Several Veterans On Minor League Deals Have Sunday Opt-Outs
The latest collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association is rife with contractual intricacies, as one would expect. MLBTR has confirmed that one of the new wrinkles set forth in this latest agreement stipulates that any Article XX(B) free agent — that is, a player with at least six years of service time who finished the prior season on a big league roster or injured list — who signs a minor league contract will have three uniform opt-out dates in his contract, so long as that minor league deal is signed 10 days prior to Opening Day. Those opt-out dates are five days before the start of the regular season, May 1 and June 1.
As the MLBPA announced at the onset of the most recent offseason, there were 188 players who became Article XX(B) free agents. The majority of those players signed Major League contracts. A handful retired, and some have yet to sign a contract at all. There were still more than two dozen players who signed minor league contracts, however, which makes them subject to the new uniform opt-out dates. Several of those players — Marwin Gonzalez, Matt Moore and Wily Peralta, to name a few — have already had their contracts selected to the Major League roster. Others signed their minor league deal after March 28, meaning they’re not covered under the uniform opt-out provision.
By my count, there are a dozen players who qualified as Article XX(B) free agents, signed minor league deals on or before March 28, and remain with those organizations but not on the 40-man roster. Each of the following veterans, then, will have the opportunity to become a free agent Sunday if they’re not called up to the current organization’s big league roster:
- Tyler Clippard, RHP, Nationals: The 37-year-old Clippard had a strong 2019 season in Cleveland and pitched brilliantly with Minnesota in 2020. His 2021 campaign with the D-backs was solid but truncated by a strained capsule in his right shoulder. He missed nearly four months to begin the year but pitched to a 3.20 ERA in 25 1/3 innings upon activation — albeit with subpar strikeout and walk rates (19.8% and 9.9%, respectively). He’s had a rough go in Triple-A Rochester so far, yielding seven runs on six hits and a whopping 11 walks in 8 1/3 innings. He’s also picked up a dozen strikeouts.
- Austin Romine, C, Angels: Romine is 2-for-15 with a pair of singles so far in Triple-A Salt Lake. He’s never provided much with the bat, but the longtime Yankees backup is regarded as a quality defender and receiver. He spent the 2021 season with the Cubs but only logged 62 plate appearances thanks to a sprained left wrist that landed him on the 60-day injured list for a significant portion of the season. Romine hit .217/.242/.300 when healthy last year and is a lifetime .238/.277/.358 hitter in 1313 Major League plate appearances.
- Billy Hamilton, CF, Mariners: At 31 years old, the former top prospect is what he is now: an elite defender and baserunner who’s never been able to get on base consistently enough to capitalize on his 80-grade speed. Hamilton slashed .220/.242/.378 in 135 plate appearances with the White Sox last season and is out to a 7-for-32 start with one walk and 11 strikeouts so far with the Mariners’ top affiliate. Hamilton has four seasons of 55-plus stolen bases under his belt, but he also has a career .293 OBP that’s gotten even worse (.269) over the past three seasons (524 plaste appearances).
- Blake Parker, RHP, Cardinals: Parker, 36, has yielded three runs in 7 1/3 Triple-A frames but is brandishing a far more impressive 11-to-1 K/BB ratio. He split the past two seasons between Philadelphia and Cleveland, pitching to a combined 3.02 ERA with a 24.4% strikeout rate against a 9.1% walk rate. Parker has had an up-and-down career since debuting with the Cubs as a 27-year-old rookie in 2012, but the cumulative results are solid. He carries a career 3.47 ERA with 34 saves and 47 holds. When Parker’s splitter is working well, he can be a very effective late-inning option.
- Derek Holland, LHP, Red Sox: The veteran southpaw has provided innings, but not necessarily at quality since transitioning into a bullpen role in 2019. Last season he appeared in 39 games for the Tigers, tossing 49 2/3 innings with a 5.07 ERA/3.96 FIP. Holland’s time with Triple-A Worcester hasn’t been smooth, as he has a 5.79 ERA and six walks over 9 1/3 innings.
- Steven Souza Jr., OF, Mariners: Due to an ugly knee injury and some struggles at the plate, Souza hasn’t been a truly productive big leaguer since 2017. Looking to revive his career with the Mariners, Souza has hit .200/.383/.333 over 60 PA with Triple-A Tacoma.
- Kevin Pillar, OF, Dodgers: This season marks Pillar’s first taste of Triple-A ball since 2014, and the veteran outfielder is overmatching pitchers to the tune of a .313/.415/.627 slash line over 82 plate appearances. One would imagine this performance will earn Pillar a look in Los Angeles or perhaps another team if the Dodgers don’t select his contract. Pillar’s minor league deal guarantees him a $2.5MM salary if he receives a big league call-up, which could be a factor for a Dodgers club that may be trying to stay under the third tier ($270MM) of the luxury tax threshold.
- Cam Bedrosian, RHP, Phillies: After signing a minor league deal with Philadelphia last July, Bedrosian posted a 4.35 ERA over 10 1/3 innings with the club despite recording almost as many walks (seven) as strikeouts (eight). The righty inked a new minors deal with the Phillies over the winter but has yet to pitch this season due to injury.
