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Tyler Jay Elects Free Agency

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The Mariners announced Tuesday that left-hander Tyler Jay, who was designated for assignment last week, went unclaimed on outright waivers. He’s elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment to the minors. Seattle had claimed Jay off waivers from the Brewers earlier this month.

Selected with the No. 6 overall pick by the Twins back in 2015, Jay was viewed as a polished college arm who could move quickly as a reliever but also had a chance to start. He ranked as one of the Twins’ top prospects — and one of the top prospects in the sport — following that lofty selection, but repeated injury troubles derailed his once-promising trajectory. Jay dealt with continued shoulder and neck injuries throughout his time in the Twins’ system; Jay was at one point evaluated for symptoms believed to be related to thoracic outlet syndrome but wound up avoiding surgery.

Jay was out of affiliated ball entirely and pitching for the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League when he caught the Mets’ attention and landed a minor league deal several years later, in 2023. The Mets gave him his big league debut in 2024 at 30 years old. He wound up splitting time between the Mets and Brewers, allowing four earned runs on nine hits and six walks with six punchouts in 7 2/3 innings of work.

While it was far from a dominant debut showing, Jay pitched quite well in the minors. In 56 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this past season, the lefty notched a tidy 3.02 ERA with a 20.9% strikeout rate and very sharp 5.1% walk rate. He also kept the ball on the ground at a strong 47.3% clip and averaged just 0.64 homers per nine innings pitched.

Jay doesn’t throw especially hard, sitting just over 92 mph with his heater, but it was a nice season in the upper minors for a former top pick who seems to have put a good deal of the health troubles that plagued him early in his professional career behind him. He’ll now head to the market and look to latch on as a depth option for a club, likely one with a more pressing need for left-handed bullpen help (or at least fewer candidates to fill said need) than the Mariners have.

Cubs Designate Matt Festa For Assignment

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The Cubs announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Matt Festa for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to new closer Ryan Pressly, whose acquisition from the Astros has now been officially announced by both teams.

A former seventh-round pick by the Rangers, Festa has bounced around the league in journeyman fashion over the past few years. He broke into the majors with a strong rookie showing in a small sample of 8 1/3 innings for the 2018 Mariners and posted terrific Triple-A numbers the following season while also struggling in 22 MLB frames. Tommy John surgery wiped out Festa’s entire 2020 campaign and most of his 2021 season as well.

Festa returned in 2022 to throw 54 solid innings out of the Seattle ’pen, logging a 4.17 ERA but with a terrific 29.2% strikeout rate against a solid 8.2% walk rate. He’s never been a particularly hard thrower, but that blend of inducing whiffs and limiting walks showed genuine promise. Injuries popped up again in 2023, however. Festa was limited to nine big league innings and just 34 frames in Triple-A. He walked an alarming 27.9% of his opponents in the majors, prompting him to be cut loose from Seattle’s roster at season’s end.

Festa latched on with the Padres on a minor league deal in the offseason. He wound up landing with the Mets and Rangers on subsequent minor league deals and pitching well enough to earn a decent major league look in Texas, where he tossed 22 2/3 innings of 4.17 ERA ball with a 25% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. His lone appearance with the Mets (four runs in one inning) ballooned his ERA to 5.70 on the season, but Festa was a solid enough middle relief arm with the Rangers that the Cubs picked him up for cash earlier this winter when he was designated for assignment by Texas.

The Cubs will now have five days to trade Festa themselves. If there’s no taker, he’ll be placed on outright waivers. He’s been outrighted once in the past, so if Festa does clear, he’ll have the opportunity to elect free agency if he chooses.

Pirates, Ryan Borucki Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent lefty Ryan Borucki, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Borucki, a client of ISE Baseball, will earn a $1.15MM base salary (with additional incentives available) if he makes the big league roster. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.

This will be Borucki’s third straight season in Pittsburgh. The Bucs originally signed the former Blue Jays southpaw to a minor league deal prior to the 2023 season. He was selected to the big league roster that May and stuck through the end of the 2024 season.

