Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rays Getting Jose Caballero, Richie Palacios Work In Center Field

By | at

Defensive versatility is a hallmark of the Rays organization, and they’re expanding the role for utilitymen Jose Caballero and Richie Palacios this spring, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Caballero, who played plus defense at shortstop, second base and third base in 2024, is getting reps across all three outfield spots in camp. He played two innings in left field last season. Palacios already played five positions last year and is also getting reps in center. Topkin calls him the leading candidate to back up presumptive starter Jonny DeLuca.

Caballero, 28, came to the Rays in a Jan. 2024 trade sending Luke Raley to the Mariners. He doesn’t provide much offense, hitting just .225/.308/.338 in 243 MLB games and 763 plate appearances, but he’s been a plus defender around the infield and piled up 70 steals in 89 tries through a season and a half’s worth of games. Caballero logged the lion’s share of playing time at shortstop last year, but with Ha-Seong Kim now in the fold and Taylor Walls healthy, he’ll move into more of a jack-of-all-trades utility role.

The 27-year-old Palacios was acquired from the Cardinals — in exchange for Andrew Kittredge — on the same day the Rays picked up Caballero. He split the bulk of his time between second base and the outfield corners in his first season with Tampa Bay and drew solid or better defensive grades across those positions. Like Caballero, he didn’t hit for much average or power. Also like Caballero, he adds value to his offensive game with another skill, though not his speed; Palacios walked in a massive 14.2% of his plate appearances last season. He chased only 22.3% of pitches off the plate, per Statcast, ranking in the 87th percentile of hitters (min. 300 plate appearances).

That both players are getting looks in center field is of extra note given the lack of an established player at the position. DeLuca is in line to see the bulk of playing time there, but the 26-year-old hit just .217/.278/.331 in 362 plate appearances last year. DeLuca spent more time in right field than in left, and fielded the corner spot quite well (6 Defensive Runs Saved, 5 Outs Above Average). His work in center was graded closer to average (-1 DRS, 2 OAA).

If DeLuca doesn’t provide more offensively and/or prove to be a standout defender in center, it’s feasible that either Caballero or Palacios could get more looks there. Tampa Bay also has outfielders Kameron Misner and Jake Mangum on the 40-man roster, each of whom has experience in center. More broadly, whoever ends up seeing the bulk of the early time in center could prove a placeholder for fleet-footed prospect Chandler Simpson.

Simpson is still relatively new to center field — the 24-year-old was a middle infielder in college ball — but he hit .355/.410/.397 between High-A and Double-A last season and is an 80-grade runner who’ll be one of MLB’s fastest players if and when he debuts. Simpson only hit one home run in 2024 but swiped a staggering 104 bases in only 110 games played — all while fanning in only 8.5% of his plate appearances.

DJ LeMahieu Diagnosed With Calf Strain

By | at

Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu recently underwent an MRI after tweaking a calf muscle during his spring debut and has been diagnosed with a strain, LeMahieu himself told the Yankees beat this morning (via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). It’s a Grade 1 or 2 strain, and while there’s no official timetable yet, LeMahieu will go at least a “couple” weeks without any baseball activity at all. That seems likely to rule him out for Opening Day, though the team hasn’t yet formally announced as much. He’s meeting with the team’s medical staff this morning to map out a timetable.

It’s another health setback for the 36-year-old LeMahieu, who appeared in just 67 games last season due to foot and hip injuries. He wasn’t productive when on the field either, batting just .204/.269/.259 with a pair of homers in 228 trips to the plate. LeMahieu posted career-low marks in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate, and his 56.4% ground-ball rate was the second-highest mark of his career and sixth-highest in MLB (min. 220 plate appearances). For a player whose sprint speed checked into the 20th percentile of big league position players, that’s obviously not a good trend.