- Shelby Miller, RHP, Yankees: The former All-Star pitched well with the Cubs’ and Pirates’ Triple-A affiliates in 2021, and he has kept up that strong Triple-A performance now working as a full-time reliever. Over eight innings for Scranton/Wilkes-Barres, Miller has a 2.25 ERA with outstanding strikeout (31.3%) and walk (3.1%) rates. He also hasn’t allowed any homers, a notable stat for a pitcher who has had great trouble containing the long ball over the last few seasons.
- Matt Carpenter, INF, Rangers: Carpenter got a late start to Spring Training, and upon Opening Day, he expressed a desire to take the necessary time to get himself up to speed. Through 52 plate appearances in Triple-A, Carpenter has slashed an improved .239/.327/.457 with a pair of home runs. While not standout numbers, they are an improvement over the .203/.235/.346 slash line Carpenter posted in 901 PA from 2019-21 with the Cardinals.
- Carlos Martinez, RHP, Giants: Another former Cardinal looking for a fresh start, Martinez has yet to pitch for Triple-A Sacramento, as he is still rehabbing from the thumb surgery he underwent last July. With injuries and a nasty bout of COVID-19 factoring into matters, Martinez has only a 6.95 ERA over 102 1/3 big league innings since the start of the 2020 season.
- Keone Kela, RHP, Diamondbacks: Kela has also been ravaged by injuries over the last two seasons, including Tommy John surgery last May. Given the usual TJ recovery timeline, Kela isn’t likely to be a factor for the D’Backs until at least midseason.
Of course, players remain free to negotiate additional out clauses into their minor league contracts. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports, for instance, that lefty Adam Morgan has an opt-out provision in his contract with the Astros today. Morgan doesn’t have enough service time to qualify as an Article XX(B) free agent, but he’ll nevertheless have the opportunity to become a free agent Sunday if he doesn’t like his chances of eventually being added to Houston’s roster.
Trevor Bauer Receives 324-Game Suspension
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced Friday that Dodgers right-hander Trevor Bauer has received a 324-games suspension — two full seasons’ worth of games — effective today. That the suspension is effective today, rather than beginning retroactively last summer from the point Bauer was placed on administrative leave, indicates that Bauer will be suspended, without pay, through April 2024. Bauer, unsurprisingly, announced that he intends to appeal the commissioner’s decision. He tweeted the following statement:
“In the strongest possible terms, I deny committing any violation of the league’s domestic violence & sexual assault policy. I am appealing this action and expect to prevail. As we have throughout this process, my representatives & I respect the confidentiality of the proceedings.”
The Dodgers issued the following statement in reaction to commissioner Manfred’s decision:
“Today we were informed that MLB has concluded its investigation into allegations that have been made against Trevor Bauer, and the Commissioner has issued his decision regarding the discipline. The Dodgers organization takes all allegations of this nature very seriously and does not condone or excuse any acts of domestic violence or sexual assault. We’ve cooperated fully with MLB’s investigation since it began, and we fully support MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Policy, and the Commissioner’s enforcement of the Policy. We understand that Trevor has the right to appeal the Commissioner’s decision. Therefore, we will not comment further until the process is complete.”
Major League Baseball originally placed Bauer on administrative leave on July 14, 2021, in the wake of sexual assault allegations from a California woman who filed a temporary ex parte restraining order against him. For months, Bauer remained in limbo as the legal process surrounding the allegations played out. In August, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied a permanent restraining order to the alleged victim, bringing a close to that civil hearing. Potential criminal charges loomed as a possibility, however, dependent on the findings of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
That process dragged into the new year, but on Feb. 8, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office announced that criminal charges would not be brought forth. The DA’s office did not declare Bauer innocent nor guilty, but rather determined that, “After a thorough review of the available evidence, including the civil restraining order proceedings, witness statements and the physical evidence, the People are unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Bauer, who announced this week that he has filed a defamation lawsuit against his accuser, has been on administrative leave throughout the first several weeks of the 2022 season as Manfred and his office have conducted their own investigation into the matter. The league ostensibly opted not to begin conducting that investigation until the outcome of the legal proceedings were known, which has regularly been the case in past instances pertaining to the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse policy.
Today’s suspension for Bauer is the longest ban ever handed out under that policy, which does grant the commissioner’s office the authority to unilaterally impose discipline even in the absence of criminal charges. In essence, the suspension absolves the Dodgers of the remainder of the commitment owed to Bauer, who signed a three-year, $102MM contract in the 2020-21 offseason. That could change, depending on the outcome of Bauer’s forthcoming appeal.
A note from MLBTR owner Tim Dierkes: Though our normal policy is to close comments on posts relating to domestic violence, I have chosen to leave them open on this post. Given the magnitude of the news, MLBTR readers are going to discuss it no matter what, and leaving comments open here will help contain the discussion to this post rather than unrelated ones.
This is by nature a sensitive topic. Some readers may want to avoid the comments section on this post entirely, while others may employ use of the mute button. MLBTR’s commenting policy still applies.
