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Brewers Sign Eddy Alvarez To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers have signed infielder Eddy Alvarez to a minor league deal, according to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The deal includes an invite to major league spring training.

Alvarez, 32, played the past season with the Dodgers, appearing in 14 games. He hit just .160/.154/.160 in 27 plate appearances while appearing at four positions. He went far better at Triple-A, where he slashed .322/.439/.554 with eight home runs in 47 games. He logged most of his time at shortstop and second base in the minors, but also spent a little bit of time in the outfield and at third.

Alvarez actually won a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in speed skating, but opted to chase his baseball dream soon after and signed for the White Sox as a free agent that year. After coming up through their minor league system, he was purchased by the Marlins in 2019 and made his big league debut in 2020.

Across two seasons for the Marlins, Alvarez hit a combined .188/.287/.287 with a single home run in 142 plate appearances before departing as a free agent at the conclusion of the 2021 season.

Alvarez will compete for a bench spot in Milwaukee during the spring, but in any event will provide the Brewers – who recently traded infielder Kolten Wong to Seattle – with a bit of middle infield depth in 2023.

Minor League Moves: Hartlieb, Koch, Motter

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The Marlins added pitcher Geoff Hartlieb to a minor league deal, per Baseball America’s minor league transactions page. Harltlieb, 29 next week, pitched for Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in 2022, tossing 61 innings of 5.16 ERA ball. He appeared in the big leagues for the Pirates and briefly the Mets, throwing 66 1/3 innings across three seasons with a 7.46 ERA. He had a slightly below average 20.5% strikeout rate against a 14.4% walk rate.

Here’s some other minor league signings from around the sport:

  • Matt Koch has landed a deal with the Rockies for 2023. The 32-year-old pitched a handful of innings for the Mariners in 2022, but spent most of the year at Triple-A, tossing 38 1/3 innings of 3.05 ERA ball. He spent four seasons in Arizona, throwing 129 2/3 innings of 5.00 ERA ball across 16 starts and 20 relief appearances. He doesn’t walk many batters, but doesn’t strikeout many either, averaging just five per nine innings across his big league career.
  • The Braves re-signed Brooks Wilson and Alan Rangel to minor league deals. Wilson, 26, largely worked as a reliever at Double-A, tossing 44 innings with a 2.45 ERA while striking out 14.9 batters per nine innings. He made a handful of appearances at Triple-A, and should start the year there in 2023. Rangel, 25, made 26 starts at Double-A, working to a 5.81 ERA across 114 2/3 innings.
  • The White Sox brought back 30-year-old outfielder Mark Payton. He appeared in just eight games in the big leagues this year, tallying three hits in 25 plate appearances. He had a strong season at Triple-A, hitting .293/.369/.539 with 25 home runs. He’s yet to translate that to the majors though, and has a lifetime .164/.261/.180 line in 40 games for the Reds and White Sox since his 2020 debut.
  • Daniel Duarte re-signed with the Reds for 2023. Celebrating his 26th birthday tomorrow, Duarte spent most of the season on the injured list, but appeared in three games for the Reds in 2022, giving up three runs in 2 2/3 innings. At Triple-A, he worked to a 9.39 ERA across 7 2/3 innings.
  • The Athletics added right-handed pitcher Jasseel De La Cruz to a minor league pact. The 25-year-old was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Braves, and came up through their system as a solid pitching prospect. He struggled with injury in 2022, tossing just 26 1/3 innings in total, with 12 1/3 of those coming at Triple-A. There, he had an 8.03 ERA across seven appearances.
  • The Padres brought back Mexican pitcher Efrain Contreras on a minor league deal. The 22-year-old made 17 starts at High-A in 2022, working to a 5.74 ERA across 53 1/3 innings. While those numbers don’t look promising, he has averaged 10.2 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine innings across three seasons in the minor leagues.
  • Utilityman Taylor Motter has joined the Cardinals for the upcoming season. Motter, 32, has appeared in the big leagues for six different teams since 2016, hitting a combined .191/.262/.309 with ten home runs. He’s appeared at every defensive position outside of catcher and center field, but primarily handles the middle-infield spots. He made a handful of appearances for the Reds in 2022, but spent most of the year at Triple-A where he slashed .254/.357/.523 with 20 home runs for the Reds’ and Braves’ affiliates.
  • Puerto Rican shortstop Shawn Ross and the Pirates agreed to a minor league contract for the 2023 season. Ross, 22, played for Grand Junction in Independent ball in 2022, hitting 280/.408/.614 with 24 home runs.

