Rangers Select Four Players
The Rangers announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contracts of infielder Justin Foscue, right-hander Marc Church, lefty Antoine Kelly and righty Jose Corniell to the 40-man roster. All are now protected from next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
Foscue, 24, is perhaps the most recognizable name for fans. The 14th overall pick back in 2020, he’s ranked among the organization’s top prospects since that time. He turned in a sound .266/.394/.468 slash in Triple-A Round Rock this year, adding 18 homers and 14 steals with more walks (15.1%) than strikeouts (12.4%). Foscue has worked primarily as a second baseman in the minors, though due to questions about his glovework, he’s also seen increased time at the infield corners.
Church was an 18th-round pick by Texas back in 2019. Now 22 years old, he split the 2023 season between Double-A and Triple-A, working to a combined 3.63 ERA with a combined 29.5% strikeout rate but 11.2% walk rate. All but two of Church’s appearances on the season came in a relief role, which is how he’ll likely be used on the big league roster if he makes his debut next year. Given that he already has 44 Triple-A frames under his belt and is now on the 40-man roster, there’s a decent chance of that happening.
Kelly, 24 next month, was the Brewers’ second-round pick in 2019. He landed in the Rangers organization as part of Texas’ return for reliever Matt Bush at the 2022 trade deadline. Kelly split the 2023 season between the bullpen for the Rangers’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, working to a combined 2.04 ERA with a gaudy 32.1% strikeout rate against a 9.3% walk rate. Like Church, he could be a bullpen option as soon as the 2024 season.
Corniell, 20, was the player to be named later the Rangers received in their 2020 trade sending Rafael Montero to the Mariners. He split the season between the Rangers’ two A-ball affiliates, working as a starter and posting a composite 2.92 ERA with a 29.8% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 39% ground-ball rate in 101 2/3 innings. He’s unlikely to emerge as a viable big league option next year, but the Rangers were high enough on his arm and the success he had against much more advanced competition that they’ll dedicate a 40-man roster spot to him anyhow.
Mets Select Alex Ramirez
The Mets announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of outfield prospect Alex Ramirez, thus protecting him from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. Their 40-man roster now has 33 players.
Ramirez, 20, followed up an impressive 2022 season with a tough year at High-A in 2023. He appeared in 120 games and tallied 521 plate appearances with just a .221/.310/.317 batting line to show for it. Ramirez hit seven homers, adding 21 doubles, a triple and a 21-for-27 showing in stolen base attempts.
Earlier in the year, Ramirez ranked on the back end of Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect rankings, though his rough season at the plate caused his stock to dip enough that he’s now off the list. Despite the rocky showing, Ramirez’s tools still draw plenty of praise. He’s regarded as an above-average runner and more than capable center fielder with a plus arm and above-average power. He was still more than two years younger than his average opponent in High-A, so there’s still plenty of time for him to iron out the kinks and restore much of his prospect status.
Astros Select Kenedy Corona
The Astros announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of outfield prospect Kenedy Corona. Barring a late additional move, it seems he’s the lone addition to their 40-man roster prior to tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft. Their 40-man roster is up to 38 players. Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2 first reported that Corona would be added to the roster.
Corona, 23, came to Houston by way of the 2019 trade that sent outfielder Jake Marisnick from the Astros to the Mets. He spent the bulk of the 2023 season with Houston’s Double-A affiliate, batting .244/.324/.449 with 20 homers and 31 steals in a generally pitcher-friendly setting. He drew a walk in 9.8% of his plate appearances and fanned at a 25.9% clip that the organization would surely like to see him pare down in the future.
Baseball America ranks Corona 14th among Houston farmhands, touting his plus speed, above-average power and range in center field. However, while he’s adept at not chasing pitches off the plate, his contact skills are described as fringe-average, and his right-handed bat was fairly pedestrian against right-handed pitching in 2023 (.244/.336/.426). Against southpaws, however, he turned in a much more robust .278/.313/.579 batting line.