Rays Claim Ben Bowden
The Rays have claimed left-hander Ben Bowden off waivers from the Rockies, the teams announced. Tampa Bay had an open spot on its 40-man roster so no corresponding move is needed. Bowden has been optioned to Triple-A Durham. The Rays’ 40-man roster is now full, while the Rockies’ roster is now at 39 players.
The Rockies never formally designated Bowden for assignment or announced that he’d been placed on waivers, though it’s hardly uncommon for teams to simply try to clear a roster spot in this fashion without first announcing the player’s placement on waivers.
Now 27 years old, Bowden was the No. 45 overall draft pick by the Rockies back in 2016. Praised by scouting reports for a plus changeup, Bowden has regularly missed bats at a high level in the minors (34.4% strikeout rate) but has also yielded too many free passes over the years (11.1% walk rate). Heading into the 2021 season, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote about Bowden’s inconsistent fastball velocity, noting that when he’s in the mid-90s with his heater he looks like a viable big league reliever. However, Bowden doesn’t always maintain that velocity, evidenced by the 92.6 mph he averaged on his heater in last year’s MLB debut.
That 2021 debut wasn’t a pretty one for Bowden, who posted a grisly 6.56 ERA in 35 2/3 innings. True to form, he showed the ability to miss bats (23.7% strikeout rate, 11.4% swinging-strike rate) but also issued far too many walks (11.9%) and was uncharacteristically susceptible to home runs (1.51 HR/9). Bowden had a huge showing at Double-A in 2019 and fired 11 2/3 shutout frames in Triple-A last year. This season in Triple-A, however, he’s been tagged for seven runs on six hits and six walks in just 7 2/3 innings. He’s fanned 11 of the 34 hitters he’s faced, maintaining that impressive strikeout prowess, but he’ll need to improve his command and more consistently get the best out of his heater if he’s to emerge as a legitimate big league bullpen option.
Mariners Designate Matt Koch For Assignment, Reinstate Mitch Haniger
The Mariners announced Friday that they’ve reinstated right fielder Mitch Haniger from the Covid-related injured list and designated righty Matt Koch for assignment in order to open a spot on the active and 40-man rosters.
Haniger, who paced the Mariners with 39 home runs in 2021, was out to a slow start in eight games before he tested positive for Covid-19 on April 16. Haniger missed nearly two weeks’ time and 11 games, and earlier this week told reporters that he was still not quite back up to 100% (Twitter link via Daniel Kramer of MLB.com). He’s apparently back in playing shape now and will return to the lineup and look to improve upon the .176/.200/.471 slash he posted through his first 35 trips to the plate.
The return of Haniger will only deepen a Mariners lineup that has been among the most productive collective units in Major League Baseball so far. The M’s rank eighth in the Majors with 88 runs scored and have the game’s third-best wRC+ at 123, indicating their lineup has been 23% better than average on the whole. Seattle hitters currently lead the Majors with an 11.1% walk rate, and they’re seven in home runs even without Haniger’s powerful bat. He’ll slot back into the outfield/designated hitter mix and ought to jump right back into the heart of the batting order.
Koch, 31, appeared in four games with Seattle and pitched 4 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on five hits (two homers) and a walk, striking out three hitters along the way. Koch has appeared in parts of five big league seasons, all coming with the D-backs prior to his Mariners debut this season. He was a serviceable arm out of the Arizona bullpen from 2016-18, pitching to a 4.04 ERA — albeit a mark that was not supported by the underlying metrics. Koch’s 13.9% strikeout rate and 1.72 HR/9 mark during that time were both considerably worse than the league average.
The Mariners will have a week to trade Koch, place him on outright waivers or release him.
Patrick Kivlehan Signs With NPB’s Yakult Swallows
Infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan has signed with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The well-traveled corner bat will be paid $600K and can boost that total via incentives. He’s represented by Pro Agents Inc. and Agency 1.
Kivlehan, 32, has seen action in parts of four big league seasons, most recently appearing in five games with the Padres in 2021. He also played with Team USA during last summer’s Olympics. A fourth-round pick by Seattle back in 2012, Kivlehan has bounced from the Mariners to the Padres, Reds, D-backs and, earlier this year, the White Sox, with whom he opened the season in Triple-A. He logged a career-high 105 games with the 2017 Reds but hit just .208/.304/.399 in 204 plate appearances. All told, he’s a .208/.308/.398 hitter in 250 big league plate appearances.
Tepid track record in the Majors aside, Kivlehan has a solid minor league track record, including a .263/.325/.488 batting line in more than 2200 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He mashed 32 home runs between the Pirates and Blue Jays’ minor league systems in 2019, slugged 21 long balls in just 91 games with the Padres’ Triple-A club in 2021 and was 5-for-12 with a pair of homers in three games with the ChiSox’ top affiliate this year before this NPB opportunity presented itself.
Braves Activate Ronald Acuna Jr., Designate Alex Dickerson
Ronald Acuna Jr. is back. The Braves announced this morning that they’ve reinstated their star outfielder from the 10-day injured list — the culmination of a nine-and-a-half-month rehabilitation process following an ACL tear sustained last July. It’s a bit of a surprise, as the Braves had been targeting a May 6 return according to manager Brian Snitker, though Snitker acknowledged at the time of that statement that the date was not set in stone. In a corresponding roster move, Atlanta has designated outfielder Alex Dickerson for assignment.