The Yankees originally signed LeMahieu to a two-year, $24MM deal in the 2018-19 offseason. It proved to be one of their best free agent pickups in recent memory, as he posted a mammoth .336/.386/.536 over those two years, finishing top-four in MVP voting in both 2019 and 2020. The Yankees re-signed LeMahieu for $90MM the following winter. That’s about the sum he was expected to land over a four-year pact, but the Yankees stretched it out over six seasons to lighten the luxury tax hit. He’s never recaptured that peak 2019-20 form, but LeMahieu was a solid and versatile contributor from 2021-23, hitting .258/.345/.375 with quality glovework at first base, second base and third base.

Despite the poor showing in 2024, LeMahieu entered camp squarely in the mix for regular reps at third base. The Yankees’ budget is seemingly at its limit. They’ve passed on adding an infielder at either second base or third base (Jazz Chisholm Jr. can play either spot) and appear committed to going with in-house options. LeMahieu, former top prospect Oswald Peraza and utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera have been vying for playing time at the hot corner.

LeMahieu’s remaining two years and $30MM were always going to put him on the roster with some type of role, but his injury opens the door for a younger option at third base — be it Peraza, Cabrera or perhaps Jorbit Vivas. Vivas didn’t make his spring debut until this week. He’d been dealing with some shoulder soreness, but he’ll likely join the third base competition now. He’s already on the 40-man roster.

Offseason In Review: Cleveland Guardians

By | at

The Guardians kept their longtime ace but traded their everyday first baseman ahead of his final season of club control. Their offseason featured a blend of creative trades to trim payroll and acquire controllable talent, plus some short-term spending on veterans to replace some of the big leaguers they traded away. It was a vintage Cleveland offseason that should keep them in the mix in what'll be a tightly contested AL Central.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $37.5MM
Total spending: $54.5MM

Option Decisions

  • None

Trades and Waiver Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

The Guardians entered the 2024-25 offseason looking to bolster a roster that made an unexpected run to the American League Championship Series. Cleveland faced decisions on some players with dwindling club control and, as is always the case, some notable payroll limitations. In a departure from most offseasons, however, the Guards found themselves in an unfamiliar position: needing to acquire starting pitching.

Cleveland has emerged as one of the industry leaders in maximizing its rotation output. At times, it feels as though they have an almost magical ability to produce quality starting pitchers out of thin air. In fact, when the Guardians signed righty Ben Lively to a one-year, $800K deal in the 2023-24 offseason, it was the first time they'd signed any free agent starter to a major league contract since inking Gavin Floyd back in 2014. Midway through the 2024 season, they did so again, signing Matthew Boyd to a major league contract.

Both moves worked out splendidly. Boyd started eight games down the stretch and produced a sub-3.00 ERA. Lively finished second on the club with 151 innings and notched a 3.81 ERA and stuck with the club as an arbitration-eligible player. He'll be back in the 2025 rotation. Boyd, however, hit free agency and did so alongside former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber and trade deadline acquisition Alex Cobb.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Giants Notes: Eldridge, Luciano, Villar, Rogers, Stroman

By | at

The Giants announced a wave of cuts from camp this morning, with top prospect Bryce Eldridge and former top prospect Marco Luciano among the most notable names sent out to minor league camp. (Luciano is on the 40-man roster and was thus optioned, technically speaking; Eldridge was reassigned to minor league camp.) Right-hander Mason Black was also optioned to minor league camp.

Though some fans might’ve hoped the 20-year-old Eldridge would break camp this year, that was always an extreme long shot. The 2023 first-rounder has all of 17 games above A-ball under his belt: nine in Double-A (where he hit quite well) and eight in Triple-A (where he struggled in a small sample). Eldridge’s overall .289/.372/.513 slash across four minor league levels helped propel him to the No. 12 spot on Baseball America’s top-100 list and did nothing to dispel the notion that he’s San Francisco’s first baseman of the future. For now, however, he’ll open the season in the upper minors while veterans LaMonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores platoon at first base.

Luciano’s path to the roster was similarly unlikely. The former shortstop is still learning the ropes in his new corner-outfield environs, and San Francisco’s outfield mix has little room to break in. Heliot Ramos will be in left field after a breakout 2024 season. Jung Hoo Lee will be back in center now that he’s recovered from last year’s shoulder surgery. Mike Yastrzemski is in right field for what will be his seventh straight season. With Luciano still adjusting to the outfield, it benefits him to be in a setting where he can play every day and further familiarize himself with the new position.

