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Multiple Teams Expressing Interest In Sócrates Brito

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Numerous MLB teams have expressed interest in free agent outfielder Sócrates Brito, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman’s report did not specify which teams might be interested. Brito has spent the last three seasons with the Kia Tigers of the KBO.

Brito, now 32, was once a well-regarded prospect in the Diamondbacks system. He was chosen as the organization’s minor league Minor League Player of the Year in 2015, and most sources considered him one of the team’s top 10 prospects entering the 2016 season. However, he was never able to translate his minor league success to the majors. Over 99 MLB games with the D-backs and Blue Jays from 2015-19, Brito slashed .176/.216/.309 in 218 trips to the plate. Despite his elite sprint speed and solid outfield defense, he produced -0.6 FanGraphs WAR.

After a rough year at Triple-A with the Yankees in 2021, Brito signed a contract with the Kia Tigers and packed his bags for Korea. It turned out to be the right decision. He was named a KBO All-Star in each of his first two seasons with the Tigers. While he did not make the All-Star team in 2024, he set new career highs in home runs, runs scored, and RBI. He also helped his club win the Korean Series for the 12th time in franchise history and the first time since 2017. All told, Brito has slashed .302/.352/.491 with 63 home runs, 40 stolen bases, and an .843 OPS over three seasons in the KBO.

Heyman’s report does not necessarily suggest that Brito is planning (or even trying) to return to affiliated ball. He has enjoyed a successful career so far in Korea, in terms of individual accolades, team accomplishments, and financial compensation. His contract for the 2024 season guaranteed him $800K and contained an additional $400K in incentives. If he can land a similar deal from the Kia Tigers for 2025, one can see why he wouldn’t be interested in returning to North America for anything less than a guaranteed contract. Despite his excellent performance in the KBO, his uninspiring MLB track record could scare off potential suitors from offering such a guarantee.

William Cuevas Re-Signs With KT Wiz

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Right-handed pitcher William Cuevas is coming back for another year with the KT Wiz of the KBO.  His contract, announced by the team and relayed over X by Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net and Jiheon Pae, is worth $1.5MM in US dollars. The 2025 season will be the righty’s seventh with the club.

Cuevas, now 34, originally signed with the Red Sox as an 18-year-old international free agent in 2009. He would eventually bounce from the Red Sox, to the Tigers, to the Marlins, and back to the Red Sox, appearing in big league games for Boston and Detroit. He pitched to an 8.06 ERA and 4.92 SIERA in 22 1/3 MLB innings.

After the 2018 season, the Red Sox released Cuevas so he could pursue an opportunity in the KBO. From 2019-22, he pitched for the Wiz on a series of one-year contracts. However, he was released early in the 2022 season after suffering an elbow injury. Fortunately for Cuevas, the issue proved not to be too serious. He was able to make an appearance for the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League later that year.

Cuevas returned to affiliated ball the following season, signing a minor league contract with the Dodgers in April 2023. He pitched 44 innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City, striking out 43, walking 20, and giving up 13 home runs, resulting in a 6.14 ERA and 7.47 FIP. On June 8, the Dodgers released Cuevas, allowing him to re-sign with the Wiz the next day. While his performance at Triple-A wasn’t exactly impressive, he clearly did enough to prove to his former club that his elbow was back to full strength. Indeed, he put up a 2.60 ERA and 2.79 FIP in 114 1/3 IP over the remainder of the KBO season.

Fresh off his successful 2023 campaign, Cuevas earned another contract from the Wiz. He didn’t look nearly as sharp in 2024 as he did the year before, producing a 4.10 ERA and 4.39 FIP. Still, he was durable and reliable, giving the team 31 starts and 173 1/3 IP. Only two KBO pitchers threw more innings this past season, and only one made more starts. Thus, it comes as little surprise that the Wiz have welcomed Cuevas back once again for 2025.

