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Red Sox Hope To Use Masataka Yoshida In Outfield For 2025

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Masataka Yoshida had a difficult year in 2024, as he was limited to just 108 games by a thumb injury that wound up causing tension between him and the Red Sox front office. On top of that, Yoshida played just one inning in the outfield last year and was utilized as a platoon player with few opportunities against southpaws. He hit just .280/.349/.415 in 421 trips to the plate during the 2024 campaign before going under the knife to repair the labrum in his right shoulder back in October.

As noted by Chris Cotillo of MassLive, manager Alex Cora told reporters when asked throughout the season about Yoshida’s limited use in the outfield that using him nearly exclusively as a DH was not due to a health issue and instead was a vote of confidence in the defense of the club’s numerous other outfield options. That seems as though it wasn’t entirely the case, however, as Cora acknowledged at yesterday’s Fenway Fest fan event that the shoulder issue Yoshida played through last year limited his ability to play the field by causing problems with his throwing.

“Yeah, our outfield defense was great last year, but in a perfect world, if he was healthy, he was going to play the outfield,” Cora said, as relayed by Cotillo. “The throwing part of it wasn’t there so that’s the reason he actually didn’t play. Hopefully, we can get him there and we can use him in the outfield, too.”

At the time of Yoshida’s surgery, the Red Sox expressed optimism that he’d be ready for Opening Day, and he appears to remain on pace for that goal. Cotillo noted that the 31-year-old is about two weeks away from taking dry swings and could begin a throwing program in March, which might lead him to be ready in a DH-only capacity for the start of the season before later returning to the outfield grass as needed. Having Yoshida limited to DH duties early in the season shouldn’t be a massive obstacle for the Red Sox, who have no established everyday DH at the moment and are deep in outfield options with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Rob Refsnyder, and perhaps even top prospect Roman Anthony all in the mix for playing time at the moment.

Of course, this all assumes that Yoshida is still in the organization by the time Opening Day rolls around. The Red Sox have made getting more offense from the right side a clear priority this offseason, but the club’s roster is filled with quality regulars who bat from the left side. Duran, Rafael Devers, and Triston Casas all bat lefty and are ticketed for everyday roles as things stand. They’re joined by Abreu and Yoshida as likely platoon options from the left side, and Anthony also figures to get regular at-bats from the left side once he’s promoted to the majors.

Between previous reports of tension between Yoshida and the Red Sox as well as his questionable fit on the club’s roster, it’s hardly a surprise that Yoshida has found his name at the center of trade rumors this winter. Yoshida himself acknowledged the buzz surrounding him yesterday, telling Cotillo that he has heard the rumors but that a hypothetical trade is “out of [his] control.” To this point, it doesn’t seem as though the Red Sox have gotten much interest in Yoshida from rival clubs and have similarly had little success convincing a club to take on the final three years and $55.8MM remaining on his contract as part of a larger deal.

It’s a hefty price to pay for a player who might profile best as a platoon DH. After all, Joc Pederson is a cut above Yoshida as a hitter in a similar role and settled for a two-year, $37MM guarantee with the Rangers earlier this winter. That contract suggests that the Red Sox may only find a taker on Yoshida if they’re willing to pay his salary down to something below Pederson’s guarantee or take on another inflated contract in return. Given that, it could make sense for the club to hold onto Yoshida for at least the start of the 2025 season in hopes he can build up his value and a more favorable deal can be worked out down the line. That plan would require committing significant playing time to Yoshida for at least the first few months of 2025, potentially blocking Anthony from impacting the big league club early in the year and creating a bit of a logjam in the outfield.

Twins Sign Armando Alvarez To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have signed infielder Armando Alvarez to a minor league deal, according to the transaction log on Alvarez’s MLB.com profile page. The deal presumably includes an invite to big league Spring Training next month.

Alvarez, 30, was a 17th-round pick by the Yankees back in 2016. He climbed the minor league ladder with the club and eventually reached the Triple-A level in 2019. Unfortunately for Alvarez, however, the cancelled minor league season in 2020 and a down season in 2021 led to him not making his big league debut in a Yankees uniform. Instead, he elected minor league free agency following the 2022 season and signed on with the Giants for the 2023 season. Playing for the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, Alvarez took to the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League quite well as he slashed .308/.379/.581 with a wRC+ of 125 in 74 games. He once again failed to crack the club’s big league roster, however, and moved across the bay to Oakland ahead of the 2024 season.

