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Tom Murphy Out Multiple Weeks With Herniated Disc

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Giants backup catcher Tom Murphy was diagnosed with a mid-back herniated disc, the team announced to its beat writers this morning (link via Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle). He’ll receive an epidural injection and be sidelined for multiple weeks. The Giants haven’t formally ruled Murphy out for Opening Day, but things certainly appear to be trending that direction.

Waiver claim Sam Huff and minor league signee Max Stassi will compete for the backup job behind Patrick Bailey if Murphy is indeed sidelined into the season. The Giants also announced that they’ve pulled catcher Adrian Sugastey from minor league camp and formally given him a non-roster invitation to big league camp, replenishing some of the lost depth.

San Francisco signed Murphy, 34 in April, to a two-year deal worth $8.25MM in the 2023-24 offseason. Though he came to the Giants with notable durability issues, the veteran backstop had a track record of stout production when healthy. From 2019-23 with the Mariners, he turned in a combined .250/.324/.460 batting line in 807 plate appearances — despite playing his home games in perhaps the worst hitters’ environment in the sport. By measure of wRC+, Murphy was 16% better than average at the plate during his run with the M’s.

To this point, Murphy’s contract has played out quite poorly. The righty-hitting veteran appeared in just 13 games early in the 2024 season before suffering a Grade 2 knee strain that was originally expected to shelve him for “at least” six weeks but ultimately proved to be season-ending in nature. Murphy logged only 38 plate appearances in his first year with the Giants and posted an anemic .118/.211/.235 slash.

Though Murphy had a history of injuries, the knee troubles were a new development. He’d previously endured lengthy absences due to a forearm fracture, a foot fracture, a dislocated shoulder and a ligament injury in the thumb on his catching hand. Knee problems were not something he’d battled prior — just as this new development of back woes is not something that’s hampered him in the past.

Last offseason’s addition of Murphy came after years of former No. 2 pick Joey Bart struggling in San Francisco. Murphy’s two-year deal surely played a role in pushing the out-of-options Bart off the roster, and the breakout he enjoyed after being traded to the Pirates only further adds a layer to Murphy’s health troubles. Bart hit .265/.337/.462 in 282 plate appearances with the Bucs last year, hitting his way to the top of the Pirates’ depth chart as we enter the 2025 campaign.

In Huff and Stassi, the Giants have a pair of experienced options to back up Bailey — who’s perhaps the game’s best defensive catcher (and one of the best defensive players in MLB, at any position). Huff just turned 27 and was at one point a top-100 prospect with the Rangers. He owns a solid-looking .255/.313/.455 slash in 214 big league plate appearances, but the Rangers clearly weren’t bullish on his chances of sustaining that production. Given that he’s benefited from a .353 average on balls in play and fanned in more than one-third of his career plate appearances, that’s an understandable concern.

Stassi, 33, hasn’t suited up in the majors since 2022 due to injuries and a harrowing 2023 ordeal wherein his son was born more than three months premature and spent more than six months in the NICU. Thankfully, the end result was Stassi and his wife being able to take their baby boy home, but Stassi’s return to the diamond in 2024 didn’t go as hoped. He’d missed time with a left hip strain early in the 2023 season, and left hip troubles resurfaced in 2024 — this time requiring season-ending hip surgery.

When he’s been on the field, Stassi has been inconsistent but shown signs of being more than a backup. From 2020-21, he slashed .250/.333/.452 with 20 homers in 118 games and 454 plate appearances. He’s an elite pitch framer who’s also shown quality blocking skills on pitches in the dirt. If he’s back to full strength after a grueling couple of years — both personally and professionally — Stassi is an intriguing backup option. He’s need to be added to the 40-man roster, however.

The Giants have a handful of other health issues to keep an eye on in camp, though to this point there doesn’t appear to be major concern on any fronts. Outfielder Heliot Ramos is dealing with an oblique issue, per the Chronicle’s Susan Slusser, but it’s only expected to sideline him for around a week. Ramos is among the most critical young players on the Giants’ roster. The longtime top prospect broke out in 2024, slashing .269/.322/.469 with 22 homers in 518 trips to the plate. The overwhelming majority of his production came against lefties (.370/.439/.750), but if he can improve his .240/.286/.387 output against fellow right-handers, Ramos has massive everyday potential.