Cubs To Sign Brooks Kriske

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Right-handed pitcher Brooks Kriske has agreed to a contract with the Cubs, the 30-year-old announced himself on his Instagram and X accounts. It is presumably a minor league deal, although the team has not yet confirmed the move and further details have not been revealed.

After growing up a Cubs fan, Kriske was selected by the Yankees in the 2016 draft. Although he was never a top prospect, the righty made an impressive comeback from early-career Tommy John surgery and quickly rose through the ranks of the minor leagues. In August 2018, he was still pitching at Low-A after losing so much development time to injury. Yet, by July 2020, he was pitching for the big league club. Heading into the 2021 season, he earned a spot on the Yankees prospect lists at both FanGraphs (no. 34) and Baseball America (no. 28).

Unfortunately, the big leagues have never been kind to Kriske. Over parts of two seasons in the Bronx, he gave up 20 runs (19 earned) in 11 1/3 innings, good for a 15.09 ERA. He allowed six home runs and walked more than 20% of the batters he faced. He also threw seven wild pitches – four of which came in the same inning. Following a particularly poor outing in September 2021, Kriske was optioned to Triple-A and designated for assignment a few days later.

The Orioles must have liked what they saw when Kriske held them scoreless and hitless across two appearances in 2020, striking out four of the eight batters he faced. They scooped him up off of waivers, and he pitched in four more games down the stretch. Yet, his results weren’t much better than they were in New York. While Kriske didn’t walk any batters, he gave up five runs on two homers in 3 1/3 innings of work. By the end of the 2021 campaign, he had a career 14.40 ERA, 5.11 SIERA, and -0.8 FanGraphs WAR.

Baltimore released Kriske that fall, allowing him to sign with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of NPB. A relatively successful season in Japan (21 IP, 2.57 ERA, 11.1 K/9) earned him a minor league deal with the Royals in December 2022. However, Kriske struggled upon his return to affiliated ball. He pitched to a 5.52 ERA and 4.29 FIP over 29 1/3 innings at Triple-A Omaha. His 4.05 ERA over 6 2/3 MLB innings represented an improvement, but his 16% walk rate and 5.30 SIERA showed a pitcher who was still struggling to retire major league batters. Partway through the 2023 season, he was granted his release to pursue another opportunity in Japan, this time with the Saitama Seibu Lions.

Once again, Kriske looked much sharper overseas, putting up a 1.93 ERA in 14 innings with the Lions over the remainder of the 2023 campaign. He decided to come back stateside last winter, inking a minor league pact with the Reds. However, despite a strong performance in spring training (6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 8 K, 1 BB) and solid numbers at Triple-A Louisville (49 1/3 IP, 3.10 ERA, 36.7 K%, 4.06 FIP), he never got the chance to pitch for Cincinnati at the big league level. The Reds selected him to their 40-man roster in June (presumably to prevent him from exercising an opt-out clause in his contract) but never actually called him up. They DFA’d him two months later.

For the second time in three years, the Orioles claimed Kriske off of waivers, and he finished out the 2024 campaign in the O’s organization. Across eight appearances at Triple-A Norfolk, he pitched to a 5.00 ERA and 6.79 FIP in nine innings of work. He elected free agency at the end of the season.

Although he struggled late in the year with the Norfolk Tides, Kriske still finished his age-30 season with respectable Triple-A numbers: a 3.39 ERA and 4.48 FIP over 58 1/3 innings. He struck out 34.2% of his opponents. Free passes continue to be a problem for the righty – he walked 14.8% of hitters this past season – but a high walk rate is tolerable as long as he can maintain such a high strikeout rate and keep home runs at a manageable level. He’ll provide depth for the Cubs in the minor leagues, and the fewer batters he walks, the better his chances of getting back to the big leagues in 2025.