With the Athletics, Alvarez raked at the Triple-A level to the tune of a .315/.407/.560 slash line in 75 games. That performance finally earned Alvarez his first taste of big league action at the age of 29, and he ultimately appeared in 16 games with the A’s throughout the season. The infielder struggled during his lone cup of coffee in the majors, hitting just .243/.282/.270 in 39 plate appearances while playing the infield corners, left field, and second base. That lackluster performance led the A’s to outright Alvarez off their roster back in October, allowing him to elect minor league free agency for a third consecutive offseason.

Now, Alvarez is headed to Minnesota to try and work his way into the Twins’ infield mix. Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, and Brooks Lee appear likely to get the lion’s share of playing time at shortstop, third base, and second base respectively when the roster is fully healthy. In theory, that should leave first base available for some combination of Jose Miranda and Edouard Julien, but the Twins have expressed interest in help at the position throughout the winter and as such appear to be open to other options. Alvarez is the second infielder the club has brought in on a minor league deal who could try to work his way into the big league first base mix, joining lefty slugger Mike Ford.

With less than 40 trips to the plate in the majors on his resume headed into his age-30 campaign, Alvarez may wind up outmatched by the Twins’ more established options in a camp battle for the first base job. Even if that comes to pass, however, he’ll still be a solid depth piece for the club given his ability to play multiple positions and his status as a career .280/.345/.492 hitter at the Triple-A level. The majority of Alvarez’s playing time in the minors has come at the hot corner, though he has plenty of first base experience as well and has made cameos at the keystone, the outfield corners, and even shortstop throughout his career. That versatility should come in handy for a Twins club that has a number of players who have struggled to remain healthy in recent years.

Alek Manoah Targeting August Return To Blue Jays

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After a brutal 2023 season, right-hander Alek Manoah returned to the Blue Jays’ rotation in early May with the hope of reestablishing himself as one of the game’s top young arms. Unfortunately, that goal didn’t even last a month as Manoah was sidelined after just five starts and wound up undergoing Tommy John surgery in early June. The righty’s timetable for return to the mound has been unclear since then, but recently Manoah himself provided an update to Mike Wilner of the Toronto Star as part of an interview for the Star’s “Deep Left Field” baseball podcast. During the interview, Manoah identified August as his target for a return to action.

“…to go be a deadline acquisition for the Toronto Blue Jays and just help as much as I can over the final two months of the season, that’s what I’m striving for,” Manoah said on the podcast. “I’m striving to get bullpens in March, to get to live BPs in June, and then get some rehabs going and hopefully be in a position to help this team down the stretch.”

That timeline would have Manoah returning to the mound in Toronto roughly fourteen months after first going under the knife. That’s hardly an atypical timeline for a pitcher in the right-hander’s situation given that rehabbing Tommy John surgery usually takes between 12 and 18 months, though Manoah acknowledged that “bumps in the road” down the line could complicate or delay the ideal timetable he laid out.

Of course, even a healthy return to the mound in early August would come with questions. The right-hander was last healthy and effective back in 2022, when he posted a sterling 2.24 ERA in 196 2/3 innings of work for the Jays en route to a third-place finish in AL Cy Young award voting and the first All-Star appearance of his career. That fantastic performance seemed to indicate that Manoah was ticketed for long-term success at the front of Toronto’s rotation, but the 2023 season threw that plan off the rails as he struggled to a 5.87 ERA with a 6.01 FIP in 19 starts and spent time in the minor leagues due to his poor performance.

Manoah’s return to the Jays’ rotation last May was something of a mixed bag. His 3.70 ERA across five starts was solid enough, while his 25.2% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate were essentially in line with his numbers from 2021 and ’22. With that being said, Manoah was getting crushed when batters did make contact with his pitches. He surrendered five homers in just 24 1/3 innings of work last year and posted a ghastly 10.8% barrel rate. That came in a sample size of just 65 batted balls, of course, and given the fact that Manoah underwent UCL surgery shortly thereafter it’s fair to question how indicative that performance will be of his abilities when he returns to the mound. It’s certainly far from impossible to imagine Manoah, still just 27, re-establishing himself as a quality rotation piece once he’s put rehab behind him and resumed pitching.

