Rockies, Fernando Abad Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rockies have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent lefty Fernando Abad, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Abad, a client of the MAS+ Agency, will be invited to Major League Spring Training.
Abad, 37, spent the 2022 season with the Mariners organization but didn’t reach the big leagues with Seattle. That marked just the third time since the lefty’s 2010 debut with the Astros that he did not pitch a single Major League inning in a season. That said, Abad was effective in Triple-A Tacoma, where he notched a 3.56 ERA with a 17.8% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate in 43 innings of relief.
The most recent big league experience for Abad came with the 2021 Orioles, although the results weren’t pretty. He tallied just 17 2/3 innings out of the Baltimore ‘pen and was knocked around for a 5.60 ERA with just a 12.2% strikeout rate against an 8.5% walk rate. Part of that was due to an inflated .344 average on balls in play, and it’s worth noting that Abad yielded just one home run and generally did a strong job of limiting hard contact by his opponents.
From 2013-19, Abad was a strong middle relief option in the Majors. He was never a team’s primary closer or go-to setup man in that time, evidenced by just a pair of saves and 30 holds, but Abad nonetheless pitched to a 3.18 ERA while fanning 21.2% of his opponents against an 8.2% walk rate.
The Rockies project to have a pair of lefties in the bullpen as things stand, with both waiver claim Brent Suter and homegrown Lucas Gilbreath nearly assured of spots, health permitting. Gilbreath does have minor league options remaining, however, and his command in the Majors has been shaky. Abad will give him some competition for a spot in camp, and if all three lefties pitch well, there’s enough uncertainty among the final few spots in the Colorado relief corps that all three southpaws could find themselves in the Opening Day ‘pen.
MLB Lifts Ban On Former Braves GM John Coppolella
Major League Baseball has lifted its previous “lifetime” ban on former Braves general manager John Coppolella, reports Jayson Stark of The Athletic. Coppolella has spent the past five years on the league’s ineligible list in the wake of heavy sanctions for violating rules regarding both international free agency and the annual amateur draft. A league spokesperson tells Stark that Coppolella was reinstated “given the more than five years he spent on the ineligible list, the contrition he expressed and the other steps he took in response to this matter.”
Coppolella released his own statement:
“I want to thank Commissioner Manfred for granting my application for removal from the Ineligible List. I am deeply appreciative of so many people who have been involved in this process, including (executive vice president of legal and operations) Bryan Seeley and (senior vice president of investigations and deputy general counsel) Moira Weinberg at Major League Baseball. I deeply regret and accept accountability for my actions. I want to again apologize to the Atlanta Braves organization, Major League Baseball, its fans, and especially my family and friends. I am grateful for this decision and will strive each day to honor this opportunity.”
At the time of Coppolella’s original ban, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that his investigation into the Braves’ dealings revealed the team underreported bonuses for five amateurs who were subject to international bonus pool restrictions. The Braves then overreported their bonus to an older, pool-exempt player and used that inflated bonus as a means of funneling additional money to the five amateurs in question.
Had the Braves reported the actual bonuses of the five amateurs in question, it’d have restricted them from signing an international amateur for more than $300K during either of the following two signing periods. Instead, the Braves were able to sign two of the top names on the international market a year later. The Braves also agreed to inflated signing bonuses with six amateurs represented by the agent for now-Athletics prospect Robert Puason, with the understanding that Puason would sign in Atlanta several years down the road. Atlanta also offered “extra-contractual compensation” to infielder Ji Hwan Bae (now with the Pirates) and “impermissible benefits” to an amateur draftee not named in Manfred’s statement but reported to be outfielder Drew Waters. You can read Manfred’s full statement on the matter here.
Ultimately, the Braves were stripped of 12 prospects, each of whom was immediately declared a free agent. Their deal with Bae, which had not been finalized at the time of the findings, was voided. The Braves also forfeited their third-round pick the in the subsequent amateur draft, were barred from signing an international amateur for more than $10K in the 2019-20 period, and were barred from signing the aforementioned Puason once he actually became a free agent.
It’s not clear at this time whether Coppolella will actually pursue a return to working in baseball, nor is it clear how many teams would be interested. The now-44-year-old Coppolella’s fingerprints are still on the Braves organization to this day, but there’d also surely be some PR implications for any team adding him to its baseball operations staff.
