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Reds Sign Austin Hays

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The Reds announced the signing of outfielder Austin Hays to a one-year deal. The MAS+ client is reportedly guaranteed $5MM. That takes the form of a $4MM salary for the upcoming season and a $1MM buyout on a $12MM mutual option for 2026. Hays can earn an additional $1MM via incentives. Right-hander Casey Legumina was designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Hays, 29, gives the Reds the right-handed-hitting complement they’ve been seeking for the lefty-swinging outfield group of TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley and Will Benson. He’s a career .277/.331/.469 hitter against left-handed pitching and has experience playing all three outfield spots — though he’s generally better suited for corner work than center field.

As recently as 2023, Hays was an All-Star in Baltimore. He had a down showing in the second half after a monster .314/.355/.498 first half of that season but still finished out the year with a hearty .275/.325/.444 batting line in 566 plate appearances.

The 2024 season, however, was an abject nightmare for Hays. He struggled immensely on the field, due to a pair of leg injuries (hamstring strain, calf strain) and, far more concerning, a kidney infection. As Rosenthal detailed earlier in the offseason, Hays described that kidney infection as “the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.” Upon discovering it, doctors told him he’d likely been suffering from the ill effects of that infection for weeks prior.

Hays told Rosenthal that his symptoms included nausea, lightheadedness, lower back pain, sluggish legs and even a “brain fog” that would at times cause him to lose focus and forget what he was talking about mid-conversation. Hays initially chalked some of the exhaustion, leg fatigue and back pain up to the rigors of a full season and the prior hamstring/calf strains still impacting him. As time wore on and his symptoms increased, it became clear something else was at play.

A healthy Hays could well be a boon to the Cincinnati outfield, particularly if he’s in line to face a large slate of left-handed pitching. The move from Baltimore to Cincinnati should favor him considerably, too. Camden Yards has become a wasteland for right-handed power hitters in recent years, following the team’s decision to alter the dimensions in left field. Since 2022, when the O’s initially altered their park and installed a towering wall in left field (often referred to as “Mount Wall-timore”), their stadium has been the third-worst in MLB for right-handed home runs, per Statcast, leading only Cleveland’s Progressive Field and Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, meanwhile, ranks as the third most-favorable park in MLB for right-handed home runs, by those same park factors.

Hays’ presence in Cincinnati could open up some more infield and/or DH at-bats for fellow righty Spencer Steer, who played primarily in the outfield last year. Steer is an infielder by trade, but his versatility was leveraged when the Reds’ infield became increasingly crowded.

The trade of Jonathan India and overwhelming struggles of Noelvi Marte last year have perhaps lent some extra clarity to the infield, however. There’s still some playing time to sort out this spring, but Steer could see time at the corners and DH alongside Jeimer Candelario, who also struggled in an injury-marred 2024 season, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who missed most of the year due to wrist surgery. Matt McLain (who missed most of the season due to shoulder surgery) and Elly De La Cruz are in line to serve as the primary second baseman and shortstop, respectively. Trade acquisition Gavin Lux could also see time at second base and in left field. Broadly speaking, the Reds’ lineup will feature quite a few moving parts for new skipper Terry Francona to juggle based on matchups, health and workload management.

Hays’ $5MM guarantee will push the Reds’ payroll just north of $110MM, marking an increase of about $10MM over their 2024 budget. Even an increase of that level looked questionable just weeks ago, but the team’s surprise agreement with Main Street Sports/FanDuel Sports Network (the rebranded Diamond Sports/Bally RSN provider) afforded president of baseball operations Nick Krall some additional resources to further build out the 2025 club. The Reds have also been tied to relief upgrades, Carlos Estevez most notably, but it’s not clear whether ownership’s budgetary preferences can accommodate both Hays and another bullpen arm — particularly one of Estevez’s caliber and likely asking price.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Hays and the Reds had agreed to a one-year, $5MM deal with $1MM in incentives. Jon Heyman of The New York Post had the salary breakdown and the mutual option.