In the meantime, however, the Jays are constructing their 2025 rotation without expecting him to be a major part of the equation. As things stand, veterans Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, and Chris Bassitt stand as a trio of proven arms while Bowden Francis flashed high-end results late in the 2024 season. Yariel Rodríguez currently figures to round out the group with Jake Bloss available as a depth option at Triple-A. Right-hander Jeff Hoffman signed with the club on a three-year deal that guarantees him $33MM late last week, but despite speculation throughout the winter he could look to pitch out of the rotation with his next club the Jays have indicated they’ll be using him in the bullpen.

It’s a decent rotation mix even without Hoffman involved, but there’s clearly room for improvement. Gausman endured the worst season he’s had since breaking out during the 2020 campaign last year; he pitched to a 3.82 ERA (105 ERA+) with 21.4% strikeout rate that was down nearly ten points from the year prior. Berrios pitched to mid-rotation results last year but also had troubling peripherals, including a 19.5% strikeout rate and a 4.72 FIP. Both of those numbers suggest Berrios may profile more as a back-of-the-rotation arm if he can’t bounce back going forward, and that’s likely where Bassitt fits best as well after he posted a below-average 4.16 ERA in his age-35 season last year.

Given all the questions surrounding a rotation that is poised to enter 2025 hoping for Gausman to rebound and Francis to prove he’s capable of pitching at an above-average level over the course of a full season as a starter, it’s hardly a surprise that the club has been connected to a number of starters in free agency this winter. Both Corbin Burnes and Max Fried already landed elsewhere despite involvement from Toronto in both markets, but Jack Flaherty and Nick Pivetta remain available as potential upgrades the club has reported interest in.

Anthony Santander, Jack Flaherty Reportedly Open To Short-Term Offers

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As the offseason’s free agent market has developed and with Spring Training looming just over the horizon next month, a report from Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic this evening suggests that some of the major free agents still available are weighing the possibility of turning towards short-term deals with high average annual values, as the so-called “Boras Four” of Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, and Jordan Montgomery did last winter after not finding the long-term pacts they were hoping for in free agency.

Per Rosenthal and Sammon, outfielder Anthony Santander and right-hander Jack Flaherty are both now open to considering that sort of deal. Sammon also confirmed previous reports that indicated the camp of first baseman Pete Alonso had made an three-year offer to the Mets that includes multiple opt-outs, though it remains unclear if he’s open to similar short-term offers from other clubs at this point.

It’s a notable update to the market of all three players. Both Santander and Flaherty were reportedly looking for five-year deals that could have reached into the range of nine figures. Santander in particular reportedly has a contract offer on the table from the Blue Jays as of last week, though given the fact that he’s now open to exploring short-term deals it seems as though that offer may not have been one the switch-hitter was interested in accepting. It’s easy to imagine the possibility of getting a high-end free agent on a short-term deal opens up the market for these players, or perhaps convincing teams already connected to the players to become more serious about their pursuits.

As one example, Flaherty has previously been connected to the Cubs but there’s been some suggestion that Chicago (who signed Bellinger to a short-term, opt-out heavy deal just last winter) has reservations regarding the right-hander’s asking price. The Tigers, meanwhile, have been connected to both Flaherty and Santander but have remained opportunistic in free agency, locking down one-year deals with Gleyber Torres and Alex Cobb to improve their roster without making long-term commitments. Either of these clubs could theoretically be enticed to step up their efforts if their target is now open to considering a short-term deal.

While shorter-term deals can be attractive to teams as a way to mitigate risk associated with a particular free agent, they can still come with complications. While the deals Snell and Chapman signed in San Francisco last winter were clear successes for both sides, with Snell dominating down the stretch in a Giants uniform before signing a lucrative deal in L.A. back in November while Chapman had a resurgent season and extended with the club long-term, not all deals of this variety work out quite so well. Montgomery’s deal with Arizona quickly turned out to be a disaster as the left-hander endured the worst season of his career, got demoted to the bullpen, and has been shopped as a potential salary dump by the Diamondbacks this winter. Bellinger, meanwhile, posted a solid but unspectacular season in Chicago that led the Cubs to dump his salary in a trade with the Yankees last month in order to create an opening in the lineup for the addition of a more impactful bat than Kyle Tucker.