The starters for the Giants are largely set. Patrick Bailey is the primary catcher. Wade and Flores will split at first base. Tyler Fitzgerald moves from shortstop to second base in deference to free agent signee Willy Adames. Matt Chapman inked a six-year extension late last season. Ramos, Lee and Yastrzemski round out the outfield. There’s more competition for the bench spots, but one player who’s all but squeezed out barring injuries further up the depth chart is infielder David Villar.

Villar impressed with a .231/.331/.455 showing and nine homers in 181 plate appearances as a 25-year-old rookie back in 2022. He’s since hit .170/.243/.346 in the majors while turning in only slightly above-average offense in a hitter-friendly Triple-A setting. Villar is out of minor league options and has less defensive versatility than fellow infielders Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely. Both Schmitt and Wisely have one minor league option remaining, and both can play shortstop. Villar has never played a professional inning at short.

As soon as Chapman and Adames were locked in on the left side of the infield, Villar looked to be an odd man out. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area wrote yesterday that for the former 11th-rounder, spring training this year is more about showcasing himself to 29 other clubs than earning a spot on the Giants’ roster.

Speculatively speaking, the front offices in Milwaukee and in the Bronx have been eyeing cost-effective third base options. Former Giants GM Scott Harris is now president of baseball operations in Detroit and has been looking for right-handed bats. His club just missed on Alex Bregman and lost one third base candidate (Matt Vierling) to a shoulder strain. Another, Jace Jung, has only 94 big league plate appearances and is out to a slow start this spring.

Villar is 28, out of minor league options and has a .200/.288/.400 slash in 358 big league plate appearances. There’s a chance he’d simply clear waivers and stick with the Giants as non-roster depth. But he’s a .268/.377/.511 hitter in three Triple-A seasons and can play both infield corners — in addition to more limited experience at second base. A club with a less-solidified infield mix could be interested in a small trade or waiver claim. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on how he performs for the remainder of the spring.

Shifting a bit away from the focus on what’s currently taking place in camp, Joel Sherman of the New York Post provides some context on earlier offseason trade talks between the Giants and Yankees. Per Sherman, the Yankees approached the Giants about a potential deal that would’ve sent righty Marcus Stroman to San Francisco in exchange for lefty Taylor Rogers. The Giants weren’t interested in that framework, it seems, preferring to move forward with a rotation including Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Justin Verlander, Jordan Hicks and one of Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong or Landen Roupp. (Harrison seems like the strong favorite.)

The Giants eventually traded Rogers and $6MM to the Reds, ducking out from half the money they still owed to the veteran lefty and adding minor league righty Braxton Roxby to their system in the process. The Yankees spent much of the offseason trying to move Stroman but now might be glad to have hung onto him; Luis Gil is dealing with a shoulder injury that’s thrust Stroman back into the rotation outlook in the Bronx.

A’s Shut Brady Basso Down Due To Shoulder Strain

By | at

The A’s have shut southpaw Brady Basso down for the time being due to a shoulder strain, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. There’s currently no timetable for his return to throwing.

While Basso wasn’t guaranteed a spot on the Opening Day roster — he still has a pair of minor league option years remaining — his solid rookie showing in 2024 put him in position to genuinely compete to break camp. A 16th-round pick back in 2019, Basso pitched the first 22 1/3 innings of his MLB career last season and logged a 4.03 earned run average with a 20.4% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate and 42% grounder rate. That came on the heels of a 4.55 ERA, 27.5 K% and 6.3 BB% in 93 innings (18 starts, four relief appearances) between Double-A and Triple-A.

The Athletics currently have Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs and JP Sears locked into rotation spots. Last season’s Rule 5 pick, Mitch Spence, very likely pitched his way into the fourth rotation spot with a nice rookie effort. Basso was in competition with Osvaldo Bido, Joey Estes, J.T. Ginn and Hogan Harris for a remaining rotation spot. It’s also possible he could’ve cracked the bullpen as a second lefty alongside veteran T.J. McFarland.