Mets Re-Sign Ryne Stanek

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January 30: The Mets now have made it official. Right-hander Dylan Covey has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

January 29: The Mets are bringing back right-handed reliever Ryne Stanek. New York is reportedly in agreement with the MVP Sports Group client on a one-year, $4.5MM guarantee with an additional $500K available in incentives. The Mets will pay a 95% luxury tax on the contract, pushing their investment to $8.775MM. The team has yet to announce the signing, which is still pending a physical.

Stanek, 33, played the 2024 season on a one-year, $4MM deal originally signed with the Mariners. Seattle flipped him to the Mets over the summer in a deal netting them minor league outfielder Rhylan Thomas. Stanek had a pair of very rough outings early in his Mets tenure but finished out the regular season on a hot streak (2.92 ERA, 18-to-4 K/BB ratio in 12 1/3 innings) before playing a key role in the Mets’ postseason run. The big 6’4″ righty held opponents to three runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in eight frames during the playoffs. He got the final out in three Mets victories during the postseason (all of them non-save situations): Game 1 of the Wild Card Series and Games 1 and 3 of the NLDS.

Since establishing himself as a big leaguer back in 2018, Stanek has been consistently successful in short stints. He’s pitched 382 1/3 innings and logged a 3.53 ERA, fanning a very strong 27.6% of opponents against a less palatable 11.6% walk rate (about three percentage points north of average). Stanek has technically “started” 56 games in his career, though those were all working as an opener in Tampa Bay.

Stanek is typically good for one to two innings of high-octane relief, averaging 97.8 mph on his four-seamer in his career — including 98.1 mph over the past three seasons. His strikeout rate is strong, and his bat-missing ability is elite, evidenced by a hefty 15.1% swinging-strike rate in his career (and a mark of 15% or better in five of his seven seasons). Since Stanek debuted in 2017, only nine of the 214 pitchers with at least 400 innings pitched have a better swinging-strike rate — and that list is a veritable who’s-who of star pitchers (Josh Hader, Edwin Diaz, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Raisel Iglesias, Ryan Pressly, Craig Kimbrel, Shane McClanahan). Poor command undercuts Stanek’s raw ability to generate whiffs at times, but that ability and his potent raw stuff continue to intrigue clubs.

Stanek joins A.J. Minter — who inked a two-year, $22MM deal — as a late-inning addition for president of baseball operations David Stearns this offseason. That pair will help set up for Edwin Diaz. The Mets have a deep collection of other arms to consider for the bullpen. Free agent pickup Griffin Canning seems ticketed for a long relief/swingman role, while short-relief candidates include Reed Garrett, Jose Butto, Danny Young, Sean Reid-Foley, Dedniel Nunez, Huascar Brazoban, Austin Warren, Max Kranick, Kevin Herget and Tyler Zuber. Each of Butto, Young, Reid-Foley and Dylan Covey are on the 40-man roster but out of minor league options; there’ll be some movement among this collection of depth arms between now and Opening Day.

Stanek is the third free agent addition for the Mets in the past couple weeks. They’ve also added Minter and Jesse Winker in that span — all at a time when they’re reportedly expecting longtime cornerstone Pete Alonso to sign elsewhere after he rejected a three-year offer from the team. The potential for a reunion there will continue to linger, owner Steve Cohen’s recent public comments notwithstanding, but the Mets have now added $23-24MM in 2025 salary and another $25-26MM worth of luxury taxes since Alonso turned down that offer.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com first reported that the Mets and Stanek were in agreement on a one-year deal. SNY’s Andy Martino indicated the salary would land between $4MM and $5MM. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the $4.5MM guarantee and the $500K in bonuses.

Mariners Sign Neftali Feliz To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners’ announced 31 non-roster invitees to major league spring training today, most of whom were in-house prospects or previously reported veteran signees. One new name among the bunch is something of a blast from the past, as Seattle has invited former American League Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz to big league camp.