Orioles Met With Noah Syndergaard

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As the Orioles search for additions to their rotation, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that they had a Zoom call with Noah Syndergaard yesterday. Syndergaard is a free agent after playing out the past season with the Angels and Phillies.

It’s been widely reported that the Orioles have been searching for starting pitching, but avoiding the very top of the free agent class, so it makes sense that Syndergaard would have appeal to them.

Syndergaard, 30, turned in a 3.94 ERA across 134 2/3 innings in 2022, his first full year back from 2020 Tommy John surgery. He started his one-year, $21MM deal with the Angels but was dealt to the Phillies at the deadline. The former Met’s fastball was well down from his pre-surgery days, as it dropped around five miles an hour to sit at 94.5 mph in 2022, while his slider that once sat at 93.1 mph dropped to 85.1. As a result, his strikeout rate fell considerably (16.8 % vs 24.5% in 2019).

Today’s version of Syndergaard might not be the overpowering one that earned the nickname ’Thor’ at the Mets, but it still amounts to a very valuable pitcher, and he’s still young enough that perhaps he can claw back some of that lost velocity in 2023. To that end, ESPN’s Jeff Passan recently wrote that Syndergaard has been taking an analytic approach to his offseason work, training at Driveline and Tread Athletics. MLBTR predicted Syndergaard would receive a three-year, $36MM deal this winter.

The Orioles currently have some combination of Dean Kremer, Austin Voth, Tyler Wells, Kyle Bradish and top prospect Grayson Rodriguez penciled into their rotation. It’s a young group with plenty of question marks, so it certainly makes sense that they’d look to bump one or two of those names in favor of an external veteran addition or two.

Whether or not Syndergaard winds up in Baltimore, it seems almost certain that they’ll have a few names in their pitching ranks. The Orioles are looking to build from a promising 83-79 season in 2022, and the rotation is an area of focus. Should they miss on Syndergaard, the likes of Taijuan Walker, Jameson Taillon and Chris Bassitt could all have appeal.

The Opener: Winter Meetings, Relief Market, HOF

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Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on to wrap up the week…

1. Winter Meetings start this weekend

The Winter Meetings should see a thaw to the frigid hot stove thus far, and the glacial pace with which the offseason has moved should quicken. The annual meetings take place in San Diego this year between Dec. 4-7 and will bring key baseball operations leaders from all 30 teams, agents and media into one place. Several reports have suggested that AL MVP Aaron Judge could make his decision there, which could help to set the star-studded shortstop market in motion. It’ll also be interesting if top starters Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom and Carlos Rodon find deals. There could well be blockbuster trades as well, with Oakland catcher Sean Murphy among the likeliest players to be moved this offseason. It’s not just deals either; on the 6th we’ll see the first MLB draft lottery, and that’ll be followed by the Rule 5 Draft on the 7th.

2. Relief market set to move?

It certainly seems so, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney. He reports a “sense among some execs that a wave of second-tier is moving fast and on the cusp of landing deals”, citing the likes of Chris Martin and Miguel Castro as players in that group. Martin snuck onto MLBTR’s Top 50 free agents in 47th place, with a predicted deal of two-years, $14MM. As always, there’s plenty of options in middle-relief. Beyond Martin and Castro, the likes of Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino, Andrew Chafin, Michael Fulmer, Corey Knebel and Mychal Givens (among many others) remain unsigned at this point.

3. Hall of Fame results coming

On Sunday, the 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Hall of Fame Committee will vote on eight former big league players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame next summer. The contemporary era comprises players who contributed to the game between 1980 and the present day. The eight players are Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling. Players who receive more than 75% of the vote from the committee will be slated for induction into Cooperstown next July. This announcement runs separate to the usual Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame voting, which will be revealed in January.