Even with those potential downsides, it’s easy to see why clubs could prefer a short-term deal rather than one that puts them on the hook for a player’s decline phase. After all, the Cubs were still able to shed the vast majority of the money owed to Bellinger in trade even after a pedestrian 2024 season, and the Diamondbacks could end up doing the same even after Montgomery’s disastrous campaign. Swinging those deals would be far more difficult if either player were on lengthy deals with larger overall guarantees, even if the AAV of those deals would likely be lower.

For the players, this sort of approach comes with both pros and cons. There is of course risk involved that injury or poor performance leads to them hitting the market with less value than they had in their initial trip through free agency. In the case of Flaherty, who is currently unencumbered by a Qualifying Offer, taking a short-term deal comes with a bit of extra risk given that even a wildly successful season could end up not leading to the sort of lucrative long-term deal he’s hoping for given the fact that he could be tagged with a QO in a future offseason. For a player already tagged with a QO like Santander, however, signing a short-term deal and hitting free agency after another strong season could provide an even larger boost to his value by allowing him to re-enter free agency unencumbered in the future.

While a willingness to consider short-term, high-AAV offers should open the market up for these players to an extent, that shouldn’t be taken to mean that a massive shakeup is guaranteed. Those high annual salaries figure to be an obstacle for clubs in or on the cusp of luxury tax territory as well as those dealing with budget crunches. As one example, Rosenthal and Sammon suggest that Alonso could look to seek a deal that offers an average annual value of $31.1MM in order to land the AAV record for first basemen. While that appears to be speculative on the part of the pair and they go on to suggest deferred money that would lower the net present value to be involved, even an AAV in the $25MM to $30MM range is the sort of figure that the majority of small-market clubs and even big spenders deep into luxury tax territory could be even less willing to stomach than a somewhat longer-term deal with a lower annual salary.

Twins Among Teams Interested In Nick Anderson

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Right-hander Nick Anderson is garnering interest from multiple teams, according to a report from Ari Alexander of KPRC2. Alexander adds that Anderson is scheduled to hold a workout for at least ten teams on January 23. Meanwhile, Darren Wolfson of KSTP 5 reports that the Twins will be among the teams in attendance for Anderson’s workout.

Anderson, 35, made his MLB debut with the Marlins back in 2019 but was traded to the Rays shortly thereafter. Upon arriving in Tampa, Anderson’s career started to take off as he posted a sterling 1.85 ERA in 43 2/3 innings of work with a 2.42 FIP and an eye-popping 42.5% strikeout rate. Unfortunately, those fantastic rate stats came in just 43 2/3 innings of work across the 2019, ’20, and ’21 seasons. Elbow issues limited him to just six innings in 2021 and kept him from pitching at the big league level in 2022, leading the Rays to cut him loose.

Since then, he’s pitched for the Braves and Royals at the big league level. His time in Atlanta went fairly well; while his 25.5% strikeout rate was clearly a step back from his peak years in Tampa, he nonetheless managed a 3.06 ERA and 3.09 FIP in 35 1/3 innings of work. Anderson’s stop in Kansas City, however, was not quite as strong. The right-hander’s strikeout rate dipped to just 19% while his walk rate crept up to 9.8% after sitting at a much stronger 6.4% the year prior. While Anderson posted the best hard-hit and barrel rates of his career with the Royals, the on-field results just weren’t there and he was cut from the roster back in July after posting a 4.04 ERA and 5.07 FIP in 35 2/3 innings of work.

Since parting ways with the Royals, Anderson briefly pitched in both the Dodgers and Orioles organizations on minor league deals but did not make it to the big league level. He ended the season on the minor league injured list, though early in the offseason Baltimore expressed at least some level of interest in reuniting with Anderson this winter. It’s unclear whether or not such a reunion would come on a minor league deal, however, as Alexander has indicated that clubs have expressed interest in Anderson on a one-year deal, implying he should be able to land a major league contract.