Borucki was excellent during his first season as a Pirate, logging 40 1/3 innings from the point of his original call to the majors that season and turning in a sharp 2.45 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate against a superlative 2.6% walk rate. He kept the ball on the ground at a better-than-average 45.9% clip, only allowed 0.89 HR/9 and was effective against both lefties (.149/.230/.254) and righties (.213/.224/.373).

Health troubles ruined Borucki’s 2024 campaign, however. He agreed to a $1.6MM deal avoiding arbitration, but a triceps issue limited him to only 11 innings. He opened the year with three shutout frames (five strikeouts, no walks) before being tagged for two runs in one-third of an inning and promptly heading to the injured list for what wound up being nearly five months. Upon returning in September, Borucki was roughed up for seven runs in 7 2/3 innings. He finished out the season with an ugly 7.36 earned run average in that small sample of 11 injury-marred innings.

Now back with the Bucs, Borucki will head to camp and look to work his way back into the team’s bullpen plans. The Pirates have added a pair of low-cost left-handed bullpen options this winter in Caleb Ferguson ($3MM) and Tim Mayza (just yesterday, at $1.15MM). They also have out-of-options former top prospect Joey Wentz, whom they picked up on a waiver claim and who pitched quite well for them in 12 innings down the stretch last year.

Borucki is the only veteran lefty who’ll be in camp on as a non-roster invitee. As such, in the event of injuries and/or significant struggles from that trio of southpaws on the 40-man roster, he could be one of the first men up — particularly since he’s already familiar with the organization and the bulk of the coaching staff.

Tristan Gray Elects Free Agency

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4:21pm: Gray has indeed opted free agency. He can now sign with any club.

2:04pm: Pirates infielder Tristan Gray cleared waivers following last week’s DFA, MLBTR has learned. As a player with a prior outright assignment, he’ll have the option of rejecting a second outright in favor of free agency, if he chooses to do so. If he accepts an outright assignment, he’d likely be assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis and be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Gray, 29 in March, landed with the Bucs back on Halloween when they claimed him off waivers from the A’s. Over the past calendar year, Gray has signed as a minor league free agent with the Marlins, been selected to the majors, and claimed off waivers by the A’s and Pirates.

The Pirates were Gray’s original organization, selecting him in the 13th round back in 2017. He was traded to the Rays less than a year later as part of the deal bringing outfielder Corey Dickerson to Pittsburgh. He went on to spend parts of six seasons the Rays organization, briefly making his MLB debut with Tampa Bay in 2023. He only appeared in two games and tallied five plate appearances, but Gray made the most of that tiny look when he popped his first big league homer off righty Jorge Lopez. Gray totaled 31 plate appearances between the Marlins and A’s in 2024 and went 3-for-28 with a double.

While he hasn’t hit much in a tiny big league sample, Gray has shown plenty of pop in the upper minors. He swatted 33 homers with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A club in 2022 and connected on another 30 in 2023. He’s played in parts of four seasons in Triple-A and posted a combined .238/.306/.472 batting line.

Gray has played all four infield positions in his professional career, though shortstop has been the most frequent, with 2477 innings there. The Marlins and A’s played him at the corners exclusively in 2024, however. Overall, Gray has 1439 professional innings at third base, 1312 at second base and 911 at first base. He’s a versatile left-handed bat with some platoon issues and strikeout concerns but plenty of pop and a better-than-average walk rate in each of the past two Triple-A campaigns.

MLBTR originally reported that Gray had already been assigned outright to Triple-A, which is not accurate. We regret the error.

Orioles Hire Adam Jones As Special Advisor, Community Ambassador

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The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve hired five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner Adam Jones as a special advisor to general manager Mike Elias and a community ambassador for the team. Jones will advise Elias on various aspects of baseball operations and be a resource for the rest of the baseball ops staff. He’ll also be a guest coach in spring training and participate in/advocate for various Orioles community initiatives (e.g. the team’s adopt-a-school program and Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program). During his playing career, Jones was a three-time nominee for MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award, recognizing his extensive community efforts in Baltimore.