The Opener: Black Friday Shopping, Kim, Soto

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As you’re eating Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, here are three things to keep an eye on around baseball today:

1. Black Friday shopping:

After a quiet Thanksgiving Day, will any teams resume their offseason shopping on Black Friday? It’s not typically a busy day on the baseball calendar, but it’s not as if every front office executive around the league takes the day off. Three years ago, for instance, news broke that the Mets had signed Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar on Black Friday.

If any team is going to be active today, the Blue Jays might be the best bet. After all, Canadian Thanksgiving has long since passed, and the Jays have been active on Black Friday before; they traded for Josh Donaldson on Black Friday in 2014 and signed free agent J.A. Happ on Black Friday in 2015. Toronto has been linked to several of the top free agents this winter, including Juan Soto, Max Fried, and Anthony Santander. Most recently, a report from Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet connected the Blue Jays to Alex Bregman and Luis Severino.

2. Hyeseong Kim to be posted?

According to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News, Hyeseong Kim left for Los Angeles earlier today in anticipation of his move from the KBO to MLB. His current team, the Kiwoom Heroes, has not yet posted him, but they are discussing the topic with Kim’s agents at CAA. The three-time KBO Golden Glove winner told Yoo he expects to be posted after Thanksgiving. That suggests he’ll be available to sign with MLB clubs as early as next week. After he is officially posted, he will have 45 days to sign a contract before his posting window closes.

Kim came in at no. 26 on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list this offseason. And unlike fellow international star Roki Sasaki, Kim is old enough and has the necessary amount of professional experience to sign with any MLB club for as many years and dollars as he can command. Given his plus speed, his defensive talents at second base, his well-regarded bat-to-ball skills, and his youth (he won’t turn 26 until January), the MLBTR staff predicted him to sign a three-year, $24 million deal.

3. Soto sweepstakes continue:

Until he puts pen to paper on a (presumably) record-breaking contract, Juan Soto’s free agency will remain the biggest story of the 2024-25 MLB offseason. The latest update in the Soto saga, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, is that the Yankees increased their offer on Wednesday, although it is not clear what their previous offer was or how much they upped the original number.

More tidbits from Heyman’s reporting include the fact that Soto would prefer a long-term deal as opposed to a shorter contract with a higher AAV. However, he is likely to ask for opt-outs in whatever deal he signs. The Yankees made it clear they are willing to include opt-outs in their offer, but reportedly, so are multiple other suitors. Don’t expect Soto to sign this weekend, but keep an eye out for reports and rumors that will surely continue to trickle out.

Phillies Rumors: Crawford, Castellanos, Suárez

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If the Phillies are looking for improvements on the trade market this offseason, outfielder Justin Crawford could be one of their most valuable trade chips. The 20-year-old is widely considered one of the top five prospects in the organization, and he’s coming off a strong season in which he hit .313 with 42 stolen bases and a 130 wRC+ between High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading. To that point, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that the Phillies could indeed be persuaded to part with Crawford, although he implies they aren’t actively shopping the center fielder. In Gelb’s words, Philadelphia has “not excluded Crawford from trade talks” but would only be willing to trade him “for a big-league player with multiple years of club control.”

None of that is necessarily surprising. The Phillies aren’t facing any pressure to trade Crawford, and it’s possible (though unlikely) he could contribute to the big league team as early as this coming season. That being said, if top pitching prospect Andrew Painter and top position player prospect Aidan Miller are all but untouchable (which seems to be the case), the Phillies would almost certainly have to include Crawford in a trade for an impactful major leaguer with more than one year of team control. Philadelphia has not yet been formally linked to any trade candidates this offseason, but the first name that comes to mind as a potential target is White Sox ace Garrett Crochet. The Phillies were interested in Crochet at the trade deadline but balked when the White Sox demanded Painter as part of the return package. If Philadelphia is still unwilling to trade Painter, it’s hard to imagine they could land Crochet without including Crawford in the deal.

