Red Sox Reportedly Considering Moving Rafael Devers Off Third Base
The Red Sox have held internal discussions regarding the possibility of moving longtime third baseman Rafael Devers off the position, per a report from MassLive’s Sean McAdam. McAdam goes on to suggest that the club views a trade for third baseman Nolan Arenado with the Cardinals as a potential option to fill their vacancy at the hot corner in the event Devers changes positions, whether that be a move to first base or DH.
The idea of Devers moving to first base has previously been floated by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and The New York Post’s Jon Heyman throughout the offseason so far, though McAdam’s report stands as the first confirmation that a position change for Devers is under internal consideration within the organization. Previously, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has declined to comment on the possibility of moving Devers off third beyond saying that the club wouldn’t seriously entertain the idea without first discussing it with Devers himself. That could be a complicating factor in a position change, as Devers’s agent, Nelson Montes de Oca, recently told Alex Speier of The Boston Globe that Devers has no plans to move off the hot corner.
“He is a third baseman,” Montes de Oca told Speier, “and he will continue to play third base and work hard to get better at it. That’s his position, that’s what he likes to play, and that’s what he will be playing.”
Resistance to a position change from Devers’s camp isn’t the only potential obstacle to a move. After all, the Red Sox have an extremely talented incumbent first baseman in Triston Casas, who at just 24 years old remains under team control for four more seasons and has previously expressed interest in signing with Boston on a long-term extension. The youngster missed much of the 2024 season due to injury but is a career .250/.357/.473 (125 wRC+) hitter since making his big league debut late in the 2022 season. There’s been speculation at times this winter that the Red Sox could consider moving on from Casas to land starting pitching, but Breslow was quick to shoot down those rumors earlier this month. Given that, a move to first base for Devers would require the front office to either reverse their stance on dealing Casas or else park him at DH on a regular basis, pushing Masataka Yoshida (and the three years and $55.6MM remaining on his contract) either to the bench or off the roster entirely.
Complicated as a position change for Devers would be, the potential benefits for the club could be substantial. Devers is among the worst fielding third basemen in the sport by most metrics, and a move across the diamond would surely improve the club’s infield defense dramatically. In 2024, Devers was worth -9 Defensive Runs Saved and posted a -5 in Statcast’s Fielding Run Value metric. That’s the lowest DRS and tied for the lowest FRV among all qualified (min. 750 innings) third basemen this year. Replacing Devers with an average or even slightly below average glove at third would improve the club’s infield defense considerably, but a position change for Devers would likely be just as motivated by it creating an avenue to improving the club’s offense.
If third base were to be opened by Devers moving to first, that would create an easy place for the Red Sox to add a right-handed bat to the lineup. Adding some thump from the right side has been a priority for Boston dating back to the trade deadline, and the club’s need for a right-handed hitter to add to their offense only grew more pronounced when outfielder Tyler O’Neill hit the open market earlier this month. Most attention on this need has been focused on the outfield at this point in the offseason given the club’s reported interest in either a reunion with O’Neill or pivoting to a deal with Teoscar Hernandez, but the club’s outfield remains crowded with Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Ceddanne Rafaela all in the mix for playing time already before considering top prospect Roman Anthony (or veterans Yoshida and Rob Refsnyder), who should be ready to take on a regular role at some point in 2025.
Complicated as that outfield picture already is, it’s easy to see why adding a right-handed bat to the infield could be a preferable, more straightforward option than adding another player to the club’s logjam on the grass. Given that, it’s perhaps no surprise that the club has been connected to both longtime Astros third baseman Alex Bregman and former Brewers shortstop Willy Adames in free agency. Both players have expressed an openness to moving to second base (as well as third, in the case of Adames) if their new club so desires, meaning the addition of either player wouldn’t necessarily require Devers to change positions. With highly-regarded second base prospect Kristian Campbell seemingly in the mix for starts in Boston as soon as Opening Day, however, it’s easy to see why the Red Sox may prefer to install Bregman or Adames at the hot corner and move Devers to first.