Through the first few weeks of camp, Basso had only strengthened his case. While Ginn, Bido and Estes have been hit hard and Harris has struggled with his command, Basso has rattled off 4 1/3 scoreless — and hitless — innings. He’s only allowed one of 14 opponents to reach (a walk) and had fanned four batters. Things can change in a hurry in a small spring sample, but to this point he could scarcely have done more with the opportunities he’d been given.

The A’s will have more information on his timeline for recovery in the days and weeks ahead, but a shutdown at this point effectively takes him out of the running for the Opening Day roster. If there’s a strain of any real significance, Basso could be a 60-day IL candidate the next time the team needs a 40-man roster spot, but that’ll hinge on the forthcoming prognosis and recovery timetable.

Padres, Jose Iglesias Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Padres and free agent infielder Jose Iglesias are reportedly in agreement on a minor league contract. The Boras Corporation client will earn a $3MM base salary if he makes the roster and can take home another $1MM via incentives. That’s a bit heavier base than the standard minor league pact, which seems reflective of Iglesias’ 2024 season and perhaps strong interest on non-guaranteed deals of this nature.

Iglesias, 35, enjoyed a tremendous comeback season in 2024 after not appearing in the majors at all in 2023. (He spent a portion of that season with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate.) Originally signed to a minor league deal by the Mets, Iglesias was summoned to the big leagues in late May as a scuffling Mets club shuffled up a roster that had produced a 24-33 record through the season’s first two months. The 12-year veteran went on to appear in 85 games and slash .337/.381/.448 in 291 turns at the plate. He also became a key figure in the Mets’ clubhouse and a fan favorite whose “OMG” song became an anthem for the Mets as they turned their season around and marched to an NLCS appearance that looked wildly improbable at the time of Iglesias’ call to the majors.

Impressive as Iglesias’ numbers were in 2024, the Mets haven’t been keen on bringing him back. That’s in part due to a largely inflexible roster; catcher Francisco Alvarez and likely backup infielder Luisangel Acuña are the only two projected position players on the Mets’ roster who can be optioned. Re-signing Iglesias would’ve effectively left the Mets with a static 13-player position core, as Alvarez isn’t likely to be optioned at any point in the near future. That would leave the Mets playing with a short bench anytime a position player needed a couple days off with a minor injury or illness.

Furthermore, there’s simply good reason to believe that Iglesias’ output was unsustainable. He benefited from a sky-high .382 average on balls in play that sat 72 points higher than his career mark entering the 2024 season. That surge in batted-ball results came despite Iglesias producing bottom-of-the-scale marks in terms of average exit velocity (85.8 mph), barrel rate (2.2%) and hard-hit rate (30.6%). The Mets — and presumably, based on his eventual contract — other clubs around the league clearly didn’t expect him to replicate or even approximate his 2024 results.

While some regression is to be expected, that shouldn’t take away the entirety of what Iglesias did with the Mets. He continued to demonstrate superlative contact skills, fanning in only 12.4% of his plate appearances. He’s also retained plus sprint speed even as he’s entered his mid-30s, clocking in at 28.6 ft/sec, per Statcast, and landing in the 83rd percentile of big leaguers as a result. Iglesias also played strong defense at both third base and second base, per Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. He’s not going to be the batting title contender that a cursory look at his 2024 line might suggest, but even a dip to his “expected” .314 weighted on-base average (via Statcast) would make him a useful utility infielder.

That could well be Iglesias’ role with the Padres, but it’s possible he emerges in a more significant capacity. San Diego presently expects to have Jake Cronenworth at second base and Luis Arraez at first base. If the Friars want to affordably bolster their infield defense, however, shifting Arraez to a DH role and moving Cronenworth back to first base could open second for Iglesias.

It’s also possible that he’s only in the mix for a bench spot, which would place him in something of an unofficial competition with infielders Eguy Rosario and Tyler Wade. Rosario is out of minor league options — one of the more intriguing out-of-options players in the league this spring — whereas Wade can’t be sent down without his consent due to his status as a veteran with more than five years of MLB service. The Padres aren’t going to carry all three on the roster. Iglesias could beat out either player, given his ability to handle any infield spot other than first base. Rosario isn’t yet arbitration-eligible and is thus earning roughly the league minimum. Wade’s $850K salary is barely north of the minimum. He has a $1MM club option, however, suggesting the Friars would prefer to keep him around.