Feliz, 37 in May, hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2021, when he pitched one inning for the Phillies and another three for the Dodgers. Prior to that, his last MLB work came back in 2017. He’s spent the 2022-24 seasons pitching for three different clubs in the Mexican League and fared quite nicely in an extremely hitter-friendly setting there, logging a 2.37 earned run average with a 26.3% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate in 121 2/3 innings. He’s tallied 54 saves along the way. Feliz is pitching for las Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Winter League this offseason and has logged another 21 1/3 innings with a tiny 2.11 ERA. His 18.4% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate stand out less, however.

Back in 2010, Feliz saved 40 games for the Rangers and notched a 2.73 ERA in 69 1/3 innings, fanning 26.4% of opponents against a 6.7% walk rate en route to AL Rookie of the Year honors. He secured 20 first-place votes, handily topping runners-up Austin Jackson (Tigers) and Danny Valencia (Twins) in the top three of that year’s balloting.

Feliz had a generally successful but injury-marred tenure in seven seasons with the Rangers. He saved 93 games for Texas and posted a 2.69 ERA in 261 1/3 innings but had Tommy John surgery in Aug. 2012 and subsequently missed nearly all of the 2013 season. He was also limited to fewer than 50 frames in both 2014 and 2015. The Rangers cut him loose in July 2015, and he finished out the year with a shaky stint in the Tigers’ bullpen (7.62 ERA in 28 1/3 innings).

A 2016 deal with the Pirates brought about a rebound showing, but Feliz was roughed up again in 2017 while pitching for the Brewers and Royals. His 2017 season in Kansas City ended in August after he reported ongoing numbness in his right hand and was diagnosed with ulnar nerve palsy.

There’s no telling what to expect from Feliz now that he’s in his late 30s. At his peak, he averaged better than 96 mph on his heater and flashed a hefty 14.1% swinging-strike rate thanks to that power fastball and a sharp slider. He still sat 95 mph with his fastball in that very brief 2021 big league work. For the Mariners, there’s little harm in a non-guaranteed deal to see if Feliz’s recent work in Mexico can carry back over to an improbably late-30s return to the big leagues.

Cubs, Padres Have Discussed Dylan Cease

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The Cubs are among the teams that have discussed right-hander Dylan Cease with the Padres, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network. There’s no indication that the two sides are close to any sort of deal or that discussions were anything more than exploratory.

Cease, 29, has been bandied about the rumor mill for much of the winter as a payroll-crunched Padres club struggles to find ways to address myriad roster holes. A free agent following the 2025 season, Cease is slated to earn $13.75MM this year. Trading him for a controllable, lower-cost outfielder could affordably plug one lineup hole while also freeing up more than $13MM to backfill the rotation. Alternatively, the Friars could build a Cease deal around controllable, low-cost (and also less-proven) rotation pieces and look to reallocate Cease’s salary to a bat that’s yet to find a home in free agency or a trade target in the outfield. The Padres have at least gauged interest in impending free agents like Michael King, Luis Arraez and Robert Suarez (signed through 2027 but with an opt-out next offseason) under similar rationale.

The Cubs already have a deep rotation featuring Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd and Javier Assad. Free agent signee Colin Rea gives them a veteran sixth option, and Chicago has younger names like Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown and Caleb Kilian on the 40-man roster, with prospects Cade Horton and Brandon Birdsell climbing the minor league ladder.

Given that stock of arms, the Cubs don’t necessarily need another starting pitcher, but there’s an argument that some of that depth and their impressive stock of high-end position prospects could be condensed into a front-of-the-rotation arm like Cease. Morosi highlighted top outfield prospect Owen Caissie as a potential piece of a Cease trade in an on-air segment this morning, albeit in fairly speculative fashion.

Coupling Caissie or another touted outfielder like Kevin Alcantara with a controllable arm that lacks Cease’s ceiling but could be a third or fourth starter (e.g. Wicks, Assad) could hold some appeal to a Padres club that lacks rotation depth, a clear left fielder or designated hitter, and has a shaky-at-best collection of options to fill out manager Mike Shildt’s bench. Anecdotally, a trade involving Cease and Caissie would send each player back to their original organization; Cease was a sixth-round pick of the Cubs who was traded to the White Sox in exchange for Jose Quintana, while Caissie was a Padres second-rounder who went to the Cubs as part of the Yu Darvish trade.

