Dodgers Rumors: Kershaw, Martinez, Ohtani
The Dodgers opted not to issue a qualifying offer to designated hitter J.D. Martinez and aren’t sure exactly when fellow free agent Clayton Kershaw will be cleared to pitch next season on the heels of shoulder surgery, but there’s some interest in keeping both players around for the 2024 campaign. President of baseball ops Andrew Friedman said at this week’s GM Meetings that his group is hopeful Kershaw continues pitching and spends the remainder of his career in a Dodgers uniform (via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times).
The lack of a qualifying offer for Martinez might’ve been a modest surprise at first glance, given his 33 home runs and .271/.321/.572 batting line on the season. A one-year deal at $20.325MM certainly seems justified for that level of production.
However, as we suggested in our Top 50 Free Agent list, the Dodgers surely didn’t want to risk the possibility of Martinez accepting a QO, given their widely expected pursuit of Shohei Ohtani. The former AL MVP will be limited to DH duties next year, so Martinez accepting would’ve been an unnecessary roadblock in those efforts. As a reminder, players that accept a QO are considered free agent signings and thus cannot be traded without their consent prior to June 15 of the following season; in other words, there was no straightforward scenario where Martinez accepted a QO and could then just be flipped elsewhere should the Dodgers emerge victorious in the Ohtani bidding.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets that Ohtani’s presence on the market indeed influenced the Martinez QO decision, as one would logically expect. Friedman himself alluded to the very same yesterday, telling Harris that an eventual Martinez reunion is a possibility, but the Dodgers aren’t presently sure “which direction we’re going to go with our position player group” (a very likely nod to the uncertainty surrounding Ohtani’s still-nascent market).
While it’s certainly possible that Martinez might prefer to see where Ohtani lands before accepting an offer himself, that’s far from a given. There’s some logic to waiting to ensure that the Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, Rangers and other expected Ohtani suitors can join the bidding for Martinez’s services. But at the same time, if a team that knows it won’t be signing Ohtani swoops in with a strong offer for Martinez early in the offseason, he could also move quickly rather than run the risk of overplaying his hand. Earlier free agent deals tend to be stronger than those bartered late in the offseason, after all.
Turning to Kershaw, there’s still no indication as to when he might make a decision on his future. Friedman (via Harris) indicated that the Dodgers are “giving him the time and space to make the best decision” for his family. The Dodgers were similarly patient regarding Kershaw two offseasons ago, when he remained unsigned through the 99-day MLB lockout and took until March 13 to put pen to paper on a new deal. Last winter, when Kershaw was once again a free agent, things came together far more quickly; the two parties agreed to terms on a deal for the 2023 season as early as November 11.
Friedman said last month that the ball is squarely in Kershaw’s court, as the pitcher already knows the team’s feelings and knows the Dodgers are hopeful he’ll return. Those comments came prior to Kershaw’s surgery. The pitcher has since said he’s hopeful of returning to the mound sometime next summer.
Without Kershaw in the fold, the Los Angeles rotation mix currently includes Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove, Gavin Stone and Ryan Yarbrough. Righty Dustin May will miss the beginning of the 2024 campaign after undergoing flexor tendon surgery and a Tommy John revision in early July. Fellow right-hander Tony Gonsolin underwent Tommy John surgery in late August and could miss the entire ’24 campaign. The Dodgers figure to be in the market for multiple arms over the course of the offseason, whether that includes Kershaw or not.
Rays, Alex Jackson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rays re-signed catcher Alex Jackson to a new minor league contract, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll head to spring training as a non-roster invitee and compete for a roster spot alongside Rene Pinto — the only catcher currently on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster.
Jackson, 28 next month, was the sixth overall draft pick by the Mariners back in 2014 and for some time ranked among the game’s top prospects. He’s become an oft-moved journeyman, however, spending time with four organizations over the past three seasons (Braves, Marlins, Brewers, Rays). In parts of four Major League campaigns, he’s appeared in 66 games and batted .141/.243/.227 in 185 trips to the plate. He spent the bulk of the ’23 season with the Brewers’ Triple-A club but was traded to the Rays on Aug. 1. He appeared in only 14 Triple-A games after the swap due to a shoulder injury, however.