The 24-year-old Acuna is one of the game’s most dynamic talents and effectively has been since the moment he reached the Majors as a 21-year-old in 2018. Shaking off a rough couple of weeks to begin that original MLB promotion, Acuna went on an absolute tear and finished out the ’18 campaign as the near-unanimous Rookie of the Year winner, claiming 27 of 30 first-place votes (with two going to Juan Soto and one going to Walker Buehler).
Acuna slugged 26 homers and swiped 16 bases as a rookie, hitting at a .293/.366/.552 clip along the way. He’s kept that pace in the three seasons since that time, and will come off the injured list looking to build on a .281/.376/.549 career batting line and add to his already impressive total of 105 big league home runs (to say nothing of 78 doubles, seven triples and 78 steals).
While some fans may worry that Acuna is being rushed back to the big leagues, he certainly hasn’t shown any rust in his limited work with Triple-A Gwinnett so far. It’s only six games and 25 plate appearances, but Acuna is 7-for-19 with a double, six walks and three stolen bases (in three tries), which certainly paints the picture of someone whose major knee injury is firmly behind him. And, given that the Braves’ outfield is producing — or rather, failing to produce — at an alarming level, Atlanta brass has opted to proactively make a move to inject some life into the offense.
Marcell Ozuna has gotten out to a nice start in left field, hitting .257/.291/.486 with four homers and five doubles on the year. It’s a bit light in the OBP department, but the power production has generally offset Ozuna’s lack of walks. The rest of the Atlanta outfield, however, has been nothing short of a disaster. Adam Duvall is hitting .197/.250/.258 in 72 plate appearances. Eddie Rosario batted .068/.163/.091 in 49 plate appearances before undergoing an eye procedure that’ll sideline him for up to 12 weeks. Guillermo Heredia is hitting .158/.273/.368 in 22 plate appearances. The Braves have gotten some production in small samples from infielder-turned-utilityman Orlando Arcia and former prospect Travis Demeritte, but it’s clear that the current group wasn’t sufficient for a team with designs on defending a World Series championship.
Dickerson, at whose expense Acuna is returning, was also a notable culprit when it comes to the Braves’ general lack of offense. Signed late in spring to a one-year deal, he’s been used primarily as a designated hitter against right-handed pitching but has gone just 4-for-33 with one extra-base hit (a homer) while punching out in a quarter of his 36 plate appearances.
The 31-year-old Dickerson has generally been a productive hitter in his big league career when healthy, though that health caveat has loomed large. Dickerson was out for the entirety of the 2017-18 seasons thanks to Tommy John surgery and back surgery, and he’s spent considerable time on the injured list even during his active seasons. Dating back to the 2019 campaign, he’s been sent to the injured list with wrist, shoulder, oblique, hamstring and back injuries.
Dickerson was a revelation for the 2019-20 Giants after going from San Diego to San Francisco in exchange for minor league reliever Franklin Van Gurp. In 341 plate appearances with the Giants over those two seasons, he raked at a .294/.361/.552 clip, mashing 16 home runs, 23 doubles and four triples while walking at a solid 8.5% clip and striking out in 19.1% of his plate appearances (a good bit south of the league average). Dickerson’s 2021 season, however, included a trio of IL stints due to a shoulder strain, a back strain and a hamstring strain. He posted a diminished .233/.304/.420 slash last season and has yet to right the ship so far in 2022.
The Braves will have a week to trade Dickerson, place him on outright waivers or release him. Given his track record and an affordable $1MM salary on his 2022 contract, it’s possible another club will take a look. It’s equally, if not more plausible, however, that teams will simply wait for Dickerson to clear waivers and hope to sign him as a free agent. Because he has more than five years of MLB service time, Dickerson can reject an assignment to the minors upon clearing waivers and still retain his salary.
Outrights: Murphy, Riddle
A pair of players recently designated for assignment have cleared waivers and will stick with their organizations:
- The Nationals announced yesterday that right-hander Patrick Murphy has been assigned outright to Triple-A Rochester. He’ll remain in the organization following last week’s DFA but will no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old Murphy, claimed off waivers out of the Blue Jays organization in 2021, appeared in six games with the Nats this year but was tagged for six runs (four earned) on eight hits and eight walks with four strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. He struggled in D.C. last year as well and now carries a 5.55 ERA and 27-to-14 K/BB ratio in 24 1/3 innings of work since that waiver claim. The 2013 third-rounder sits north of 96 mph with his heater and has a solid minor league track record, so the Nats will hope that he can right the ship in Rochester and return to the big leagues at some point.
- Reds infielder JT Riddle cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Louisville, tweets C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic. Riddle has previously been outrighted in his career, giving him the right to refuse a minor league assignment. However, the 30-year-old has elected to report to Louisville, where he started the season with a .258/.333/.516 line in 36 plate appearances. Riddle, selected while the team was dealing with injuries to Jonathan India and Mike Moustakas, appeared in a pair of games with Cincinnati.