“I am grateful for the Orioles relationships I have formed since my retirement, which have led us to this exciting partnership,” Jones said in a statement within today’s press release. “Having the opportunity to be around the game that I love, while also learning the operations side of baseball from one of the best general managers is truly an honor. I am happy to be a resource for the Orioles organization and will offer everything I’ve learned from past experience to help the team succeed. Baltimore has always meant so much to me, and this unique role will allow me to continue giving back to the community I love. This is a special opportunity and I’m eager to embrace it fully.”

Jones, 39, spent 11 seasons in an Orioles uniform after coming to Baltimore in a lopsided trade that shipped lefty Erik Bedard to Seattle. The former top-50 draft choice and top prospect wasted little time establishing himself in the Orioles’ lineup and quickly cemented himself as one of the most popular and productive players of an entire generation of Orioles baseball.

From 2008-18, Jones batted .279/.319/.459 with 263 home runs, 305 doubles, 27 triples and 90 stolen bases as the Orioles’ everyday center fielder. The 2012-14 seasons marked a personal peak for Jones and a rebirth for Orioles baseball, which Jones helped to fuel. Jones slashed a combined .284/.321/.489 and made three straight All-Star teams in that time, missing only three total games over that stretch of three seasons. He garnered MVP votes in each of the three seasons.

Simultaneously, the Orioles shook off four straight last-place finishes to surge into perennial postseason contention. The 2012 O’s won 93 games, finished second in the AL East and made a run to that year’s ALCS. The O’s had a winning record in ’13 but fell shy of the playoffs before winning the division with a 96-win season in 2014. As they did in 2012, Baltimore advanced to the ALCS. The 2016 Orioles returned to the playoffs yet again, with the ultra-durable Jones again playing a key role. From 2012-16, no American League team won more games than the Orioles, and Jones was arguably the face of the club along the way.

Jones finished out his playing career with a 2019 stint in Arizona and a 2020-21 run with NPB’s Orix Buffaloes over in Japan. He’ll now return to his longtime MLB home in a new role that continues to build his legacy with the organization.

“Adam was a tremendous representative of the Orioles on and off the field while he was a player,” Elias said within today’s press release. “We are excited to formally welcome him back to our team, and we look forward to utilizing his experience, expertise, and perspective to help the franchise achieve sustained excellence.”

Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR’s Steve Adams hosted a live chat today at 3pm Central, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!

 

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Marlins Sign Albert Almora Jr. To Minor League Deal

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The Marlins announced a slate of non-roster invitees to major league spring training Monday morning, and in doing so revealed that they’ve inked outfielder Albert Almora Jr. to a minor league contract.

Now 30 years old, Almora was once one of the top prospects in the game during his rise through the Cubs’ system. The No. 6 overall pick back in 2012, Almora spent the better part of a half decade dotting top-100 lists around the industry due to his combination of standout tools in high school and excellent grades for makeup, leadership and other intangible elements of the game. He tore through the lower minors and reached the big leagues as a 22-year-old for a 2016 Cubs team that went on to win the World Series. Almora was a bench player during that postseason run and didn’t collect a hit, but he still got into nine games as a late-inning defensive replacement thanks to his prowess in the outfield.

In 2016-17, Almora indeed looked ticketed for a prominent role in the Cubs’ future. He didn’t immediately break out as a star but posted a better-than-average .292/.330/.448 slash in the majors over 440 plate appearances between those two seasons — his age-22 and age-23 campaigns. Even in 2018, when his offense (namely, his power output) took a step back, Almora hit .286/.323/.378 and drew flat-out elite defensive grades in center field (12 Defensive Runs Saved and 12 Outs Above Average alike). His bat tanked in 2019, however, and he hasn’t returned to even a semi-regular MLB role since.