While he’s yet to have any sustained success at the plate in the big leagues, Jackson has posted a far more palatable .246/.326/.525 batting line with 60 home runs in 964 plate appearances at the Triple-A level (spread across parts of five seasons). Strikeouts have been an issue for him both in the upper minors (29.7%) and particularly in the big leagues (48.1%).
Given the lack of options behind the plate on the Rays’ roster, Jackson figures to be one of many candidates brought in over the next several months. Pinto himself is hardly an established MLB-caliber backstop. Though he grades as a quality defender, the 27-year-old has all of 188 MLB plate appearances under his belt, during which he’s produced a .235/.255/.399 batting line with eight home runs and a grisly 36.7% strikeout rate.
David Peterson Undergoes Hip Surgery
The Mets announced this morning that left-hander David Peterson underwent surgery to repair the labrum in his left hip today. The expected recovery timeline for the procedure is six to seven months, which means Peterson is all but certain to open the season on the injured list. A six-month timeline would put him on track for an early May recovery, whereas a seven-month trajectory could push into the summer.
Peterson, 28, had an uneven season in 2023 after what had looked to be a breakout showing the prior year. His 2022 campaign featured 105 2/3 innings of 3.83 ERA ball, as the former first-round pick enjoyed career-best marks in average fastball velocity, strikeout rate and ground-ball rate. He induced grounders at an even higher clip in 2023, but just about every other meaningful rate stat trended in the wrong direction. Peterson finished out the year with a 5.03 ERA, 26% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and 54.5% grounder rate in 111 frames.
That said, Peterson also enjoyed an excellent second half to the year. A three-week move to the bullpen in mid-July/early August produced 11 innings of 1.64 ERA ball, and when injuries thrust him back into the starting rotation, Peterson looked like a new pitcher. He’d been hammered for a 6.46 ERA through 11 starts to begin the season but closed out the year with a 10-start stretch of a 3.88 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate — numbers that much more closely mirrored his solid ’22 efforts. Command obviously remained an issue for Peterson, but it was a promising end to the season that looked to set him up for another possible look in next year’s rotation.
Any such plans will now be placed on hold as he mends from today’s operation. It’s a notable blow to a thin Mets pitching staff that traded future Hall of Famers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander at this past summer’s trade deadline. With Peterson shelved, the Mets’ only established options in the rotation are veteran Jose Quintana and righty Kodai Senga, who turned in an outstanding rookie effort this past season. Depth options beyond that pair include Tylor Megill, Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi, but the Mets are clearly lacking in the rotation.
First-year president of baseball operations David Stearns was already likely to place a heavy emphasis on acquiring rotation help this winter. The loss of Peterson for at least a month or two early next year only adds to that need. Pursuing multiple arms — likely at least one who could slot into the top half of the rotation already seemed likely — but there will be an increased need for depth and back-of-the-rotation options now that Peterson is recovering from a notable surgical procedure.
While Peterson’s injury clouds his 2024 outlook, it still seems likely that he’ll be tendered a contract for the upcoming campaign. He’s entering his first arbitration year, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a modest $2MM salary in his first trip through the arb process. Given his remaining three years of club control and remaining minor league option, that’s plenty affordable — particularly for the game’s most deep-pocketed club.
Blue Jays Outright Cam Eden
Blue Jays outfielder Cam Eden went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Buffalo, per a team announcement. Toronto had not previously announced a DFA for Eden, though that’s not required before placing a player on waivers. His outright frees up a spot on the team’s 40-man roster.
Eden, 25, was Toronto’s sixth-round pick in 2019 and made his big league debut in 2023. Appearing in just five games, the speedster went 1-for-6 with a single and a pair of strikeouts. The bulk of Eden’s season was spent in Buffalo, where he posted a .257/.354/.333 batting line. As evidenced by that stat line, Eden is quite light on power (just three home runs in 460 plate appearances) but draws walks at an above-average clip. He’s also a major threat on the bases, where he went 53-for-57 in attempted steals.
Overall, Eden hasn’t had a full season of above-average production at the dish in pro ball, with the exception of his 2021 campaign in High-A (.274/.382/.402). But he’s a plus runner with more than 2000 innings of professional experience in center field who’ll now stick with the Jays organization and give them some depth in the upper minors, should injuries create a necessity for help in the outfield, some speed off the bench and/or a right-handed bat.