While the club’s interest in Bregman and Adames has been reported semi-frequently to this point in the winter, McAdam’s suggestion that Arenado could be a consideration for the Red Sox is the first connection between Boston and the veteran star. Unlike Bregman and Adames, it’s all but unfathomable that a ten-time Gold Glove award winner like Arenado would change positions in deference to Devers, meaning a deal for the 33-year-old would certainly require a position change for the younger star. Arenado is also coming off his second consecutive down season offensively. While he was a finalist for the NL MVP award back in 2022, he’s hit just .269/.320/.426 (104 wRC+) in two seasons since then.
That said, Arenado’s defense has remained well above average even if it’s no longer quite as elite as it was during his peak, and that’s allowed him to be a roughly three-win player in each of the past two seasons. While he may no longer offer the same level of impact as Bregman or Adames, the three years and $74MM remaining on the veteran’s contract pales in comparison to the nine-figure sums both free agents are expected to land and would likely do little to impede Boston’s pursuit of other top-of-the-market names like Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, and Blake Snell, especially if a deal involved the Cardinals either retaining some money or taking on a sizable portion of Yoshida’s contract in return. Any deal involving Arenado, of course, would require the veteran’s approval given his full no-trade clause. While the 33-year-old hasn’t requested a trade to this point, both he and the Cardinals appear to be open to parting ways if the right deal comes along given the club’s plans to retool and focus on youth in 2025.
Mariners Sign Adonis Medina To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have signed right-hander Adonis Medina to a minor league deal, as reported by Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The deal presumably comes with an invite to big league Spring Training next year.
Medina, 28 next month, first signed with the Phillies out of the Dominican Republic and made his pro debut back in 2014. A starting pitching prospect at the time, Medina spent the early years of his career climbing the minor league ranks and was a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport after a strong showing at Single-A in 2017. The right-hander struggled a bit over the next two years, however, and his prospect star lost some of its shine as he struck out just 17.5% of opponents while allowing a 4.94 ERA at the Double-A level back in 2019.
Those struggles didn’t stop the Phillies from calling up Medina for his big league debut during the abbreviated 2020 season, however. In a spot start against the Blue Jays on September 20, Medina got his first cup of coffee in the big leagues. He performed solidly enough, surrendering two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out four in four innings of work, but was quickly optioned off the club’s roster. He remained with the Phillies for the 2021 season and performed well in the majors in a small sample while shuttling between the big leagues and Triple-A. Despite his 3.52 ERA in four appearances at the big league level, however, Medina struggled badly in the minors with a 5.05 ERA and a lackluster 18.4% strikeout rate at Triple-A.
Medina’s lackluster performance in the minors led the Phillies to place Medina on waivers, where he was promptly claimed by the Pirates only to be traded to the Mets the following month. The right-hander converted to relief full time in his new organization, and his results at the Triple-A level improved slightly (4.65 ERA in in 31 innings) after the role change. That step forward did not translate to the major leagues, however, as Medina was shelled to the tune of a 6.08 ERA in 23 2/3 innings of work across 14 appearances in Queens that year. While some peripheral numbers, such as his 3.89 SIERA, were more bullish on his performance, that wasn’t enough to keep Medina on the roster as the Mets designated him for assignment that September.
That led the right-hander to depart stateside ball for South Korea, where he signed with the KBO’s KIA Tigers. His new club tried to convert him back to starting, but that experiment did not go well as he struggled to a 6.05 ERA in 58 innings of work across 12 starts. Unlike his time in Queens, Medina’s struggles on the field were now reflected in his peripheral numbers as he struck out just 13.4% of batters faced while walking opponents at a 10.8% clip. Medina’s rough performance led to him being released that July, and he didn’t catch on with another club until he signed with the Nationals on a minor league deal in February of this year.