Almora hit just .236/.271/.381 during 2019, which is even more anemic when considering that was the year of a clearly juiced MLB ball. By measure of wRC+, he was 38% worse than an average hitter that season. From 2019-22, Almora has posted a .219/.265/.344 slash in 686 trips to the plate at the MLB level.

Almora didn’t play at all during the 2023 season but spent the 2024 campaign with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate, slashing .292/.349/.438 (97 wRC+) with nine homers and 20 steals in 576 plate appearances. His 7.3% walk rate was below average, but his 14.1% strikeout rate demonstrated that his consistently excellent contact skills remain intact.

Miami has next to no certainty in its outfield mix, where Jesus Sanchez, Kyle Stowers, Derek Hill, Griffin Conine, Dane Myers and Victor Mesa Jr. are the only outfielders on the 40-man roster. Sanchez is the only one who’s established himself at all in the majors, but he’s a corner bat with roughly average offense. Almora will have to play his way into a roster spot, but given the dearth of center field options on the 40-man roster, he’ll garner some consideration if he shows well in spring or in Jacksonville early in the season.

Angels Still Seeking Multiple Relievers

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The Angels are positioned as well as any team to make some late-winter additions as free agents linger on the market — arguably even better-positioned than most. They’ve primarily been adding depth on minor league deals over the past couple weeks, but they’re still looking to improve the big league roster. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that they’ve told “at least one agent” that they have two or even three bullpen spots they’d still like to fill.

A look at the current composition of manager Ron Washington’s relief corps underlines that area of opportunity. Presumptive closer Ben Joyce is the game’s hardest-throwing pitcher by a wide margin, averaging 102.1 mph on his four-seamer. He enjoyed a breakout showing with a 2.08 ERA in 34 2/3 innings this past season and is all but assured a spot, barring injury. Veteran lefties Brock Burke, Jose Quijada and Jose Suarez are all out of minor league options and were all tendered contracts in arbitration. Health permitting, they’ll be on the Opening Day roster as well.

Beyond that quartet, there’s basically no certainty. Righty Chase Silseth, with 1.071 years of MLB service, is next up in terms of “experience.” The aforementioned trio of lefties are the only relievers on the Halos’ roster with even two years of MLB service time. Right-hander Robert Stephenson, signed to a three-year deal last winter, will of course take over one spot once he’s healthy, but he had Tommy John surgery on April 30. He could miss most or all of the season’s first half.

The Halos have their share of interesting candidates for relief spots. Righty Ryan Zeferjahn, acquired from the Red Sox in exchange for Luis Garcia, looked outstanding … in a sample of 17 big league innings. He’s had substantial command problems in the minors, however. Sam Bachman is a former top-10 pick with a sinker that sat nearly 97 mph in relief in 2023, but the Angels have continued to work him as a starter in the minors (to mixed results). Rule 5 pick Garrett McDaniels posted gaudy minor league numbers with the Dodgers last year but topped out in Double-A (where he only pitched three innings).

Suffice it to say, there’s room for multiple veterans to supplement the group — or at the very least for one more veteran arm. The Angels are nowhere close to the luxury tax barrier at the moment, sitting a bit under $206MM in CBT obligations, per RosterResource. That gives them more than $35MM, assuming the luxury tax is some form of hard barrier that owner Arte Moreno would prefer not to cross. The Angels have only paid the luxury tax once under Moreno’s ownership, which came way back in 2004 and saw the team pay out under $1MM in total penalties. The Angels were close to the tax threshold in 2023 but narrowly ducked under the line thanks to a massive late-August waiver purge after a failed deadline push for contention.

The relief market has been the slowest corner of free agency this winter, although it’s picked up steam in recent weeks with Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, A.J. Minter, Jose Leclerc, Andrew Kittredge, Paul Sewald and Chris Martin (among others) all coming off the board since Jan. 10. Kirby Yates and the Dodgers have reportedly been working to finalize their own deal, though as of yet nothing has been formally announced.