White Sox Notes: Robert, Trade Market, Anderson, Coaching Staff
The White Sox head into the offseason looking to turn things around under a new general manager after a disastrous 2023 campaign. Chris Getz, promoted from his prior post as assistant GM after the summer dismissal of Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams, met with reporters yesterday at the GM Meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. and discussed his team’s outlook. While the rookie baseball ops leader emphasized that there are winning pieces on the roster, he also acknowledged that on the whole, “I don’t like our team,” adding that it’s “not a well-rounded club” — a blunt recognition that broad changes are needed (link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).
While Getz didn’t delve into specifics as to how those changes would be realized, he took an open-minded approach when asked about trade possibilities, conceding that there “are no untouchables” on his roster. That’ll surely lead to a frenzy of fan speculation regarding talents like Dylan Cease and particularly Luis Robert Jr., although Getz also noted that he won’t be “proactive” in exploring Robert trade scenarios and called the center fielder the type of player a team should build around.
The general tone of Getz’s comments, plus Robert’s talent and extremely appealing contract — he’s signed through 2025 at a total of $29.5MM guaranteed, plus club options for the 2026-27 seasons — will lead to ample interest. Still just 26 years old, Robert is fresh off a .264/.315/.542 showing in 145 games and 595 plate appearances with the South Siders. He popped 38 homers, swiped 20 bases and played standout defense in center field. It’s an MVP-caliber package of tools, and the fact that he’d earn a total of $67.5MM through 2027 if both his club options are exercised creates considerable surplus value for both the Sox or potential trade partners.
To be clear, a trade of Robert seems decidedly unlikely. Getz didn’t expressly rule it out, but it’s exceedingly rare for a player with this type of team control and affordability to be moved. Additionally, the Sox don’t appear to be embarking on another full-fledged rebuild so much as an effort to retool the roster. Names like Cease and Michael Kopech seem more attainable, speculatively speaking, as both are entering their second arbitration year and are controlled “only” through the 2025 campaign. Slugger Eloy Jimenez and lefty reliever Aaron Bummer are signed through 2024 and both have club option for the 2025-26 seasons.
Whatever trades do eventually materialize — and it seems inevitable that some deals will come together — the changes in Chicago have already begun. Hahn and Williams are out after more than two decades, and the team has already declined its $14MM team option on longtime shortstop Tim Anderson. That would’ve seemed unthinkable this time last year, as Anderson was MLB’s batting average leader from 2019-22, putting together a robust .318/.347/.473 slash in more than 1600 plate appearances over that four-year span.
Anderson’s 2023 season was an unmitigated disaster, however. The 30-year-old hit just .245/.286/.296 with only one home run on the year. His power completely eroded both due to a dip in hard contact and exit velocity but more troublingly due to a mammoth spike in his ground-ball rate. Anderson has never been a pronounced fly-ball hitter, but this year’s 61.1% grounder rate was the highest of any qualified hitter in baseball by four percentage points. Even with the ban of the most aggressive infield shifts, it’s quite difficult for any hitter to be a plus at the plate when putting such a stark percentage of his batted balls on the ground.
Despite the dismal season, the Sox haven’t ruled out a reunion with Anderson — presumably at a lower rate. Bruce Levine of 670 AM The Score reports that the Sox would consider bringing Anderson back later this offseason after he’s fielded interest from other clubs. Given the looming presence of top shortstop prospect Colson Montgomery, that might require a move to the other side of the second base bag, but Anderson has already publicly shown a willingness to make such a switch. Given the dearth of quality infield options in free agency, another club might place a bigger bet on Anderson’s track record than the Sox are comfortable making, but it’s a potential scenario to keep in mind if Anderson lingers in free agency and sees his price tag drop.
It’s also been an active week for the Sox on the coaching front, with several reported new hirings and changes to the staff. The Sox confirmed all of those previously reported new hires yesterday in announcing their finalized coaching staff for the 2024 campaign. Pedro Grifol is back for a second year managing the club, as expected. Also returning are bench coach Charlie Montoyo, pitching coach Ethan Katz, assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar and third base/infield coach Eddie Rodriguez.