While Medina’s time with D.C. didn’t ultimately result in a return to the big leagues, he did show off the best results at Triple-A of his career after converting back to full-time relief with the Nationals. In 49 relief appearances, Medina posted a 3.76 ERA in 64 2/3 innings of work for the club’s affiliate in Rochester. He struck out a respectable 21.9% of opponents faced while walking 9.5%, the best ratio he’s flashed since his days as a top prospect in the late 2010’s. Now, Medina has latched on with a Mariners club that figures to give him the opportunity to earn a spot in the club’s bullpen out of Spring Training or act as non-roster depth in the minors should he ultimately not make the Opening Day roster.
Latest On Rays’ Stadium Situation
The Rays are in a precarious situation regarding both their long- and short-term future in the Tampa Bay area. Hurricane Milton destroyed the roof of Tropicana Field, leaving the club’s home ballpark unusable for at least the 2025 season. They’ve solved that obstacle by moving to nearby Steinbrenner Field, the Spring Training stadium of the Yankees, but that move helped to spur local officials to postpone the approval of bonds that would finance the development plan the Rays and Pinellas County had previously agreed upon that would construct a new stadium near the Trop in time for the 2028 season.
With the bond approval now postponed, the Rays’ long-term future in Tampa seems to be up in the air, with club owner Stu Sternberg having gone so far as to put the possibility of relocation back on the table. In addition to that renewed long-term instability, it now seems as though the club’s short-term future is even more up in the air than it was previously. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reported recently that while the city council of St. Pete initially voted to approve spending $24MM on repairs to the Trop, they reversed course shortly thereafter. The reversal from local officials in St. Pete comes in part thanks to the uncertainty surrounding around the previously agreed-upon stadium deal, with city councilwoman Brandi Gabbard telling Topkin that she wasn’t prepared to put tens of millions toward funding a project for “an entity we may never have a deal with again.”
That change in plans seems to have created uncertainty regarding whether the Rays would ever play at the Trop again, as Topkin adds that club president Brian Auld suggested that the Rays may be better off negotiating a settlement with the city of St. Pete regarding the final years of their lease than having the city repair the stadium because of uncertainty regarding whether the Trop would be repaired in time for Opening Day 2026. Per Auld, creating a contingency plan for the 2026 season that would only be used in the event that the Trop isn’t ready would cause more trouble for the Rays than simply ruling out a return to their home ballpark entirely.
Whether repairs for Tropicana Field will ultimately be approved and set into motion or if the sides will instead pursue a settlement remains to be seen, but the latest setback casts further doubt on the city’s ability to repair the Trop in time for the 2026 season. As Auld alludes to, reaching a settlement with the city could ultimately behoove the Rays in more ways than one. In addition to avoiding the costs associated with balancing contingency plans based on the Trop’s 2026 availability, Topkin notes that Auld added that receiving a settlement check from the city would “obviously” provide the club a financial boost amid the loss of revenue associated with the club’s temporary displacement.
While the city deciding to abandon the Trop could come with some advantages for the Rays, Topkin notes it could further jeopardize the team’s long- and short-term future in the greater Tampa area. The club’s current deal with the Yankees allowing them to use Steinbrenner Field in 2025 is expected to last for only the upcoming season, and Topkin suggests that if the club has to find a new home for the 2026 campaign as well that destination will “almost certainly” be outside of Florida as MLB looks to avoid scheduling complications caused by rainouts. A temporary move outside of Florida for the 2026 and ’27 seasons would seemingly make the threat of relocation all the more real as the club’s lease in St. Pete expires ahead of the 2028 season, though Auld suggested that the club’s “preference” would still be to remain in the greater Tampa area in a new stadium rather than explore relocation even if they were to temporarily move out of market.
Rangers Re-Sign Codi Heuer To Minor League Deal
The Rangers have re-signed right-hander Codi Heuer to a minor league deal, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The deal presumably includes an invitation to big league Spring Training next year.