Tigers, Bligh Madris Agree To Minor League Deal
The Tigers and first baseman/outfielder Bligh Madris have agreed to a minor league pact, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. His contract includes an invitation to major league spring training.
The 27-year-old Madris was briefly in the Tigers organization last offseason after they claimed him off waivers from the Pirates. Detroit wound up designating Madris for assignment themselves, however, and ultimately traded him to the Astros in exchange for cash.
Madris spent the entire season in the Houston organization, appearing in a dozen big league games plus another 100 contests at the Triple-A level. He hit just .154/.267/.192 in a tiny sample of 30 MLB plate appearances in addition to posting a .235/.349/.413 slash in 456 trips to the plate with Triple-A Sugar Land. In all, he’s appeared in 51 MLB games between Houston and Pittsburgh but has struggled to replicate otherwise solid production from the upper minors.
The lefty-swinging Madris has consistently put up solid numbers against right-handed pitching, turning in respective OPS marks of .811, .837 and .836 from 2021-23 when holding the platoon advantage. Overall, he’s a .266/.355/.448 hitter in parts of three Triple-A campaigns. The Tigers’ outfield currently consists of Mark Canha, Parker Meadows, Riley Greene and Akil Baddoo, with utilityman Zach McKinstry also in the mix for corner time. Madris will give the Tigers another lefty bat to compete for playing time in the outfield and potentially at first base, where former No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson is entrenched after a 31-homer season and breakout second half in 2023.
Rockies, Geoff Hartlieb Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rockies have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent righty Geoff Hartlieb, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The former Pirates and Mets reliever, a client of Paragon Sports International, will presumably head to spring training as a non-roster invitee.
Hartlieb, 29, spent the 2023 season in the Marlins organization and tossed four innings of one-run ball in the Majors. The rest of his season was spent in Triple-A Jacksonville, where he notched a solid 3.63 ERA with a 23.8% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 47.6% ground-ball rate in 44 2/3 innings of bullpen work.
Through parts of four Major League seasons, Hartlieb has been tagged for a 7.17 ERA in 70 1/3 innings, due largely to lackluster command. He’s averaged better than 96 mph on his four-seamer and better than 94 mph on his sinker, generating grounders at a healthy 49% rate and missing enough bats (20.4% strikeout rate) to get by if he could pare down the free passes. Hartlieb, however, has walked 15.1% of his opponents in the Majors, which has unsurprisingly proven untenable.
The Rockies have minimal certainty in their bullpen and figure to have multiple spots up for grabs heading into the 2024 season. It stands to reason that Hartlieb will be one of many experienced bullpen options brought in on minimal or no-commitment deals such as this one. He’s out of minor league options, so if he cracks the big league roster at any point, he’ll have to stick in the Majors or else be designated for assignment and exposed to waivers.
Looking For A Match In A Manuel Margot Trade
With the Rays facing a projected payroll that’s nearly 50% higher than their current franchise-record, they’re widely expected to make several deals in order to scale back their spending. That’s not to say Tampa Bay is embarking on any sort of rebuild, as machinations of this nature are the norm for a Rays club that regularly churns the top end of its roster and cashes in veteran players for controllable young talent. Among the early trade candidates on the Rays’ roster this offseason, is outfielder Manuel Margot — as discussed here yesterday. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi adds that Tampa Bay has discussed the 29-year-old with multiple teams within the past two weeks.
Margot isn’t coming off a great year and is slated to earn $10MM in 2024 before he reaches free agency next winter. As such, it’s only natural that he’s among the names the Rays are peddling as they look to retool the roster, scale back payroll and simultaneously remain competitive. The Rays have Josh Lowe, Jose Siri, Randy Arozarena and several utility types who can handle both the infield and outfield. The possibility of trading Margot and bringing in a backup outfielder (via trade or free agency) at a lower salary point remains.