Mets, Tim Locastro Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mets have agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder Tim Locastro, reports Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated’s Fan Nation (Twitter link). The Warner Sports Management client will be invited to Major League Spring Training.
Locastro, 30, has spent the past season-plus with the Yankees, appearing in 47 games but logging just 69 plate appearances in that time. He’s given the Yankees some vital speed off the bench late in games, swiping eight bases in ten attempts while displaying sprint speed that’s ranked in the 99th percentile of MLB players, per Statcast.
Of course, Locastro’s opportunities at the plate have been limited because he’s struggled so considerably with the bat over the past two seasons. After a decent two-year stretch in Arizona that saw him bat .260/.367/.370 in 332 plate appearances (thanks in no small part to being plunked by pitches a whopping 26 times), Locastro has combined to slash .181/.257/.275 in his past 202 trips to the plate.
Despite his blistering speed, Locastro has a sub-par throwing arm that has contributed to below-average marks from both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating. Statcast’s Outs Above Average thinks he’s been a bit better than average in 1046 innings, but the consensus among publicly available metrics is that Locastro isn’t the lights-out defender some might expect for a player with his wheels.
The Mets are slated to start Mark Canha, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte in left, center and right, respectively, but Locastro could push for a backup role during Spring Training. Khalil Lee is the only other pure outfielder on the 40-man roster, although Darin Ruf has plenty of corner outfield experience. Locastro will join veteran Abraham Almonte as an outfield hopeful on a non-roster deal this spring, and he’ll give the Mets some speed to stash in Triple-A if he doesn’t make the roster out of camp.
Reports: Mets “Frustrated” By Correa Negotiations; Twins Have Rejoined Bidding
With the 12-year agreement between the Mets and Carlos Correa still in limbo, Jim Bowden of The Athletic reports that the Twins have not only jumped back into the mix for Correa but have emerged as a legitimate candidate to re-sign him (Twitter link, with audio, via MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM). SNY’s Andy Martino, meanwhile, writes that the Mets have grown “very frustrated” with the state of negotiations and have even contemplated walking away from the deal. Talks between the Mets and Correa aren’t dead, Martino emphasizes, but it’s nevertheless a pessimistic turn in what has become a wild, unparalleled free-agent saga for Correa.
The latest wave of drama comes on the heels of an evening report from the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, which indicated Correa and agent Scott Boras had engaged at least one other team as recently as yesterday afternoon. Heyman, too, noted that Minnesota had been in touch with Correa’s camp in recent weeks.
The Twins and Correa have “some momentum,” per Bowden, who adds that Minnesota appears more willing to take on some risk regarding Correa’s medicals than either the Giants or the Mets. The Twins’ most recent offer to Correa was a reported 10-year, $285MM pact, though that came before the Giants blew them out of the water with a 13-year, $350MM bid. It’s unclear whether Minnesota has made any alterations to that offer.
That Giants agreement feels like ancient history, as San Francisco canceled Correa’s introductory press conference after his physical gave the team some trepidation. There’s no indication that the Giants entirely halted their efforts to sign Correa, but while they were determining their next steps, the Mets swooped in and agreed to terms with Correa on a 12-year, $315MM pact. Shortly thereafter, however, the Mets raised their own concerns regarding Correa’s physical. That was nearly two weeks ago. A deal has not yet been finalized.
At issue for both the Giants and the Mets appears to be a nearly decade-old leg injury and corresponding concerns over how that may impact the All-Star infielder down the road. Back in 2014, while playing in the Astros’ minor league system, a then-19-year-old Correa suffered a fractured fibula while sliding into third base. The injury required surgery, and a metal plate was inserted into Correa’s leg.
The exact concern regarding the long-term stability of Correa’s leg isn’t clear, but both the Giants and Mets have at least been concerned enough to pump the brakes on their reported agreements. The Mets have reportedly discussed adding a clause that would alter the terms of the deal in the event of a serious leg injury to Correa. It’s not known whether they’ve also sought to reduce either the length or total guarantee of the agreement.
Correa, of course, spent the 2022 season in Minnesota, where he slashed .291/.366/.467 over 590 plate appearances. That came under the terms of a three-year, $105.1MM contract between the two parties that was struck last March, but Correa triggered the first of two opt-out clauses in the contract following the season, in hopes of securing the long-term deal that eluded him in his last trip through free agency.