Southpaw Erik Miller is also a bit behind, per Slusser. He’s dealing with some numbness in his pitching hand that has naturally led to some concern. He’s not yet undergone extensive testing, so there’s no telling if he’ll miss any time, but the 27-year-old Miller had a breakout of his own during last year’s rookie effort. In 67 1/3 innings out of Bob Melvin’s bullpen, he logged a 3.88 earned run average with a huge 30.6% strikeout rate but also a bloated 13.4% walk rate. He’s currently projected to be the only southpaw in the Giants’ bullpen. They don’t have another left-handed relief candidate on the 40-man roster, although non-roster players like Joey Lucchesi, Enny Romero, Ethan Small and Miguel Del Pozo all have varying levels of MLB experience.

Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR's Steve Adams hosted a live chat today at 3pm CT, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers.

 

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Rays Sign Jamie Westbrook To Minor League Deal

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The Rays announced Monday morning that they’ve signed infielder/outfielder Jamie Westbrook to a minor league contract. The ALIGND Sports client will head to big league camp and provide Tampa Bay with some additional depth at multiple positions. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported the agreement.

Westbrook, 29, made his big league debut with the Red Sox in 2024. Originally a fifth-round pick by the 2013 D-backs, he’s begun to bounce around in journeyman fashion. The Sox were the fifth organization of his career and also Westbrook’s fifth in a span of six seasons. The Rays will make six organizations in seven years.

Though he struggled in a limited sample of 48 big league plate appearances, hitting .150/.234/.350, Westbrook posted a much sharper .277/.369/.450 output with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester — about 15% better than league average offensive output. Westbrook has also had big Triple-A seasons with the Yankees, Brewers and D-backs over the years. He’s played in parts of six Triple-A campaigns and slashed a combined .281/.375/.458 with just a 15.8% strikeout rate against a terrific 11.3% walk rate.

Westbrook has primarily been a second baseman in the minors, logging a massive 5372 innings there. However, he’s also tallied an even 2500 innings in the outfield corners (about 90% of that time in left field) in addition to just shy of 900 innings at third base. He’s a right-handed bat who’s typically thrashed left-handed pitching and at least held his own in right-on-right matchups at the top minor league level.

The Rays have plenty of position depth at the spots Westbrook has played most frequently. Brandon Lowe is back as the primary second baseman, while ballyhooed youngster Junior Caminero will get everyday reps at third. Christopher Morel and Josh Lowe appear to be in line for frequent corner outfield work. Utility players Jose Caballero and Richie Palacios offer cover at multiple positions, and former top prospect Curtis Mead has seen plenty of time at both second and third base. Outfielders Kameron Misner and Jake Mangum are both on the 40-man roster and can both play all three outfield spots.

Westbrook will presumably see frequent time at second base and in the outfield in Triple-A, but he could be in the mix for a bench spot with a big enough spring showing and/or some spring injuries thinning out the depth on the major league side of things.

Madrigal Diagnosed With Shoulder Fracture; Manaea To Begin Season On IL With Oblique Strain

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Mets infielder Nick Madrigal has been diagnosed with a fracture in his left shoulder after undergoing an MRI, manager Carlos Mendoza announced to the team’s beat this morning (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). He’ll be out “for a long time,” per Mendoza, though a formal timeline isn’t yet established. Madrigal is headed for a CT scan for further evaluation. Mendoza also revealed that left-hander Sean Manaea has a right oblique strain that will shut him down for the next couple weeks, likely ticketing him for the injured list to begin the season (via Newsday’s Tim Healey).

Madrigal’s injury occurred while playing shortstop during yesterday’s spring contest against the Nationals. The former top prospect charged a grounder that kicked off the mound, making a barehanded play and falling to the ground as he threw to first base (video link via MLB.com). Commentary noted that Madrigal headed straight for the dugout upon getting up, so it’s clear he knew something was amiss right away. He was originally diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder, but imaging revealed the fracture that will shelve him for a considerable period.

The Mets inked Madrigal to a split major league contract that paid him at a $1.35MM rate in the majors. The former No. 4 overall pick has a minor league option remaining and might’ve been bound for Triple-A to begin the year, but he’ll presumably head to the major league 60-day IL whenever the Mets next need a roster spot instead. He wasn’t expected to have a starting role, with Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil lined up in the middle infield and Mark Vientos at third base, but a strong camp would likely have put Madrigal in line for a bench role.

Instead, the Mets will presumably tap into their upper-minors depth. Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña have all drawn top-100 fanfare at various points in recent seasons. Baty isn’t an option to back up at shortstop, however, and Mauricio is still on the mend from the ACL tear that cost him the entire 2024 season. He’s not expected to play in spring games until mid-March. Acuña, who made his big league debut late last year, seems the likeliest in-house candidate to step into Madrigal’s spot.

