a setup role, depending on what other moves the Pirates make for their bullpen this winter.

There also seems to be some possibility of Ferguson ending up in the rotation, as MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf reports that the Bucs will stretch him out in spring training. That would be an interesting pivot for Ferguson, as he has almost exclusively been in the bullpen in his big league career. He does have 14 starts on his ledger, but most of those were of the “opener” variety for just an inning or two.

He did come up as a starter in the minor leagues, however, so it wouldn’t be totally foreign to him. As mentioned, he has fairly neutral splits, perhaps allowing him to pitch through a full lineup. He also has a fairly diverse pitch mix for a reliever. Per Statcast, he threw four different pitches at least 9.8% of the time last year: a four-seamer, sinker, cutter and slurve. He didn’t lean on any one pitch too much, topping out at 43.3% usage with the four-seamer. Statcast also categorized 0.2% of his pitches as a sweeper.

Converting relievers into starters has been a popular trend in recent years, with guys like Seth Lugo, Michael King, Garrett Crochet and Reynaldo López some of the better success stories. On the other hand, the results with Jordan Hicks were mixed and the A.J. Puk conversion was quickly abandoned.

It’s an understandable gambit, given the high prices of starting pitchers, as even fliers on high-risk guys have been getting into eight-figure territory this winter. Walker Buehler got $21.05MM coming off a bad year. Guys like Alex Cobb and Justin Verlander got $15MM despite being fairly old by big league standards and coming off injury-marred seasons.

Making a $3MM investment in Ferguson and turning him into a passable backend starter could be a nice bit of business, but there are reasons to think it might not come to pass. As mentioned, the Bucs have an obvious need for a lefty reliever, whereas the rotation is the strongest part of the roster. They are going into the season with a strong starting core of Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller, with guys like Bailey Falter, Johan Oviedo, Mike Burrows, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington all candidates for the back end.

The simplest and perhaps most likely outcome is that the Bucs simply use those guys in the rotation and move Ferguson to the bullpen, but there’s little harm in stretching him out in the spring to see what it looks like. It’s far easier to go from long outings to short ones early in the year, as opposed to getting stretched out midseason. The spring is the right time to do a little experimenting, as Ferguson can easily slide to the bullpen if it doesn’t work out or if the Pirates ultimately prefer other arms in that role.

At the very least, stretching Ferguson as a starter in spring training could open the door for him to function as a true multi-inning bullpen piece. He worked more than one inning on 11 occasions last year — more with Houston post-trade than with the Yankees prior — but topped out at two innings. Given his pitch mix and neutral splits, it’s not out of the question that he could have success working in slightly longer relief outings while also keeping the door cracked for the occasional spot start or opener assignment in the event of a bullpen game.

Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the agreement. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com first reported the terms of the deal.

Padres To Add Nick Punto, Robby Hammock To Coaching Staff

By | at

The Padres are going to add a couple of former big leaguers to their coaching staff. Per Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Nick Punto and Robby Hammock are going to be coming aboard, though their specific roles aren’t yet clear. Lin adds that Ryan Barba, the club’s major league field coordinator in 2024, recently left to join the Cardinals in some unspecified role.

Punto, 47, was in the big leagues from 2001 to 2014 as a utility player. He got into 1,163 games for the Phillies, Twins, Cardinals, Red Sox, Dodgers and Athletics. He hit .245/.323/.323 while playing every position on the diamond outside of the battery. He won a World Series ring with the Cards in 2011.

Hammock, also 47, was mostly a catcher but he also dabbled in the four corner spots. He played on-and-off for the Diamondbacks from 2003 to 2011, getting into 182 games. He hit .254/.312/.407 over his 527 plate appearances.

After his playing career ended, he transitioned into coaching with the D’Backs, working for various minor league clubs from 2012 to 2021. He then came to the Padres’ organization, serving as their Triple-A hitting coach in 2022. He then pivoted to the Pirates’ organization, managing the High-A Greensboro club in 2023 and then Double-A Altoona last year.

It’s unclear exactly what roles the two will have, but they will each bring an experienced voice to manager Mike Shildt’s staff. Shildt took over as San Diego’s skipper last year and the club went 93-69 in his first season.

Mariners Claim Tyler Jay

By | at

The Mariners announced that they have claimed left-hander Tyler Jay off waivers from the Brewers. The latter club designated him for assignment a week ago when they acquired Grant Anderson. Seattle’s 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full.

Jay, 31, was the sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft but it took him almost a decade to get to the big leagues. Various injuries, including surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, slowed his rise through the minors. By the end of the 2019 season, he had topped out at Double-A, then didn’t pitch in any official capacity in 2020 or 2021. That was followed by stints in indy ball in the next two years, which led to the Mets taking a flier on him on a minor league deal.

In April of last year, he finally got up to the majors, though was on and off rosters all year. The Mets selected his contract in mid-April but outrighted him a few days later. He was back up in June, then designated for assignment a second time in July. His second DFA resulted in getting traded to the Brewers, though that club kept him mostly on optional assignment. He finished the year with 7 2/3 innings pitched between his two clubs, allowing four earned runs while walking six batters and recording six strikeouts.