Offseason In Review: Seattle Mariners
The Mariners signed the reigning AL Cy Young winner and acquired a pair of 2021 All-Stars via trade. That it still felt like a bit of an underwhelming offseason speaks to the manner in which expectations have increased for the AL West up-and-comers.
Major League Contracts
- Robbie Ray, LHP: Five years, $115MM (Ray can opt out of contract after 2024 season)
- Sergio Romo, RHP: One year, $2MM
2022 spending: $23MM
Total spending: $117MM
Trades and Claims
- Acquired OF Jesse Winker and 3B Eugenio Suarez from the Reds for RHP Justin Dunn, OF Jake Fraley, minor league LHP Brandon Williamson and a PTBNL (later announced as minor league RHP Connor Phillips)
- Acquired 2B/OF Adam Frazier from the Padres for LHP Ray Kerr and minor league OF Corey Rosier
Extensions
- Signed SS J.P. Crawford to five-year, $51MM contract
- Signed RHP Andres Munoz to four-year, $7.5MM contract with three club options
Notable Minor League Signings
- Andrew Albers, Ryan Buchter, Mike Ford, Billy Hamilton, Matt Koch, Erick Mejia, Tommy Milone, Sal Romano, Steven Souza Jr., Patrick Weigel, Asher Wojciechowski
Notable Losses
- Kyle Seager (retired), Yusei Kikuchi, James Paxton, Joe Smith, Sean Doolittle, Hector Santiago, Justin Dunn, Jake Fraley
Buoyed by an exciting young core and a surprisingly strong bullpen, the 2021 Mariners were in contention until the very last weekend of the season. After an accelerated rebuilding effort that left the club with one of the game’s top-ranked farm systems — the best system, according to some outlets — last year’s 90-win showing cemented the Mariners’ status as a win-now club.
With that shift to a win-now mindset came heightened offseason expectations. The Mariners entered the winter known to be looking for a right-handed bat, ideally an infielder, and reinforcements for a rotation that is awaiting the arrival of several top prospects but had at least one, if not two short-term vacancies.
First and foremost, however, the Mariners had a decision to make on Kyle Seager, the longtime heart and soul of the franchise. After an emotional sendoff at season’s end and some controversy surrounding the communication from the team — or lack thereof — regarding his future, Seager’s $20MM club option was declined. He was paid a $3MM buyout and ventured out into the free-agent market on the heels of a 30-homer season. But rather than search for a new team and a fresh start, Seager instead somewhat surprisingly called it a career at just 34 of age.
The decision to decline Seager’s option was seen as something of a foregone conclusion, but it still stung for Mariners fans and the clubhouse. Seager had been one of two contracts of note on the books, however, and in the end, the team’s most costly players both departed. The other, Yusei Kikuchi, appeared as though he might stick around for one more season after the Mariners declined a quartet of club options on him, triggering a $13MM player option for the 2022 season. Instead, Kikuchi declined the option and eventually cashed in on a three-year deal with a Blue Jays team that appeared unfazed by his struggles down the stretch in 2021.
With Seager and Kikuchi off the books, there was seemingly no limit to what the Mariners could do in the offseason. Between the departure of that pair and the rebuilding effort that had cleared out the long-term payroll, the stage appeared set for the Mariners to spend at the top of the free-agent market and/or take on ample salary in a trade.
That led to natural speculation about the historic crop of free-agent shortstops, but president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto made clear early in the winter the organization had communicated to incumbent J.P. Crawford they were committed to him at the position. Rather than move Crawford from his position, Dipoto voiced interest in versatile free agents— “adaptable,” as he put it — and even took the unorthodox step of name-checking the likes of Javier Baez and Marcus Semien when making those comments. Seattle was also quickly connected to Kris Bryant, who has increasingly bounced around the diamond in recent years, and Trevor Story, whom they coveted as a potential second baseman.
Semien and Baez, however, came off the board early, with Semien inking a surprising seven-year deal to join the division-rival Rangers and Baez landing six years and $140MM (plus an opt-out) in Detroit. Seattle, meanwhile, indeed landed some adaptability and kept its options open while making its first acquisition of the year. Adam Frazier, acquired in a trade that sent reliever Ray Kerr and 2021 twelfth-round pick Corey Rosier to San Diego, is a viable option at either second base or in left field.
Long a steady producer at the plate, Frazier hit at career-best levels with the Pirates before being traded to the Padres and regressing to well below his career norms. He was an odd fit for a Padres team that didn’t have a need clear at second base or in left field in the first place, and the .267/.327/.335 batting line he posted in 57 games with the Friars proved underwhelming. The Padres, needing to jettison payroll, traded Frazier for a good bit less than they’d surrendered to acquire him — and the Mariners stood to benefit.
Even including last year’s rough 211 plate appearances in San Diego, Frazier carries a .281/.343/.416 batting line in 1829 plate appearances from 2018-21. For a Mariners club that posted the fourth-highest team strikeout percentage in baseball last year (24.8%), adding a contact-oriented bat like Frazier, who’s fanned in only 12.9% of his career plate appearances, was a sensible move. He’ll help to remedy some of the swing-and-miss issues that so often plagued Seattle in 2021. He’s only controlled through the 2022 season, but Frazier should give the M’s a solid bat to go along with excellent defense at second base.