While it’s easy to assume the Twins have a full grasp of Correa’s medical situation themselves, The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported in late December that the team did not conduct an extensive examination of Correa during the course of the season. That’s to be expected, but it’s particularly noteworthy given that Correa had a late-September injury scare with the leg in question, wherein he remained down on the field for several moments after being thrown out on a slide into second base. Correa limped off the field, and although he remained in the game, he acknowledged after the contest that he had briefly felt numbness and vibration in that surgically repaired leg.
That incident occurred on Sept. 20, and Correa did not miss any time in the subsequent, final weeks of the season. If there were any lingering issues, they weren’t made apparent through his performance on the field. Correa batted .346/.393/.481 with a homer and four doubles in 56 plate appearances from Sept. 20 through season’s end.
Finding A Right-Handed Bat For The Mariners
The Mariners started their offseason with a bang, quickly striking a deal to acquire slugger Teoscar Hernandez from the Blue Jays in exchange for quietly excellent setup man Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko. Seattle’s activity on the trade market continued when they landed Kolten Wong as their new starting second baseman in a cash-neutral swap that sent Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro to Milwaukee.
It’s been quiet otherwise, however. Seattle signed righty reliever Trevor Gott to a Major League deal, but that’s the lone guaranteed addition via the free-agent market. The lack of activity in free agency has proven a source of consternation for M’s fans that wanted to see more on the heels of last year’s drought-breaking playoff appearance. Seattle’s projected payroll — about $135MM, per Roster Resource — is a noted increase from 2022 but still not close to the franchise-record $158MM set back in 2018.
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has rightly pointed to the fact that the Mariners have indeed spent over the past calendar year and done so fairly aggressively. Julio Rodriguez inked an extension worth more than $200MM. Robbie Ray was signed to a five-year, $115MM deal on the heels of a Cy Young season. Deadline acquisition Luis Castillo signed a five-year, $108MM extension. Andres Munoz, arguably the second-best reliever in MLB last season, signed a bargain four-year extension. Shortstop J.P. Crawford inked a five-year, $51MM extension. The Mariners took on the remainder of Eugenio Suarez‘s contract in order to acquire Winker from Cincinnati — though it was Suarez, not Winker, who wound up being the true difference-maker in that swap. That rash of spending notwithstanding, it’s understandable if Mariners fans feel a little disappointed at the lack of free-agent activity when payroll is more than $20MM shy of its high-water mark.
As Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes, the Mariners are still focused on adding to the roster, so it’s fair to withhold judgment for the time being. The primary focus, Divish reminds, is a right-handed bat — as laid out by Dipoto a month ago at the Winter Meetings. The goal of said addition, beyond merely strengthening the lineup from top to bottom, is to “take some of that pressure off” young outfielders like Jarred Kelenic and Taylor Trammell and to give the Mariners “the ability to rotate at designated hitter” — as Dipoto himself put it in early December.
Since Dipoto made those comments, a number of players who’d otherwise have met that criteria have signed or been traded elsewhere. That said, there are still plenty of options who could align with his stated goals. We can’t know precisely when, but it feels like a foregone conclusion that the M’s will add at least one more bat. As things stand, they’re set at first base (Ty France), second base (Wong), shortstop (Crawford), third base (Suarez), catcher (Cal Raleigh), center field (Rodriguez) and right field (Hernandez).
In left field and at designated hitter, candidates for playing time include Kelenic, Trammell, Dylan Moore, Sam Haggerty, Cooper Hummel and yet-to-debut outfield prospect Cade Marlowe. Perhaps there’s a productive arrangement that could be borne out of that collection, but it’s only logical that the Mariners are focused on further additions, given the manner in which Kelenic and Trammell have yet to live up to their considerable prospect hype.
Let’s look around the free-agent and trade markets for some potential fits.
Free Agents
Obviously, we could run through every possible right-handed-hitting bat in free agency and lay out why they are or aren’t a good fit. To narrow the focus a bit, however, it’s worth keying in on some likely desirable traits. Dipoto specifically mentioned helping to take the pressure off young left field options like Kelenic and Trammell, so some aptitude in the outfield is likely a must. The Mariners have also tended to prefer players with defensive versatility in recent seasons; Moore, Adam Frazier, Toro and Haggerty all come to mind. It’s true that at times they’ve been willing to plug in a more defensively limited player (e.g. Carlos Santana), but like so many modern front offices, the Mariners have gravitated toward positional flexibility and fluidity when possible.
