Mark Polishuk | MLB Trade Rumors

Marlins, Twins Trade Nick Gordon For Steven Okert

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2024 at 12:39pm CDT

The Marlins and Twins have agreed to a deal that will send infielder/outfielder Nick Gordon to Miami in exchange for left-hander Steven Okert. FanSided’s Robert Murray (X link) was the first to report Gordon was being traded to the Fish, while the Miami Herald’s Craig Mish reported (via X) that Okert was heading to Minnesota.

Gordon was the fifth overall pick of the 2014 draft, and a top prospect for much of his time in the Twins’ farm system even though his star began to dim due to injuries and struggles in the upper minors. With a career .248/.298/.361 slash line over 829 career Triple-A plate appearances, Gordon still made his MLB debut in 2021 appearing in 73 games for the Twins, and then took on a larger role with 443 PA over 136 games in 2022. Gordon earned that extra playing time by hitting .272/.316/.427 during the 2022 campaign, and his ability to play multiple positions made him a particularly valuable asset on a Minnesota team that beset by injuries.

Unfortunately, the injury bug again came for Gordon himself last year, as he fractured his right shin after fouling a ball off himself on May 17. This ended his MLB season after only 34 games, and Gordon made it back for six Triple-A games in September but wasn’t ready to return to the active roster before the end of the regular season. Gordon had been off to a tough start even before his injury, hitting only .176/.185/.319 in 93 PA.

The trade comes just a day after the results of Gordon’s arbitration hearing, and the panel sided with the Twins by deciding on a $900K salary for Gordon in 2024, rather than his desired figure of $1.25MM. Gordon is heading into his age-28 season but is still arb-controlled through the 2027 campaign as per his Super Two status. Okert offers only a bit less control, as was arb-eligible for the first of three times this winter and avoided arbitration by agreeing with the Marlins on a $1,062,500 salary for the 2024 season.

It was a little over a year ago that the Twins and Marlins lined up on the blockbuster four-player swap that sent Luis Arraez to Miami and Pablo Lopez to Minnesota. Today’s move isn’t nearly as high-profile, yet it does mark the fifth transaction between the two franchises within the last 13 months, as the Twins’ comfort level with Miami’s front office has continued even now that Peter Bendix has taken over from Kim Ng as the head of the Marlins’ baseball ops department.

Gordon has spent most of his time in the majors as a second baseman, center fielder, and right fielder, with a handful of appearances at shortstop, third base, and right field. The public defensive metrics haven’t been wowed by Gordon’s glovework at any of his positions, yet his sheer versatility makes him an interesting asset on Miami’s roster. Gordon isn’t likely to be answer to the Marlins’ needs at shortstop, though if Jon Berti ends up getting the bulk of playing time at short, Gordon might fill Berti’s old role as the chief utility option.

As Anthony Franco recently observed in a piece for MLBTR’s Front Office subscribers, the Marlins entered the offseason with quite a bit of left-handed relief depth, between Okert, Tanner Scott, A.J. Puk, and Andrew Nardi. Scott didn’t seem likely to be moved given his role as Miami’s projected closer, and unlike Okert, Scott and Puk both have minor league options remaining. Since Gordon is also out of options, this one-for-one swap helps both teams address some needs at the cost of a potentially expendable player.

A veteran of six MLB seasons with the Giants and Marlins, Okert posted a 2.89 ERA over 87 1/3 relief innings for Miami in 2021-22, with the aid of a .224 BABIP. Some course correction arrived in 2023, as Okert had a .295 BABIP and a 4.45 ERA over 58 2/3 frames, and a pretty mixed bag of peripherals. Okert’s strikeout and hard-hit ball rates were both well above average, but his walk and barrel rates were both below the league average. The 32-year-old Okert is also an extreme fly ball pitcher, so his effectiveness has tended to hinge on how well he fares at keeping the ball in the park.

On the plus side, Okert has good numbers against both left-handed and right-handed batters, and he has been a workhorse with 124 appearances over the last two seasons. He’ll now join Caleb Thielbar as the top southpaw options in Minnesota’s very solid relief corps, and rookie Kody Funderburk provides another interesting left-handed arm who could be shuttled back and forth from Triple-A as circumstances dictate.

