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Kevin Pillar Hoping To Play In 2025

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Outfielder Kevin Pillar previously said he was “98% sure” that he was going to retire after 2024, but it seems like he would like to squeeze through that little 2% window he left open for himself. On an appearance on MLB Network’s Hot Stove (video link from X), Pillar said he is now hoping to give it another go next year. He also revealed that he had thumb surgery at the end of the 2024 season.

Pillar, 36 in January, started last season with the White Sox. He hit just .160/.290/.360 in 17 games with that club and was back on the open market before the end of April. He latched on with the Angels and it was during his time with that club that he indicated retirement was likely over the horizon.

He went on to hit seven home runs in 282 plate appearances for the Halos and produce a batting line of .236/.291/.378. Perhaps more important than the statistics was that Pillar’s mentality changed, according to the man himself. “For the first time in probably forever, I was just playing for the love of the game, the joy of the game,” Pillar said of his time with the Angels. “I wasn’t worried about tomorrow, the next day, my future. And I found a lot of success in that.”

He adds that, after some time to reflect, he is “pretty sure” that he still wants to play. He doesn’t know if any club will offer him a spot, but he plans to stay in shape and will answer the phone if someone calls. Pillar spent about two weeks on the injured list in September due to a left thumb sprain. In the clip, he mentions that he underwent surgery at the end of the season, though he gave no indication that the procedure is impacting his offseason preparations.

At his peak, Pillar was a solid everyday player, overcoming subpar offense with his strong glovework and baserunning. From 2015 to 2021, he got into 940 games for various clubs, hitting .261/.298/.412 for a wRC+ of 88. But he stole 91 bases in that stretch and was graded as an above-average center fielder, allowing him to produce 10 wins above replacement over those six full seasons plus the shortened 2020 campaign.

Since then, he’s been more of a role player. He can still play center field a little bit, though only sporadically and with grades closer to league average. He hit .225/.271/.387 in 185 games over the past three years for a wRC+ of 79, swiping another 16 bags.

Pillar has hit lefties better in his career, with a 106 wRC+ with the platoon advantage and a 78 without. That continued to be the case in 2024, with a 139 wRC+ against southpaws and a 54 mark otherwise. For any club looking for a right-handed hitting bench outfielder who can play competent defense and run the bases, Pillar is available and surely won’t cost much, after getting a $3MM guarantee from the White Sox in 2024.

Teams like the Red Sox, Orioles, Diamondbacks, Phillies, Tigers and others could be looking for right-handed bats to supplement their respective outfields. Pillar will join players like Teoscar Hernández, Tyler O’Neill, Randal Grichuk, Ramón Laureano, Austin Hays, Tommy Pham and others as righty-swinging outfielders that will be under consideration.

Diamondbacks Interested In Re-Signing Joc Pederson

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Free agent Joc Pederson is one of the better left-handed bats available and the Diamondbacks are interested in bringing him back, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rosenthal also mentions the Rays and Rangers as possible landing spots, though those seem more speculative, so it’s unclear to what degree those clubs are interested.

Pederson, 33 in April, is a limited player but does one thing very well. He doesn’t run well nor provide much of anything defensively. He’s also been a liability when a left-hander is on the mound, but he does crush righties.

Last winter, the Diamondbacks signed Pederson to a one-year deal with a $12.5MM guarantee. He got into 132 games for the Snakes this year but didn’t take the field at all. On account of his poor defensive track record, he was used exclusively as a designated hitter or pinch hitter. Of his 449 plate appearances on the year, only 42 of them were against southpaws. He actually produced a strong .219/.405/.344 line and 124 wRC+ in that split thanks to a 16.7% walk rate, and in spite of a 42.9% strikeout rate. But for his career, he has a .210/.300/.330 line and a 76 wRC+ without the platoon advantage.

In his 407 plate appearances against righties this year, his strikeout rate was a far more palatable 21.4%. His 11.8% walk rate was quite a strong, a few ticks above league average. He also hit 22 home runs, which helped him produce a slash of .281/.392/.531 and a 154 wRC+.