Outfield is an area of depth for the Cubs, who have Ian Happ in left field, young Pete Crow-Armstrong in center and trade acquisition Kyle Tucker in right field. The acquisition of Tucker has pushed slugger Seiya Suzuki into a primary DH role, though he’ll surely still see some corner time depending on injuries or off-days for other members of the outfield. Tucker is a free agent at season’s end, but Happ and Suzuki are both signed through 2026 while Crow-Armstrong can be controlled all the way through 2030. Both Caissie and Alcantara are generally viewed as MLB-ready pieces who could step into the majors as soon as this season after posting big seasons in the upper minors in 2024. (Alcantara made a brief MLB debut late in ’24 already.) Infielder and fellow top prospect James Triantos also got a bit of work in the outfield in 2024. He’s on the cusp of his MLB debut as well.

The circumstances surrounding a potential trade of Cease are fairly similar to those of Corbin Burnes one year ago. While Cease has had a bit more volatility in terms of year-over-year results and doesn’t have a Cy Young Award to his credit, he’s a top-end starter with a relatively reasonable salary and one season of club control remaining. He’s unlikely to sign an extension, as was the case with Burnes, but could net a new team a draft pick if and when he rejects a qualifying offer next winter. That holds some inherent value and helps to offset the prospect loss required to pry Cease loose in a trade. The Orioles sent two MLB-ready players who’d garnered top-100 fanfare — infielder Joey Ortiz and lefty DL Hall — to the Brewers along with a 2024 competitive balance draft pick (No. 34 overall).

That was a steep price to pay, and perhaps Cease’s value isn’t quite to that same level, but it shouldn’t be far off. At the very least, it provides a rough blueprint for what San Diego could reasonably seek in exchange for a power-armed 29-year-old who landed second in 2022 American League Cy Young voting.

Payroll-wise, the Cubs have more than enough space to add Cease’s salary while still remaining comfortably south of the $241MM luxury threshold and leaving space for in-season acquisitions. RosterResource projects Chicago at a bit more than $207MM in luxury obligations after their recent acquisition of Ryan Pressly, giving them about $34MM of cushion between their current standing and that tax barrier.

White Sox Discussed Luis Robert With Reds, Giants; Trade Before Spring Training Seen As Unlikely

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The second White Sox rebuild of the past decade has stripped the roster of nearly all its notable veterans, but center fielder Luis Robert Jr. stands as a holdover from the team’s brief two-year run as a playoff club and a still-prominent trade candidate. Had Robert enjoyed a healthy 2024 campaign he’d likely already be gone, because at his best (e.g. 2023), he’s proven to be a five-tool, MVP-caliber talent. Staying on the field, however, has been problematic.

Robert played only 100 games in 2024 and didn’t seem to be at full strength for much of that time. His .224/.278/.379 slash was the worst production of his career. That’s made it tough for the White Sox to find a middle ground in trade conversations. Selling low on such a talented player when he’s signed through 2027 — $15MM in 2025, plus a pair of $20MM club options for 2026-27 — would be a major missed opportunity if Robert is able to bounce back with a healthy season.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports this morning that those hurdles impacted trade talks with both the Giants earlier in the offseason and, much more recently, with the Reds. Cincinnati and Chicago were discussing Robert as recently as last week and this past weekend, per Rosenthal, with infield prospect Edwin Arroyo among the names who could potentially go back to the Sox. Beyond the difficulty of agreeing on which prospects would be involved, the two parties didn’t see eye to eye on how much money the White Sox should include to cover some of the $17MM still guaranteed to Robert. (There’s also a $2MM buyout on his 2026 club option.) At this point, the Sox aren’t likely to trade Robert prior to spring training, per the report.