Gelb also mentioned that the Phillies are at least casually looking to trade Nick Castellanos this winter. Although it would be quite surprising if such a trade materialized, it’s not hard to see why the Phillies would make him available. Even by the most charitable of metrics, Castellanos has been a disappointment on the five-year, $100MM contract he signed prior to the 2022 season. With a 105 wRC+ in 2024, he was barely better than league average at the plate while offering no additional value with his glove or his legs. Yet, for those exact reasons, the Phillies will have a tough time trading him unless they eat the vast majority of the $40MM remaining on his contract for 2025 and ’26. Castellanos still offers value as a durable, contact-oriented hitter with good splits against left-handed pitching, not to mention as a well-liked presence in the clubhouse and within the fanbase. In other words, there’s little reason the Phillies should want to pay him to play for another team without getting anything meaningful back in return.

If the Phillies are planning to shake up their major league roster, a couple of more realistic trade candidates include third baseman Alec Bohm and left-handed starting pitcher Ranger Suárez. Gelb reports that Philadelphia has tried to “gauge other clubs’ interest” in both players. Bohm has been one of the more talked-about trade candidates of the offseason so far, but the fact that the Phillies are actively shopping Suárez, even if just to get a sense of his market, is newer information.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has repeatedly discussed a need to be “open-minded” this winter, telling reporters, including Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, that the Phillies might need to “trade good players for good players.” Naturally, that has led to no shortage of speculation about the “good players” to whom Dombrowski could be referring. Bohm, Suárez, second baseman Bryson Stott, and outfielder Brandon Marsh all seem like plausible trade candidates. Until today, however, Bohm was the only one whose name had come up in any credible trade rumors.

Suárez’s trade value is slightly complicated. On the one hand, he’s coming off what was almost certainly the best season of his career. Over 27 starts, the southpaw threw 150 2/3 innings with a 3.46 ERA and 3.61 SIERA, making the NL All-Star team and setting a new career high with 3.5 FanGraphs WAR. On the other hand, he spent time on the injured list for the third year in a row and didn’t look nearly as sharp upon his return. He put up a 5.74 ERA and 4.37 SIERA in his final seven regular season starts.

Therefore, it makes sense that the Phillies are trying to figure out how other teams might value his arm in a trade. Dombrowski has no good reason to sell low on Suárez. However, if he gets a strong enough offer, it’s not as if he doesn’t have ways to replace Suárez in the rotation. The aforementioned possibility of trading for Crochet is one route the Phillies could take. In addition, Painter is likely to pitch meaningful innings out of the rotation at some point in 2025. Moreover, while the Phillies have not yet been linked to any of the top starting pitchers on the free agent market, that would surely change if Suárez were out of the picture.

In a bit of additional Phillies news, the team has hired Blake Crosby to fll the role of assistant director, international scouting. He was formerly a special assignment scout for the Pirates.

Braves Sign Carlos D. Rodriguez To Non-Guaranteed Contract

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2:58 pm: The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli reports that 18 teams expressed interest in signing Rodriguez. That sheds light on why the Braves needed to offer him a 40-man spot to sweeten the deal.

1:17 pm: The Braves have signed outfielder Carlos D. Rodriguez to a non-guaranteed one-year contract, the team announced. While Rodriguez has yet to make his major league debut, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel notes that the deal gives him a spot on Atlanta’s 40-man roster. The Braves have an open 40-man spot, so no corresponding move will be required.

Financial terms of the deal have not yet been announced, but Rodriguez will presumably earn something close to the league minimum salary for the time he spends with the club. Since the contract is not guaranteed, the Braves would not have to continue paying his salary if they decided to cut him from the roster at any point.

Rodriguez, soon to be 24, elected minor league free agency earlier this month. He had been a member of the Brewers organization since he signed with the club as a 16-year-old international free agent in 2017. While never a top prospect (indeed, he was only the second-highest-ranked Carlos Rodriguez on most Brewers prospect lists for the past few years), he played well at Double-A last season, slashing .298/.376/.396 with a 132 wRC+. He stole 15 bases in 19 attempts and walked more often than he struck out. That’s some solid offensive production coming from a primary center fielder, even if most evaluators agree his defense is more good than great.