Iglesias is an Article XX(b) free agent — meaning he’s a free agent with more than six years of MLB service who finished the preceding season on a major league roster or injured list. The 2022-26 CBA stipulates that such free agents who sign minor league contracts have three uniform opt-out opportunities baked into the contract: the first being five days prior to Opening Day, the second on May 1 and the third on June 1. As such, if Iglesias is informed late in camp that the Padres don’t plan to carry him on the Opening Day roster, he can trigger that out clause and explore opportunities with other clubs.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the agreement between Iglesias and the Padres. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported it was a minor league deal and also was first on the terms of the contract.

Adolis Garcia Avoids Major Injury, Expected To Be Ready For Opening Day

By | at

March 5: Bochy tells the Rangers beat that Garcia suffered only a “mild” strain that’s “not quite” severe enough to be even classified a Grade 1 strain (via Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). The current expectation is that Garcia will require less downtime than Langford has so far and that he’ll be ready for Opening Day.

March 4: Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia was scratched from today’s Cactus League game after reporting some discomfort in his left oblique. He’s headed for an MRI, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The team will have further updates once that imaging is performed. For now, manager Bruce Bochy has conceded that Garcia will “miss a little bit of time,” though he added that the team is hopeful it won’t be too lengthy an absence. Fellow outfielder Wyatt Langford sustained an oblique injury of his own 11 days ago and has yet to appear in a spring game. The Rangers haven’t yet ruled out Opening Day for either player.

Garcia, who just turned 32 over the weekend, enters the 2025 season in search of a rebound at the plate. He played a vital heart-of-the-order role for the Rangers in their 2023 World Series run, slashing .245/.328/.508 with 39 homers during that eventual championship-winning season for Texas.

The 2024 season brought a downturn in virtually every category of note. Garcia hit .224/.284/.400 with 25 homers. His strikeout rate remained nearly identical (27.7% in 2023, 27.8% in 2024), but his walk rate fell by more than three percentage points and he saw notable declines in exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate. Garcia also hit fewer fly-balls and saw a greater percentage of his fly-balls (12%, compared to 7.2% in ’23) result in harmless infield flies; he popped out to the infield an ugly 21 times on the year. Garcia also chased off the plate more and saw his contact rate on pitches within the zone dip. He was placing himself in pitchers’ counts far too often.

Most confounding, perhaps, was Garcia’s struggle to hit fastballs. While he batted only .197 against four-seamers in that terrific 2023 season, he often did maximum damage when making contact. Garcia pounded 16 big flies off four-seamers in 2023 but went deep on only five four-seamers in 2024. He hit .197/.276/.490 on plate appearances ending with a four-seamer in ’23; that line fell to .184/.251/.310 in 2024.

Garcia is in line to again serve as the Rangers’ everyday right fielder, though a strain of any note could impact his readiness for the season. Oblique strains can often take upwards of a month to rehab, and the Rangers’ season starts in just over three weeks.

With Langford also ailing, there’s some murkiness about how Texas might line up in the outfield on March 27. Evan Carter and Leody Taveras are both healthy. Utilitymen Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran have experience in the outfield. Designated hitter Joc Pederson could feasibly play left field in the short term, though he was exclusively a DH in Arizona last year (and has also been working out at first base this spring). Other options in camp include prospect Dustin Harris and veteran Kevin Pillar, who signed a minor league deal with a non-roster invitation last month.

On the back of that sensational 2023 season, Garcia signed a two-year, $14MM deal covering his first two arbitration seasons. He’s being paid $7MM this year and is under club control through the 2026 campaign. He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the final time next winter.

Job Posting: Baseball Research Analyst At Boras Corporation

By | at

From time to time, as a service to our readers, MLB Trade Rumors will post job opportunities of possible interest that are brought to our attention. MLBTR has no affiliation with the hiring entity and no role in the hiring process.