As for the Twins, Anderson could certainly make some sense for the club. After a down season in 2024 and given his checkered injury history, the right-hander isn’t likely to secure a massive guarantee on the free agent market at this point. That’s surely good news for Minnesota, as the club is in a position where they appear more likely to cut payroll than add significant salary. The Twins’ bullpen was decent in 2024, with a 3.65 FIP that actually ranked fifth in baseball, but their actual run prevention left something to be desired as their 4.12 ERA ranked 19th in the majors. The only major contributor to last year’s bullpen the club has parted ways with so far is southpaw Caleb Thielbar, but reinforcing the bullpen is rarely a bad idea and bringing Anderson into the fold could deepen the club’s bullpen and allow them to utilize middle relief options like Justin Topa and Jorge Alcalá more judiciously.

Triston Casas Discusses Trade Rumors

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First baseman Triston Casas’s name has been the subject of plenty of trade rumors this winter, even as chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has roundly insisted that Casas is not being shopped. With the Red Sox apparently involved in the markets for both Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado, however, it’s not hard to see how adding another bat to the infield could spell the end of Casas’s time in Boston.

For his part, the soon-to-be 25-year-old slugger isn’t letting the noise get to him. As noted by Christopher Smith of MassLive, Casas acknowledged the possibility that he could be dealt if the right offer were to come along, adding that for the right package it could be in the “best interest” of the organization to move him or any player. Casas added that he’s been assured by the organization that there’s no substance behind rumors that he’s on the trading block before making clear that the rumors swirling around him this winter don’t bother him.

“I love Boston,” Casas said, as relayed by Smith. “I love everything about it and they’ve welcomed me with open arms since my first first professional day. So it would be great to play here as long as possible. I love the fans and they welcome me generously all the time. So I would love to play the rest of my career here. But if it’s elsewhere, I just feel like March 28, no matter where it’s at, I’m going to be playing major league games. So just focus on that.”

While he adds that he tries not to let the trade rumors “get to his head,” he reiterated his love for Boston and desire to stay in the organization long-term. That affirmation comes nearly a year after reported extension talks between the two sides, though those discussions ultimately did not lead to a deal. It appears there’s been no recent discussions about an extension, either, as Casas told reporters (including Rob Bradford of WEEI) today while appearing at the club’s Fenway Fest event that the sides have not talked about an extension since last winter.

Even setting aside the trade rumors, it’s not necessarily a shock that Casas and the Red Sox haven’t talked extension in the aftermath of the 2024 campaign. After all, last year was a difficult one for Casas. He spent much of the season on the injured list due to torn cartilage in his ribcage and when healthy enough to take the field slashed just .241/.337/.462 while striking out at a concerning 31.7% clip.

That production was still good for a 119 wRC+ overall, but that’s a step back from the 130 he posted in 2023. After an injury-marred down season that exposed a potential red flag in the form of an increased strikeout rate, the Red Sox are surely hoping to gather more information about both Casas and their outlook around the diamond before committing to him long-term. Meanwhile, Casas surely is hoping to quell any doubts caused by 2024 with a full, healthy season before he signs a long-term deal.

Turning back to the possibility of the Red Sox pursuing Bregman or Arenado, the connection between those pursuits and the possibility of a Casas trade hinges on the possibility of installing either of those additions at third base, causing incumbent third baseman Rafael Devers to move to first base. Manager Alex Cora discussed the possibility of moving Devers off the hot corner at Fenway Fest today, as noted by Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. According to Cora, the club has not yet discussed a change of positions with Devers and that they would discuss the possibility with him before they get to the point of adding a new third baseman to the lineup. That generally tracks with the comments made by Breslow last month, which indicated the club has no current plans to move Devers off third base.

Cubs, Yankees Among Teams Interested In Brooks Raley

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Left-hander Brooks Raley is drawing interest from clubs as he continues rehabbing from Tommy John surgery over the summer, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic. The Cubs and Yankees are among the clubs to have reached out and some teams have discussed multi-year arrangements with Raley, though it’s not clear if the Cubs and Yankees are among the teams to have expressed multi-year interest.

Raley, 36, made his big league debut with the Cubs back in 2012 but totaled just 38 1/3 innings of work before departing stateside ball for South Korea back in 2015. He spent several years pitching in the KBO before resurfacing in the majors during the 2020 season as a middle relief option. He enjoyed a late-career breakout in Tampa back in 2022, however, and since then has been nothing short of excellent when healthy enough to take the mound with a 2.58 ERA (153 ERA+), a 3.13 FIP, and a 27.3% strikeout rate over the past three years with the Rays and Mets.