That’s a tiny sample size, so the Mariners are probably more interested in the minor league numbers. Jay tossed 56 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level last year, between the two organizations, allowing 3.02 earned runs per nine. He had a 20.9% strikeout rate, 5.1% walk rate and 47.3% ground ball rate. For what it’s worth, the strikeout rate jumped after he came to the Brewers, going from 18.6% with Syracuse to 25.7% with Nashville, though his walk rate also went from 2.5% to 10.8% after the switch.

For the Mariners, they’re clearly intrigued enough to give Jay a roster spot, at least for now. He has just a few days of service time and a couple of option years remaining, so he can at least serve as a cheap depth piece with roster flexibility. As a former first-round pick and top prospect, perhaps there’s some untapped upside in there. They currently have Tayler Saucedo and Gabe Speier as the top lefties in their projected bullpen, with Austin Kitchen also on the roster. Jay will jump into that group and try to push for opportunities in the 2025 season.

Tyler Nevin To Sign With NPB’S Seibu Lions

By | at

Infielder/outfielder Tyler Nevin is heading overseas to sign with the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per multiple reports out of Japan. Salary figures have not been publicly reported.

Players that head to foreign leagues often have strong numbers in the minors but less so in the majors, a category that Nevin certainly falls into. He has received 591 plate appearances at the major league level over the past four years, suiting up for the Orioles, Tigers and Athletics. He produced a line of .204/.299/.315 in those, which translates to an 81 wRC+, indicating he was 19% below league average.

Over the past three years, he stepped to the plate 639 times at the Triple-A level. His 10.2% walk rate and 17.2% strikeout rate in that time were both solid numbers and he also hit 26 home runs, helping him produce a combined .313/.391/.536 line and 135 wRC+.

Those minor league numbers got Nevin some big league chances but he couldn’t take advantage of them and exhausted his final option year in 2023, which left him struggling to hold a roster spot in 2024.

This year, Nevin likely would have been ticketed for more of the same if he had stayed in North American ball, probably settling for a minor league deal and maybe the occasional major league opportunity. Instead, by heading to Japan, he will likely earn himself a bit more of a financial guarantee and perhaps a decent chance at lengthy playing time at a high level.

Nevin is capable of playing all four corner spots and could slot into any of those for the Lions. If he has a nice season, perhaps he could parlay that into a return to North America down the line, or a bump to a higher salary level while staying in Asia.

MLBTR Podcast: Brent Rooker’s Extension, Gavin Lux, And Catching Up On The Holiday Transactions

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Astros, Luis Garcia Avoid Arbitration

By | at

The Astros and right-hander Luis Garcia have avoided arbitration, per the Associated Press. The righty will make a salary of $1.875MM in 2025. That’s the same salary he made in 2024, a year he missed while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The arbitration system operates in such a way that salaries almost never go down. As such, it’s fairly common for a player to miss an entire season and then see his salary hold steady into the next year.

Tomorrow is the deadline for players and teams to exchange salary figures, so a large number of arb-eligible players should have their salaries finalized in the next 24 hours or so. Those who don’t reach agreements will be slated for arbitration hearings in the coming weeks. With Garcia now settled, the Astros still have an arb class consisting of Framber Valdez, Mauricio Dubón, Bryan Abreu, Chas McCormick, Isaac Paredes, Jake Meyers and Jeremy Pena.

Garcia has a career earned run average of 3.61 in his 352 innings, mostly as a starter, though he has been on ice for quite a while now. He had his surgery in May of 2023 and attempted to return to the mound last summer, though he had some trouble recovering between outings during his rehab assignment and was eventually shut down. In a recent mailbag, Chandler Rome of The Athletic suggested it may not be likely that he’s ready for Opening Day of 2025.

As spring training ramps up next month, it’s possible that there will be more clarity on his status, though the Astros have a notorious reputation for obfuscating when it comes to the health of their players. Whenever Garcia gets back on the mound, he should slot into a rotation mix alongside Valdez, Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco, Spencer Arrighetti and Hayden Wesneski. Like Garcia, pitchers like Lance McCullers Jr., J.P. France and Cristian Javier will be looking to come back from surgeries this year.

Angels Sign Connor Brogdon To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Angels have signed right-hander Connor Brogdon to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake for now but will presumably receive an invite to big league spring training.

Brogdon, 30 this month, had a solid run with the Phillies earlier in his career but has faced some significant challenges more recently. From 2020 to 2022, he logged 113 innings for Philadelphia, allowing 3.42 earned runs per nine. He struck out 25.1% of batters faced while only giving out walks at a 7.3% clip. He was trusted enough to earn three saves and 16 holds in that time.

But things started to trend down in 2023. He posted a 4.03 ERA in 29 innings that year, though the underlying numbers were more concerning. His walk rate ticked up to 10.2% while he was only punching out 20.5% of opponents. The Phillies optioned him in June and he had a 5.46 ERA in Triple-A the rest of the way.

2024 was then mostly a lost season due to injuries. He was designated for assignment by the Phils in April and claimed by the Dodgers, with the latter club putting him on the injured list a few days later due to plantar fasciitis. He started up a few rehab assignments throughout the year but didn’t come off the IL until the season was over, getting outrighted off the roster in November and electing free agency.