Chicago confirmed previously reported hires of bullpen coach Matt Wise, hitting coach Marcus Thames, and Grady Sizemore (who’s listed as a “Major League coach” but will focus on outfield and baserunning work with the team). Also joining the staff is former big league catcher Drew Butera, who was the Angels’ catching coordinator last year and will be the Major League catching coach with the ChiSox. He joins Wise and Thames as the third coach hired away from the Angels. The Sox are also bringing former big league outfielder Jason Bourgeois aboard as their new first base and outfield coach. The eight-year MLB veteran (2008-15) had been coaching in the minors with the Dodgers prior to this move, most recently serving as the organization’s outfield and baserunning coordinator.
Zaidi: Giants Plan To Pursue Rotation Help, Defensive Upgrades In Outfield
The Giants head into the offseason in search of ways to bolster a team that has produced just one winning record in the past seven seasons. San Francisco flirted with Wild Card contention for much of the 2023 campaign, but a 9-19 finish to the season dashed any hopes of returning to the playoffs. Not only that, but the team’s late collapse doomed manager Gabe Kapler, who was dismissed after four years on the job and replaced by future Hall of Fame skipper Bob Melvin.
The Giants’ hiring of Melvin dovetailed with an extension for president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi, both of whom are now signed through 2026. Zaidi kicked off his winter with a fair bit of transparency, candidly acknowledging in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea that his team is “going to be in the starting pitching market” and that he’ll also be on the lookout for ways to augment his outfield alignment. Specifically, Zaidi hopes to improve his outfield’s glovework. “We’ll look to add a little bit more speed, a little bit more range to the outfield,” Zaidi tells Shea.
At least as far as the outfield upgrades are concerned, the trade market will present more options than free agency. Cody Bellinger is the top outfielder (and top non-Shohei Ohtani) free agent of the offseason, and the former Dodgers star is quite familiar to Zaidi, who served as the general manager in Los Angeles before being hired away by the division-rival Giants. That said, Scott Boras will surely be seeking a massive contract for Bellinger on the heels of a resurgent season, and given the dearth of quality hitters on the market, competition for him could be steep.
Other outfield options with plus gloves include Kevin Kiermaier, Harrison Bader and Michael A. Taylor (to name a few). Kiermaier and Bader come with plenty of injury concern, however, and all three have inconsistent offensive track records (at best). Perhaps for those reasons, Zaidi at least alluded to the possibility of operating on the trade market — noting that younger (and thus more athletic players) tend to come via that market rather than free agency. KBO star Jung Hoo Lee, who’ll be posted by the Kiwoom Heroes this winter, could bring some of that youth and athleticism to the table, as he’s just 25 years of age. However, his season ended early with an ankle injury, and MLB evaluators are split on the extent of his defensive value in the outfield.
The Giants’ current outfield alignment figures to include some combination of Mike Yastrzemski, Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto, who exercised an $18MM player option yesterday and will now return for a second season at Oracle Park. Alternative options on the 40-man roster include Austin Slater, Luis Matos, Heliot Ramos, Wade Meckler and Blake Sabol. That group was lackluster in the field, ranking 22nd in the Majors with -7 Defensive Runs Saved and 27th with -13 Outs Above Average.
As far as the pitching is concerned, it’s a natural and obvious need for the Giants to pursue. Ace Logan Webb will return to front the rotation, and the Giants picked up their $10MM club option on righty Alex Cobb (a net $8MM decision when factoring in the option’s $2MM buyout). Top prospect Kyle Harrison made his MLB debut in 2023 but has just seven big league starts to his name. Ross Stripling picked up a player option and will be back in the mix next year, though he’s plenty familiar working in a swingman capacity. Righty Anthony DeSclafani is signed through 2024 under a three-year, $36MM contract, but he’s pitched just 118 2/3 innings of 5.16 ERA ball during that deal due to ankle and forearm injuries — the former of which required surgery.
For much of the season’s second half, the Giants operated with only a pair of traditional starters. Bullpen games were a frequent tactic, with Stripling, Sean Manaea (who declined a player option) and Keaton Winn among the pitchers who were tasked with working long relief stints in such settings. Given the lack of established rotation talent, starting pitching is an obvious area of focus the team.
Zaidi acknowledged that he expects to talk with Manaea and his agents at the Boras Corporation about a potential return, but the starting pitching market is generally considered to be a deep one this offseason. Beyond Ohtani (who won’t pitch in 2024), 25-year-old NPB ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto headlines this year’s class. Countryman Shota Imanaga is also well-regarded and available for MLB teams to sign. More known commodities include Blake Snell, Aaron Nola, Jordan Montgomery, Sonny Gray and Eduardo Rodriguez, though as shown on yesterday’s Top 50 Free Agent List here at MLBTR, the options beyond those top tiers are plentiful.