Between payroll cuts and concerns over their TV contract, the Twins’ offseason has only started to kick into high gear over the last couple of weeks. Minnesota has now dealt both Jorge Polanco and Gordon in an effort to upgrade its pitching depth at the expense of a somewhat crowded group of position players, particularly within the infield. Even without Gordon, Willi Castro and Kyle Farmer can pick up the utilityman slack on the Twins’ roster, and top prospects Austin Martin and Brooks Lee are both expected to make their MLB debuts in 2024.

MLBTR Chat Transcript

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2024 at 12:34pm CDT

Click here to read the transcript of today’s live baseball chat

Chicago Notes: White Sox, Cubs, McCarthy, Junis

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2024 at 9:32am CDT

The White Sox acquired outfielder Dominic Fletcher in a trade with the Diamondbacks last week, though the deal may have been something of an either-or proposition. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Sox had the option of picking either Fletcher or Jake McCarthy in the deal, with pitching prospect Cristian Mena still headed back to the D’Backs as the return piece in the one-for-one trade.

Fletcher and McCarthy share a similar profile as 26-year-old, left-handed hitting outfielders who can play any of the three positions on the grass. McCarthy was the 39th overall pick of the 2018 draft and has more Major League experience, with a .261/.331/.380 slash line over 736 plate appearances in the Show. A fourth-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 seemed to hint at McCarthy’s potential as a building block for the Snakes, yet a tough 2023 season saw him relegated to the minors and then to the Diamondbacks’ bench as the year developed. Arizona’s willingness to move on from either player and the Southsiders’ decision to take Fletcher provides some interesting wrinkles to this trade, and it might be interesting to revisit this deal in a few years’ time once we see how the careers of Fletcher, McCarthy, and Mena have developed.

Here’s more from the Windy City’s two teams…

Though the top four in the Cubs rotation seems set and several candidates are vying for the fifth starter’s job, Jakob Junis “recently” drew some interest from Wrigleyville, as per The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma. The depth of the interest isn’t known, though it might’ve been something of a due diligence move by the Cubs since no formal offer was made. Junis’ experience as a swingman means that he wouldn’t have necessarily even been in the rotation, so the Cubs could’ve been looking at Junis to bolster the bullpen and also add even more depth to the starting mix. In any case, Junis is no longer an option, as the right-hander signed a one-year, $7MM contract with the Brewers last week.
In another piece from Mooney and Sharma, they look at the Cubs’ unsettled third base situation. Patrick Wisdom and Nick Madrigal seem poised to get the bulk of playing time, with Christopher Morel getting the occasional start at the hot corner, and Miles Mastrobuoni or rookie Luis Vazquez providing further depth. There’s enough uncertainty here that Mooney/Sharma feel the Cubs might again make a trade deadline move at the position, akin to their deal for Jeimer Candelario this past summer. Of course, the Cubs have also been linked to Matt Chapman this winter if the team still had a bigger-ticket free agent upgrade in mind, though a longer-term answer might block top prospect Matt Shaw, who has been working out as a third baseman this offseason.
Reports surfaced last month that the White Sox were speaking with development company Related Midwest about the potential of building a new ballpark on a portion of land in Chicago’s South Loop area. Related Midwest recently released a series of artist renderings to media (including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin) about what this new stadium and the associated “ballpark village” area might look like alongside the Chicago River, as well as some proposed renderings of how the area around Guaranteed Rate Field could be developed if the Sox moved to a new site. Obviously a lot of hurdles still have to be crossed with the White Sox, developers, civic and state officials, and many other parties before this proposed ballpark could become a reality, and the earliest possible opening date would seem to be 2030, since the team’s lease at Guaranteed Rate Field runs through the 2029 season.

Padres Interested In Noah Syndergaard

By Mark Polishuk | February 10, 2024 at 2:06pm CDT

The Padres still have plenty of question marks in the rotation as Spring Training begins, and such free agent starters as Hyun Jin Ryu, Michael Lorenzen, and Eric Lauer have all reportedly been on the team’s radar. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune adds another veteran arm to that list, as the Padres have also shown interest in Noah Syndergaard.

Reports indicated back in November that several teams had already checked in on Syndergaard, though the Pirates and now the Padres are the only clubs publicly linked to the righty’s market. It is fair to suggest that Syndergaard may be viewed as a fallback option for many of these potential suitors, who prioritized more clearcut rotation upgrades before turning to more speculative bounce-back candidates like Syndergaard.