The remaining collection of free agents still features several notable names, headlined by Carlos Estevez, David Robertson, Kenley Jansen, Kyle Finnegan, Tommy Kahnle, Phil Maton, Andrew Chafin and Tim Hill, among many others. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the Angels took a similar bulk approach to rounding out the bullpen last offseason, signing six relievers to big league deals — three of which came in mid-January or later. That didn’t work out as hoped, but it nonetheless seems they’ll take another run at using the late stages of the market to build out the bullpen this winter.

Where Can The Rangers Find A Closer?

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The Rangers watched four key relievers hit the open market to begin the 2024-25 offseason. Closer Kirby Yates, who proved a bargain pickup on a one-year $4.5MM deal, reached free agency alongside David Robertson, Jose Leclerc and Andrew Chafin (who had a club option declined). Those four were the Rangers' top four late-inning options in the season's second half.

Beyond the difficulty of retaining any group of coveted free agents and/or rebuilding an entire relief corps, Texas faced financial difficulties. Re-signing Nathan Eovaldi and improving a lineup that struggled badly against fastballs were both priorities. Eovaldi cost more than most would've anticipated entering the offseason, benefitting from the hyper-aggressive free agent market for starters to the tune of a three-year, $75MM deal. Slugger Joc Pederson similarly commanded a stout $18.5MM-per-season annual value on his two-year deal. As with Eovaldi, that topped expectations.

Texas did trim some payroll and replace a bullpen arm in one fell swoop, trading the final two years of club control over first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to the Nationals in exchange for five seasons of control over lefty Robert Garcia. The 28-year-old's 4.22 ERA last season isn't particularly exciting, but a big 29.9% strikeout rate and sharp 6.4% walk rate portend improvements in the ERA department moving forward.

The rest of the Rangers' bullpen dealings have been cost-efficient in nature. Texas brought old friend Chris Martin back on a one-year, $5.5MM deal earlier this month. They had the advantage of being Martin's hometown club, which held appeal to him in the final season of his career; he's announced he expects to retire after the 2025 season and reportedly turned down more money elsewhere to pitch his final year close to home. Free agents Hoby Milner (another Fort Worth area native), Shawn Armstrong and Jacob Webb signed for $2.5MM, $1.25MM and $1.25MM, respectively.

Meanwhile, the free agents who've bid farewell to the Rangers seem to be in demand. Leclerc commanded a $10MM guarantee on a one-year deal with the A's. Yates has reached a tentative agreement with the Dodgers, though financial terms are not yet clear and he's not yet taken his physical. The aggressive market for late-inning arms figures to allow Robertson to cash in on an eight-figure salary. Chafin has garnered interest from the Yankees and Cubs at varying points this winter and is surely talking to other teams as the market for relievers heats up. In the past week alone, we've seen Tanner Scott, Yates, Paul Sewald and A.J. Minter reach free agent agreements. The markets for Carlos Estevez and Kyle Finnegan are picking up. The Cubs are talking to the Astros about Ryan Pressly.

Yates' agreement with the Dodgers rankled many Rangers fans who'd hoped they could bring the 37-year-old back as a finishing piece to the bullpen revamp. Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young, however, has indicated that while the door is still cracked for another acquisition, the bulk of the team's heavy lifting has likely been completed.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday that the Rangers never made a formal offer to Yates, recognizing where his market was headed while they faced payroll constrictions from ownership. Per Grant, if the Rangers add to the 'pen, it'd likely have to come via the trade market. They're about $6MM shy of the luxury-tax threshold, per Roster Resource, and staying under that $241MM cutoff is said to be a priority for the Rangers.

It's always possible they could strike gold on another Yates-sized reclamation project; Kendall Graveman and Scott Barlow are among the buy-low candidates with some track record as a successful late-inning reliever. Generally speaking, however, if the Rangers want to add a solid closing option, they're not going to find one for under $6MM in free agency.

With that in mind, let's run through some possible options for Young, GM Ross Fenstermaker and their staff as they peruse the market in hopes of adding one more high-leverage option.

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Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR’s Steve Adams hosted a live chat today at 2:30pm Central, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!

 

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