The Frazier acquisition came just five days before Major League Baseball locked out the players and halted transactions for 99 days, but Dipoto and his staff still had time for one notable acquisition — a signing that proved to be the team’s largest strike of the offseason. Just 48 hours before commissioner Rob Manfred announced the lockout, the Mariners announced they’d ponied up on a five-year, $115MM contract bringing reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray to Seattle. The deal, which allows Ray to opt out after the third season, is the largest contract the organization has ever given to a free-agent pitcher.
It marked the culmination of an astonishing turnaround for Ray, who looked like a potential $100MM arm heading into the 2020 campaign before a lost season pushed him to take a one-year pillow contract. That proved to be perhaps the best $8MM the Blue Jays ever spent, as Ray not only rebounded to previous levels but broke out with far and away the lowest walk rate of his career. Ray paired that newfound command with his second-best strikeout rate — a 32.1% mark that was backed by career-high swinging-strike and chase rates (15.5% and 34.1%, respectively).
The Mariners are clearly sold on Ray’s transformation, and while they can’t love the slight dip in fastball velocity and major drop in strikeout rate he’s displayed through his first four starts of the season, Ray has tossed a quality start on three occasions already. That he’s now in a pitcher-friendly home park for the first time in his career bodes well for the lefty; Ray yielded an average of 1.54 homers per nine frames last year even during a Cy Young-winning season, but his new surroundings in the Pacific Northwest could help him to keep the ball in the yard with greater frequency.
Even with time running out before the lockout, the ever-active Dipoto still felt like a threat to make one more splash after signing Ray. The Mariners indeed took a big swing, reportedly making an offer to Story before transactions were frozen. (Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported last week that Seattle had offered in the realm of $125MM). Story, however, was still eyeing a concrete opportunity to remain at shortstop at that point. He eventually took a six-year deal with the Red Sox, agreeing to play second base for the 2022 season. Incumbent shortstop Xander Bogaerts has an opt-out clause at the end of this season, setting the stage for Story to slide over to shortstop in 2023 if (or when) Bogaerts opts out. Story, along with fellow rumored Mariners targets like Baez (Tigers), Semien (Rangers) and Kris Bryant (Rockies) eventually landed a contract of six years or more in length with another team.
Even with the swing-and-a-miss on Story, the Mariners weren’t quite done making pre-lockout deals. Just 13 hours before the lockout, the team announced a four-year, $7.5MM contract extension with flamethrowing reliever Andres Munoz. It was a surprising deal and a risk-averse one by Munoz, who’ll be surrendering three free-agent years. However, for a then-22-year-old reliever — he turned 23 in January — who’d only just recovered from Tommy John surgery and was still a full year from reaching arbitration, it’s understandable if the allure of a life-changing guarantee was too hard to pass up. Munoz can still become a free agent heading into his age-30 season, even if all three options are exercised, but it’s hard not to love the deal for the Mariners.
Munoz, acquired alongside Ty France, Taylor Trammell and Luis Torrens in the deal that sent Austin Nola and Austin Adams to San Diego, is averaging 100.7 mph on his heater so far in 2022 and has fanned 14 of the 27 batters he’s faced. He’s struggled with command at times, but he has some of the best raw stuff of any reliever in the American League. In terms of total guarantee, the Mariners are only risking about what it’d have cost them to sign a fifth starter (e.g. Jordan Lyles), so the upside on this contract is outstanding.
About 2400 hours later, after an excruciating 99 days of strategic leaks, finger pointing and generally unbecoming quarrelling between MLB and the MLBPA, the transaction freeze was lifted. Dipoto greeted a baseball fan base that was ravenous for some Hot Stove activity with what’ll go down as one of his all-time lines, saying in a March 11 radio appearance: “I woke up this morning ready to transact.”
He might’ve had to wait three days, but transact Dipoto did. On March 14, the Mariners landed outfielder Jesse Winker in a trade with the Reds, doing so for a prospect package that was a bit lighter than most would’ve expected because they agreed to take on the entirety of Eugenio Suarez’s remaining three years and $35MM. The trade cost the M’s pitching prospect Brandon Williamson, outfielder Jake Fraley, righty Justin Dunn and a PTBNL — later announced as righty Connor Phillips, their second-round pick from the 2020 draft.
In Winker, the Mariners acquired a 2021 All-Star who has emerged as one of the best hitters in baseball against right-handed pitching. Winker will draw his walks against lefties but is generally punchless against same-handed opponents. When holding the platoon advantage from 2020-21, however, Winker boasted a Herculean 169 wRC+ that trailed only Juan Soto and Bryce Harper. During that 2020-21 breakout, Winker hit .321/.417/.619 against righties and .292/.392/.552 overall. He’s controlled through 2023, and even though he’s had a slow start in 2022, Winker has the ninth-largest gap in Statcast’s expected weighted on-base average (.405) and his actual wOBA (.265). He’s upped his walk rate, cut back on his strikeouts and seems due to begin producing sooner than later.