The 31-year-old threw only 88 2/3 innings over 18 starts with the Dodgers and Guardians last year, as blister problems sent him to the injured list for about seven weeks and Syndergaard’s season ended prematurely when Cleveland released him at the end of August. An excellent 4.9% walk rate was just about the only highlight of Syndergaard’s 2023 campaign, as he posted a 6.50 ERA and a tiny 14.3% strikeout rate while allowing a lot of hard contact and averaging only 92.2mph of velocity on his fastball.

It was a disappointing step back for the former Mets ace, who was once one of the National League’s top pitchers before injuries took a toll on his career. A Tommy John surgery cost Syndergaard virtually all of the 2020-21 seasons, though he had at least decent numbers (3.94 ERA, 5.5% walk rate) over 134 2/3 frames with the Angels and Phillies in 2022. However, the red flags were already in present in drops in strikeouts, velocity, and barrel rate, so Syndergaard ended signing a one-year, $13MM deal with the Dodgers last winter.

Acquiring Syndergaard wouldn’t exactly guarantee more stability for the Padres’ collection of arms, given this recent track record. Expecting a return to his Cy Young candidate form is looking increasingly far-fetched, yet given the Friars’ pitching needs and budgetary limitations, Syndergaard might be the kind of relatively inexpensive veteran who could be a fit at the back end of the rotation.

Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, and Michael King line up as the top three in the rotation, though King has a limited track record as a starting pitcher. Projected fourth/fifth starter candidates Pedro Avila, Jhony Brito, and Randy Vasquez have limited track records in the big leagues altogether — Avila has thrown only 63 2/3 frames across four MLB seasons, and Brito (90 1/3 IP) and Vazquez (37 2/3 IP) only made their MLB debuts with the Yankees last season. As Acee notes, simply covering innings is going to be a challenge for San Diego even if everyone stays healthy, so signing Syndergaard or a comparable veteran might be almost a necessity to help lessen the workload for the more inexperienced starters.

NL East Notes: Culberson, E-Rod, Lugo, JDM, Mesa

By Mark Polishuk | February 10, 2024 at 12:52pm CDT

It wasn’t surprising that longtime clubhouse favorite Charlie Culberson rejoined the Braves on a minor league deal last month, though eyebrows were raised at the news that Culberson was attempting to become a pitcher after 11 MLB seasons as a utilityman. In an interview with Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Culberson said he began to pursue a pitching in earnest last August when he was playing with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, and he wasn’t entirely alien to the process given his 7 1/3 career innings of mop-up work at the big league level. “I loved pitching growing up, loved pitching through high school and here I am now getting a chance to try it on now toward — I’m not going to say ‘toward the end of my career’ but at this point in my career, I’m getting to try pitching,” Culberson said.

Culberson turns 35 in April, and Atlanta’s stacked lineup meant that he appeared in just one Major League game in 2023, despite several months on the active roster. It remains to be seen if pitching will provide Culberson with any clearer path to playing time, yet his fastball clocks in at 94mph, and his repertoire also consists of a split changeup and a cutter. He has also spent the last six months working with coaches and pitching instructors, and embracing the inherent difficulties of learning a new craft so deep into his career.

“For me, this has been a challenge making a position change, but I’m still playing baseball. I know how tough that is transitioning, and I’m sure it would be probably tougher transitioning out of baseball,” Culberson said. “Everything is just not gonna come easy for a lot of us in life, and at some point, you have to be ready and able to do something different, do something that’s not comfortable. Get out of your comfort zone.”

AL Central Notes: Vazquez, Malloy, Bubic

By Mark Polishuk | February 10, 2024 at 11:33am CDT

Now with more clarity on their broadcasting situation established for 2024, the Twins have started to make some significant offseason moves, including the Jorge Polanco trade and the signing of Carlos Santana. Since rumors about Polanco’s possible departure have swirled for months, it stands to reason that the Twins could also now finally move other trade candidates as Max Kepler or Christian Vazquez, though The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman writes that there hasn’t been any real steam on a possible salary-shedding Vazquez trade.”

Minnesota was reportedly speaking with teams about potential Vazquez deals back in November, though Gleeman and Dan Hayes wrote at the time that a trade may not be too likely, both due to Vazquez’s $20MM in remaining salary and the catcher’s very disappointing 2023 campaign. In their most recent piece, Gleeman and Hayes agree that a Vazquez trade may still be something of a longshot, with the Twins’ desire to retain catching depth also acting as a factor. If Vazquez was dealt, Ryan Jeffers would step into the starting catching role and either rookie Jair Camargo or another veteran addition would be the backup, so Minnesota might prefer to stand pat.