Margot’s .264/.310/.376 batting line in 336 plate appearances this past season is right in line with the .264/.317/.375 line he’s posted in four total seasons as a member of the Rays. It checked in a bit below average, albeit not egregiously so.
Had Margot enjoyed a season of his typical defensive excellence in ’23, that offensive output would’ve made him an above-average all-around contributor. But Margot missed the bulk of the 2022 season with a significant strain of the patellar tendon in his right knee, and his usual strong (at times elite) defensive grades slipped closer to average. Statcast noted that Margot’s range and sprint speed both declined in 2023, which perhaps isn’t all that surprising for a player coming off a major knee injury. The question for potential trade partners is whether Margot can be expected to rebound to his previous defensive heights or whether this is the new norm moving forward.
Clubs will likely have varying opinions on that front, though Margot’s overall track record ought to carry some appeal. That’s especially true in a thin free-agent market for outfielders. Not every team will want to pursue a nine-figure deal with Cody Bellinger, and some teams might well be turned off by the possibility of overcommitting to Kevin Kiermaier on the heels of a strong season. Free agent Harrison Bader offers a similar skill set to Margot and had a better year defensively but lesser year at the plate. Michael A. Taylor has an excellent glove and more pop than Margot but much higher strikeout rates and lower on-base marks.
Given the thin market for proven outfield help, Margot ought to command interest on the trade market — even if the return isn’t enormous. Let’s run through a few potential fits, excluding his AL East rivals. These certainly aren’t the only possible destinations, but any of the following teams make sense as a candidate to target a short-term, versatile option in the outfield:
- Marlins: Newly minted president of baseball operations Peter Bendix was the Rays’ general manager before being hired by Miami. The Marlins have been on the lookout for a center fielder for the past several years but have struggled to fill the void — so much so that the Fish moved shortstop Jazz Chisholm Jr. to center field last year. Miami could line up on a trade bringing Margot aboard to handle center field, thus moving Chisholm back to the infield. The Marlins don’t have an obvious everyday shortstop at present, and the market for quality options at that position is even more barren than in the outfield.
- Giants: President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has spoken openly about his desire to add some more athleticism and range to his outfield. Even with Margot’s step back in 2023, he still had above-average range and sprint speed. He’d be an upgrade, defensively speaking, over much of the San Francisco outfield mix even if he never fully rediscovers his once-elite range. Margot would allow the Giants to give Luis Matos some extra time in Triple-A after rushing to the Majors as a 21-year-old in 2023. And if Matos eventually forces his way onto the scene, Margot could join Austin Slater and Mitch Haniger as right-handed complements to lefty outfielders like Mike Yastrzemski and Michael Conforto.
- D-backs: Arizona’s excellent young outfield was a major factor in their unexpected run to the 2023 World Series, but with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hitting the market, the Snakes are once again looking at an all-left-handed mix of Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy and Dominic Fletcher. Margot gives them a right-handed option to provide manager Torey Lovullo with some matchup options.
- Phillies: The Phils currently look as though they’ll give former top prospect Cristian Pache, who’s out of minor league options, another look as a reserve outfielder. Last year’s .238/.319/.417 slash in 95 plate appearances was better than anything Pache has ever done in the big leagues (career .173/.230/.273). Maybe they’ve unlocked something in his offensive profile, but Margot would be more reliable at the plate while still providing a potential righty complement to Brandon Marsh and a late-game defensive upgrade over Nick Castellanos.
- Mariners: The Mariners and Rays have lined up on approximately six thousand trades since Jerry Dipoto was hired to oversee baseball operations for Seattle, and with a pair of young lefties (Jarred Kelenic, Cade Marlowe) currently slated to patrol the outfield corners in 2024, there’s another potential fit here. Margot would be a younger (and slightly more expensive) veteran to fill the same role the M’s tried for with AJ Pollock in 2023. Perhaps the M’s feel in-house options like Sam Haggerty and/or Dylan Moore can capably handle this role, but Haggerty has never topped 201 plate appearances in a big league seasons, while Moore battled injuries in 2023 and saw an already problematic strikeout rate spike to 34%.