The Opener: Catchers, Judge, Shortstop Market

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As the calendar flips to December, here’s three things we’re keeping an eye on around baseball:

 1. Catcher market heating up?

It’s not a particularly deep catching market in free agency this year, with Willson Contreras and Christian Vazquez headlining, but the trade market offers some strong options for catcher-hungry teams. Yesterday, it was reported that the Astros are planning to meet with Contreras at the Winter Meetings, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, and Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the Guardians are showing continued interest in Oakland catcher Sean Murphy, who appears highly likely to be dealt. His three years of remaining club control and strong offensive and defensive prowess makes him a sought-after target, and a robust market has developed. Morosi suggested a deal could be done during the Winter Meetings, and teams that miss out on Murphy could quickly pivot to one of the top free agents, while the Blue Jays are expected to deal one of Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk or Gabriel Moreno this winter.

2. Will Aaron Judge’s free agency come to an end at the Winter Meetings?

It’s beginning to look like it might. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Yankees have tabled an offer to Judge worth around $300MM over eight years. It’s not known how Judge’s camp has reacted to that, or what any other offers look like, but the report was notable for one other thing. Passan suggested that Judge’s free agency is primed to wrap up within the Winter Meetings, so in a week’s time we could know if Judge will be in pinstripes in 2023, heading to the Bay Area, or to some other team. In many ways, it makes sense that Judge would be the first major free agent to sign. Both the Yankees and Giants will likely be aggressive in other areas if they miss out on Judge. Agents for other top free agents are certainly aware of this and so it makes sense that Judge is holding up the top end of the market.

3. When will the first shortstop come off the board?

It almost certainly depends on what happens with Judge. If, say, the Yankees watch Judge sign in San Francisco, they could quickly pivot and jump into the market for Trea Turner or Carlos Correa. So if you’re Turner’s agent, it makes sense to wait until Judge is gone and see if the deep-pocketed Yankees or Giants are willing to jump in and drive your client’s price up further. Passan reports that the market for the shortstops is already heating up. The Twins are making a strong push to re-sign Correa, Turner has a wide range of suitors, so too are Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson. The offseason has been slow to this point as teams have spent the past month laying groundwork, but it certainly seems like the next week could be busy and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see one of the four big name shortstops settle on a home for 2023 and beyond.

The Opener: Pitching Market, Wednesday Chat

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As the Winter Meetings approach, here’s what we’ll be keeping an eye on around baseball today:

1. The top of the starting pitching market

Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom and Carlos Rodon sit atop the free agent list for starting pitching this winter. A combination of injury history and age makes the contract for each tricky to predict, but we are seeing markets emerge for each. It was revealed yesterday that the Rays had been in touch with deGrom, joining the Yankees, Mets and Rangers as teams with confirmed interest. Rodon had a Zoom meeting with the Mets yesterday, and the Dodgers, Twins, Yankees, Rangers and Giants have all shown interest in the lefty this winter. Verlander is coming off a Cy Young-winning season and has been linked to the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees, as well as a return to Houston. As teams meet with these players, it might not be long before things ramp up and given the similar teams being linked to each option, once one name comes off the board the others might follow quickly.

2. Which players might come off the board before the Winter Meetings begin?

The Winter Meetings will kick off Sunday in San Diego  for the first time since 2019, and the widespread expectation is that they’ll spur some action both on the free agent and trade markets (as is commonplace). That said, a handful of recognizable names could come off the board even before Sunday evening. WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported this week that former Red Sox hurlers Nathan Eovaldi and Matt Strahm have strong enough markets that a deal could materialize this week. Meanwhile, the Pirates have had talks with Kyle Gibson, The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel reported, and his market has been “heating up,” per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Gibson’s free agency wrapped up quickly last time he was on the market, when he signed just before Thanksgiving, so it stands to reason that he could be keen on another short stay on the market rather than a drawn-out process. Meanwhile, the Pirates have already signed Carlos Santana, acquired Ji-Man Choi and traded Kevin Newman, so they’ve shown a willingness to make some early deals themselves.

3. Chat with Anthony Franco today at 5pm CT

With the Winter Meetings just around the corner and the bulk of the market’s most notable free agents and trade targets yet to find new homes, many of the biggest storylines of the offseason have yet to truly unfold. There’s plenty to talk about, and MLBTR’s Anthony Franco will host a live chat taking your questions at 5pm CT. You can leave a question here in advance, and be sure to use this link to join and participate live if you’re able!

Pirates To Sign Carlos Santana

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November 29: The Pirates have officially announced the deal.