Overall, Pederson hit .275/.393/.515 on the year for a 151 wRC+, the second of the past three years with very strong offensive production. He hit .274/.353/.521 with the Giants in 2022 for a 144 wRC+. San Francisco gave him a $19.65MM qualifying offer on the heels of that showing, which he accepted. His batting line dropped to .235/.348/.416 in 2023, for a 109 wRC+, but the Snakes may have had a hunch that was bad luck. His batting average on balls in play went from .310 in 2022 to .268 in 2023, despite his batted ball metrics staying strong. His BABIP corrected to .322 in 2024 and his overall offense climbed back up along with it.

Even with that unlucky dip last year, Pederson has still managed to produce a 135 wRC+ over the past three years combined. Among players with at least 1200 plate appearances in that time frame, that figure is one of the top 15 in the majors, just ahead of guys like José Ramírez, Matt Olson and Rafael Devers. Pederson’s deficiencies put limits on his ability to contribute, but he’s a huge difference maker at the plate. MLBTR predicted him for a two-year, $24MM contract as part of the annual Top 50 Free Agents post.

It’s understandable that the Diamondbacks would want Pederson back, as they saw first-hand what a huge impact he can make at the plate. General manager Mike Hazen has said that he expects the 2025 payroll to be in the same range as 2024. RosterResource currently projects the club for $149MM in spending next year, which is about $14MM shy of last year’s Opening Day figure. Re-signing Pederson would eat up most of that but trading some of Jordan Montgomery’s salary could perhaps create some extra wiggle room for further offseason moves.

For the Rays, they usually aren’t big players in free agency but it wouldn’t be unprecedented to do something like this. Just two years ago, they gave Zach Eflin a $40MM guarantee. RosterResource pegs them at $79MM for next year’s payroll, about $20MM shy of where they started 2024. That could give them some room to work with this offseason, depending on how their ongoing stadium uncertainty is going to impact their spending plans.

In terms of the roster construction, it would be a bit of a pivot for the Rays, as they usually place a high value on defensive versatility. The last time they had one player take more than 400 plate appearances as a designated hitter was Johnny Damon in 2011. But if they view Pederson as the best bat available in their price range, perhaps they would be willing to have him lock up the DH spot, at least against righties.

For the Rangers, as mentioned by Rosenthal, squaring up right-handed pitching was a struggle this year. They put up a collective line of .238/.304/.379 for a wRC+ of 95, putting them in the bottom third of the league. Installing Pederson in their lineup would be the most straightforward way of improving that line in 2025. The club didn’t have a strict designated hitter in 2024, so fitting Pederson in shouldn’t be too hard. 11 different players took at least 22 trips to the plate in that spot in 2024, with Wyatt Langford leading the pack with 105 plate appearances. Pederson’s presence would make it more difficult to spread around the DH time to so many guys, but it could be viewed as worth it, given how good he’s been at the plate recently.

Free Agent Profile: Max Kepler

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At the start of the offseason, MLBTR took a look at the Top 50 Free Agents for this offseason. There were a handful of players that we considered for the list but who just missed, getting relegated to the Honorable Mentions section. One of those was Max Kepler.

Kepler, 32 in February, is a guy who does a lot of things well but doesn’t really stand out in any one particular area. On offense, he has a bit of pop but not too much. He did hit 36 home runs in 2019, but in hindsight, he may have been one of the beneficiaries of the juiced ball season. His career high apart from that is 24. His strikeout rate usually finishes somewhere in the vicinity of 20%, with a career rate of 18.6%. League average is usually in the 22-23% range in this era of baseball. His 9.7% walk rate is also a bit better than par, which is often 8-9%.

Put that all together and Kepler has a .237/.318/.429 career batting line and 102 wRC+, indicating he’s been 2% better than league average overall. He’s been a bit better over the past six seasons, with a .240/.320/.436 line and 107 wRC+. He could perhaps get those numbers up if shielded from lefties more often, as he has hit .243/.326/.452 against righties in his career for a 111 wRC+, compared to a .221/.292/.363 line and 78 wRC+ against lefties.

Defensively, his contributions have been quite strong. In over 7,000 right field innings, he has accrued 48 Defensive Runs Saved and 57 Outs Above Average. From 2016 to the present, he’s actually the MLB leader in Outs Above Average in right field with 57, just ahead of Mookie Betts and his 54. DRS likes Betts far more, giving him 129 for that same time frame, but Kepler is fourth behind Betts, Aaron Judge and Jason Heyward.