It’s possible that the long-term nature of the injury could prompt the Mets to look outside the organization, where fan and clubhouse favorite Jose Iglesias remains unsigned. The Mets all but announced they were moving on from Iglesias a couple weeks back, with president of baseball operations David Stearns noting a lack of roster flexibility at the time.

Signing Iglesias would give the Mets a bench full of players who cannot be optioned to Triple-A. Catcher Luis Torrens and outfielder Tyrone Taylor have both exhausted their slate of minor league options, while Starling Marte can’t be optioned without his consent — as is his right as a player with five-plus years of major league service time. Iglesias would be in that same boat. In the event of an Iglesias signing, the only position player on the Mets’ roster who could be optioned would be Francisco Alvarez, who’s obviously not at risk of being sent down.

The loss of Manaea, meanwhile, further thins out a rotation that will see Frankie Montas shelved by a lat strain to begin the season. That takes two members out of the Opening Day rotation, which now likely includes a combination of Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill. It’s not a formidable group, with health and workload questions permeating the entire staff.

That said, the Mets weren’t planning to add another starter after losing Montas to a longer-term injury than the one Manaea currently faces. Montas will likely be sidelined into mid-May at the earliest. Manaea could very plausibly return in April if he rehabs the oblique issue without any setbacks. The immediate outcry among many Mets fans on social media was to use the Manaea injury as the impetus to re-sign Jose Quintana, but Will Sammon of The Athletic reports that the Mets are still planning to stick with in-house options.

On the one hand, it’s sensible enough that a short-term Manaea absence won’t prompt what would surely be an eight-figure expenditure after factoring in luxury taxes. Signing Quintana, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn or another veteran hurler for the full season when Manaea could miss as few as three to four starts in April could be construed as an overreaction.

On the other, the Mets quite arguably didn’t do enough with their rotation this winter in the first place. Senga pitched in one game last year due to injuries. Montas’ 2023 was wiped out by shoulder surgery, and he posted a 4.84 ERA over 150 innings in last year’s return. Holmes is converting to the rotation after six years pitching exclusively as a reliever. Canning was non-tendered and has a 4.96 ERA over his past three seasons. Blackburn is a fourth/fifth starter who was limited to 75 innings by a spinal injury last year. The rotation lacks certainty even when it’s at full strength — and the Mets are a ways off from full strength as things stand.

The Best Remaining Free Agent Position Players

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The market for free agents of any note is drying up by the day. In particular, we've seen a run on veteran pitchers. Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, Cal Quantrill, Jakob Junis, John Means, Tyler Alexander, Kenley Jansen, Scott Barlow, John Brebbia, Kendall Graveman, Luke Jackson, Scott Alexander and Lucas Sims have all come off the board in the past ten days. A few bats have signed in that time as well, but typically on smaller-scale deals. Justin Turner's $6MM Cubs deal is the most notable. Each of Michael A. Taylor, Ty France, Paul DeJong and Luis Urias secured guarantees between $1-2MM.

At this stage, there simply aren't many potential big league deals left for free agent position players. That doesn't mean there aren't any, however. There are still four free agent hitters who posted better-than-average offense last year, plus another couple notable names who are looking to bounce back from their first truly poor offensive performance in the past six seasons.

Let's run through some of the remaining free agent position players on the market, with a brief look at their 2024 season, what they bring to the table, and some of the best landing spots left for each.

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Brewers, Manuel Margot Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers and free agent outfielder Manuel Margot are in agreement on a minor league deal, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Wasserman client will be in major league camp for the remainder of spring training. Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel first reported that Margot was in the Brewers’ clubhouse this morning.

Margot, 30, spent the 2024 season with the Twins after being twice traded in the 2023-24 offseason — first going from Tampa Bay to the Dodgers and then going from Los Angeles to Minnesota. The Twins deployed him as a platoon option for lefty-swinging corner outfielders Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner, and they also gave him a handful of appearances in center field when Byron Buxton was out of the lineup. He posted an ugly .238/.289/.337 slash on the season (21% worse than average, by measure of wRC+), but the righty-swinging Margot was productive against southpaws. In 171 plate appearances, he hit .269/.332/.391.

Earlier in his career, Margot was a premium defensive player — one of the top outfield gloves in all of baseball. From 2016-21, he logged nearly 4500 combined innings across all three outfield slots and logged gaudy numbers there: 41 Defensive Runs Saved, 21.6 Ultimate Zone Rating, 53 Outs Above Average.