- Trey Mancini, 1B/OF: Mancini’s market doesn’t appear to have gained much steam, which is perhaps to be expected on the heels of a down year that featured a particularly slow finish with the Astros. Still, Mancini has a lengthy track record as an above-average bat, and even in a pair of “down” years in 2021-22, he’s been a few percentage points better than average by measure of wRC+. Mancini’s 35-homer campaign in 2019 looks largely like an aberration that can be chalked up to the juiced ball, but he’s a clear 20- to 25-homer bat with a solid glove at first base. He’s miscast as an outfielder but could at least play there on occasion while also taking regular reps at DH and playing some first base when Ty France needs a breather. It’s also worth noting that France has experience at second and third base, so he could be moved around a bit if the M’s wanted to stack as many righty bats in a lineup as possible against a tough lefty. The Mariners have preferred to use the DH as more of a carousel position in recent years, and Mancini would gum that up a bit, but he’d also give them a clearly above-average hitter who’s been just as effective against righties as lefties throughout his big league career.
- Brian Anderson, 3B/OF: Suarez is locked into third base, but Anderson has ample experience in the outfield corners and could provide a platoon partner for Kelenic, a decent option at designated hitter and a safety net at third base in the event of a Suarez injury. A trio of shoulder injuries have helped to tank Anderson’s production over the past couple seasons, leading to a non-tender by the Marlins. However, as MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald explored this week, Anderson was one of Miami’s best players from 2018-20 and quietly ranked among the league’s 50 or so best position players by measure of wins above replacement in that time. At his best, Anderson is an above-average hitter with gap power and a respectable glove at multiple positions. He’s a buy-low candidate, to be sure, but he’d give Seattle some versatility and a quality track record at the plate (at least, prior to his recent injury troubles).
If the Mariners opt for a more contact-oriented, defensively versatile approach, it’s easy enough to see how veteran infielder/outfielder Josh Harrison could fit. He wouldn’t be the “big” bat for which many fans (and likely many within the organization) are hoping, but he’s bounced back from an ugly 2018-19 showing with a .270/.332/.390 showing over the past three seasons. He rarely strikes out, has above-average speed and offers an option at second base, third base and in the outfield corners. If the preference is to go for a strict outfield platoon partner for Kelenic/Trammell, veterans like AJ Pollock and Andrew McCutchen are affordable buy-low options. Both had poor overall showings in 2022, but both have a long track record of punishing left-handed pitching. Nelson Cruz would win some nostalgia points with Mariners fans, but Cruz would have to wholly occupy the DH slot rather than give Seattle “the ability to rotate” at DH, as Dipoto suggested, so he seems an unlikely fit.
Trade Possibilities
As with the free agents, this won’t be an exhaustive list of every possible option. Rather, the focus will be on players known or rumored to be available and able to either complement or entirely supplant the Mariners’ young incumbents in left field.
- Bryan Reynolds, OF, Pirates: The most obvious name for any team seeking an impact outfielder, Reynolds is a switch-hitting, 27-year-old All-Star (28 later this month) who requested a trade after the Pirates’ ideas regarding an extension came a reported $50MM or so shy of what Reynolds and his camp sought. Reynolds has been in trade rumblings for years, given the Pirates’ status as a rebuilding club. At three years from free agency, he’s just now getting to the stage where teams tend to earnestly begin considering a deal. Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington has stressed that the trade request won’t necessarily be honored, however. The asking price on Reynolds has been sky-high in recent years, and that’s said to be the case again this offseason. Seattle’s farm has been depleted by graduations of stars like Rodriguez and trades of talents such as Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo (sent to Cincinnati in the Castillo swap). Between young big league talent and the team’s remaining top-end prospects, there’s still likely a path to a Reynolds deal that can be carved out, but Dipoto & Co. may not want to further deplete the farm to the levels necessary to pry Reynolds loose from Pittsburgh.