Then again, Rodriguez struggled after a midseason promotion to Triple-A. He continued to demonstrate excellent contract skills and plate discipline (13.3% walk rate, 8.6% strikeout rate), but he slashed a meager .245/.344/.309 with a 79 wRC+. His promising Double-A number might explain why the Braves were interested, but his poor Triple-A performance shows why the Brewers never added him to their own 40-man roster.

Slightly harder to understand is why the Braves gave Rodriguez a non-guaranteed major league contract instead of signing him to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Rodriguez has no major league experience and struggled badly in a brief stint against Triple-A competition. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him as the no. 34 prospect in Milwaukee’s system entering the 2024 season, describing him as a potential fifth outfielder. Keith Law of The Athletic left Rodriguez off his list of the Brewers’ top prospects this past season, while Baseball America has not included him since 2022.

It’s not as if the Braves are desperate for center fielders, either. Michael Harris II ended the 2024 season on a high note, and, barring injury, he’ll be starting in center field almost every day next season. Jarred Kelenic, Ramón Laureano, and Eli White can also play the position. Luke Williams gives the Braves a fifth healthy outfielder on the 40-man. Once Ronald Acuña Jr. is ready to return, presumably not too long after Opening Day, that will make six outfielders with MLB experience on Atlanta’s 40-man roster.

Then again, perhaps the Braves are planning to non-tender Laureano or White today. They could also be looking ahead and preparing to DFA an outfielder during the regular season once Acuña needs a spot on the active roster. In that case, it’s easier to see why they’d appreciate having an optionable outfielder like Rodriguez. Of the current group, only Harris and Kelenic have minor league options remaining. That still doesn’t explain why the Braves didn’t just sign Rodriguez to a minor league deal, but it’s not as if this non-guaranteed arrangement is any riskier for the team. It seems like the Braves simply identified the player they liked and made the necessary offer to bring him aboard.

Braves Hire Hugh Quattlebaum, Carlos Méndez As Assistant Hitting Coaches

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The Braves announced a couple of additions to their major league coaching staff today. Hugh Quattlebaum and Carlos Méndez will join Brian Snitker’s staff as assistant hitting coaches, working alongside new hitting coach Tim Hyers. Quattlebaum was hired away from the Diamondbacks, while Méndez was promoted from within the Braves organization.

Quattlebaum has been coaching in affiliated ball since 2018 when the Mariners hired him as a minor league hitting coordinator. He left to become the Mets’ director of hitting development in 2021, and briefly served as the team’s interim hitting coach, replacing Chili Davis partway through the year. Quattlebaum returned to his role as director of hitting development in 2022 before he was let go at the end of the season. He then joined the Diamondbacks as the team’s assistant director of hitting for the 2023 and ’24 campaigns. 

Méndez was primarily a catcher and first baseman during his long professional playing career. While he played his lone big league season with the Orioles in 2003, his last stop in the minor leagues was with the Braves organization. He suited up for the Triple-A Richmond Braves from 2005-07. Since then, he has worked as a minor league coach in the organization. This is his first big league coaching job.

Jonny DeLuca To Be Rays’ Primary Center Fielder In 2025

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After trading Jose Siri to the Mets earlier today, the Rays have revealed that Jonny DeLuca will be their primary center fielder next season (per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Siri had been Tampa Bay’s primary center fielder since the club acquired him from the Astros ahead of the trade deadline in 2022.