Margot’s career took a turn in 2022 when he suffered a partial tear in the patellar tendon of his right knee. He missed nearly half the season as a result. Margot hit .302/.365/.423 through the time of that June injury but mustered only a .240/.276/.318 line upon returning late in the year. In 849 turns at the plate since returning from that injury, he’s a .249/.295/.349 hitter. His once-elite sprint speed — Margot debuted with 99th percentile speed in 2016, per Statcast — has plummeted to roughly league-average (53rd percentile last year). The loss in sprint speed, unsurprisingly, is in direct alignment with that knee injury.

While he can still play all three outfield positions, Margot graded out slightly below average with Minnesota in 2024. It’s possible that he’ll regain some quickness as he further distances himself from that 2022 injury, but a return to his 70- or 80-grade speed as he enters his 30s isn’t going to happen.

The Brewers have a full outfield, with Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick and Blake Perkins all vying for time. Christian Yelich will likely see at least some time in left field, but he’ll increasingly be deployed at designated hitter as his injury history continues to grow. (Yelich’s 2024 season ended in August due to back surgery.) Margot’s right-handed bat could complement lefties Mitchell and Frelick, but Chourio hits right-handed and the switch-hitting Perkins is a better hitter from the right side of the plate.

Margot will give the club some depth in the event of an injury, but he’s not a lock to make the club. He’s also an Article XX(b) free agent (i.e. six-plus years of service, ended the prior season on a major league roster/injured list), meaning he’ll have three uniform opt-out dates in his minor league contract: five days before Opening Day (March 22), May 1 and June 1. He can opt out and elect to become a free agent at any of those points if he’s not on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster.

Cubs, Greg Allen Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs have agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder Greg Allen, reports Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. The CAA client has been invited to major league camp.

Allen, 31, has appeared in parts of seven big league seasons. The 2024 campaign was the first time since 2016 that he hasn’t appeared in the majors in a given season. He spent last year with the Yankees organization, hitting .225/.338/.360 with three homers and 13 steals (in 15 attempts) during 58 Triple-A games.

A plus runner with a light bat, Allen has never hit much in the majors. He carries just a .231/.300/.340 line in 828 plate appearances. However, he’s swiped 48 bags in 57 tries (84.2%) and has regularly provided good defense across all three outfield slots — particularly in left field.

The Cubs aren’t hurting for outfield depth by any means. They have Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker lined up to start, with Seiya Suzuki filling a DH role and likely spelling Happ and Tucker in the corners. Utilityman Vidal Brujan has primarily been an infielder but has gained experience across all three outfield slots over the past few seasons. Kevin Alcantara and Owen Caissie, both ranked among the game’s top-100 prospects, are on the cusp of MLB readiness. The Cubs are deep enough that they felt comfortable designating out-of-options slugger Alexander Canario for assignment earlier this week.

That said, the potential loss of Canario and a groin strain for Caissie that currently has him shut down from all baseball activity has at least thinned the group a bit. Allen can add some cover at all three outfield positions and bring an element of speed to the upper levels of the Cubs’ system. He’s unlikely to break camp with the club, but he’ll bring a career .276/.387/.413 line in parts of six Triple-A seasons to the Cubs’ top affiliate in Iowa if he begins the season in Triple-A.

Mets Not Planning To Add A Starter

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The Mets’ rotation suffered a blow barely a week into camp when free agent acquisition Frankie Montas felt discomfort in his first bullpen session of camp. After a healthy offseason, Montas was diagnosed with a lat strain that has prompted the Mets to shut him down from throwing entirely. The team announced a no-throw period of six to eight weeks. Montas is taking a more optimistic tack, suggesting it’ll be four to six weeks. Regardless, he won’t throw at all for the majority of spring training, at which point he’ll need to build up from scratch. An absence extending into at least mid-May seems likely.

Even with that loss and a handful of notable starters still on the market, the Mets aren’t planning to add another arm to their rotation, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports. While further injuries could of course change that thinking, for now the Mets plan to rely on their in-house depth while weathering their first injury of note. Additionally, the previously planned six-man rotation will now likely drop to five, manager Carlos Mendoza tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Locks for the Opening Day rotation, health permitting, include Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, David Peterson and reliever-turned-starter Clay Holmes. Righties Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning and Paul Blackburn will vie for the fifth spot. Megill has a minor league option remaining. Canning and Blackburn do not, and both are earning more than $4MM this season, so it’s unlikely they’d be cut loose. (That’s especially true of Canning, who signed as a free agent over the winter.) Top prospect Brandon Sproat will be in the running at some point, but he still has only 116 1/3 professional innings under his belt, with only 28 2/3 of those coming in Triple-A.