Make Or Break Year: Tyler O’Neill

By Mark Polishuk | February 10, 2024 at 9:43am CDT

At this time two years ago, Tyler O’Neill was viewed as a future cornerstone of the Cardinals outfield. O’Neill had shown flashes of his top-100 prospect potential over his first three MLB seasons, but it seemingly all came together for the Canadian in his age-26 season, when he hit .286/.352/.560 with 34 homers over 537 plate appearances and delivered Gold Glove-winning defense in left field. This all-around performance translated to a 5.5 fWAR that topped by only 13 players in the sport, and O’Neill finished eighth in NL MVP voting.

Unsurprisingly, O’Neill and the Cardinals had some talks about a multi-year contract extension during the 2021-22 offseason, though it wasn’t known if the two sides floated a deal to cover just O’Neill’s arbitration years or beyond. (The Cards subsequently won an arb hearing against O’Neill that resulted in a $3.4MM salary for the outfielder in 2022, rather than his desired $4.15MM figure.) Given how the next two seasons played out for O’Neill, St. Louis might have caught a break by not agreeing to a long-term deal, though it’s safe to say that neither side was particularly satisfied with the outfielder’s results during the 2022-23 seasons.

O’Neill has hit only .229/.310/.397 with 23 home runs over 649 PA since Opening Day 2022, good for a slightly below-average 98 wRC+. The key statistic there might be the plate appearances, or lack thereof — O’Neill played in just 168 of a possible 324 games due to several injuries. A hip impingement and a hamstring strain limited him to 96 games in 2022, and then a lower back sprain and a foot sprain led to more injured list time in 2023 and only 72 appearances.

Injuries also hampered O’Neill prior to 2021, thus making him a tricky player to properly evaluate. Does that career year serve as an example of what O’Neill can do if he can ever stay healthy, or was even that giant 2021 campaign perhaps something of an outlier even beyond O’Neill’s lack of time on the IL? A hefty .366 BABIP puts something of an asterisk on O’Neill’s 2021 numbers, even allowing for the fact that his speed and baserunning ability helped him naturally turn a few extra grounders into base hits. His walk rate was also well below the league average in 2021, though curiously, O’Neill posted much more solid walk numbers in 2022-23, as well as the 2020 season.

The number that has stayed consistent, unfortunately for O’Neill, is his strikeout rate. Since making his MLB debut in 2018, O’Neill’s 30% strikeout rate ranks seventh among all batters with at least 1600 PA. While his K% has gotten better in each of the last two seasons, all of this swing-and-miss in O’Neill’s approach has curbed his effectiveness at the plate and made him something of a one-dimensional hitter.

It probably also hasn’t helped that O’Neill spent much of the 2023 season hearing his name in trade rumors. Between the Cardinals’ outfield depth and his down year in 2022, O’Neill suddenly seemed to become expendable, even if St. Louis was naturally still putting a significant asking price on his services. It isn’t known what offers the Cards might’ve received for O’Neill at the time or what trades might have been floated or seriously discussed, yet in 20-20 hindsight, St. Louis might’ve been better served in moving O’Neill while his trade value was a little higher.

The outfielder’s rough 2023 season only diminished that value, and the year got off to an immediate awkward start when O’Neill was benched for a game for what manager Oliver Marmol felt was a lack of baserunning effort the previous night. That situation seemed like a harbinger for the end of O’Neill’s time with the organization, yet he Cardinals ended up retaining O’Neill at the trade deadline even through the struggling club made some other sell-off moves.

A trade didn’t materialize until December, when the Red Sox landed O’Neill for pitching prospects Nick Robertson and Victor Santos. Baseball America ranks Robertson as the 25th-best prospect in the St. Louis farm system and he made his MLB debut in 2023 with the Dodgers, yet the trade return has to be considered a bit of a disappointment for the Cards considering what the return might have been for O’Neill even last offseason. From Boston’s perspective, of course, the deal could be seen as an intriguing buy-low situation. The Royals and (O’Neill’s former team) Mariners were two of the other teams publicly linked to O’Neill’s trade market, and it’s safe to assume that several other teams checked in with the St. Louis front office.