- Anthony Santander, OF, Orioles: A switch-hitting corner outfielder with two years of club control remaining, Santander’s name has been bandied about the rumor circuit for a couple seasons. He’s a better hitter from the right side, evidenced both by a .293/.365/.548 split in 2022 (159 wRC+) and a career .262/.314/.468 slash as a right-handed batter (112 wRC+). The 28-year-old swatted a career-high 33 home runs in 2022. He drew curiously poor marks for his glovework in left field (-8 DRS, -5 OAA in just 299 innings), but that looks anomalous, given his track record of solid defense in right field. Santander doesn’t walk much and thus regularly posts poor on-base percentages, but there’s little doubting his power. The O’s are moving out of the rebuild, but Santander is two years from free agency and Baltimore has younger outfielders who’ll soon need a look (e.g. Kyle Stowers, Colton Cowser). Swapping Santander for a big-league arm and a near-MLB prospect — similar to the Mariners’ acquisition of Hernandez — could work for both parties.
- Randy Arozarena, OF, Rays: I’ll start this with the caveat that Arozarena is likely only available in a “the Rays will listen on anyone” capacity. Still, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times suggested early in the offseason that the Rays might at least listen to offers on Arozarena, who’s arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $4MM in 2023. That’s a palatable price point for Tampa Bay, but Arozarena will be eligible thrice more as a Super Two player. The suggestion of exploring an Arozarena deal, to be clear, is not an indication that the two parties have discussed a trade nor that Arozarena is particularly likely to be moved. That said, the Rays are known to be looking for another left-handed bat, the Mariners want a right-handed bat. These two teams are frequent trade partners. There are some potentially aligned needs here, at least enough that it bears a speculative mention. Similarly, Seattle could hold interest in out-of-options, right-handed Rays bats like Harold Ramirez and Isaac Paredes.
There are surely other names who could be had, though not all of them are necessarily exciting. Colorado’s Randal Grichuk can play multiple outfield spots and tattooed left-handed pitching last year. He’s been strong against southpaws throughout his career. The Cardinals’ outfielders frequently seem to come up in trade speculation, and buying low on old friend Tyler O’Neill after a down season could have merit. The Giants have some platoon bats who hit lefties well and offer a bit of defensive versatility (Austin Slater, J.D. Davis).
There’s no real shortage of options for the Mariners to explore. As ever, it’s a fool’s errand to try to nail down exactly which path Dipoto, one of the game’s most active and creative executives on the trade market, might take. But it’s notable that the Mariners are still seeking a right-handed bat and still expect to add to the mix over the next several weeks. Signing Mancini might be the most straightforward option, but the obvious roads are rarely the ones taken by this Seattle front office.
Rockies Claim Nick Mears
The Rockies claimed right-hander Nick Mears off waivers from the Rangers, the teams announced Friday. Texas designated Mears for assignment earlier in the week in order to open a roster spot for newly signed Nathan Eovaldi. Colorado had a pair of open spots on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move isn’t necessary. Their 40-man roster is now at 39 players.
Mears, 26, has spent his entire pro career until this offseason in the Pirates organization. He’s begun to bounce around the DFA circuit a bit now, going from Pittsburgh, to Texas, to Colorado by way of waiver claim. The 6’2″ righty averages 96 mph with his heater but has struggled to a 4.75 ERA in 30 1/3 innings at the MLB level, dating back to 2020.
Mears’ career 9.5 K/9 in the Majors looks appealing but is a good example of why strikeout percentage tells a better story than K/9; because Mears has walked so many hitters (14.9%), his overall strikeout percentage is actually below the league average for relievers, at 22.7%. Mears throws hard, though, has strong numbers up through the Double-A level and has a minor league option remaining, so he’ll give the Rockies some optionable depth in the bullpen for the coming season if he makes it to Opening Day on their 40-man roster.
The Rockies have at least four bullpen spots locked down, with closer Daniel Bard signed through 2024 and Pierce Johnson (signed earlier this offseason), Brent Suter (claimed from the Brewers) and Dinelson Lamet all ineligible to optioned to the minors. Righty Justin Lawrence is also out of minor league options, though given his struggles over the past couple seasons, he can’t be viewed as a lock to break camp with the club in 2023.
Red Sox Designate Darwinzon Hernandez For Assignment
The Red Sox have designated left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez for assignment, per a team announcement. He’ll be the corresponding 40-man roster move to accommodate the newly signed Justin Turner, whose previously reported contract is now official.