November 25: The Pirates have agreed to a one-year deal with veteran first-baseman Carlos Santana pending a physical, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. It’ll pay the Octagon client $6.725MM, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It’s the largest guarantee the Pirates have given to a free agent since inking Daniel Hudson to a two-year, $11MM deal before the 2017 season.

It’s an intriguing move for the Pirates as they look to slowly work their way back to contention after a lengthy rebuild. Santana is the third first-base/DH option they’ve acquired this off-season, following their trade for Ji-Man Choi and claim of Lewin Diaz.

Santana, 36, spent last year with the Royals and Mariners, slashing a joint .202/.316/.376 with 19 home runs over 506 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 102, a couple of ticks above league average. While the numbers certainly don’t leap off the page, Santana did post the lowest BABIP of his career and hasn’t seen much shift in his walk or strikeout rates. Santana could also be one of the biggest benefactors of the shift restrictions that’ll come into play next season, as no one faced a shift more often than he did (98.3% of the time).

It’ll be the fifth major league team Santana has suited up for. He debuted for Cleveland back in 2010, the first of eight seasons he’d initially spend with the franchise. Santana regularly posted 20+ home run totals, combining power with strong on-base skills. His best year was 2013, when Santana finished 15th in AL MVP voting on the back of .268/.377/.455 line.

Santana inked a three-year, $60MM deal with the Phillies prior to the 2018 season, but after just a year Cleveland re-acquired him via a ten-day stint in Seattle. His return to Cleveland proved successful, as Santana hit 34 home runs, won a Silver Slugger and earned his first trip to the All Star game.

That was his last dominant campaign though, and his final year in Cleveland in 2020, and the following seasons in Kansas City and Seattle have brought about wRC+ marks of 99, 82 and 102. While his average has taken a huge dip in recent years, he’s continued to walk at a strong rate and post solid power numbers. His HardHit% and exit velocity remain in line with his peak numbers, so there certainly seems to be enough to suggest Santana could experience a bit of a bounce back in 2023.

That’s certainly what the Bucs will be hoping for, but it won’t take much for them to improve their first-base output in 2023. Pittsburgh first-basemen combined for -3.0 fWAR in 2022, so the addition of Choi and Santana addresses that. Santana was worth three Outs Above Average at first in 2022, with Choi worth two and the pair will likely split time there and at DH in 2023. Choi’s struggles against left-handed pitching could mean he sits in those matchups while Santana mans first and Pittsburgh gives another hitter a game at DH.

Beyond his production at the plate, Santana will be a valuable veteran presence in a young clubhouse. The Pirates have brought through a number of prospects they hope will form the foundation of their next contending team in recent years, including Ke’Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz and Roansy Contreras. There’s plenty of young talent there with more expected to crack the big leagues in 2023, so having a veteran mentor in Santana around can only help the Bucs’ young core.

The $6.725MM guarantee is modest by MLB standards, but significant for Pittsburgh. It makes Santana the third highest paid Pirate for 2023, behind Hayes and Bryan Reynolds, and takes their projected 2023 payroll to $54MM, per RosterResource. That falls about $5MM shy of their 2022 mark and it’ll be interesting to see where the final figure lands for next season. A veteran starter on a similar deal to Jose Quintana’s last season seems likely, while the team could do with a low-cost catcher to bridge the gap until top prospects Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis are ready to debut.

Photo credit: USA Today Sports.

Mariners Have Checked In On Andrew Benintendi, Brandon Nimmo

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The Mariners swung an early trade this month, acquiring outfielder Teoscar Hernandez from the Blue Jays, but they may not be done adding outfielders. According to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, the team has checked in on top outfield free agents Andrew Benintendi and Brandon Nimmo. It comes after president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told reporters he was open to bringing in another outfielder.

Seattle currently has Julio Rodriguez and Hernandez locked into center and right field respectively, but left field could be open. Jesse Winker has played poor defense in left and struggled at the plate last season, and there’s been some reports that the Mariners could be open to moving him. Jarred Kelenic and Taylor Trammell have both struggled in the big leagues, but they’re also former top prospects who are young enough to turn things around. Yet it’s clear this Mariners team is in win-now mode, so wouldn’t be surprising to see them pursue upgrades.