- Rockies: Brenton Doyle was an elite defender in his debut season but also one of the least-productive hitters in MLB. Nolan Jones, a converted infielder, is the Rockies’ most established outfielder at the moment. Margot could be acquired at a relatively low cost and plugged in as a semi-regular in an outfield that lacks much in the way of certainty. It’s plenty arguable that the Rox shouldn’t be trading anything to acquire short-term pieces like Margot, but they’ve staunchly resisted a rebuild for several years and will probably try to bolster the roster to some extent again this winter.
- Angels: Mickey Moniak‘s breakout season came with massive platoon splits, and Margot would serve as a natural right-handed pairing with the former No. 1 overall pick while providing an alternative in center, should Mike Trout again spend time on the injured list. The Angels have Jo Adell as a potential right-handed complement in the outfield, but Margot is a superior defender who might be better served for such a part-time role.
- Rangers: Leody Taveras struggled in the second half of the 2023 season, and impressive as Evan Carter was in his late debut and throughout the postseason, he still has all of 147 plate appearances against Major League pitching at just 21 years of age. Margot would give Texas a true fourth outfielder — something they currently lack — in addition to insurance for Carter regression, continued struggles for Taveras or another injury for star right fielder Adolis Garcia.
- Twins: It might be simpler for the Twins to simply re-sign Taylor, although peak Margot has a better glove and about half the strikeout rate of the Twins’ departing free-agent outfielder. Minnesota is trying to scale back payroll, making this an imperfect fit unless the Rays are interested in taking back some money to fill a need of their own (e.g. Christian Vazquez). Money aside, Margot would offer a natural complement to young lefty outfielders Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach while also giving the Twins a capable reserve in center, should Byron Buxton miss time yet again.
Agent Joel Wolfe Responds To Brian Cashman’s Comments On Giancarlo Stanton
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman held a fiery session with the media at last week’s GM Meetings in Arizona, speaking with a level of candor that’s not typical for himself nor for baseball operations leaders at large in today’s game. A fired-up Cashman at times took a combative tone, defending his organization’s processes, his scouts, his baseball operations personnel and his analysts — all while pushing back on the notion that the Yankees are driven primarily by data and analytics at the expense of conventional means of scouting and player evaluation.
Cashman wasn’t shy about acknowledging blame for the state of the Yankees’ 2023 roster. “We lost way too many games last year,” he said (video link via SNY). “…That’s my fault. I’m responsible as the baseball operations GM. If the owner wants to tag me out at any time, he clearly can do that.”
Among the many contributing factors to the Yankees’ playoff miss in 2023 was an unusually weak season from Giancarlo Stanton at the plate. Injuries are nothing new for the towering slugger, but Stanton’s .191/.275/.420 batting line was uncharacteristically feeble. Cashman plainly acknowledged as much during his broad-reaching address with the media.
“We’ve got to get Stanton up and running again,” the GM said (link via Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News). “He’s injury-prone. We all have lived and known that, but he’s never not hit when he’s playing, and this year is the first time that that’s happened. … We try to limit the time he’s down, but I’m not gonna tell you he’s gonna play every game next year because he’s not. He’s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game. But I know that when he’s right and healthy — other than this past year — the guy’s a great hitter and has been for awhile.”
Given Stanton’s frequent trips to the injured list, nothing Cashman said stands out as especially unfair. Certainly, it’s uncommon for any top baseball ops exec to speak so candidly, but with the possible exception of calling injuries “a part of [Stanton’s] game,” it was a fairly measured characterization of the situation. Cashman noted that Stanton himself has been frustrated by his injuries and declining mobility and has worked to get some answers. On multiple occasions, he referenced what a typically productive hitter Stanton has been.