Position: Baseball Research Analyst — Full-time
Location: Newport Beach, CA

Description:
The Boras Corporation has an immediate opening for a creative, well-organized team player with a genuine interest in a career in baseball. You will be working in an office-based setting with others responsible for handling a variety of research, statistical and analytical needs. The ideal candidate will have personal experience in a team-sports environment combined with ability to present complex information in a visual presentation.

Minimum qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university (or sufficient relevant experience)
  • Prior baseball or team sports experience
  • Proficient in presentations, visual graphics, and Microsoft Excel
  • Outstanding communication, analytical, and organizational skills
  • Able to operate under short deadlines in a fast-paced environment
  • Salary range: $68,700 to $80,000

To apply:

Please send an email with the subject “Open BC Position” to borascorpcandidate@gmail.com by the end of Sunday, March 16, 2025.

Emails should include a PDF of your resume. Please, no cover letters. Additionally, the body of the email should contain the following, in this order:

  • Your full contact information
  • How you obtained this listing
  • Any details about athletic experience

Emails that do not contain all of this information will not be considered.

Mets, Royals Discussed Starling Marte Earlier This Offseason

By | at

The Royals showed interest in Starling Marte earlier in the offseason, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Those talks obviously didn’t produce a deal, but Sherman adds that Kansas City hasn’t completely closed the door on the possibility. There’s no indication talks are active, but it’s nevertheless notable that the Royals are still interested to an extent. It shows that Kansas City is still weighing options to bring in an outfield bat and that they perhaps have some financial flexibility even with a player payroll that’s nearly $20MM north of last year’s spending levels.

Of course, the Royals wouldn’t be taking on the entirety of Marte’s salary in a trade. The 36-year-old is entering the final season of a four-year, $78MM contract and is owed $19.5MM in 2025. Coming off a pedestrian .269/.327/.388 batting line (104 wRC+), Marte is no longer productive enough for another team to have interest in taking on the full freight of his salary. The Mets have reportedly been willing to pay down a portion of that $19.5MM.

Health is another factor to consider. Marte missed the final seven weeks of the 2023 season with a groin strain and was out for nearly two months last summer due to a bone bruise in his right knee. He’s been hobbled by ongoing discomfort in that same knee this spring and has yet to appear in a game. Manager Carlos Mendoza did suggest yesterday that Marte could get into a game within the next few days (link via Newsday’s Tim Healey), but presumably any team looking into the possibility of acquiring him would want to see the veteran outfielder get into a few games to demonstrate that he’s healthy enough to be considered likely for Opening Day.

The Royals’ interest in Marte makes some sense on paper. They’ve been looking for an outfield bat for much of the offseason and have come up empty. The Royals have looked into various trade targets and reportedly made offers to free agents Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar, who instead signed with the Blue Jays and Braves, respectively. Last year’s primary outfield of MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel and Hunter Renfroe was among the least-productive outfield groups in all of MLB. The Royals plan to give trade acquisition Jonathan India and infielder Michael Massey some work in left field this season, but the broad outfield outlook remains bleak if they can’t get a long-awaited Melendez breakout and/or a return to form for the veteran Renfroe.

When the two sides talked earlier in the offseason, per Sherman, the Mets expressed interest in Royals relievers Hunter Harvey and Angel Zerpa. Kansas City understandably didn’t have interest in moving a quality reliever to buy low on an expensive veteran in his mid-30s.

Unless the Mets are willing to take on the second season of a two-year deal for Chris Stratton, who hasn’t panned out as hoped in K.C., it’s hard to envision them prying a member of the Royals’ bullpen away in a Marte swap. Harvey was excellent for much of the 2024 season but struggled in July before landing on the injured list with what proved to be a season-ending back issue in August. He’s being paid $3.7MM this year in his final season of club control. Zerpa isn’t even arb-eligible yet and is controllable through 2028. He posted a 3.86 ERA with a 20.5% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and massive 58.4% grounder rate in 2024. Both are in line to play notable roles for manager Matt Quatraro.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top