Health is obviously the biggest x-factor for O’Neill going forward, yet Fenway Park is a pretty nice landing spot for a player looking to regain his hitting stroke. It’s easy to imagine O’Neill suddenly launching a few homers over the Green Monster, though that same wall will also provide an interesting challenge to O’Neill in his regular role as the new Sox left fielder. After winning Gold Gloves in both 2020 and 2021, O’Neill’s defensive numbers were much closer to average over the last two seasons, so he’ll also be looking for a rebound in the field as well as at the plate.

O’Neill turns 29 in June, and he’ll be a free agent following the 2024 season. He’ll have all the opportunity in the world with a Red Sox team that seems to be something in a state of flux between partially rebuilding and trying to legitimately contend, and it can be argued that buying low on a recent MVP candidate can be slotted into either direction. Another year of struggles could limit O’Neill’s ceiling to platoon roles and one-year deals going forward, yet if he can avoid the IL and show anything close to his 2021 season offensively or defensively, a nice multi-year contract could be in offing next winter.

Twins Sign Jay Jackson

By Mark Polishuk and Steve Adams | February 7, 2024 at 1:29pm CDT

Feb. 7: Jackson will be guaranteed $1.5MM on the deal, MLBTR has learned. That’s paid out in the form of a $1.3MM salary and a $200K buyout on a $3MM club option for the 2025 season. The value of that club option and the buyout can be increased to $4MM and $350K, respectively, based on the number of games Jackson pitches.

Feb. 4: The Twins have signed veteran right-hander Jay Jackson to a big league contract, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray (X link). The deal will become official when Jackson passes a physical. Jackson is represented by agent Nello Gamberdino.

Jackson posted a 2.12 ERA over 29 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays last season. His 3.89 SIERA was less flattering due to a .187 BABIP and 89.3% strand rate, yet Jackson’s strikeout (23.3%) and walk (7.8%) rates were quite solid. This performance also came under trying circumstances for the 36-year-old, as Jackson spent much of the season traveling back and forth from Utah during breaks in the schedule to spend time with his fiancee and newborn son, who was born 15 weeks premature.

In joining the Twins, Jackson has now been a member of 10 different MLB organizations and two Nippon Professional Baseball organizations during his 16 pro seasons. In addition to his four seasons pitching in Japan, he has seen action at the Major League level with five of his clubs, starting with the Padres in 2015. Jackson has amassed only two years and 28 days of proper MLB service time given all of the stops and starts in his career, yet his contract with Toronto last winter included a clause that allowed him to test the market again without still being under arbitration control.

Despite his journeyman resume, Jackson’s actual results have been pretty respectable, with a 3.50 ERA and 29.5% K% over 87 1/3 career innings in the Show, albeit with an 11% walk rate. He brings some experience and perhaps under-the-radar upside to a Minnesota bullpen that has started to receive some attention over the last week, via the trade that sent Jorge Polanco to the Mariners.

Justin Topa looks to be a candidate for higher-leverage innings, while Anthony DeSclafani is a long relief option if he isn’t needed in the rotation. Jackson figures to work closer to the back end of the pen and might be something of a proverbial 25th or 26th man on the roster, even though his guaranteed contract gives him some advantage over other pitchers who might have minor league options.

Quick Hits: Twins, Pohlad, Turner, Suter, Rockies, Marlins

By Mark Polishuk | February 4, 2024 at 10:58pm CDT

With David Rubenstein’s ownership group set to buy the Orioles, there have been some inevitable questions about which MLB team might be the next to be put onto the market. The Twins can be firmly removed from that discussion, as Joe Pohlad told Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that “we are not considering [selling]. We are in it for the long term.”

Carl Pohlad bought the Twins in 1984, and Joe (Carl’s grandson) is now the third generation of the family to oversee the team’s day-to-day operations. “This is something that brings our family together, something we enjoy being a part of. We love getting together at the ballpark,” Joe Pohlad said. “And not only is it a family asset, it’s a community asset. We take that seriously, being part of the community and stewards of the team.” The younger Pohlad’s first year overseeing the Twins was a notable one, as Minnesota won the AL Central and then won their first playoff series since 2022 before bowing out in the ALDS.