Kepler also has over 1,000 innings in center field with positive ratings there as well. No club is going to sign him as a primary center fielder now, given his age and that he hasn’t played there since 2022, but perhaps some teams would consider him an emergency option there.

These various factors combine to make a guy who doesn’t overwhelm but also rarely disappoints. FanGraphs has never given him more than 3.9 wins above replacement in a season, which was his aforementioned 36-homer season. Otherwise, his career high is 2.8 fWAR. But he has nine straight seasons of being worth at least 1.0 fWAR, with seven of those 1.5 or higher, six worth at least 1.8 and five worth at least 2 wins.

What’s working against Kepler is that he just wrapped up a poor walk year. His missed time due to issues in both of his knees, getting into just 105 games and hitting only eight home runs. His 5.5% walk rate was a career worst by a few percentage points. His still racked up four OAA but DRS had him at exactly league average. Due to that rough platform, the MLBTR staff felt Kepler would be limited to a one-year deal in the $6-10MM range.

What could work for Kepler is that the market isn’t overflowing with his combination of skills. Looking at the lefty-swinging free agents, Juan Soto is obviously miles above the field. Switch-hitters Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar are both coming off good years at the plate but both are considered poor defenders. Joc Pederson is a lefty who crushes the ball but he is also bad in the field and was limited strictly to designated hitter duties in 2024. Hyeseong Kim is expected to be a light-hitting utility guy at the MLB level. Michael Conforto is perhaps the closest free agent to Kepler on the market, though slightly inverted. Conforto’s offense and defense have both been close to league average in recent years, but with his bat slightly more attractive than his glove.

For clubs looking for a lefty-swinger who can play the field without destroying the lineup, there aren’t too many options. On top of that, Kepler shouldn’t cost too much. His 2024 was rough but the year prior saw him hit 24 home runs and slash .260/.332/.484 for a 123 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR. He could perhaps appeal to contenders or rebuilding clubs that would hope for him to bounce back and turn himself into a trade candidate. Teams like the Mets, Mariners, Blue Jays, Padres, Pirates, Rockies, Marlins and others are possible landing spots.

Braves Sign Connor Gillispie To Major League Deal

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The Braves announced that they have signed right-hander Connor Gillispie to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. They have multiple openings on their 40-man roster and won’t need to make a corresponding move. Bob Nightengale of USA Today (X link) reported the deal prior to the official announcement.

Gillispie, 27, just made his major league debut in 2024. Though he was drafted by the Orioles in 2019 and was with them through the 2023 season, the Guardians nabbed him in the minor league phase of last year’s Rule 5 draft. Cleveland selected him to the big league roster in August and he tossed eight innings for them down the stretch, allowing two earned runs. Last week, the Guardians added four players to their roster to protect them from this year’s Rule 5, with Gillispie designated for assignment to open a spot.

He was later non-tendered and became a free agent without being exposed to waivers, with Atlanta quickly offering him a roster spot to get him off the market. The brief major league debut wasn’t much to go on, so Atlanta has presumably been enticed by his minor league work. Gillispie tossed 113 1/3 Triple-A innings in a swing role this year, making 15 starts and 12 relief appearances. He allowed 4.05 earned runs per nine innings, striking out 25% of opponents against a 10.1% walk rate while surrendering 22 home runs.

That’s roughly similar to the work he did in the Orioles’ system. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 292 2/3 innings in the minors, starting 50 of his 73 appearances. He had a 4.15 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in that time while allowing 48 long balls.

Perhaps Atlanta will try to move Gillispie to the bullpen on a more permanent basis, as he posted a 4.68 ERA as a starter this year but a 2.63 mark in relief. However it plays out, Gillispie still has options and just a few days of service time, meaning he can theoretically be cheaply retained well into the future if he continues to hang on to his roster spot. Atlanta’s pitching staff just lost Max Fried, Charlie Morton, A.J. Minter, Jesse Chavez and John Brebbia to free agency, while Joe Jiménez recently underwent knee surgery and could miss the entire 2025 season.

Braves, José Devers Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Braves and infielder José Devers have agreed to a minor league deal, per Aram Leighton of Just Baseball (X link) and confirmed by MLBTR. The Rep 1 Baseball client will receive an invite to major league spring training.