Nimmo seems less likely than Benintendi. Outside of Aaron Judge, he’s the clear top outfield free agent after an outstanding platform year that saw him post a 134 wRC+ and amass 5.4 fWAR. MLBTR predicted him to earn a five-year, $110MM deal this winter. With Rodriguez entrenched in center, Seattle could theoretically shift Nimmo to left, but there’s a lack of quality center field options available in free agency and a number of teams who need upgrades there. Given the price tag attached and the level of interest across the league, it seems unlikely Seattle would win a bidding war against teams operating with a bit more urgency at the position.

Benintendi doesn’t possess the upside of Nimmo, but still represents a quality option. His strong contact approach could make him a strong fit to leadoff ahead of Rodriguez, Hernandez, Eugenio Suarez and the other Seattle power hitters. Between the Royals and Yankees in 2022, he posted a .304/.373/.399 line with five home runs while providing solid defense in left. He’d also come a lot cheaper than Nimmo, as MLBTR predicted him to land a four-year, $54MM contract.

While Benintendi and Nimmo are the two reported names, a number of other options would also make sense, including a reunion with Mitch Haniger, Michael Conforto or Cody Bellinger, not to mention a host of trade possibilities. Any addition could see Kelenic and Trammell floated in trade discussions. They’d be selling low on both, but teams would surely be interested in acquiring either to try and tap into the potential that made them both top outfield prospects in all of baseball.

Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith Drawing Trade Interest

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Utility-men Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith are both drawing trade interest from teams, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The pair came across from the Yankees in the Joey Gallo trade last year, and both made their big league debuts this past season.

Duran, 23, was signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2017, and put up strong numbers coming up through the Yankees’ minor league system. He continued that form with the Rangers, hitting .283/.316/.531 with nine home runs in 155 plate appearances at Triple-A this year. That earned him a big league call-up, but he struggled to a .236/.277/.365 line with five home runs in 220 plate appearances, striking out 24.5% of the time against a 5.5% walk rate.

He appeared in 51 games at third base and nine at second, while he’s also spent a bit of time in the outfield and at shortstop in the minor leagues, and is largely playing left field in the Dominican Winter League at the moment. He was a slightly below average fielder at third, as Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average both pegged him at -1.

With third base likely to be Josh Jung’s for the foreseeable future, and the other infield spots locked up by Nathaniel Lowe, Corey Seager and Marcus Semien there’s not much room for Duran, who was ranked third on the Rangers’ prospect list by Baseball America back in August. A difficult first stint in the big leagues shouldn’t tarnish his trade value much, and with the infield set, he could be used as part of a trade package for another area of need, such as starting pitching.

Smith, 25, is in a similar position. BA had him as their ninth-best prospect going into the season, and he hit .290/.395/.466 at Triple-A to earn a call-up to the big leagues. He struggled as well, but still posted a strong walk rate (11.1%) and strikeout rate (19.8%) on the way to a .197/.307/.249 line in 253 plate appearances.

He largely split time between third base and left field for the Rangers, but also logged time at second base and shortstop. He was worth three Outs Above Average in 287 2/3 innings at the hot corner, worth one OAA in 183 innings in left.

The Rangers could run with Smith as their starting left fielder in 2023 and hope to unlock some of the offensive potential he showed in the minors, but, like Duran, he may have more value to the team as a trade chip.

Trade Candidate: Bryan Reynolds

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Over the past few years Bryan Reynolds’ name has come up frequently in trade talks, but as of yet no move has materialized. There’s no indication such a move will come to fruition anytime soon either, but the Pirates’ star is sure to be a regular name on the rumor mill again this winter. Indeed, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported earlier this month that Reynolds was a popular name among GMs, but that a trade was considered unlikely.

There’s a reason Reynolds has been the target of a number of teams, he’s an elite switch-hitting outfielder, who’s shown strong power, on-base and contact skills and is under team control for three more seasons with a team in the midst of a lengthy rebuild. On the flip side, the Pirates, it seems, believe that rebuild will be complete within the next three years, so they don’t feel any need to move him. That’s not to say they wouldn’t trade him if the right offer came along, but it does mean they can set a high asking price and wait and see if any team is willing to meet it.