Dominant as he’s been in recent years, a player on the wrong side of 35 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery comes with plenty of question marks. That might make the idea of a multi-year deal seem somewhat surprising, but in some ways it could actually help the acquiring club more reliably secure a return on their investment. After all, Raley figures to only be available for the second half in 2025 and some players need time to shake off the rust following a long layoff like the one Raley is currently experiencing. Given that, a deal that pays Raley a relatively low salary for 2025 but comes with a second guaranteed year at a higher rate could make sense for both sides by guaranteeing Raley a longer-term opportunity coming off surgery while affording the club some protection against Raley struggling in his initial return from surgery before righting the ship and returning to form later on.

Looking at the teams being connected to Raley, it’s fairly easy to see why he’d be of interest to them. The Cubs have been in the market for relief help all winter. While the club already signed Caleb Thielbar as a left-handed option for their bullpen last month, that likely wouldn’t preclude them from adding a player like Raley because he is both more of a bonafide late-inning arm than Thielbar and wouldn’t factor into the club’s Opening Day roster due to his rehab timeline. Chicago has shown a willingness to sign rehabbing players in the past, as well. They were involved in Liam Hendriks’ market last winter and previously signed players like Kendall Graveman and Drew Smyly while they were rehabbing.

The Yankees, meanwhile, have already added Devin Williams to replace Clay Holmes in the ninth inning, giving them a strong one-two punch at the back of the bullpen with Luke Weaver set for an eighth-inning role. One place where the club’s bullpen could stand to be upgraded, however, is from the left side. Southpaw Tim Hill pitched well for the Yanks in 2024 but is currently a free agent. While Raley wouldn’t be available for at least the first half of the season, the club currently has no left-handed relievers on their 40-man roster and could be forced to use a reverse-splits righty like Mark Leiter Jr. against tough left-handed relievers in 2025 without an external addition.

Giants Designate Blake Sabol For Assignment

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The Giants announced this evening that they’ve designated catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol for assignment. The move clears a roster spot for the signing of Justin Verlander, which has now been made official.

Sabol, who just celebrated his 27th birthday earlier this week, was a seventh-round pick by the Pirates back in 2019 who was plucked from the organization by San Francisco during the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. That locked Sabol into an Opening Day roster spot with the Giants for 2023, and he performed admirably for a player with just 25 games of Triple-A experience under his belt. While splitting time between catcher and left field in 2023, Sabol hit a respectable .235/.301/.394 (91 wRC+) in 344 trips to the plate.

Once the Giants were able to option him to the minors in 2024, however, Sabol was quickly shuttled back to Triple-A and only made a brief cameo in the majors last year. He hit well in those 11 games, however, with a .313/.421/.375 slash line in 38 trips to the plate while helping cover for a Patrick Bailey during a trip to the concussion-related injured list. When in the minors, Sabol struggled offensively with just a .246/.340/.388 slash line at Triple-A that was good for a wRC+ of just 85.

That lackluster performance at Triple-A seemingly made Sabol expendable as a catching depth option in the eyes of president of baseball operations Buster Posey and the Giants’ front office. The club recently claimed catcher Sam Huff off waivers from the Rangers, which may have made Sabol’s presence on the 40-man roster even less necessary. Huff is out of minor league options and can’t be sent to the minors without clearing waivers but can still provide the club with depth behind Bailey and Tom Murphy throughout Spring Training or even be carried on the roster as a third catcher.

Going forward, the Giants will have one week to either work out a trade involving Sabol or expose him to waivers. As an optionable catching depth option, it would hardly be a surprise to see a catching-needy club take the opportunity to pluck Sabol off waivers in hopes of helping him rediscover something closer to the offensive form he showed in 2023, which would make him a roughly average offensive catcher in the majors. If Sabol were to pass through waivers unclaimed, the Giants would have the option of keeping him in the fold as a non-roster depth option for the 2025 season.

Garrett Crochet Discusses Extension Talks With Red Sox

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Newly-acquired Red Sox lefty Garrett Crochet was in attendance for today’s Fenway Fest event in Boston, and he spoke to reporters (include Chris Cotillo of MassLive) about the state of extension talks between Red Sox brass and Crochet’s own camp. The comments come on the heels of reporting earlier this week that suggested the sides had begun preliminary discussions about a longer-term deal.