Devers, 25 next week, was once a notable prospect but hasn’t been able to live up to that hype just yet. An international signing of the Yankees, he was traded to the Marlins as part of the December 2017 trade that brought Giancarlo Stanton to the Bronx. The cousin of Rafael Devers, José went on to garner attention to due his athletic defense and strong contact abilities. Baseball America ranked him as one of the top 15 prospects in Miami’s system in four straight years from 2019 to 2022.

He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in December of 2020 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft, but a significant shoulder issue detailed much of his next two seasons. He only played 33 games between the majors and minors in 2021 and underwent surgery in August of that year to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. The recovery lingered into the next season as he only played 60 minor league games in 2022. He cleared waivers and was outrighted off Miami’s roster at the end of the 2022 season.

He was stuck in Triple-A in 2023 but had a decent campaign there, striking out in just 14.8% of his plate appearances while slashing .276/.352/.421 for a 108 wRC+. But in 2024, he spent a bit of time on the minor league injured list and only got into 54 Triple-A games, hitting .239/.304/.362 for a 74 wRC+. He was briefly added to the club’s major league roster as they were playing out a lost season. He has a line of .244/.300/.311 in just 50 major league plate appearances thus far. He wasn’t on the 40-man at season’s end and was able to elect free agency.

For Atlanta, there’s little risk in a minor league deal. Devers has played all four infield positions, primarily up the middle. The club has Ozzie Albies cemented at second base but Orlando Arcia is on shakier ground at shortstop. Nick Allen, Luke Williams and Nacho Alvarez Jr. are on the roster but Devers gives them a bit of non-roster depth.

Devers’ prospect stock has faded of late but he’s still relatively young and has been hurt for many of his recent challenges. If he can stay healthy and get back on track, he still has an option year and barely a year of service time, meaning he can theoretically be cheaply retained well into the future if he can nab a roster spot.

Tigers Sign Ricky Vanasco To Minor League Deal

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TODAY: Per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Vanasco’s minor league deal comes with an invite to big league spring training as well as a $925K salary when in the majors.

11/28: The Tigers have signed right-hander Ricky Vanasco to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Full Circle Sports Management client has been assigned to Triple-A Toledo for now but will presumably receive an invite to major league spring training.

Vanasco, 26, finished the 2024 season with the Tigers. They acquired him from the Dodgers in a July cash deal and largely kept him in the minors on optional assignment, only giving him two major league appearances. Detroit then non-tendered him last week, sending him to free agency without exposing him to waivers, which allowed them to bring him back via this deal.

The righty now has just four major league appearances under his belt, two of those coming with the Dodgers prior to the two he made with the Tigers. That’s obviously not a large enough sample to draw any conclusions from, but there are other reasons why the Tigers are interested.

Vanasco was drafted by the Rangers back in 2017 and put up some good numbers in the lower levels of the minors. Baseball America ranked him that club’s #12 prospect going into 2020. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in September of that year and missed the entire 2021 season. Still, the Rangers didn’t want him to be left exposed in the Rule 5 draft, so they added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2021.

Recovered from his surgery, he was back on the mound in 2022. He made 23 starts that year between High-A and Double-A, throwing 92 1/3 innings with a 4.68 earned run average. His 28.9% strikeout rate was strong but he also gave out walks at a 12.7% clip. In 2023, knee surgery forced him to miss a few months but he had some encouraging results while switching to a relief role. He tossed 32 1/3 innings that year with a 2.78 ERA, 31.9% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate, getting acquired by the Dodgers midway through that year.

In 2024, as mentioned, he made four major league appearances between the Dodgers and Tigers. Most of his time was spent in Triple-A, where he logged 40 1/3 innings with a 2.45 ERA. His 26.4% strikeout rate was good but the 16.5% walk rate very much on the high side.

The lack of control could make Vanasco a bit of a project for the Tigers, but there’s no real risk on a minor league deal and there could be long-term benefits if it works out. Vanasco is out of options but has less than a year of service time and is still relatively young. That means he could be cheaply retained for years into the future if things click for him and he gets a roster spot.

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Blue Jays Interested In Alex Bregman, Luis Severino

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The Blue Jays are known to be in the Juan Soto bidding, but like all teams, they have to consider backup plans. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet takes a look at their Soto pursuit and notes that they also have interest in Max Fried, Luis Severino, Anthony Santander and Alex Bregman. MLBTR has previously covered their interest in Fried and Santander.