Heuer, 28, was a sixth-round pick by the White Sox back in 2018. The right-hander made it to the big leagues in fairly short order after being drafted, as he made his MLB debut during the shortened 2020 season. It was an impressive debut, as he pitched to an excellent 1.52 ERA in 23 2/3 innings of work in his first taste of big league action. He struck out 27.2% of opponents while walking 9.8% and posted a solid 2.77 FIP during the regular season, though he struggled in two postseason appearances against the A’s during the Wild Card series that October.
The youngster’s strong first impression was more than enough to earn him a spot with the White Sox headed into 2021, though he struggled early in the year. In 23 innings of work through June 4 of the year, Heuer posted a lackluster 6.26 ERA despite striking out a solid 25% of opponents and walking just 4%. Those strong peripherals left him with a solid 3.34 FIP despite his lackluster run prevention results, and the righty went on to post a much more characteristic 3.45 ERA over his next 18 appearances, which proved to be his final outings in a White Sox uniform. At the trade deadline, Heuer found himself traded across town to the Cubs alongside Nick Madrigal in exchange for closer Craig Kimbrel.
Results-wise, Heuer was impressive over the final two months of the season with the Cubs. He stepped into a late inning role with the club and collected two saves and four holds, posting a 3.14 ERA in 28 2/3 innings of work. Unfortunately, however, the peripheral numbers raised several red flags about the righty’s performance. His strikeout rate fell to just 14.8%, only slightly higher than his 11.3% walk rate during his time on the north side. Concerning as those warning signs were, however, the Cubs retained Heuer headed into the 2022 season with little to lose given they were just beginning to embark on a rebuild after dismantling their 2016 World Champion core of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez.
Unfortunately, Heuer wouldn’t make it back to the mound in order to try and dispel any concerns that arose after his stretch run with the Cubs. He underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2022, a procedure that left him away from the big league mound until midway through the 2023 season. Just when he was nearing a return to action, however, the right-hander underwent his second consecutive season-ending surgery in as many years when he suffered a fractured elbow. The right-hander eventually signed with the Rangers on a minor league deal after being non-tendered by the Cubs last November, and though he did not make it back to a pro mound in 2024, that they’ve now re-signed him seems to suggest they believe he could impact the club at some point in 2025.
Given the fact that he’s pitched just 12 2/3 innings over the past three years, it’s hard to know what to expect from Heuer once he finally makes it back to the mound. If he manages to shake off the rust of that long layoff, however, it’s not hard to imagine the right-hander proving to be a valuable piece of the bullpen puzzle next year for a Rangers club that had the fifth-worst bullpen in the majors by ERA last year despite standout performances from veterans David Robertson, Jose Leclerc, and Kirby Yates, all three of whom elected free agency earlier this month. That said, this reunion with Heuer won’t come close to moving the needle as much as is required for the Rangers to bolster their weakened bullpen, and they’re sure to look into more certain options for their relief corps as the winter continues.
Personnel Notes: Nakken, Giants, Guardians, Pirates
Major league coach Alyssa Nakken has departed the Giants and taken a new role with the Guardians in player development, as noted by Maria Guardado of MLB.com.
Nakken, perhaps best known for being the first woman to serve as a full-time coach in MLB history, was hired as an assistant coach by then-Giants manager Gabe Kapler prior to the 2020 season. She remained with the club for five years in that role, even interviewing to replace Kapler during the 2023-24 offseason after he was fired just before the end of the 2023 regular season. The Giants ultimately decided to go with Bob Melvin in that role, but she remained on staff for the 2024 season in the same position she held under Kapler.
Now that the sides have parted ways, she’ll be joining former Giants coaches Craig Albernaz and Kai Correa in Cleveland under sophomore manager Stephen Vogt for the 2025 season. As noted by the Associated Press, Nakken will be an assistant director of player development with the Guardians, though her exact duties have yet to be determined. That could include determining whether or not she’ll travel with the team; after traveling with the Giants on road trips under Kapler, Nakken stayed in San Francisco during most road trips under Melvin after giving birth to her first child, Austyn, back in January.