Hernandez, 26, both misses bats and piles up walks in droves. He’s fanned 32.3% of his opponents over the life of 85 1/3 big league innings but has also walked a whopping 17.7% of the batters he’s faced. Despite that dearth of command, he was able to notch a tidy 3.17 ERA in 48 1/3 innings from 2020-21, but Hernandez was rocked for 17 runs (16 earned) in just 6 2/3 innings at the big league level this past season. Overall, he owns a 5.06 ERA in the Majors.
Despite his struggles to locate his pitches, Hernandez is a 26-year-old lefty who’s averaged just north of 95 mph on his fastball and avoided hard contact quite nicely when opponents put the ball in play against him (with the exception of 2022’s small sample). Hernandez also has a minor league option remaining, which could further broaden his appeal to other teams.
The Red Sox will have a week to trade Hernandez or attempt to pass him through outright waivers, which would allow them to keep him in the organization without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to the hard-throwing but command-challenged southpaw.
Tigers Outright Four Players
The Tigers announced that four of their players have cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Toledo. They are left-hander Zach Logue, right-hander Ángel De Jesus, catcher Mario Feliciano and infielder Andy Ibáñez. Logue and De Jesus were designated for assignment last month. The Tigers had not previously announced that either Feliciano or Ibanez had been placed on waivers. Detroit’s 40-man roster is now at 38 players.
Logue, 27 in April, looked like a potential back-of-the-rotation starter this time last season, when he was one of four players traded from Toronto to Oakland in the Matt Chapman deal. He made his big league debut with the A’s, starting ten games and adding another four appearances out of the bullpen. The former ninth-round pick got out to a nice start, pitching to a 2.04 ERA in his first 17 2/3 innings, but the wheels came off shortly thereafter.
The Mariners torched Logue for seven runs on May 23, and from that point through season’s end he yielded 39 runs in 39 1/3 big league innings. Things didn’t go any better during a disastrous Triple-A run that saw Logue record an ERA north of 8.00. Oakland designated Logue for assignment last month, and the Tigers picked him up via waiver claim. They can now keep him in the organization without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him.
Grisly as those results are, Logue is a reasonably young lefty who sported a 3.32 ERA through 17 Triple-A starts as recently as 2021. He also has a pair of minor league options remaining, so if he pitches his way back into 40-man consideration, he’ll give the Tigers some rotation depth with a good bit of flexibility.
De Jesus, 25, also made his big league debut in 2022, tossing 12 2/3 innings out of the Detroit ‘pen. He yielded only three runs on nine hits and four walks in that time, though De Jesus also fanned just seven hitters (13%) while benefiting from a .179 average on balls in play during that tiny sample. He spent the bulk of the 2022 season with Triple-A Toledo, where he notched a 4.15 ERA in 47 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. De Jesus has never ranked among the Tigers’ top prospects but does have a lengthy track record of solid results in the minors.
The 24-year-old Feliciano, like Logue, was claimed off waivers by the Tigers this season (although from the Brewers, not the A’s). He’s appeared in three big league games with Milwaukee and gone 1-for-4 in that time. Feliciano spent the vast majority of the 2022 season in Triple-A Nashville, batting .274/.326/.386 with six homers in 311 trips to the plate. Feliciano has plus bat-to-ball skills, evidence by a 16% strikeout rate in Triple-A, but he rarely walks and is regarded as a sub-par defender behind the plate.
Ibanez, 29, is yet another offseason waiver claim, coming over from the Rangers in early November. Once a prospect of some note when he originally left Cuba, Ibanez has spent parts of two seasons in the big leagues with Texas. He hit fairly well in 2021 (.277/.321/.435) but cratered with a .218/.273/.277 batting line in 128 plate appearances this past season. The dip in production carried over to Triple-A as well, but on the whole, the 29-year-old Ibanez has a solid .288/.358/.456 batting line in just shy of 1500 plate appearances at the minor leagues’ top level. He’s primarily a second baseman and third basemen but also has brief experience at first base, shortstop and in left field.
Nelson Cruz Has Received Offers For 2023 Season
Veteran slugger Nelson Cruz had a down year with the Nationals in 2022 and turned 42 over the summer, but the seven-time All-Star doesn’t appear to be considering retirement. Cruz said in a radio appearance on Grandes en los Deportes in his native Dominican Republic that he’s already received formal offers for the 2023 season (Twitter link). As one would expect, Cruz did not reveal which team or teams have made him an offer, nor did he divulge additional details on the nature of said offers.