Bregman, 31, is one of the top free agents available this winter. He has a career batting line of .272/.366/.483, which translates to a 135 wRC+, indicating he’s been 35% better than league average at the plate overall. His strikeout rate hasn’t been higher than 13.6% in any of the past six full seasons, barely half of league average. His walk rate dipped a bit in 2024 but has been above par for most of his career.

He also gets strong grades for his third base defense and is willing to move to second if he signs with a club that has a greater need there. His clubhouse and leadership qualities are often lauded by those who have played with him. MLBTR predicted Bregman for a seven-year deal worth $182MM at the start of the offseason. It’s well established that the Astros want him back, but he’s also been connected to the Tigers, Red Sox, Phillies and now Blue Jays.

For the Jays, third base and second base are both fairly unsettled. Ernie Clement was the primary option at the hot corner in 2024 and he had a serviceable season. His .263/.284/.408 batting line was slightly below average, translating to a 94 wRC+. But he also stole 12 bases and got strong grades for his glovework at third and shortstop, as well as brief looks at second base and left field.

The total package added up to 2.2 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs and Clement is still on the roster, but he shouldn’t stand in the way of someone like Bregman coming aboard. If Bregman took over as the everyday guy at the hot corner, it could move Clement into a utility role, which could still allow him to contribute fairly regularly.

At second base, Spencer Horwitz and Davis Schneider got decent chunks of the playing time, alongside the now-departed Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Horwitz has hit well in his major league career so far but is not a natural second baseman, only moving there since his first base spot is taken by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. A lot of the designated hitter plate appearances went to Justin Turner in 2024, who is no longer with the team. Perhaps that frees up Horwitz and Guerrero to share that spot and first base in 2025, depending on what other moves the Jays make this winter. Schneider is coming off a down season and can also play left field.

The Jays have some other players on the roster capable of playing either third or second base, including Addison Barger, Orelvis Martínez, Will Wagner and Leo Jiménez, but no one in that group has even 70 games of major league experience. With the Jays looking to quickly bounce back from a poor 2024 campaign, there’s logic in going for an established major leaguer like Bregman as opposed to hoping that someone in that group takes a step forward. The Jays have also been tied to shortstop Willy Adames, who is reportedly willing to move to third base with his new club if they already have a shortstop. The Jays have Bo Bichette at short but he’s only one year from free agency, so that’s a move that could potentially help in the short and long term.

The interest in Severino aligns with the club’s other rotation pursuits. As mentioned, they’ve been tied to Fried as well as Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell, though Snell is now off the board due to his agreement with the Dodgers. Severino once seemed like a budding ace with the Yankees but he didn’t pitch much from 2019 to 2021 due to injuries. He was able to pitch partial seasons in 2022 and 2023 but with inconsistent results.

He’s coming off a solid bounceback year with the Mets. He made 32 starts and tossed 182 innings, his first time throwing more than 102 innings since 2018. On top of the quantity, there was also some quality, as Severino allowed 3.91 earned runs per innings. His 21.2% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate were all pretty close to league average.

Severino isn’t as exciting as Burnes or Fried but he also won’t cost as much. MLBTR predicted Burnes for a $200MM guarantee and Fried a bit behind at $156MM. Severino, on the other hand, was projected for a three-year deal worth $51MM.

The Jays have a veteran rotation nucleus consisting of José Berríos, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt. Another spot is likely ticketed to Bowden Francis after his strong second half. Options for the fifth spot include Yariel Rodríguez and Jake Bloss but there’s sense in the Jays adding. Rodríguez has plenty of relief experience and the Jays need help in the bullpen, so he could be pushed there, at least until an injury opens up a need in the rotation. Bloss has less than 12 big league innings and only 112 in the minors, so he could get some more seasoning in Triple-A until a big league opportunity arises.

On the financial side of things, RosterResource projects the Jays for a payroll of $189MM next year. President Mark Shapiro has suggested the club will end up with a roughly similar payroll as they did in 2024. Cot’s Baseball Contracts pegged their Opening Day figure at $225MM last year, so that could leave them with about $35MM of wiggle room.