Until recently, it seemed as though the Reds had exhausted the majority — if not the entirety — of their 2025 payroll budget. A late agreement with Main Street Sports/FanDuel Sports Network for their 2025 television broadcasts provided an unexpected bump to president of baseball Nick Krall’s budget for the upcoming season, however. That produced renewed talks with reliever Carlos Estevez — who ultimately agreed to sign with the Royals instead — and likely facilitated the signing of Austin Hays (one year, $5MM) and yesterday’s acquisition of Taylor Rogers, whom the Reds will pay $6MM next year. (The Giants are covering the other $6MM of his 2025 salary.)

That’s $11MM in new payroll added by the Reds (a net $9.5MM over two league-minimum players) since that late TV deal was brokered. Robert alone is guaranteed more than that; even if the White Sox had been willing to kick in $6MM to bring the price down to the same $11MM the Reds wound up spending this past week, that would’ve only addressed one spot on the roster. Cincinnati would still be looking for more bullpen help and presumably doing so with at a much lower rate than the $6MM they’ll end up paying to Rogers.

While Arroyo is just one of the names the two parties discussed, it’s worth noting that like Robert, he’s a volatile player who’s difficult to evaluate at present. The 21-year-old middle infielder was a second-round pick out of Puerto Rico by the Mariners back in 2021 and was one of the key prospects shipped to the Reds in 2022’s Luis Castillo blockbuster. He ranked among the sport’s top-100 prospects in each of the past two offseasons but suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder last spring. That injury required surgery and wiped out his entire 2024 campaign.

Arroyo recovered in time to play in last year’s Arizona Fall League but in 18 games slashed just .253/.309/.333. That’s not a big enough sample to make a meaningful evaluation, of course, but it’s nonetheless a far cry from the 2022 production that helped catapult him onto the national prospect radar; that season saw Arroyo hit a combined .293/.366/.480 as an 18-year-old primarily facing much older and more experienced competition in A-ball.

A trade involving Robert could yet come together, but the challenges encountered by both the Giants and the Reds in their efforts to pry him from Chicago will persist. The Sox don’t want to take a middling return for a player who could command a genuine prospect haul if healthy. Any potential trade partner will be reluctant to trade its very best talent in exchange for a player who missed two months with a hip injury and was 16% worse than an average hitter in 2024 — even if he popped 38 homers as recently as 2023. The money owed to Robert is a bargain if he’s healthy, but that’s a major if. Plus, many teams have spent the vast majority of their offseason budget by this point on the calendar.

Back in late November, one rival general manager who’d spoken to the Sox about Robert rather plainly laid out the difficulty in working out a trade, telling USA Today’s Bob Nightengale at the time: “You’ve got to hope he finally stays healthy and can be the player everyone envisioned all along, but the White Sox are acting like he’s some big star center fielder and are asking for your top prospects.”

The Sox weren’t in an entirely dissimilar situation with Dylan Cease a year ago at this time. Cease, who had two seasons of club control remaining then, had finished runner-up in 2022 American League Cy Young voting before a pedestrian 2023 campaign in which he posted a 4.58 ERA with a one-mile drop in average fastball velocity and a corresponding dip in strikeout rate. He came back with a vengeance in spring training with stuff that looked dominant enough to generate a second act on his trade market. The Padres wound up acquiring him on March 13.

It’s possible a similar situation could play out with Robert. If he looks healthy and dynamic early in Cactus League play, perhaps there’ll be some renewed interest and diminished trepidation from interested teams wary about the explosive outfielder’s health.

If not in spring training, even a few weeks of strong play early in the 2025 campaign could pique the interest of other teams. That could create a situation similar to the one that saw the Marlins trade Luis Arraez (also to the Padres) early last May. Miami’s catastrophic start to the season effectively eliminated them from playoff contention just weeks into the 2024 season. The ChiSox already know full well they won’t contend in 2025. If Robert gets out to a torrid start and looks like the 2023 version of himself, putting him on the market in late April or early May would reduce the risk of an injury occurring in the months leading up to the trade deadline while also giving a trade partner an extra few months of production.