Following the season, Cruz underwent surgery on his left eye — a procedure intended to alleviate inflammation that had blurred his vision. Cruz noted at the time that he’d had issues with the eye dating back to the 2021 season, though they worsened considerably over the course of his 2022 season. Specifically, Cruz explained that he’d had difficulty picking up the spin on pitches.
Whether due to the vision troubles, his age or some combination of the two, Cruz indeed had his worst season since establishing himself as a big league regular way back in 2008. Signed by the Nationals to a one-year, $15MM contract in March, Cruz went on to bat just .234/.313/.337. He homered just ten times as a National — far and away his lowest total in any of his 14 seasons as a regular. Cruz even homered 16 times during the 60-game 2020 season and had otherwise never hit fewer than 22 long balls in a full big league campaign.
Prior to his one-year stint in D.C., Cruz remained a highly productive designated hitter with the Twins. In parts of three seasons with Minnesota, he batted .304/.386/.598 with 76 home runs in 1081 trips to the plate. Minnesota traded Cruz to the Rays in a July 2021 deal that netted them righty Joe Ryan, however, and Cruz began to struggle at the plate with Tampa Bay. The timing of that downturn in production aligns roughly with the timeline Cruz laid out when discussing his eye troubles.
Any team that signs Cruz would likely need a clear vacancy at designated hitter. Cruz hasn’t played an inning in the outfield since 2018 with the Mariners, though the Rays did give him one game (seven innings) at first base late in the 2021 campaign. Still, it’d be a stretch for any of the Dodgers (J.D. Martinez), Red Sox (Justin Turner, with Rafael Devers and Triston Casas at the infield corners), Tigers (Miguel Cabrera), Angels (Shohei Ohtani), Yankees (Giancarlo Stanton), Marlins (Jorge Soler), Giants (Joc Pederson, with Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger in the outfield corners) or Astros (Yordan Alvarez, Michael Brantley, Kyle Tucker) to squeeze Cruz into the mix, unless he were willing to accept a role as a pure bench bat. That said, given his lack of defensive ability, Cruz may not appeal to clubs as an option off the bench.
Cruz didn’t tip his hand as to when he might make a decision on a team for the forthcoming season and gave no indication as to whether the offers he’s received are ones he is strongly considering. He and agent Bryce Dixon have plenty of time to deliberate, of course, but Cruz has a rather full plate at the moment; he’s serving as the general manager for the Dominican Republic’s team in this year’s World Baseball Classic and also plans to play in the event.
Kohei Arihara To Sign With NPB’s SoftBank Hawks
Former Rangers righty Kohei Arihara is returning to Japan for the 2023 season and will sign with the SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball, per reports from Japanese outlets The Manichi and Sports Hochi. Prior to his two-year MLB run in Texas, Arihara had spent six seasons with NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters.
Now 30 years old, Arihara’s brief time in the Majors was tanked by health woes. Originally signed to a two-year, $6.2MM contract, the right-hander posted a 2.21 ERA through his first four big league starts in Texas. His velocity dropped more than two miles per hour over his next four outings, however, and Arihara was shelled for 16 runs over a period of 8 1/3 innings before heading to the injured list. The Rangers discovered an aneurysm in his shoulder that required immediate surgery which sidelined him more than three months. At the time, GM Chris Young noted that it was “a very serious condition if it’s not treated, and we’re very fortunate that this was caught early and we didn’t continue to push it with [Arihara].”
Arihara returned late in the 2021 season but pitched just a dozen innings in September. The Rangers removed him from the 40-man roster over the winter. He remained with the organization in 2022 and spent the bulk of his season with Triple-A Round Rock, though Texas did call on him for 20 Major League frames late in the summer. Arihara allowed 21 runs in those 20 innings, although a staggering 11 of them came in one outing against the Blue Jays where the Rangers seemingly left him on the mound in hopes of sparing the bullpen and designated him for assignment the next day.
All in all, Arihara tossed just 60 2/3 Major League innings for the Rangers in his time with the team. He’ll head back to his native Japan and look to further build upon what was a solid NPB career prior to his MLB audition. In 836 innings with the Fighters, Arihara notched a 3.74 ERA with an 18% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate. He was particularly sharp in his final two pre-Rangers seasons, logging a 2.91 ERA through 297 innings in 2019-20.