Nakken’s departure is the latest among a number of coaching departures in San Francisco this winter. Pitching coach Bryan Price stepped down earlier this winter, while hitting coaches Pedro Guerrero and Justin Viele both departed the club to take jobs with other organizations. Price’s role has been filled by the promotion of assistant pitching coach J.P. Martinez, but the Giants remain in the market for a hitting coach to partner with Pat Burrell and may now be in the market for a replacement for Nakken as well.
More personnel notes from around the majors…
- Sticking with the Guardians, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported earlier this week that the club has hired Bobby Kinne to serve as director of baseball operations in the club’s front office. Cleveland hired Kinne away from the Rays, for whom he served as the club’s major league pitching strategist. Kinne got his start in baseball with Tampa as an intern back in 2018 and worked his way up the organizational ladder over six years with the club, serving as a scout and a coordinator of major league operations before landing in the pitching strategist role he held for the 2024 season. Now, Kinne will get the opportunity to work with one of the better pitching staffs in the big leagues as Guardians pitchers ranked third in the majors with a 3.61 ERA this year, behind only the Braves and Mariners.
- The Pirates are promoting bullpen catcher Jordan Comadena to the role of major league catching coach, according to Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. Comadena joined the Pirates back in 2016 and Stumpf notes that he’s worked closely with former first overall pick Henry Davis on his defense behind the plate over the past year and a half. Davis, 25, has struggled in the majors at the plate and has moved back behind the plate after coming up as a catcher but getting his first MLB experience as an outfielder in 2023. He’ll likely be a potential option for the Pirates at catcher next year alongside Joey Bart, Endy Rodriguez, and Jason Delay.
Mariners Sign Yunior Marte To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have signed right-hander Yunior Marte to a minor league deal, according to a report from Francys Romero. Romero adds that the deal comes with an invite to MLB Spring Training.
Marte, 30 in February, signed with the Royals out of the Dominican Republic and made his pro debut back in 2013. He worked his way up the minor league ladder with Kansas City until he reached minor league free agency following the cancelled MiLB season in 2020, and eventually signed a minors pact with the Giants prior to the 2021 season. The right-hander spent two years in the Giants organization and pitched well at Triple-A despite the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, prompting Marte’s promotion to San Francisco in April of 2022.
In the majors, Marte collected 48 innings with the Giants across 39 appearances. He posted a lackluster 5.44 ERA during that time, though his peripheral numbers (including a 4.38 FIP and 3.80 xERA) were solid enough. He struck out just 20.6% of opponents while walking 10.3%, but helped make up for that by generating poor contact, as evidenced by an impressive 48.6% groundball rate and a microscopic 3.5% barrel rate. That performance was solid enough to earn Marte a spot on the club’s 40-man roster throughout the offseason, but he nonetheless found himself traded to Philadelphia that January in exchange for southpaw Erik Miller.
Philly would serve as Marte’s home in each of the next two seasons, though his struggle to find results at the big league level continued. While Marte impressed with a 1.80 ERA in 20 Triple-A innings in 2023, his time in the majors told a different story as he surrendered a 5.03 ERA with a 4.68 FIP across 39 1/3 frames. While Marte’s strikeout, walk, and grounder rates all improved, opposing hitters began to find more success barrelling him up and that led to a spike in homers, which perhaps isn’t especially surprising given he moved from Oracle Park in San Francisco to the Phillies’ homer-happy home of Citizen Bank Park.
2024 turned out even worse for Marte, as the 29-year-old pitched to a 6.92 ERA with a 5.63 FIP while posting the worst strikeout rate, walk rate, groundball rate, and home run rate of his major league career. The disastrous results even carried over to Triple-A this season, as he surrendered a 6.88 ERA in 17 innings at the level. That led the Phillies to outright Marte off their roster earlier this month, and he subsequently elected free agency. The right-hander has now found a new home in Seattle, and he’ll have the opportunity to try and find his footing in an organization that boasts one of the best pitching staffs in the majors. That strong pitching staff could mean that Marte faces an uphill battle in trying to secure an Opening Day roster spot this spring, and barring him securing that roster spot he’ll likely open the season as non-roster depth for the Mariners in case of an injury.