The Pirates are coming off a second-straight 100-loss season, but they are seeing a number of their top prospects make their way to the upper minors and big leagues. Oneil Cruz and Ke’Bryan Hayes are young building blocks, while the likes of Endy Rodriguez, Henry Davis, Liover Peguero, Quinn Priester and Michael Burrows aren’t too far away. There’s no guarantee that core can form a competitive team with Reynolds in the next few years, and Pittsburgh’s spending history suggests there’s little chance of them keeping Reynolds once he reaches free agency. As such, there’s solid arguments to be made for and against the Pirates trading their star this winter.

Reynolds, 28 in January, has amassed 12.5 fWAR since bursting onto the scene in 2019. Acquired from the Giants in the Andrew McCutchen trade, Reynolds was called up a few weeks into the 2019 campaign and never looked back. That year, he hit .314/.377/.503 with 16 home runs in 134 games, good for fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Pete Alonso, Mike Soroka and Fernando Tatis Jr.

He struggled mightily in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, posting a sub-.200 batting average and a wRC+ of just 71. That season proved to be an aberration, as Reynolds returned to his best in 2021, slashing .302/.390/.522 with 24 home runs in 159 games, earning his first trip to the All Star game and finishing 11th in NL MVP voting. The key that season was a significant drop in strikeouts, as Reynolds easily posted a career best mark of 18.4%, down nine percent from a year earlier.

2022 saw an uptick in strikeouts as Reynolds punched out 23% of the time. He wound up with a .262/.345/.461 line with 27 home runs and a 125 wRC+, so it was still a very productive season but down from his best years. It’s possible Reynolds sacrificed a bit of contact for an increase in power (he hit three more home runs in 32 fewer plate appearances), but it’s also worth noting that his BABIP dropped 39 points from ’22 to ’21, and his batting average dropped an almost identical 40 points.

Defensively, Reynolds has received mixed reviews for his work in center field (10 Outs Above Average in ’21 against -7 in ’22) which is where he’s spent most of his career in Pittsburgh, but has tended to grade out much better in left field.

Reynolds is owed $6.5MM in the second year of a two-year deal signed last winter. He’ll then have two further years of arbitration remaining, before reaching free agency at the conclusion of the 2025 season.

So who could be interested? Let’s take a look at a handful of teams that could pursue Pittsburgh’s outfielder this winter, and how their farm system is looking.

  • Red Sox: Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported that the Red Sox’ have expressed interest in Reynolds as they seek a left-handed hitting outfielder. The Red Sox currently have Alex Verdugo, Kike Hernandez and Rob Refsnyder in the outfield, with Jarren Duran as their fourth option. Baseball America ranked Boston’s farm system as the 11th best in baseball, with Marcelo Mayer, Triston Casas, Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela featuring in the top 100 overall. Both Bello and Casas have MLB experience now, but Pittsburgh would surely want any trade to start with one of those four names.
  • Yankees: The Yankees have been linked with Reynolds at various points over the past few years, and their outfield is expected to be an area of focus again this winter. Even if they re-sign Aaron Judge they may well seek a left field upgrade, but if they lose Judge the Yankees will be under pressure to make a big splash. Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza and Jasson Dominguez are the big names on the Yankees’ farm, while the Pirates may have interest in Austin Wells as a long-term first base option.
  • Marlins: The Marlins have long had interest in Reynolds, and they’re again likely to be looking for outfield additions this winter. They currently have Jon Berti, Avisail Garcia and Bryan De La Cruz in their outfield. BA ranks them 20th best in the game, with Eury Perez, one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, headlining it. Max Meyer is recovering from Tommy John surgery while Jacob Berry is the other top 100 prospect. BA notes that the system lacks depth behind the top guys so a deal may be hard to come by, but if Miami was willing to dangle Perez it’d certainly catch Pittsburgh’s attention.
  • Mariners: Seattle is another team that’s had previous interest in Reynolds. Julio Rodriguez is locked in at center and the team just acquired Teoscar Hernandez to play right, but the team could look to move on from Jarred Kelenic in left. Their farm system has already taken a big hit following a series of win-now trades by president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, but the likes of Emerson Hancock and Harry Ford are exciting prospects, and Pittsburgh would possibly be interested in trying to unlock Kelenic’s potential.

Of course, these are just four possible options and any number of teams could be interested in a player of Reynolds’ quality. Pittsburgh will certainly have a steep asking price, but perhaps a team will blow them away with an offer this winter.

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