Sammon’s report dovetails with recent suggestions that the Mets aren’t likely to pursue a reunion with Jose Quintana, despite the veteran left-hander’s openness to returning to Queens. Quintana declined an offer worth more than $5.25MM from the Pirates before Pittsburgh agreed to terms with fellow left-handed veteran Andrew Heaney. While it’s not clear that decision was made in hopes of the Mets coming through with an offer of their own, it does appear to shut the door on opportunities for Quintana with either club. Beyond Quintana, veterans like Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn and Spencer Turnbull are all still seeking homes.

For the Mets, any additions to the major league roster will be doubly cost prohibitive. They’re again a CBT payor in the top penalty tier, meaning any subsequent additions come with a 110% luxury tax. Signing Quintana in the $5-6MM range, for instance, would cost the team $10.5MM to $12.6MM. The Mets are already running a $331MM cash payroll, per RosterResource, which comes with nearly $67MM worth of luxury taxes.

In essence, the Mets are already paying close to $400MM total for the current roster. On the one hand, fans could argue “what’s another $10-12MM at that point?” On the other, even the sport’s wealthiest owner, Steve Cohen, surely has his limits. Plus, if things go according to plan in 2025, the Mets will be deadline buyers, presumably adding even further to that massive financial outlay. Time will tell whether the rest of the rotation group holds up through the remainder of camp — injuries abound in spring training every year — but for now, Mets fans shouldn’t hold out hope for a Quintana reunion or any other guaranteed deal to deepen the starting staff.

The Opener: Yankees, Spring Training, Miller, Quintana

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As Spring Training continues, here are four things to keep an eye on heading into the weekend:

1. Yankees alter facial hair policy:

For more than half a century, the Yankees have adhered to a strict facial hair policy barring their players from sporting beards. The policy dates back to 1973, when late owner George Steinbrenner disapproved of the shaggy hair and facial hair of several players on Opening Day — Thurman Munson, Sparky Lyle and Bobby Murcer among them. Each offseason, there’s an air of almost novelty when a typically bearded player signs with the Yankees and fans wonder how he’ll look reporting to camp clean-shaven. (Or, alternatively, when a longtime Yankee departs and promptly grows a beard, as Gleyber Torres has done in his new Detroit environs.) Many Yankees have still donned mustaches over the years, with examples ranging from Don Mattingly to Jason Giambi to 2024 Yankees like Nestor Cortes and Austin Wells. Newly signed Max Fried arrived in camp with a prominent mustache on display last week.

As of this morning, managing partner Hal Steinbrenner has had a change of heart. He issued the following statement:

“In recent weeks I have spoken to a large number of former and current Yankees — spanning several eras — to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback. These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back several years. Ultimately the final decision rests with me, and after great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward. It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.”

It doesn’t appear that the Yankees will embrace a full Brandon Marsh or peak “Captain Caveman” Johnny Damon look anytime soon, but for the first time in a generation, there’ll be some beards sprouting up in camp. Early returns on a quick poll from Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch suggests that the move is overwhelmingly popular among fans, with roughly 80% of respondents approving of the change.

2. Spring Training games:

The first Spring Training game of the year was held yesterday between the Cubs and the Dodgers, and throughout the weekend the rest of the league will get in on the action as well. Notable starters who have been announced for this weekend’s slate of games include Yankees righty Marcus Stroman and Dodgers righty Tony Gonsolin, both of whom are fighting for a rotation spot this spring. Diamondbacks and Red Sox fans will get their first glimpse of offseason additions Corbin Burnes and Garrett Crochet pitching for their new organizations. Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara will be making his first pitching appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023. Fans and clubs will also be getting their first taste of the automatic ball-strike system that MLB is testing this spring, which could be implemented in the majors as soon as next year.

3. Miller in concussion protocol:

Yesterday’s game between the Dodgers and the Cubs featured a scary moment where right-hander Bobby Miller was struck with a 106mph line drive off the bat of Michael Busch. The comebacker struck Miller in the head, though after briefly hitting the ground the 25-year-old managed to walk off the field under his own power. Miller later posted on social media to assure fans that he was doing well after the incident, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale relayed that the righty remains in MLB’s concussion protocol. Miller, Gonsolin and Dustin May are among the pitchers hoping to win the final rotation spot in Los Angeles this spring, though on-the-field considerations are a very, very distant second to the player’s general well-being in frightening situations such as this.