DeLuca, 26, was the secondary piece the Rays acquired in the trade that sent Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers last offseason; Ryan Pepiot was the centerpiece of the return. That said, the Rays clearly viewed DeLuca as more than a mere throw-in. A broken hand kept him from making the Opening Day roster this past season, but after his return in early May, he appeared in 107 of Tampa Bay’s remaining 130 games. His bat was feeble, producing a .609 OPS and 77 wRC+, but he stole 16 bases and played strong defense while splitting his time between all three outfield positions. He earned 5 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), 8 Outs Above Average (OAA), and 5.1 Deserved Runs Prevented (DRP), helping him rack up positive value according to every version of Wins Above Replacement. He already has elite speed and a strong throwing arm, so if he can learn to tap into a bit more of the plus power and plate discipline he displayed throughout the minor leagues, it might be enough for him to become a productive big league center fielder.

Now, that’s a big if, but the Rays seem to have a good amount of faith in DeLuca. President of baseball operations Erik Neander cited the young outfielder’s improvement over the last few months of the 2024 season, telling Topkin, “You look at the progress, you look at the improvement, you look how he’s made up, and his history of just what he’s been able to do with more reps given what a good athlete he is, he’s just continued to get better.”

It’s true that DeLuca hit significantly better in the second half of the 2024 season than the first. But much of that improvement came from a strong September (116 wRC+) in which the righty batter outperformed his .269 xwOBA by more than 50 points. That’s not a lot to go on, especially for a team that aims to contend once again in 2025. Most clubs would certainly be looking for an upgrade on the free agent market. But of course, this is the Rays we’re talking about, a team that loves to turn unheralded trade pickups into productive major leaguers.

Topkin notes that lefty batters Josh Lowe and Richie Palacios could also see some time in center field next year. Neither one has much big league experience at the position, but both are young and athletic outfielders who played a good deal of center in the minors. More to the point, if either of them ends up playing center, it will only be because manager Kevin Cash is looking to get more offense in the lineup, especially against a tough right-handed pitcher. Both players were roughly league-average at the plate in 2024, but they were significantly more dangerous in 2023. Even if neither returns to the heights of his 2023 campaign, a league-average bat would still be a whole lot more productive than DeLuca was this past season.

However, any time Lowe or Palacios spends in center field would take them away from the outfielder corners. That would most likely leave either Dylan Carlson or Christopher Morel covering a corner spot. The only other outfielders on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster are Kameron Misner, who appeared in eight games for the big league club this past season, and Jake Mangum, who was recently added to the 40-man to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Neither is necessarily anything more than depth for the bench. Thus, even if the Rays are planning to give DeLuca the bulk of the playing time in center field, it would make sense for them to add at least one more outfielder this offseason.

Athletics Sign Matt Krook To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics signed left-handed pitcher Matt Krook to a minor league contract late last week, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. The 30-year-old elected free agency earlier this month.

Eleven years ago, the Marlins selected Krook out of high school in Competitive Balance Round A of the 2013 draft. While he planned to sign a contract, the team discovered a left shoulder injury during his physical, and the two sides were unable to come to terms on a signing bonus. Things continued to go downhill for Krook when an elbow injury cut his freshman season at the University of Oregon short; he would undergo Tommy John surgery that spring.

The Giants took Krook in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, and this time he signed a deal and entered the organization. After parts of two seasons in San Francisco’s farm system, he was included in the trade that brought Evan Longoria from the Rays to the Giants. Three years later, the Yankees selected Krook away from the Rays in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft, and another two years after that, they added him to the 40-man roster to prevent him from electing minor league agency.

The Yankees made Krook a full-time reliever in 2023, and he kicked off his major league career that same season. Tossing four innings across four separate stints with the big league club, he gave up 11 earned runs, walking six and striking out just three. It was no surprise that control issues were his downfall; he came into his MLB debut with a career 14.3% walk rate in the minors. Despite his ever-present control problems, his minor league numbers were excellent that year (1.32 ERA, 2.81 FIP in 34 IP), but even so, they weren’t enough to stop New York from designating him for assignment over the offseason.