As MLBTR’s Anthony Franco pointed out last night when discussing the Guardians’ challenges in acquiring a center fielder, there simply haven’t been many — or really, any — impact options on the trade or free agent markets at the position over the past couple years. That applies not only to the Guards but also to the Giants, Reds, Phillies and other clubs that have sought center field upgrades recently. Clubs like the Red Sox, Mariners, Twins, Tigers, Royals, Pirates and Astros have also coveted right-handed bats and/or outfielders. Any could have interest in a revitalized Robert.

For now, the Sox’ focus will be on getting and keeping Robert as healthy as possible. If a strong spring or April showing rekindles his trade market, the past interest from both San Francisco and Cincinnati will be worth bearing in mind as the South Siders field new offers.

Reds, Albert Abreu Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent righty Albert Abreu, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Vayner Sports client will be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.

Abreu, 29, has pitched in parts of four big league seasons, mostly with the Yankees, but spent the 2024 campaign with the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He logged 49 innings out of the Lions’ bullpen and pitched to a strong 2.39 earned run average, albeit with poor rate stats. Abreu fanned only 16.3% of the hitters he faced and issued walks at a 9.9% clip. He’s had a similar run with los Tigres de Licey in the Dominican Winter League this offseason, tossing 22 2/3 frames with a 3.18 ERA, 15% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate.

Abreu originally debuted with the 2020 Yankees but was torched for four runs (three earned) in just 1 1/3 innings across two appearances. He fared better in larger samples across the next three seasons — including brief stints with the Royals and Rangers — but mirrored the same shaky K-BB profile he’s displayed in Japan and in winter ball over the past year. In 135 2/3 career innings, Abreu carries a 4.58 ERA, 22.4% strikeout rate and 12.9% walk rate. He’s kept the ball on the ground at a nice 47.4% rate and averaged a whopping 97.8 mph on his sinker, but home runs have also been an issue (1.53 HR/9).

The Reds beefed up their bullpen yesterday with a trade for San Francisco’s Taylor Rogers, though they’ve also subtracted righty Fernando Cruz this offseason (in a trade netting them backup catcher Jose Trevino). Rogers joins Alexis Diaz, Sam Moll, Emilio Pagan, Brent Suter and out-of-options Tony Santillan as virtual locks for the bullpen — health permitting. Former starters Graham Ashcraft and Carson Spiers are in the mix for spots but could also be optioned to Triple-A to either remain stretched out in the Louisville rotation or continue working on a transition to shorter stints. Righties Casey Legumina and Yosver Zulueta are also on the 40-man roster and could factor into the relief corps with a strong spring showing.

Abreu, Bryan Shaw, Alex Young and Ian Gibaut are among the experienced arms who’ll be non-roster invitees this spring and look to grab one of those final spots in new manager Terry Francona’s bullpen.

Max Scherzer Hosts Workout For Several Teams

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It’s been a relatively quiet offseason with regard to chatter on future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer. The three-time Cy Young winner was limited to nine starts of 3.95 ERA ball for the Rangers in 2024. He missed time early in the year while recovering from offseason back surgery and was also sidelined by a nerve issue in his hand, shoulder fatigue and a strained hamstring. It’s a length list of issues, particularly for a pitcher who turned 40 last summer.

Still, Scherzer has been preparing to pitch in 2025 and recently held a workout for scouts, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. SI.com’s Pat Ragazzo reported recently that the Blue Jays, Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Braves, Red Sox and Cubs were among those who were represented at the showcase. (That’s not necessarily an exhaustive list of teams.)

The Blue Jays have been the team most prominently linked to Scherzer thus far in the offseason, and Feinsand indeed suggests that Toronto has been the most serious suitor for Scherzer. Ragazzo adds that the Mets have “some level of interest” in bringing Scherzer back on a one-year deal. Time will tell whether the right-hander’s recent showcase for scouts drums up any new bidders, but Feinsand quotes one showcase attendee who suggested that Scherzer looked good — not up to his prior Cy Young standards but still “good enough to be an effective starter.”