4. Will Quintana find the right deal?

After the Pirates signed southpaw Andrew Heaney to deepen their rotation mix yesterday, reporting indicated that Pittsburgh actually went to Jose Quintana first in hopes of working out a reunion. The veteran southpaw was reportedly offered a guarantee larger than the $5.25MM Heaney landed from the Pirates, but when Quintana declined the offer, the Bucs pivoted to bring Heaney into the fold. With Heaney off the market, Quintana is now the clear best left-handed starter still available and arguably the best overall starter left on the market. With the majority of teams seemingly satisfied with their starting depth as things stand, however, will he be able to find the deal he’s looking for?

Athletics Sign Dylan Floro To Minor League Deal

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5:03pm: The A’s announced that they have signed Floro to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

1:50pm: Veteran right-hander Dylan Floro has a locker set up in the Athletics’ clubhouse, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. It’s not clear whether he’s come to terms on a major league or minor league contract, but some type of deal between the two sides is in place. Floro is represented by Pro Edge Sports Management. If the A’s need to add him to the 40-man roster, they can do so easily by sliding Ken Waldichuk to the 60-day injured list while he continues rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

Floro, 34, split the 2024 season between the Nationals and D-backs, combining for 68 innings of 3.80 ERA ball. Those solid end-of-year numbers don’t tell the full tale of his season, however. The nine-year MLB veteran excelled in D.C., logging a pristine 2.06 earned run average through 52 1/3 innings. Floro’s 19.6% strikeout rate was well below average, but his 6.4% walk rate was excellent and his 47.6% grounder rate was sharp. However, the big driver of his success was a 2.2% homer-to-flyball ratio (one homer in 52 1/3 innings).

The rate stats painted Floro as a regression candidate, and while the Snakes surely weren’t expecting him to continue on with a rough 2.00 ERA pace, the extent to which the pendulum swung in the opposite direction with Arizona was nonetheless shocking. Floro was shelled for 17 earned runs — five more than he allowed in his entire Nationals tenure —  in 16 1/3 innings. After surrendering just one homer through 204 batters faced as a National, Floro served up round-trippers to four of the 75 opponents he faced wearing a D-backs uniform. Arizona wound up designating Floro for assignment and releasing him in late September.

Though Floro’s home run suppression in Washington last year was clearly unsustainable, the veteran righty has demonstrated throughout his big league career that he’s better at keeping the ball in the yard than quite literally any pitcher in MLB. Outside of the 2017 season, when he logged only 9 2/3 MLB innings, Floro has never averaged even one homer per nine innings pitched. Opponents have mustered only 0.54 homers per nine frames against Floro throughout his 402 2/3 big league innings. Since his 2016 debut, 259 pitchers have tossed 400 or more innings. None has a lower HR/9 mark than Floro (making his Arizona struggles all the more surprising).

It should be noted that Floro’s struggles with the Diamondbacks weren’t simply a function of poor luck, however. The right-hander also worked with significantly diminished stuff in 2024. He’s never been a flamethrower, but Floro sat 92.9 mph with his heater from 2020-23 — including a 92.3 mark in ’23. Last year, that average velocity plummeted to 89.8 mph, per Statcast. His sinker (93.1 mph from 2020-23) followed suit, tumbling to 89.9 mph on average. Floro’s slider and changeup both sat 85-86 mph in 2020-23 but landed at 83.3 mph and 83.5 mph, respectively, in 2024.

If Floro can restore some of that lost velocity or simply pitch more effectively with reduced stuff, he has the track record to suggest he can be a valuable piece in manager Mark Kotsay’s bullpen. Since solidifying himself as a big league reliever with the Reds and Dodgers in 2018, Floro boasts a 3.38 ERA, 32 saves and 53 holds. His 21.1% strikeout rate in that time is a couple percentage points worse than average, but his 7.2% walk rate is more than a percentage point better than par and his 50.4% ground-ball mark is quite strong.

The Athletics’ bullpen is anchored by star closer Mason Miller and free agent signee Jose Leclerc. Miller, Leclerc and lefty T.J. McFarland are the only three members of the A’s bullpen with even one full year of service. Floro would add a fourth experienced veteran who could help with setup duties and take pressure off minor league free agent pickups Tyler Ferguson and Michel Otañez, both of whom found their way into late-inning roles last season despite debuting as 31-year-old and 27-year-old rookies, respectively.

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