Joey Krehbiel Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Joey Krehbiel, who was designated for assignment by the Orioles last week, has declined an outright assignment and opted to become a free agent, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The 30-year-old had been previously outrighted in his career, which grants him the result to reject a subsequent outright assignment.
Krehbiel pitched 57 innings of relief with the 2022 Orioles but logged just five MLB frames in 2023, spending the rest of the time down in Triple-A Norfolk. Krehbiel has performed reasonably well in the bigs with Baltimore, pitching to a 3.73 ERA with a 19% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 41.1% grounder rate in his 63 2/3 frames over the past two seasons. That said, he also walked more than 14% of his opponents in 39 1/3 Triple-A innings, to say nothing of an unsightly 1.6 HR/9 mark with Baltimore’s top affiliate in Norfolk.
Last year’s 57 MLB innings were a career-high for Krehbiel, who’s appeared in parts of four campaigns between the D-backs, Rays and O’s. He’s turned in a 3.65 ERA with sub-par strikeout and walk rates in that time, averaging 94.7 mph on his heater and generating grounders at a roughly average rate.
Krehbiel will head to the open market in search of a new opportunity, likely on a minor league deal. He has a minor league option remaining, which will add to his appeal for clubs who have interest in bringing him aboard as a depth option for their relief corps. And, since he still has fewer than two years of MLB service time, Krehbiel is controllable for another five seasons. Of course, he’d need to pitch his way onto a big league roster and carve out a permanent role for that to be a factor of any real note.
White Sox To Hire Marcus Thames As Hitting Coach
The White Sox are set to hire Marcus Thames away from the Angels and install him as their new hitting coach, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Thames held the same title with the Halos in 2023 — his first season with the organization. FutureSox.com’s James Fox first indicated earlier this morning that Thames was under consideration to be named the Sox’ new hitting coach. Thames becomes the second Angels staffer to jump to the White Sox this offseason; Chicago previously hired Matt Wise as their new bullpen coach.
Thames, 46, enjoyed a decade-long playing career from 2002-11, appearing in 640 big league games and popping 115 home runs while batting .246/.309/.485 between the Yankees, Rangers, Tigers and Dodgers. Upon calling it quits as a player, he began his coaching career as a minor league hitting coach with the Yankees, eventually ascending to their Major League staff as assistant hitting coach in 2016.
Since taking that initial big league job in the Bronx, Thames has been a fixture on Major League coaching staffs. The Yankees promoted him to their lead hitting coach for the 2017 season — a position he’d hold through 2021, when his contract wasn’t renewed. He’s since had one-year stints as the hitting coach with the Marlins and Angels.
Of course, a hitting coach cannot singlehandedly take credit for radically turning the tides of a lineup (for better or for worse), but it’s nevertheless notable that the Angels went from a lowly .233/.297/.390 batting line with 623 runs scored, a 25.7% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate in 2022 to far better results in 2023. Halos hitters produced at a collective .245/.317/.426 rate in 2023, scoring 739 runs and making modest strides both in terms of team strikeout rate (24.8%) and walk rate (8.4%).
That’s attributable to myriad factors, but the Sox surely feel that Thames’ work is among them. More broadly, his growing coaching experience in what’s now an eight-year MLB coaching career has added to his reputation and clearly drawn fairly broad-reaching interest. Detractors might point to short stints in both Miami and Anaheim, but both organizations ousted their manager after Thames’ first season on the job. Because managers typically are provided the opportunity to fill out their own coaching staffs, seeing Thames bounce around a bit isn’t necessarily all that surprising. The Angels are still in the process of looking for a replacement for outgoing manager Phil Nevin, whose contract expired at season’s end and who will not return for a third year on the job.
As for the Sox, while they’re sticking with skipper Pedro Grifol despite a highly disappointing 2023 campaign, the coaching staff is already undergoing ample turnover. In addition to Thames and Wise, the South Siders have hired Grady Sizemore as a baserunning/outfield coach. The Sox also reassigned a pair of coaches (assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson) in addition to moving on entirely from hitting coach Jose Castro (whom Thames will now replace) and first base coach Daryl Boston. Further changes are surely on the horizon, and Murray further reports that retired big league catcher Drew Butera, who served as the Angels’ catching coach last year, could be added to the Chicago staff in some capacity as well.