As we say hey to a baseball legend on Willie Mays Day, here are some more items from around the league

“The Blue Jays were one of the first teams that reached out” once free agency began, Justin Turner told the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham and other reporters, and this aggression paid off when Turner and the Jays agreed to a one-year, $13MM deal earlier this week. The veteran infielder is excited to be joining his new club, though also expressed some bittersweet feelings about leaving the Red Sox after a successful first season in Boston. He opted out of the second year of his two-year deal but said that “right when the season ended, I assumed that it would be a no-brainer, that I would try to work something out and come back.” However, Turner feels the changeover in Boston’s front office might’ve delayed the process, and “as time went on, it was appearing to be less and less likely” that a return to the Sox was in the cards.
Brent Suter was one of the few pitching bright spots for the Rockies last season, so it isn’t surprising that GM Bill Schmidt told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that the team “had a lot of discussions with Suter’s agent prior and after he became a free agent.” No deal was reached, however, and Suter ended signing with his hometown Reds for a one-year, $3MM contract.
The Marlins have hired Sam Mondry-Cohen as the team’s new VP of player personnel, according to the Miami Herald’s Craig Mish (X link). Mondry-Cohen is best known for his long stint in the Nationals organization, as he rose from an internship in 2009 to an assistant general manager role at the time of his departure at the end of the 2021 season. Acting as the club’s director of research and development, Mondry-Cohen is credited with more or less building Washington’s analytics division from scratch, with the 2019 World Series title acting as the crown jewel of an overall very successful decade for the organization. Mondry-Cohen consulted for the Phillies in 2022, worked in the White Sox baseball operations department last season, and he’ll now take on an important new set of responsibilities under new Miami president of baseball ops Peter Bendix.

Tony Kemp Getting Interest From Five Teams

By Mark Polishuk | February 4, 2024 at 9:57pm CDT

The Blue Jays, Pirates, Reds, Red Sox, and Yankees have all shown interest in veteran second baseman/left fielder Tony Kemp, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports. These are the first teams linked to Kemp this offseason, as the 32-year-old is a free agent for the first time in his career.

One of the few experienced players on a young and rebuilding A’s team, Kemp has spent the last four years in Oakland, bridging the gap between the last contending Athletics club and its current state of extreme teardown. Most of his playing time has some against right-handed pitching (though Kemp’s career splits are pretty even against both righties and lefties), and Zack Gelof’s emergence at second base meant that Kemp was mostly a left fielder in the back half of the 2023 season.

Kemp’s own lack of production didn’t help his cause for more playing time, as he hit only .209/.303/.304 over 419 plate appearances last year. Kemp posted strong numbers in a part-time capacity with the A’s in 2021 and the Astros in 2018, though he has generally been a below-average hitter during his career, with a 94 wRC+.

It seems likely that any of Kemp’s suitors would be viewing him as a bench piece or platoon option at best, plus the respected Kemp would be a boost in any clubhouse. While he played some center field early in his career and he has a handful of games as a right fielder and shortstop, it seems like Kemp is pretty set as a two-position player, and the public defensive metrics have been more positive about his work as a left fielder than at second base.

Of the five teams mentioned by Murray, the Red Sox might be the cleanest fit for Kemp given that Tyler O’Neill and Vaughn Grissom (their projected left field/second base starters) are both right-handed hitters. Utilityman Rob Refsnyder is right-handed and infield backup Enmanuel Valdez is short on big league experience, perhaps creating an opening for Kemp on the roster. Red Sox manager Alex Cora is also a familiar face, as Cora was on Houston’s coaching staff during Kemp’s time with the Astros.

The Pirates have a pretty crowded second-base competition heading into the season, with Ji Hwan Bae, Liover Peguero, Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo, and others all battling for time at the keystone. While the Bucs would prefer to see one of their youngsters grab the job, adding a seasoned player like Kemp could help add some depth in the event that nobody really breaks out. Kemp’s reputation as a leader could also be particularly useful for a young Pirates team, particularly after several players spoke of how the addition of such veteran voices as Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Santana helped the club last year.

New York, Cincinnati, and especially Toronto could all use some more left-handed balance in their lineups, though Kemp isn’t as clear-cut of a fit given how all three of these teams are already pretty deep in second base and left field options. Kemp’s experience could again be a factor here as something more of a proven commodity, in case any of the Reds’ prized young infielders need some more minor league seasoning or if the Yankees want some depth in case Oswaldo Cabrera or Oswald Peraza don’t develop at the plate.

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