Taking on Suarez surely wasn’t what Mariners fans had in mind amid the early talks of adding a big bat — not after he combined to hit just .199/.293/.440 from 2020-21. Suarez led the NL with 49 homers in 2019, but the ensuing rise in strikeouts looked to have tanked his overall offensive output. He somewhat quietly slashed a much better .238/.335/.524 in 215 post-All-Star-break plate appearances last year, though, and at least early on, he’s been a boon to the Seattle lineup (.271/.377/.525). If Suarez indeed rounds back into form — and remember he’s only 30 — what already looked like a solid get for the Mariners will be all the more strong.
Curiously, however, that trade marked the end of Seattle’s major dealings. Righty Sergio Romo was brought in on a one-year, $2MM contract — but only after fellow right-hander Casey Sadler underwent season-ending shoulder surgery. Dipoto & Co. brought in a slate of recognizable veterans on minor league deals, but none of Billy Hamilton, Steven Souza Jr., Ryan Buchter or Tommy Milone are going to grab too many headlines at this stage in their careers. It was a nice series of depth adds, but as far as impact moves, there’s a sizable gap between Dipoto name-dropping Baez/Semien and eating Suarez’s contract in a salary dump designed to get Winker into the lineup.
Then again, perhaps the front office doesn’t mind if onlookers felt the offseason fell shy of expectations. As previously noted, Suarez is mashing to begin the season, and Ty France has been one of the game’s best hitters. The Mariners’ offense has been one of MLB’s most-productive through nearly three weeks, and that doesn’t even include much in the way of help from top prospects Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic. If one or both of them gets going at the plate, the lineup could be deadly even without one of those marquee free agents.
Seattle’s final move of note might’ve come after Opening Day, but the groundwork for the deal surely was laid during Spring Training. Doubling down on the notion that Crawford is the Mariners’ shortstop of both the present and the future, the team signed the 27-year-old to a five-year, $51MM contract. That figure includes Crawford’s preexisting 2022 salary but tacks on an additional four years and more than $46MM in guaranteed money. Whether he’s thriving based on that peace of mind or would’ve taken his game to new heights regardless can be debated, but Crawford has posted a mammoth .356/.466/.559 slash with a career-best 13.7% walk rate and just a 5.5% strikeout rate so far. He’ll surely regress to some extent, but the arrow on the former first-round pick and top prospect’s bat has been pointing up for the past couple seasons.
Crawford joins France, Rodriguez, Kelenic, Marco Gonzales, budding rotation star Logan Gilbert, impressive rookie Matt Brash, former Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis and a series of yet-to-debut prospects (George Kirby, Noelvi Marte, Emerson Hancock) as holdovers in a core that’ll now be bolstered by veteran additions of Ray, Winker, Frazier and Suarez. It may not have been the cannonball into the deep-end of the free-agent pool for which Mariners fans had pined, but the future in Seattle is unequivocally bright, and the team still has both a deep farm system and considerable payroll capacity to make deadline acquisitions as needed. The end of a 20-year playoff drought finally looks to be in sight.
Adalberto Mondesi Diagnosed With Torn ACL; Brady Singer Optioned To Triple-A
11:19am: Royals general manager Dayton Moore announced that Mondesi has been diagnosed with a torn ACL (Twitter link via Lewis). That’ll quite likely end his season and, depending on his recovery, perhaps even his tenure with the team. Mondesi will be arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter. He’d likely command a salary similar to this year’s affordable $3MM rate, but coming off a major knee injury, it’s not a lock that he’ll be tendered a contract. The Royals will have the entire season to evaluate him and monitor his recovery before making that call. If he’s progressing well, it’s an eminently reasonable price, but only time will tell how the rehab process goes.
As for Singer, he will indeed be built back up as a starting pitcher in Omaha, Moore added. That could point to a quick turnaround and return to the Majors, assuming all goes well. Singer last pitched on April 26 and threw two innings. It’s feasible that he could make a start in the next few days.
11:15am: The Royals announced a series of roster moves Thursday, most notably optioning right-hander Brady Singer to Triple-A Omaha and placing shortstop Adalberto Mondesi on the 10-day injured list. Outfielder Kyle Isbel and infielder Emmanuel Rivera are up from Omaha in pair of corresponding moves. Mondesi is dealing with a knee injury, and tests last night revealed some structural damage, per Alec Lewis of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Outside of a brief rehab assignment in 2021, it’ll be the first minor league stint for Singer since 2019, when he was only a year removed from being the No. 18 overall selection in the 2018 draft. Singer made the Royals’ Opening Day roster in 2020 and has been on the big league roster (or injured list) since that time. He looked like a potential fixture in the rotation after a solid rookie showing in 2020, when he pitched to a 4.06 ERA with league-average strikeout and walk rates plus an excellent 53.1% grounder rate in 64 1/3 innings.