The changes in the dugout come on the heels of front office shakeup in Chicago. Longtime general manager Rick Hahn and executive vice president Kenny Williams were fired over the summer, though the Sox stayed in-house by naming assistant GM Chris Getz their successor and new baseball operations leader. The rookie GM has since hired former big league infielder Paul Janish as the Sox’ director of player development. As is the case in the dugout, additional changes in the front office and baseball operations hierarchy can be expected as the ChiSox look to move past a disastrous 2023 campaign and return to relevance in the American League Central.
Marlins To Exercise Club Option On Jon Berti
The Marlins are exercising their 2024 club option on utilityman Jon Berti, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. He’ll be paid a $3.625MM salary next year and will be arbitration-eligible one final time in the 2024-25 offseason before reaching free agency after the ’25 campaign.
Berti, 34 in January, has emerged as a utilityman extraordinaire in Miami, capably fielding three infield spots (second base, third base, shortstop) in addition to frequent work across all three outfield spots. He’s paired that versatility with excellent speed and baserunning value — 91 for his past 111 in steals, including an NL-best 41 in 2022 — and typically average or better production at the dish over the past five seasons.
Dating back to 2019, Berti is a .259/.338/.367 hitter in 1536 plate appearances. That production is weighed down by an off year in 2021, but Berti is fresh off a .294/.334/.405 showing that included a career-best seven home runs in a career-high 424 trips to the plate. He’d have remained arbitration-eligible and under club control through 2025 even if the Marlins had declined the option, but the strength of his 2023 performance likely would’ve ticketed him for a salary greater than the price of this affordable option. The Fish secured this option by agreeing to an eleventh-hour deal with Berti just before his arbitration hearing last offseason, and they’ll now avoid a potential hearing months in advance this time around.
Heading into the ’24 season, it’s unlikely that Berti will be penciled in for regular at-bats at one particular spot on the diamond, but his ability to bounce around in nearly seamless fashion should ensure that he’ll play a prominent role regardless of a nomadic defensive role on the roster. Between Berti, Josh Bell, Avisail Garcia and Sandy Alcantara, the Marlins have just over $41MM in guaranteed money on next year’s books, although a 13-player arbitration class — headlined by Luis Arraez, Jesus Luzardo and Tanner Scott — leads Roster Resource to project a payroll of more than $99MM.
Phillies Claim Josh Fleming
The Phillies have claimed left-hander Josh Fleming off waivers from the Rays, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The southpaw was one of six players placed on outright waivers by the Rays over the weekend.
Fleming, 27, has appeared in each of the past four seasons with Tampa Bay, oscillating between the bullpen and starting rotation. A bout of left elbow inflammation shortened his 2023 campaign, and he’s previously had IL stints for calf and oblique strains as well.
When healthy, Fleming has at times looked the part of a quality fifth starter or swingman. He logged 51 2/3 frames with the Rays this year and notched a 4.70 ERA with a career-worst 11.8% strikeout rate and against an 8.6% walk rate. Back in 2020, he made his big league debut with 32 1/3 innings of 2.78 ERA ball. On the whole, Fleming has piled up 223 1/3 Major League frames, working to a 4.88 ERA, 14.9% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate. In addition to solid command, Fleming owns a massive 59% ground-ball rate at the MLB level.
Although he’s split his time fairly evenly between the bullpen and rotation in the big leagues, Fleming has been far more effective as a reliever (3.73 ERA) than as a starter (6.10 ERA). Right-handed opponents have been a challenge in particular; he’s yielded a .288/.351/.451 slash to opponents who hold the platoon advantage over him.
The Phillies could look to Fleming as depth for the starting staff and possibly a left-handed option in the ‘pen. He’s out of minor league options, so he’d have to stick on the Major League roster on Opening Day 2024 or else be trade or exposed to waivers at some point between now and then. He comes to the Phillies with an additional four years of club control remaining, so if he’s able to get things on track and carve out a role on manager Rob Thomson’s staff, he could be a multi-year piece. Fleming will be arbitration-eligible as a Super Two player this offseason, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz has projected him for a $1MM salary.