Dodgers Have Held “Preliminary” Extension Talks With Tommy Edman
The Dodgers have had a “preliminary dialogue” with utility man Tommy Edman regarding a potential extension, per a report from Jon Morosi of MLB Network. It’s unclear how far those initial talks progressed, but there’s no indication that a deal between the two sides is particularly close at this time.
Edman, 29, came to L.A. as part of the three-team swap between the Dodgers, Cardinals, and White Sox that brought Michael Kopech to L.A. and sent Erick Fedde to St. Louis just before the trade deadline this summer. At the time, Edman hadn’t played in the majors at all in 2024 due to setbacks in his rehab from offseason wrist surgery. The switch hitter ultimately made his Dodgers debut on August 19 and made a strong first impression down the stretch. With the Dodgers, the versatile defender split time between center field and shortstop while hitting a respectable .237/.294/.417 (98 wRC+) with six homers and six steals in 153 trips to the plate during the regular season.
His performance reached a new gear during the postseason, however, as he again split time between shortstop and center field as the Dodgers mixed-and-matched between Gavin Lux, Miguel Rojas, and Enrique Hernandez up the middle. Amid those frequent position changes, Edman was able to maintain a high level of offensive production as he hit .328/.354/.508 with two homers, five steals, and five doubles in 16 playoff games. That strong performance was key to the club’s World Series championship and even earned him MVP honors for his work in the NLCS against the Mets. Looking ahead to 2025, Edman seems likely to be penciled into center field for the club’s Opening Day roster although his impressive versatility should allow him to second or third base, shortstop, or an outfield corner should the Dodgers require it.
Edman’s performance in the regular season with L.A. was more or less in line with what he had done throughout his career with the Cardinals. While his rookie season saw him slash an excellent .304/.350/.500 (124 wRC+) in 349 trips to the plate as a part-time player, he settled in as more of an average to slightly below average bat who generates value with his defense, versatility, and baserunning once he became a more regular fixture in the St. Louis lineup. From 2020 to 2023, Edman appeared in 504 of the club’s 546 regular season games and hit .258/.314/.392 (92 wRC+) with 42 home runs and 92 steals. He also connected for 104 doubles (plus 12 triples) during that time while playing quality defense at every position on the diamond except for first base and behind the plate.
Overall, Edman’s profile is not entirely dissimilar to those of Hernandez and Chris Taylor, who have spent eight and nine years respectively in Dodger blue thanks to their valuable versatility. With Edman just one year away from free agency, the Dodgers would likely have to pay something close to free agent prices to retain the switch-hitter beyond next season barring a hometown discount from the southern California native. Taylor received a four-year, $60MM contract in free agency from the Dodgers after hitting the market following an age-30 season that saw him earn All-Star honors, though that deal hasn’t worked out very well for L.A. to this point and the club may not be comfortable committing to Edman at that same level. With Edman already due to make $9.5MM in his final year before free agency next year, perhaps a three-year deal at an AAV similar to that the Dodgers offered Taylor could make some sense for both sides.
The Opener: Non-Tender Deadline, Trade Market, Snell
With a major offseason deadline now upon us, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. The non-tender deadline is today:
The deadline for clubs to tender contracts to the players in their organization is 7pm CT this evening. The annual deadline never fails to spur activity with arbitration-level players, who typically are at the greatest risk of being non-tendered. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco discussed the process and a wide-ranging list of possible non-tender candidates yesterday, and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see a transaction regarding any player on that list at some point before this evening’s deadline. That transaction could be a non-tender, allowing the player to depart for free agency early rather retaining them at an arbitration-level price tag, but it could also come in the form of a trade to another club more willing to pay that arb price or even a pre-tender deal where the sides avoid arbitration at a lower price point to save the club some money and offer the player some certainty.