Nonetheless, it seems at least part of Cashman’s comments struck a chord with Stanton or his representatives at Wasserman — likely the characterization that future injuries are an inevitability. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic spoke with agent Joel Wolfe about the surprisingly frank comments from Cashman.
“I read the context of the entire interview,” Wolfe tells Rosenthal. “I think it’s a good reminder for all free agents considering signing in New York, both foreign and domestic, that to play for this team you’ve got to be made of Teflon, both mentally and physically because you can never let your guard down — even in the offseason.”
Wolfe slipping the “both foreign and domestic” qualifier into his quote surely piques the interest of Yankee fans — and not in a good way. Wolfe is the agent for star Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who will be posted for MLB clubs in the near future. The Yankees are known to have interest in signing Yamamoto, who will be one of the most sought-after players to ever make the jump from NPB to MLB. The 25-year-old ace has won NPB’s Cy Young equivalent, the Sawamura Award, in each of the past three seasons and just wrapped up a season that saw him log a 1.21 ERA, 26.8% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate.
Understandably, Wolfe’s comments have created some angst among an already frustrated Yankee fan base that has been hoping for broad-reaching changes on the heels of a disappointing season. It’s already clear that there won’t be any sweeping changes to the organizational hierarchy, and any instance that comes with the perceived possibility of hindering the chances of augmenting the roster aren’t well received.
That said, it still seems unlikely that the comments regarding Stanton will ultimately present any real impact on the team’s negotiations with Yamamoto. The expectation has been and should continue to be that the right-hander will sign for the best offer. Perhaps if the Yankees’ best offer is identical or only narrowly separated from a competitor, something along the lines of the Stanton/Wolfe comments can tip the scales away from the Yankees, but there are numerous small factors that can sway negotiations when things are that close.
It’s hard to envision a scenario where Yamamoto leaves an extra year or significant per-annum dollars on the table over Cashman’s candid comments regarding a player who’s not even Yamamoto’s own teammate at present. Yankee fans will surely point back to the comments from Cashman and Wolfe’s reply if Yamamoto lands elsewhere — and perhaps that’s the true motivation behind making them, to increase pressure on Cashman — but the Yamamoto bidding was always going to be fiercely competitive. In the grand scheme of determining factors for where Yamamoto lands, this seems like little more than a footnote. Nevertheless, it also offers a glimpse at why so many executives defer to boilerplate speak and generalities in media sessions like the one held by Cashman last week.
White Sox Select Jake Eder, Cristian Mena
The White Sox have selected the contracts of lefty Jake Eder and right-hander Cristian Mena, per a team announcement. Both are now protected from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. Chicago’s 40-man roster is now up to 37 players.
Eder, 25, is one of the organization’s top pitching prospects. The Sox picked up the former fourth-round pick from the Marlins in the deadline swap that sent corner infielder Jake Burger from Chicago to Miami. Eder, in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, pitched to a 3.94 ERA with a 30.6% strikeout rate in 29 1/3 Double-A frames prior to the swap but perhaps began to wear down late in the season after a lengthy layoff from pitching. He walked 15 hitters in 17 1/3 innings with the Sox following the trade and issued another 15 free passes in 17 2/3 innings of Arizona Fall League play.
Despite the shaky finish to the season, there’s little doubting Eder would’ve been selected in the Rule 5 Draft had he remained unprotected. The lefty ranked as baseball’s No. 62 overall prospect at FanGraphs in 2022 after pitching 71 1/3 innings of 1.77 ERA ball as a 22-year-old in Double-A. He’ll either return to Double-A to begin the 2024 season or jump up to Triple-A — and either way that’ll put him within general proximity of reaching the big leagues.