At least in the 43 1/3 innings Scherzer managed amid all those maladies in 2024, that looked to be the case. In addition to his previously mentioned 3.95 ERA, the right-hander fanned 22.6% of opponents (roughly average) with a terrific 5.6% walk rate. His once-95-mph fastball sat at a career-low average of 92.5 mph in 2024, however, and he dealt with home run troubles for a second straight year (1.65 HR/9 in 2023, 1.45 in 2024). The righty’s swinging-strike rate (14.6%) remained excellent, but most of those whiffs came off the plate. Scherzer’s opponents made contact on 83.1% of swings within the strike zone — his highest level since 2011.

For the Jays, Scherzer wouldn’t need to reprise his status as an ace, however. Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Jose Berrios have the top three spots in the rotation. Bowden Francis and Yariel Rodriguez follow, but Francis has minor league options remaining and Rodriguez could move back into the bullpen. Toronto’s pitching depth, in general, is somewhat shaky with Alek Manoah on the mend from elbow surgery and top prospect Ricky Tiedemann missing most of the 2024 season due to injury. Rotation candidates beyond the top five include prospects Jake Bloss and Adam Macko as well as non-roster invitees Adam Kloffenstein and Eric Lauer.

The Mets have a more crowded staff, but president of baseball operations David Stearns is known for hoarding depth. Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, David Peterson, Paul Blackburn and reliever-turned-starter Clay Holmes make up the starting staff right now. Swingmen Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill could get looks, too, as could top prospect Brandon Sproat. Fitting Scherzer into the puzzle is a bit of a challenge, particularly given the 110% luxury task the Mets are facing.

Tigers Designate Alex Faedo For Assignment

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The Tigers have designated right-hander Alex Faedo for assignment, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to newly signed reliever Tommy Kahnle, whose one-year deal has been made official.

Faedo, 29, was the 18th overall pick back in 2017. The former Florida Gators standout has pitched in each of the past three seasons with Detroit but has yet to solidify himself in either the rotation or the bullpen. He’s coming off a decent showing spent mostly in relief, wherein he pitched 57 1/3 innings with a 3.61 ERA but shakier rate stats. Faedo punched out a roughly average 22.4% of opponents but issued walks at a rough 11.4% clip. He was also tagged for 1.41 homers per nine frames and benefited both from a .265 average on balls in play and especially a sky-high 83.1% strand rate, neither of which is likely to be repeated over a larger sample.

That said, there were some positives. The 94 mph Faedo averaged on his four-seamer was a career-best, and his 14.4% swinging-strike rate was excellent. He’s also upped his grounder rate in each of his big league seasons, though it still sits about three percentage points shy of league-average. Faedo did a fine job avoiding hard contact in 2024, and his slider generated excellent results; in the 82 plate appearances he finished off with that pitch, opponents posted an awful .171/.280/.314 batting line, and Statcast credited the offering with a paltry .269 expected wOBA (a nice followup to 2023’s .255 xwOBA).

Faedo is out of minor league options heading into the 2025 season. That put him at a disadvantage relative to other arms on the fringes of a Tigers roster that has turned over from rebuilder to win-now club, thanks in no small part to a magical playoff run spurred by their torrid hot streak down the stretch in 2024.

Faedo was no longer in the rotation mix, and the addition of Kahnle alongside Beau Brieske, Jason Foley, Will Vest and Tyler Holton in the late-inning mix leaves three other spots. One will likely be filled by Kenta Maeda, who’s still signed for $10MM this season. That leaves only two spots to divide up between Brant Hurter, Sean Guenther, Brenan Hanifee, Alex Lange, Mason Englert, Keider Montero and others.

If Faedo goes unclaimed on waivers, he can be sent outright to Triple-A and still compete for one of those final two spots. But as a former first-round pick with a sharp slider and encouraging swing-and-miss abilities, it wouldn’t at all be a surprise to see him land with another team. The Tigers have five days to trade him. At that point he’d need to be placed on waivers (a 48-hour process in their own right) to ensure an outcome within the one-week window for his DFA resolution.