2. Could the trade market heat up this weekend?
Earlier this week, the Cubs swung a pair of trades on the same day. They acquired right-hander Eli Morgan, who is slated to be eligible for arbitration for the first time in his career this winter, from the Guardians in exchange for outfield prospect Alfonsin Rosario. They also acquired recently DFA’d catcher Matt Thaiss in a cash deal with the Angels. It’s likely that we’ll see an uptick of trades similar to both of these deals over the coming days.
With the arrival of the non-tender deadline today, several arb-eligible players on the bubble of being non-tendered get moved today, either off teams looking to cut costs to teams with budget space available, or from a team that would otherwise non-tender a player to one interested in offering him an arb-level contract. Aside from that, we saw a slew of players DFA’d in advance of the Rule 5 Draft protection deadline earlier this week. Any number of them could be flipped to another club via trade or waivers. That could lead to a handful of minor trades similar to the Thaiss deal, where a club adds a player for a typically relatively minor return, and there will also surely be plenty of waiver activity (and subsequent DFAs) in the days ahead.
3. Who else will meet with Snell?
Two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell reportedly met with both the Red Sox and Dodgers recently, giving a glimpse into the soon-to-be 32-year-old’s market. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested yesterday that both the Blue Jays and Orioles could soon set up meetings with Snell, adding that the left-hander is aiming for a shorter stay on the free agent market this time around after waiting until March 19 to sign last winter.
It seems fair to presume that the Yankees (who had interest last offseason) and Mets (who saw 60% of their rotation reach free agency) could also sit down with the lefty. Snell could potentially hold broader appeal than fellow free agent aces Corbin Burnes and Max Fried due both to his lack of a qualifying offer and the fact that his age could tamp down the length of his contract (at the likely trade-off of a premium annual value). Might that create a few surprise suitors who don’t typically shop in the deep end of the free-agent pool?
The Opener: MVP, Pre-Tender Deals, Non-Tender Candidates
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. MVP winners to be announced:
Award season is set to wrap up at 5pm CT this evening with the unveiling of MVP results in both leagues. There isn’t much suspense regarding the winner in either league, as the AL saw Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge establish himself as a heavy favorite with an eye-popping season that edged out his 2022 campaign (when he set a new AL record for home runs in a season) in both wRC+ (218) and fWAR (11.2). Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and top-of-the-class free agent Juan Soto had incredible seasons of their own to earn their spots as finalists, but Judge’s .322/.458/.701 slash, 58 home runs, 122 runs scored and 144 runs batted in will be nearly impossible to overcome.
Meanwhile, the NL field was regarded as crowded for most of the season, but Shohei Ohtani began to pull away from the pack late in the year as he became the first player in history to post a 50-50 season and ultimately finished with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases — all while hitting .310/.390/.646. Assuming Ohtani wins over fellow finalists Francisco Lindor and Ketel Marte (whose case was dinged by a late stint on the injured list), he’ll become the first full-time DH to win the award in MLB history.
2. Are more pre-tender deals on the horizon?
With the non-tender deadline looming tomorrow, the A’s and first baseman/outfielder Seth Brown got a head start on the type of deal that will surely be seen frequently all across baseball over the next day and a half by avoiding arbitration. “Pre-tender” deals like these often see the player sign at a figure lower than their expected value in arbitration in order to secure a roster spot, knowing the alternative is a non-tender into a crowded free agent pool. Brown, who was outrighted off the A’s roster in June but hit his way back to the majors, agreed to a one-year, $2.7MM deal that fell well shy of the $3.8MM salary projected in MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s algorithm. Several more deals along these lines could unfold between now and tomorrow afternoon’s deadline.