The 2021 season didn’t go as smoothly, however. Singer had an up-and-down first half but was generally serviceable prior to the All-Star break, logging a 4.52 ERA in 85 2/3 innings. He was averaging under five innings per appearance, however, and by mid-July his velocity had dipped a bit from its early-season average. Singer was clobbered by the Orioles for seven runs in just two innings on July 17, and the Royals put him on the injured list with shoulder fatigue a couple days later. Singer returned in just under a month, but he didn’t make it through the remainder of the season, as he went back on the injured list in late September with a biceps strain.
Kansas City somewhat surprisingly moved Singer from the rotation to the bullpen this year — a new role for a pitcher who’d started all 39 of his prior big league appearances. The results so far haven’t been great; Singer yielded four runs on seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Manager Mike Matheny said at the time the Royals set their Opening Day rotation that the organization still viewed Singer as a starting pitcher in the long term. It’s possible, then, that Singer will get the opportunity to stretch back out and return to the Majors as a starting pitcher. Kansas City has gotten poor results from both Kris Bubic and Carlos Hernandez, which could open the door for Singer or some of the organization’s other young arms to seize a starting job.
Optioning Singer carries implications beyond the right-hander’s immediate role or even beyond the team’s current rotation mix, however. Because Singer broke camp with the Royals in 2020 and was on the roster all last season, he entered the year with exactly two years of MLB service time. He’d need to spend 172 days on the roster in 2022 to reach three years of service and remain on track for free agency following the 2025 season. If Singer spends more than two weeks in the minors, it’ll push that free-agent eligibility back to the 2026-27 offseason. He’d likely still qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player — barring a particularly lengthy stint in Omaha — but the amount of time he spends in the minors will nonetheless be worth monitoring closely.
As for Mondesi, the knee injury is the latest in a long line of ailments that have kept the talented but increasingly fragile infielder out of the lineup. Mondesi has missed time over the past few seasons with oblique, hamstring, groin and, most notably, shoulder injuries. The shoulder issue proved to be particularly costly, as Mondesi twice suffered a subluxation before undergoing surgery that came with a six-month recovery timeline.
Mondesi played in 59 of the Royals’ 60 games in 2020, but overall from 2019-21, he appeared in just 196 of 384 possible games (51%). There’s no clear timetable for just when Mondesi might rejoin the Royals, but the very mention of structural damage portends a potentially significant time away from the lineup.
In the interim, the Royals are deep in middle-infield options. Bobby Witt Jr. has been playing third base with Nicky Lopez at second base, but both are experienced and more than capable shortstops. Whit Merrifield has been lining up in the outfield more often than not this season but could certainly shift back to second base, with Lopez sliding over to shortstop. That setup could open the door for Isbel — an accomplished minor league hitter who’s yet to solidify himself in the big leagues — to get a larger look in the outfield.
Padres Select Trayce Thompson, Place Wil Myers On Injured List
The Padres announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Trayce Thompson from Triple-A El Paso and placed fellow outfielder Wil Myers on the 10-day IL due to a left thumb injury. Righty Austin Adams was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to open a 40-man roster spot for Thompson.
Thompson, 31, is a former second-round pick (White Sox, 2009) and the younger brother of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson. He’s appeared in parts of five big league seasons, most recently logging 15 games and 35 plate appearances with the Cubs in 2021. Thompson impressed in that small sample of work, hitting .250/.400/.714 with four homers and a pair of steals — flashing the tools that once made him a lofty draft pick and a well-regarded prospect.
Of course, those tools haven’t translated into production at the big league level regularly enough. Thompson has tallied 624 plate appearances in the Majors but has just a .208/.283/.405 batting line to show for it. He’s homered 26 times and swiped 11 bags (in 13 tries) as a big leaguer, but Thompson has also been far too prone to strikeouts. He’s whiffed in 28.2% of his plate appearances, and his penchant for punchouts has worsened over the years; after posting a strong rookie season with the ChiSox back in 2015, Thompson has fanned in nearly 31% of his trips to the plate while hitting .184/.260/.370.
That said, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t earned an opportunity with his early-season work. In his first 16 games and 65 plate appearances with the Chihuahuas, Thompson has batted .316/.385/.860 with a jaw-dropping nine home runs. He’s added four doubles and a stolen base for good measure. Those numbers overwhelmingly outpace Thompson’s career .233/.303/.447 output in parts of seven Triple-A seasons, but there’s no denying the intrigue surrounding that blistering start.
As for Myers, he’ll head to the 10-day IL after opening the season in a .218/.254/.273 funk at the plate. That sloth-like start comes on the heels of a solid 2020-21 run at the plate, and it’s fair to say the thumb injury has contributed to his struggles. Myers originally incurred the injury during an at-bat two weeks ago and has been held out of the lineup on multiple occasions in an effort to let it heal. His placement on the injured list is retroactive to yesterday, so he’ll be eligible to return a week from Saturday.
Adams, meanwhile, is dealing with a forearm strain and was recently shut down from throwing for six weeks. It’s generally unsurprising to see him now transferred to the 60-day IL. That 60-day window begins with the day he was originally placed on the IL, not with today’s transfer, meaning he’s eligible to return in 50 days’ time. The 30-year-old righty has a 3.97 ERA and a very strong 31.8% strikeout rate in 59 innings with San Diego dating back to 2020, but he’s also walked 15% of his opponents in that time.