“There have been conversations with my agent and the front office, just kind of getting a feel for one another,” Crochet said, as relayed by Cotillo. “Staying in Boston long-term is something that has a lot of merit in my mind and something I think would be awesome. In the meantime, I’m just focusing on spring and getting ready for the upcoming season, trying to stay focused one day at a time. When something’s presented, then we’ll attack it.”

Crochet, 25, enjoyed a breakout season with the White Sox last year as he moved from a relief role into the rotation. He made the most of the opportunity, pitching to a solid 3.58 ERA in 146 innings of work with a 2.69 FIP and an eye-popping 35.1% strikeout rate. That dominant performance on a team that broke the all-time MLB loss record made a trade nearly inevitable, and Boston pounced on the opportunity during the Winter Meetings last month and shipped a package headlined by catching prospect Kyle Teel and outfield prospect Braden Montgomery to Chicago in exchange for Crochet’s services.

The southpaw immediately adds a clear #1 starter to the front of the Red Sox rotation, but with a young core of talent reaching the major leagues and knocking on the door at Triple-A, locking up Crochet beyond his remaining two years of control would make plenty of sense for Boston. Crochet is clearly open to such an arrangement, and his comments today only served to confirm the lefty’s interest in locking in a longer-term guarantee. It’s hardly a surprise that Crochet would be open to listening on extension talks. He’s suffered through a number of injury-marred seasons already in his career, and that elevated injury risk surely makes a long-term guarantee more attractive.

To that end, he made clear prior to the trade deadline last summer that if he was going to go over his established innings limit to pitch in the 2024 postseason after a midseason trade, he would want to get an extension worked out prior to a deal coming together. Of course, no deal was ultimately made and now Crochet is in Boston. It’s unclear exactly what sort of deal either Crochet or the Red Sox are angling for at this point, though one noteworthy reference point is a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan over the summer that suggested Crochet was seeking a nine-figure deal at the time.

Crochet wasn’t the only Red Sox player to discuss the state of extension talks today, as top prospects Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell both spoke to WEEI today and revealed that neither has been approached by the Red Sox about the possibility of a pre-debut extension. That’s not necessarily a major shock, given that pre-debut extensions are generally quite rare. They’ve become more common in recent years, however, as evidenced by both Jackson Chourio of the Brewers and Colt Keith of the Tigers signing deals of that sort last offseason alone.

The Red Sox would surely love to lock up either Anthony or Campbell beyond their current windows of control. Anthony is rated by Baseball America as the #1 prospect in all of baseball, while Campbell isn’t ranked too far behind at #24. Both figure to make their big league debuts in 2025, though the exact timing of those debuts remains up in the air. There’s been some speculation that Campbell, in particular, could be in the conversation for an Opening Day roster spot should he manage to win the second base job away from David Hamilton and Vaughn Grissom in Spring Training this spring, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone if both youngsters are in the majors by the time the first half of the 2025 season comes to a close.

While there’s certainly value from a player’s perspective in locking in a major payday before they so much as take their first big league at-bat, they also typically come with much lower price tags relative to extensions signed as soon as during a player’s pre-arb years as a big leaguer. Chourio’s extension with the Brewers guaranteed him a record-setting $82MM last winter, but that pales in comparison to the nine-figure deals secured by players like Julio Rodriguez and Bobby Witt Jr. once they had already established themselves as star-caliber big leaguers. That said, pre-debut extensions aren’t without risk for the team either; even elite prospects can go on to struggle in the majors, with Jon Singleton of the Astros and Scott Kingery of the Phillies standing out as examples of players who signed pre-debut extensions and then went on to provide their clubs with little value over the life of those deals.

Given that, it’s perhaps not surprising for the sides to have not yet engaged in extension talks. Anthony and Campbell may well both prefer to bet on themselves early in their careers as they eye either a more lucrative extension down the line or free agency once their time under team control comes to a close. On the other hand, the Red Sox may prefer to see how Anthony, Campbell, and other top prospects like Marcelo Mayer develop before making extension offers as they have over the years with players like Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock, Rafael Devers, and Xander Bogaerts.