3. Which players are non-tender candidates this year?
Ahead of tomorrow’s non-tender deadline, MLBTR will be publishing a list of potential non-tender candidates later today. While it certainly won’t be the case that every player listed gets non-tendered (and it’s quite unlikely that even most of them will), the list features a broad group of plausible candidates who could be non-tendered given their projected arbitration price and a confluence of factors including their expected production, injury situation, and/or the financial situation of their team. Some players from the list could also look to sign a pre-tender deal with their team or even be traded in advance of the deadline. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco took a look at a selection of arb-eligible players who could be trade candidates in the run-up to tomorrow’s deadline in a post for Front Office subscribers yesterday.
White Sox Sign Austin Slater
The White Sox announced the signing of outfielder Austin Slater to a one-year deal. The Ballengee Group client is reportedly guaranteed $1.75MM and can unlock another $500K in performance bonuses. Slater would receive $50K in his 50th game and $75K apiece at 75 and 100 games. He’ll collect $50K for his 100th, 150th and 200th plate appearance and would earn another $75K each at 250 and 300 trips to the dish.
Slater, 31, was an eighth-round pick by San Francisco out of Stanford during the 2014 draft. The outfielder spent more than a decade in the Giants organization as he made his big league debut in 2017 and remained with the club through last season. In the first three seasons of his career, Slater was a decent but unspectacular fourth outfielder for San Francisco, slashing a combined .254/.335/.368 in 544 total plate appearances during that time. While primarily an outfielder, he also received occasional time at first base and even made token appearances at both second and third base off the Giants’ bench.
The outfielder broke out during the shortened 2020 season, however, with a 150 wRC+ and a .282/.408/.506 slash line in 104 trips to the plate while appearing in 31 of the club’s 60 games. That leap forward offensively earned Slater an expanded role over the next few years, and from 2021 to 2023 he became a regular for the Giants against left-handed pitching. While he was still generally shielded from righties, Slater slashed a respectable .257/.345/.412 in 343 games from 2021 to 2023. That’s good for a respectable 113 wRC+, and across those 838 plate appearances he walked at a 10.5% clip, swatted 24 homers, and swiped 29 bases despite frequent trips to the injured list cutting down on his playing time over the years.
Unfortunately for Slater, his production cratered in 2024. The outfielder hit just .209/.321/.266 (76 wRC+) overall in 212 trips to the plate this year while bouncing between the Giants, Reds, and Orioles. Even more surprisingly, the outfielder actually carried reverse splits this year after years of feasting on left-handed pitching. While he enjoyed a 141 wRC+ against lefties from 2020 to 2023, Slater hit just .188/.310/.231 against them in 142 plate appearances this year. Dismal as that overall production last year was, there is a silver lining in Slater’s performance. Once he arrived in Baltimore on the day of the trade deadline, he looked much more like the player he’s been throughout his career. In 79 plate appearances with the Orioles down the stretch, Slater hit .246/.342/.333 (102 wRC+) overall and posted a 114 wRC+ against southpaws.
That late-season rebound could inspire additional confidence in Slater’s ability to return to form in 2025 and beyond. That appears to be what the White Sox are betting on, and Slater makes plenty of sense for the club as a right-handed platoon option. Veteran lefty bat Andrew Benintendi is entrenched in left field, while the club also employs a host of left-handed youngsters in right field and at DH including Zach DeLoach, Dominic Fletcher, Gavin Sheets, and Oscar Colas. Of that group, only DeLoach (in a sample of just 79 big league PAs) lacks a significant platoon split.
Mixing in Slater against left-handed pitching should be a huge boost for a Sox offense that produced an MLB-worst 74 wRC+ against left-handed pitching last year, even if he merely recreates the production he offered the Orioles rather than bouncing back to the excellent form he showed from 2020 to 2023. While even an excellent short-side platoon bat isn’t going to make the White Sox contenders in 2025 following a 121-loss season this year, Slater was sufficiently attractive as a trade piece this summer to get dealt not once, but twice prior to the deadline. If he can garner that level of interest amid a down season, it’s easy to imagine the White Sox recouping some value for his services next July in the event he bounces back.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the White Sox were signing Slater to a major league deal. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the $1.75MM base salary and the $500K in incentives. The Associated Press reported the incentive structure.