The Orioles put in a claim and sent the Yankees cash to acquire the lefty. Although he looked solid over 43 2/3 frames with Triple-A Norfolk (3.92 ERA, 4.49 FIP), Krook only got the chance to pitch one inning with the O’s in 2024. He allowed three runs (two earned) on a three-run shot off the bat of Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford. While he technically lowered his career ERA from 24.75 to 23.40, it wasn’t the image-rehabilitating showing he was surely hoping for. Baltimore DFA’d Krook at the trade deadline and outrighted him to Triple-A a few days later.

Krook will look to get another crack at the majors in 2025, this time with the A’s. Outside of star closer Mason Miller, the Athletics don’t have much in the way of top-end talent or depth in the bullpen, so Krook should have a clear path to playing time if he pitches well. His minor league deal presumably includes an invitation to spring training, where he’ll have his first chance to make a good impression on his new club.

Mariners Trade For Austin Shenton, DFA JT Chargois

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As announced by both teams, the Mariners have acquired infielder Austin Shenton in a trade with the Rays. Seattle will send cash considerations to Tampa Bay in return. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Mariners designated right-handed pitcher JT Chargois for assignment.

Shenton began his professional career with the Mariners, who selected him in the 2019 draft. Though he was never a highly-ranked prospect, the flexible defender quickly worked his way up the minor league ladder, hitting well at every step along the way. In 120 games across four levels in Seattle’s system, he hit .299 with 46 doubles and 19 home runs, good for a .940 OPS. While he spent most of his time at third base, he also took reps at first base, second base, and both outfield corners.

Ahead of the 2021 trade deadline, the M’s dealt Shenton to the Rays in exchange for right-handed reliever Diego Castillo. Funnily enough, the other player Seattle sent to Tampa Bay in that trade was none other than Chargois. (After brief stints with the Rays and Marlins, Chargois made his way back to the Mariners at the trade deadline this past summer. But more on him in a moment.) Injuries cut into Shenton’s playing time in the Rays system in 2021 and ’22, but after his strong 2023 season (1.006 OPS in 134 games between Double and Triple-A) the team added him to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Shenton wasn’t as dominant with the stick in 2024, but he provided above-average offense for both Triple-A Durham and the Rays over a handful of games with the big league club. In his first MLB season, he slashed .214/.340/.405 across 50 plate appearances, good for a 120 wRC+. Those are decent numbers for a lefty bench bat, but nonetheless, Shenton was the casualty when the Rays needed to free up an extra roster spot to protect a pair of promising pitchers from this year’s Rule 5 reaping. He was DFA’d yesterday evening.

Despite his solid offensive production, it’s not hard to guess what the Rays might have been thinking. While his bat has real promise, Shenton will be 27 years old next season, and he comes with his fair share of flaws. Although he has played several positions, he might not be capable of regular MLB playing time anywhere other than first base. As for his offense, he has enticing power and a good eye, but strikeouts could be his downfall against the highest level of competition. He has also had dreadful splits against same-handed pitching in two of the last three seasons. On top of all that, he has often had trouble staying on the field; he spent time on the IL in each of his first four professional campaigns.

Regardless, the Mariners must have liked what they saw (and what they remembered) of Shenton, and there’s little risk for Seattle in taking him on. He still has two minor league option years remaining, so he won’t get any playing with the big league club unless he earns it. Moreover, it’s not as if Chargois was going to be a key player in the M’s bullpen next season. Rather, he seemed to be a likely non-tender candidate ahead of this week’s deadline.

Chargois, 34 in December, is a journeyman low-leverage reliever who has bounced between the Twins, Dodgers, Mariners, Rays, and Marlins throughout his big league tenure. He also spent a season with the Rakuten Eagles in Japan. The veteran righty has never been a flashy name, but his career 3.35 ERA and 3.84 SIERA over 231 1/3 innings are impressive numbers. Durability and injury concerns (he has never pitched more than 53 2/3 innings in a season) could prevent him from signing anything more than a minor league contract this winter, but his sparkling 2.23 ERA and solid 4.18 SIERA from this past season should help him find a new place to pitch in 2025.

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