Pirates Win Arbitration Hearing Over Johan Oviedo

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The Pirates won their arbitration hearing against right-hander Johan Oviedo, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’ll be paid the $850K figure submitted by the team for the upcoming season, rather than the $1.15MM figure he and his camp submitted.

Oviedo, 27 in March, missed the entire 2024 season following Tommy John surgery. Prior to that injury, he’d stepped up and solidified himself as a viable fourth starter in Pittsburgh’s rotation. The right-hander, acquired from the division-rival Cardinals in the trade sending Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton to St. Louis, posted a 4.15 ERA in 39 starts from 2022-23, totaling 208 1/3 innings. That included a 2023 campaign in which he tied Mitch Keller for the team lead with 32 starts and finished second (also to Keller) with 177 2/3 innings pitched.

The composition of the Pirates’ rotation has changed greatly since Oviedo went under the knife. Ballyhooed prospects Paul Skenes and Jared Jones have made their big league debuts and cemented themselves in the team’s plans — Skenes in particular. The 2023 No. 1 overall pick burst onto the scene with 133 innings of 1.96 ERA ball last year, winning National League Rookie of the Year honors and finishing the season as a Cy Young finalist. Skenes, Jones and Keller now make up an enviable top three and are joined by southpaw Bailey Falter, who had something of a breakout himself last year (142 1/3 innings, 4.43 ERA).

Oviedo will head into the 2025 season as a favorite for the fifth spot in the rotation, but he may have to earn that with a healthy and effective spring showing, as he still has a minor league option remaining. The Bucs are deep in starting pitching talent, with prospects Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft already on the 40-man roster and a pair of even more highly regarded arms — Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington — not on the 40-man but ticketed for Triple-A work to begin the season.

This was Oviedo’s first trip through the arbitration process. His camp surely sought a seven-figure payday based on the solid nature of his work pre-injury, but they faced a notable roadblock in that endeavor after Oviedo’s injury cost him the entirety of his platform season. He’ll remain under team control via arbitration through the 2027 campaign.

Dodgers, Alex Vesia Avoid Arbitration

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The Dodgers and lefty reliever Alex Vesia have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $2.3MM deal with a club option for the 2026 season, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Vesia had filed at $2.35MM, while the Dodgers countered with a $2.05MM figure. Vesia comes out well ahead of the midpoint between those two figures and above the $1.9MM projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. He was the Dodgers’ lone pending arbitration case, so they’ve now avoided the need for any arb hearings in 2025.

Vesia’s deal pays him $2.25MM in 2025, with the additional $50K guarantee coming in the form of the buyout on a $3.55MM option for 2026, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. Via a series of performance-based escalators, he can boost the value of that option by $175K, to $3.725MM.

The 28-year-old Vesia (29 in April) has been a key late-inning presence for Los Angeles since coming over from the Marlins alongside righty Kyle Hurt in a Feb. 2021 trade that sent Dylan Floro to Miami. He’s pitched 210 1/3 innings of 2.57 ERA ball for L.A. and picked up 47 holds and eight saves along the way. That includes a career-best showing in 2024, when he notched a minuscule 1.76 earned run average, collected five saves and 13 holds, and fanned 33.1% of his opponents (against an ugly 12.5% walk rate, granted).

The 2024-25 offseason marks Vesia’s second trip through the arbitration process. He picks up a hearty 130% raise on last year’s even $1MM salary. By tacking on a club option for the 2026 campaign, the Dodgers have both potentially bought out his final two seasons of arbitration eligibility and also, at least in a technical sense, adhered to the prominent “file and trial” approach to arbitration by the vast majority of teams in the league in recent years (which is to say, once figures are exchanged/filed, talks on one-year deals are halted).

The presence of the option is notable in that it technically makes Vesia’s contract a multi-year deal, even if the second season isn’t guaranteed. Because there’s an option on it, the agreement can’t be used as a comp in future arbitration negotiations on one-year deals with similar players — either by the Dodgers or the other teams in the league.

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