Adding one of these notable free agents could certainly fit into that window, though Soto would be a unique case. The average annual value of his contract will certainly eclipse that number but it’s been reported by Nicholson-Smith that the Jays would make an exception for Soto, willing to stretch the budget further than they would otherwise.

Each of Soto, Bregman, Severino, Fried, Burnes, Santander and Adames rejected a qualifying offer, so the associated penalties will also have to be a consideration. The Jays seemingly ducked under the competitive balance tax in 2024 with their midseason selloff, though it’s not yet official. If that proves to be the case, the Jays would have to surrender their second-best pick in the upcoming draft as well as $500K of international bonus pool space for signing one of these players.

Padres Sign Oscar González To Minor League Deal

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The Padres have signed outfielder Oscar González to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A El Paso for now but will presumably receive an invite to major league spring training.

González, 27, seemed to have a breakout with the Guardians in 2022. He made his major league debut that year and hit 11 home runs in 91 games. His 3.9% walk rate was less than half of league average but his 19.6% strikeout rate was solid and the homers helped propel him to a .296/.327/.461 batting line and 123 wRC+. He also became a fan favorite by using the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as his walk-up music and hitting a walk-off, series clinching home run to break a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 15th against the Rays in the Wild Card round (YouTube link from MLB).

But his performance dipped in 2023. His strikeout rate climbed to 25.6% and his walk rate fell even further to 2.8%. He hit just two home runs in 54 games and slashed .214/.239/.312 for a wRC+ of 48. He’s not considered a strong defender, so a lack of offense like that made it impossible for him to provide any value.

The Guardians put him on waivers after that season, with the Yankees claiming him, though the Yanks later passed him through waivers unclaimed prior to the 2024 campaign. González went on to have a decent year in Triple-A, around a few stints on the injured list. He got into 78 games and hit eight home runs. His 20.3% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate were similar to his big league campaign in 2022. He hit .294/.333/.469 for the RailRiders for a 106 wRC+.

That wasn’t enough to get him back to the majors, as the Yankees had an outfield mix consisting of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, Trent Grisham and Jasson Domínguez for much of the year. González was able to elect free agency at season’s end and now has a new opportunity with the Padres.

For the Friars, they just lost Jurickson Profar and David Peralta to free agency. They have Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. in two outfield spots but left field is fairly open at the moment. Tirso Ornelas, Eguy Rosario and Brandon Lockridge are on the 40-man roster but each of those three guys has less than 50 games of major league experience.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Padres and Profar reunite, given the mutual affection between them, but it’s possible he has priced himself out of San Diego. He is coming off a tremendous season and could look to cash in, while the club has had ongoing financial concerns in recent years.

Whether the Padres can upgrade left field this winter or not, González will give them a bit of non-roster depth. He hasn’t yet accrued enough service time to reach arbitration, so he’d be a cheap option for them if he can earn his way onto the roster. He also still has options, meaning he would have some roster flexibility if he gets a spot.

Elieser Hernández, Austin Dean Re-Sign With KBO’s LG Twins

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The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization are bringing back right-hander Elieser Hernández and first baseman Austin Dean for 2025. Per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (X link), Hernández will make $1.3MM while Dean will get $1.7MM.

Hernández, 30 in May, was a midseason replacement for the Twins. Once a potential rotation building block with the Marlins, he missed significant time due to injuries, including the entire 2023 season. He returned in 2024 to get limited looks with the Dodgers and Brewers before heading overseas to join the Twins in late July.

He went on to log 47 innings for them over 11 appearances, including nine starts. He allowed 4.02 earned runs per nine with a 28.2% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 51.2% ground ball rate. Yoo adds that Hernandez also tossed 11 scoreless innings in the postseason. The club clearly liked what they saw and will bring Hernández back for another season.

For Dean, 31, this will be his third season as a Twin. He played in parts of five MLB seasons from 2018 to 2022 but never got more than a part-time role. He has found a regular gig in Korea and has made the most of it. He hit 23 home runs last year and slashed .313/.376/.515, then followed that up with 32 home runs and a .319/.384/.573 line in 2024.

The MLB minimum salary is going to be $760K next year, so both players have gotten themselves up into a higher level of earning power, and likely with some extra job security as well. For the Twins, they also signed right-hander Yonny Chirinos this week, so this fills their quota of foreign-born players. Each KBO team is allowed three such players, with a maximum of two pitchers.

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