Mena, 20, has had a meteoric rise through the White Sox’ system, splitting the 2023 season between Double-A and Triple-A. After working to a 3.80 ERA across three levels as a 19-year-old in 2022, he posted a combined 4.85 ERA in 133 2/3 innings this year. While the earned run average certainly doesn’t jump out, Mena was four years younger than the average age of his Double-A opposition and nearly seven years younger than his average opponent in Triple-A. Despite that youth and lack of experience, he managed a 26.9% strikeout rate. His 11% walk rate speaks to a need to hone his command, but Mena has a heater that reaches 96 mph and a curveball that Baseball America (who ranks him sixth among Chicago prospects) touts as a plus pitch.
Nationals Designate Dominic Smith For Assignment
The Nationals announced Tuesday that they’ve designated first baseman Dominic Smith and right-hander Cory Abbott for assignment. Washington has also granted righty Andres Machado his release so that he can pursue an opportunity in Japan. That slate of moves clears space on the 40-man roster for lefties DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker as well as righties Cole Henry and Zach Brzykcy. That quartet of pitchers is now protected from next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
Smith, 28, was a first-round pick, longtime top prospect and (more briefly) a quality run producer for the division-rival Mets prior to being non-tendered in the 2022-23 offseason. From 2019-20, Smith treated the Mets to a stellar .299/.366/.571 batting line in 396 trips to the plate. He swatted 21 homers and connected on 31 doubles in that time before stumbling to a .643 OPS over his next two seasons and being cut loose. Smith’s lone year in D.C. brought about a rebound to some extent, as he turned in a .254/.326/.366 batting line with a dozen homers, but that wasn’t enough for the Nats to retain him and offer him a raise in arbitration.
Also 28 years old, Abbott has spent the past two seasons with the Nats. The former Cubs farmhand has logged 87 1/3 innings of 5.87 ERA ball in the Majors with Washington, fanning 21.3% of his opponents against an 11% walk rate. Abbott posted strong minor league numbers up through the Double-A level and once ranked as one of the Cubs’ more promising pitching prospects, but he’s now struggled in both Triple-A (5.46 ERA in parts of three seasons) and the big leagues. He’s out of minor league options as well, which could make it tough for another club to claim him.
Both Abbott and Smith will be traded or placed on waivers within the next week. Both can become free agents if they’re unclaimed.
As for Machado, he’ll start the next chapter of his career overseas — likely on a seven-figure guarantee that wouldn’t have been available to him in North American ball. He’s out of minor league options and not yet arbitration-eligible, so he was likely to lose his 40-man roster spot and spend next year trying to work his way back to the big leagues.
From 2021-22, Machado was a quietly solid member of the Washington bullpen, tallying 91 appearances and 95 innings of 3.41 ERA ball. He benefited from a .264 average on balls in play and had success in spite of pedestrian strikeout and walk rates of 18.3% and 9.9%, respectively.
Some degree of regression appeared in store, but perhaps not to the extent he saw in 2023 when he was torched for a 5.22 ERA in 50 innings despite marked improvements in his K-BB profile (20.8% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate). While Machado improved in terms of missing bats and limiting free passes (to say nothing of a 1 mph uptick in fastball velocity, to 96.7 mph on average), he also become staggeringly homer-prone; in 50 innings he served up 12 long balls — 2.34 homers per nine frames (and a home run on 24% of the fly-balls he yielded). He’ll take that plus velocity and improved command overseas, though it’s not yet clear precisely which team he’ll join.
All four of the prospects added to the Nationals’ 40-man roster today rank among their top 30 prospects at MLB.com. Herz is 22 years of age, while the others are all 24. Herz was the Cubs’ eighth-round pick in 2019 and came to the Nats by way of this summer’s Jeimer Candelario trade. He punched out nearly a third of his opponents while working as a starter in Double-A but also issued walks at almost a 14% clip. Injuries have plagued the career of Henry, a 2020 second-round pick with a potentially plus slider and plus-plus changeup. He pitched just 33 1/3 innings this past season. Similar to Herz, Parker is a lefty who missed bats in droves in the upper minors but did so with shaky command. Brzykcy is a bullpen prospect with a power fastball who missed the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery.