Nationals Sign Jorge Lopez

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The Nationals have signed right-hander Jorge Lopez, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Lopez will receive $3MM in guaranteed money in the one-year contract, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports, plus some more money is available in incentives. The Nats have officially announced the signing, and also announced that right-hander Amos Willingham was designated for assignment to create roster space for Lopez.

Lopez, 32 next month, spent the first several years of his big league career as a below-average swingman. He made his big league debut with the Brewers back in 2015, and in parts of six seasons with Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Baltimore he posted a 6.04 ERA (76 ERA+) with a 5.15 FIP in 102 appearances, 58 of which were starts. After posting ERAs north of six in three consecutive seasons as a swingman from 2019 to 2021, the Orioles converted Lopez to short relief full-time ahead of the 2022 season.

From there, his career has taken a major step forward. His breakout began with a sterling 1.68 ERA in the first half while collecting 19 saves as their closer. He was traded to the Twins ahead of that summer’s trade deadline and faded somewhat down the stretch, but still finished the season with an excellent 2.54 ERA (155 ERA+) and 3.42 FIP in 71 innings of work. While his 10.4% walk rate left something to be desired, he combined it with a solid 24.2% strikeout rate and a fantastic 57.8% groundball rate, giving him strong peripherals that suggested he could have a future in the late innings.

Unfortunately, Lopez was unable to recreate that excellent 2022 season the following year. He took a massive step back in 2023 while spending time on the injured list for mental health reasons, and when he was on the mound he pitched to a 5.95 ERA in 59 innings of work. Nonetheless, Lopez managed to latch on with the Mets last year on a big league deal. His tenure in Queens was brief, as while he posted decent middle relief numbers (including a 3.76 ERA in 26 1/3 innings of work) he was designated for assignment in late May following a controversy regarding a post-game interview where he seemingly referred to the Mets as the “worst team” in the league, though in the aftermath of the incident it appeared that Lopez had actually referred to himself as the “worst teammate” in the league.

That rocky exit from the Mets, in conjunction with his difficult 2023 season, left Lopez to catch on with the Cubs on a minor league deal. He made the most of the opportunity, however, and looked every bit like the dominant late-inning arm he had been for the Orioles in 2022. In 26 2/3 innings of work for Chicago last year, Lopez posted an excellent 2.03 ERA. He struck out 29.2% of his opponents during that stretch with a walk rate of just 7.5%, and his 59.1% groundball rate was nothing short of elite. Taking that fantastic work on the north side together with his time in Queens paints a picture of Lopez as an intriguing, if somewhat risky, late-inning option as he posted a 2.89 ERA and 3.94 FIP in 53 innings of work with a 23% strikeout rate and 51% groundball rate.

Lopez is now headed to the Nationals, where he appears likely to be tasked with the closer role barring another external addition. That role had belonged to Kyle Finnegan in recent years, but the club non-tendered him back in November due to his rapidly escalating price in arbitration. Finnegan was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an $8.6MM salary in 2025, and Lopez is signing in D.C. for just over a third of that amount after posting better rate numbers than Finnegan did in 2024.

The addition of Lopez brings the Nationals’ payroll up to a projected $110MM for 2025 according to RosterResource. That’s $20MM below the club’s 2024 payroll, meaning they should have room for further upgrades to the roster should opportunities arise in trade or on the free agent market. That said, it’s already been a fairly busy winter for the Nationals. Lopez joins rotation additions Trevor Williams and Michael Soroka on the pitching staff, while Josh Bell and Nathaniel Lowe were brought in to bolster the club’s lineup. There’s still room for improvement, however, particularly in the bullpen and at third base.

As for Willingham, the right-hander has been and up-and-down reliever for the Nationals over the past two seasons. To this point in his career, he’s posted a 7.11 ERA in 25 1/3 innings of work at the major league level with just one appearance for Washington in 2024. He posted a decent 3.69 ERA for Triple-A Rochester last year, however, and it’s not impossible to imagine a rival club having some interest in Willingham as optionable relief depth. Going forward, the Nationals will have one week to either work out a trade involving the right-hander or try to put him through waivers. If he clears waivers unclaimed, the Nationals will have the opportunity to outright him to the minor leagues as a non-roster depth option.

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