It’s obviously been a rough couple of years but perhaps the persistent foot problems offer some explanation. If Brogdon can put those behind him and get back to his previous form, he would be a nice find, especially on a no-risk minor league deal. He showed some promise during his rehab assignments last year, throwing 13 innings with a 3.21 ERA, 34.4% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate. If he can earn his way into a roster spot, he is out of options but he has less than four years of major league service time, meaning he can be retained beyond 2025 via arbitration if he’s holding a roster spot at season’s end.

Pirates Interested In Randal Grichuk

By | at

The Pirates are known to be looking for corner infield help and free agent Randal Grichuk is one player they are interested in, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. They were also connected to Alex Verdugo in rumors this week.

Grichuk, 33, is coming off a strong season. He signed with the Diamondbacks for a modest $2MM guarantee, one of several veteran players left out in the cold during last winter’s frosty market. The Snakes mostly used him in a short-side platoon capacity, so Grichuk only got 279 plate appearances, but he made the most of them. He hit 12 home runs and slashed .291/.348/.528 overall for a 139 wRC+.

In his career, Grichuk has been better against lefties but also held his own against righties in 2024, in a limited sample. The D’Backs only sent him to the plate against a righty 95 times on the year but he slashed .242/.274/.527 in those for a 116 wRC+. His career line in that split is .242/.288/.449 for a wRC+ of 93. Against southpaws, he hit .319/.386/.528 for a 159 wRC+ in 2024, with a career line of .273/.324/.509 and a 121 wRC+.

Whether or not those improved results against righties are sustainable, it was a solid campaign on the whole and one that will likely earn Grichuk a raise. In addition to his offensive contributions, he’s also been a solid defender in his career. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average have him an above average fielder, though they were split on his 2024 season, with Grichuk producing +3 DRS and -2 OAA.

For the Bucs, their search for outfield help is understandable. Bryan Reynolds is likely to be in left field and Oneil Cruz in center, but right field is wide open. Including Reynolds, eight different guys played at least 27 innings for Pittsburgh in 2024, the other seven being Bryan De La Cruz, Edward Olivares, Connor Joe, Joshua Palacios, Ji Hwan Bae, Jack Suwinski and Billy Cook. None of them took hold of the position and many of them have been expunged from the roster.

It was reported last month that they would be looking for corner outfield upgrades, though it seemed fair to expect them to keep the investment fairly modest. They have never been a big-spending club and RosterResource projects them for a $79MM payroll next year. That’s already pretty close to the $86MM figure they had to open last year, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Despite his strong season, Grichuk’s market has been pretty quiet so far. It was reported last month that the Orioles had some interest in him, though that came out after they had already signed Tyler O’Neill and thus reduced or perhaps eliminated their need for Grichuk.

The outfield free agent market has seen some movement but there’s still more to come. Juan Soto, Teoscar Hernández, O’Neill and others have signed but Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar are still out there, with those two looking for multi-year deals. Guys like Grichuk, Verdugo, Jesse Winker, Mark Canha and others are also available and likely to end up with one-year deals.

Given the Pirates’ history, they are probably going to end up with someone in the latter group. If it’s Grichuk, he could perhaps find a platoon partner already on the roster, as Palacios, Suwinski and Bae are still there and each of them hits left-handed. Palacios and Bae have been subpar against both lefties and righties in their respective big league careers but Suwinski has been solid against righties. He has a brutal .173/.264/.306 slash and 58 wRC+ against southpaws but a .218/.323/.442 line and 107 wRC+ the rest of the time.

Rays Sign Joey Krehbiel To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Rays have signed Joey Krehbiel to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The right-hander is represented by Loren Pincus.

Krehbiel, 32, didn’t crack the majors in 2024. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners about this time last year. He went on to throw 58 innings over 54 appearances for their Triple-A club, allowing 3.26 earned runs per nine. His 22.8% strikeout rate, 10.4% walk rate and 44.9% ground ball rate were all within a point or two of typical averages.

He does have 74 innings of major league experience, most of that coming as an Oriole in 2022, though he also spent time with the Diamondbacks and Rays prior to joining Baltimore. He has a 3.65 ERA in his big league career with an 18.4% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 42.8% ground ball rate.

His previous stint with the Rays was in 2021, signing a minor league deal going into that year as well. His minor league work that year was arguably his most impressive performance in recent years. He tossed 43 Triple-A innings with a 4.19 ERA, 29.5% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate. That got him a brief stint on the major league roster in September, before he went the Orioles on waivers. Baltimore kept him around for a while, though he lost his roster spot during the 2023 season, which led to his minor league deal with the Mariners.

The Rays are obviously familiar with Krehbiel and got some decent results out of him a few years ago, so the two sides have reunited. If he can earn his way onto the roster, he still has an option, which is surely attractive for a team like the Rays as they frequently churn pitchers through the roster. Krehbiel also has less than two years of service time, so he could be cheaply retained beyond this year if he’s holding a roster spot at season’s end.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top