Reds Seen As Increasingly Likely To Trade Jonathan India
Reds second baseman Jonathan India, the 2021 National League Rookie of the Year, saw his name pop up on the rumor circuit over the summer and has already been an oft-cited trade candidate in the early stages of the offseason. Recent reports from Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Jeff Passan of ESPN do little to quell the belief that the 26-year-old could change hands this winter. Nightengale wrote over the weekend that Cincinnati is “expected” to trade India this offseason, while Passan writes this morning that the Reds have been suggesting to potential trade partners that India is the “odd man out” in their glut of infielders.
Indeed, the Reds have an enviable crop of young talent on the dirt. Beyond India, they saw former first-round pick Matt McLain, top prospect Elly De La Cruz and trade acquisitions Spencer Steer, Noelvi Marte and Christian Encarnacion-Strand all log time in the big leagues.
McLain was the most impressive of the bunch, hitting .290/.357/.507 with 16 homers and 14 steals in 403 trips to the plate. De La Cruz faded after a hot start but still posted a .235/.300/.410 line with 13 homers and a whopping 35 steals in just 98 games — all while recording intriguing batted-ball metrics per Statcast and showing off his elite speed. Steer, meanwhile, bounced between first base, second base, third base and the outfield corners while delivering a .271/.356/.464 output and 23 homers. Encarnacion-Strand (.270/.328/.477, 13 homers in 241 plate appearances) and Marte (.316/.366/.456 in 123 plate appearances) saw less time than the others but acquitted themselves nicely in their MLB debuts.
It’s an immensely talented quintet — one with plenty of defensive versatility. It seems likely that Encarnacion-Strand will settle in at first base and designated hitter, and Steer clearly enjoyed success at the plate in a nomadic, jack-of-all-trades role (even if he graded as a below-average defender at all five positions). Each of De La Cruz, Marte and McLain can handle shortstop, third base or second base. De La Cruz saw the most time at shortstop of the bunch but also posted lesser defensive grades than McLain. The Reds can tinker with the exact alignment in spring training, but regardless of who’s manning which position, it’s hard not to be bullish on Cincinnati’s emerging core of young infielders.
Given that wealth of talent, it becomes easier to see how India could be the odd man out. He’s yet to replicate his excellent showing in that aforementioned Rookie of the Year campaign, when he batted .269/.376/.459 with 21 home runs, 23 doubles, 12 steals and an 11.3% walk rate. He’s since turned in a .246/.333/.394 batting line in 960 plate appearances, showing diminished power and a walk rate about three percentage points lower than his rookie mark. Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average both cast him as a poor defender at his position.
Due to his former draft status (fifth overall in 2018), prospect pedigree and that Rookie of the Year showing, many fans have speculated that India could be used to help the Reds acquire an upgrade for the front portion of their rotation. However, given India’s struggles with the glove and (over the past two seasons) at the plate, it doesn’t seem all that likely that he’d command a strong rotation piece on his own — or even as the headliner in a package also including lesser prospects.
India is entering his first arbitration season, projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $3.7MM in 2024, and remains controllable for another three seasons. Those factors, plus his age, are perhaps the Reds’ strongest selling points in trade talks. That said, India feels more like a buy-low candidate than many onlookers might expect for someone who looked like a Reds building block just two years ago. The absolute dearth of quality infield options on the free agent market will play to the Reds’ benefit in drumming up interest, but it seems unlikely that India will fetch them a major upgrade to the starting rotation.
MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald and I discussed India’s potential trade candidacy (among many other topics) on the upcoming episode of the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, and just this past weekend MLBTR’s Nick Deeds took a look at some potential landing spots for India in the event that the Reds ultimately do move him. India placed 11th on MLBTR’s list of the top 25 offseason trade candidates just yesterday.