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Offseason In Review: Chicago White Sox
The White Sox filled their right field vacancy by making a long-awaited Craig Kimbrel trade, otherwise focusing on signing Kimbrel’s replacements rather than compensating for the departure of Carlos Rodon.
Major League Signings
- Kendall Graveman, RP: three years, $24MM
- Joe Kelly, RP: two years, $17MM
- Leury Garcia, IF/OF: three years, $16.5MM
- Josh Harrison, 2B/3B: one year, $5.5MM
- Vince Velasquez, SP: one year, $3MM
- Total spend: $66MM
Options Exercised
- Craig Kimbrel, RP: one year, $16MM
Trades and Claims
- Acquired OF Adam Haseley from Phillies for RP McKinley Moore
- Acquired OF AJ Pollock from Dodgers for Craig Kimbrel
- Acquired C Reese McGuire from Blue Jays for C Zack Collins
Notable Minor League Signings
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Carlos Rodon, Craig Kimbrel, Ryan Tepera, Cesar Hernandez, Zack Collins, Brian Goodwin, Billy Hamilton, Evan Marshall, Jimmy Cordero
After a disappointing ALDS loss to the Astros, the White Sox kicked off their offseason by exercising their hefty $16MM option on reliever Craig Kimbrel. The righty had struggled after a crosstown trade in which the Sox paid the high price of Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer. The White Sox seemed intent on trading Kimbrel all along, and at the time their choice on the option seemed related to having given up Madrigal for him. As I wrote in December, “[White Sox GM Rick] Hahn has gambled that whatever he gets back will be better than just paying the $1MM buyout on Kimbrel and spending the money in free agency.”
At the time it needed to be made, the Kimbrel decision involved some financial risk for a club that has never been willing to run a payroll near the first competitive balance tax threshold. Days later, in what seemed a related choice payroll-wise, the White Sox declined to issue a one-year, $18.4MM qualifying offer to lefty Carlos Rodon.
Especially with the benefit of hindsight that the White Sox would make no major commitments to their rotation, the Rodon decision must be read as the club thinking that the southpaw accepting the qualifying offer would have been a bad thing. It’s hard to say whether Rodon would have accepted. He was one of the game’s best pitchers through mid-July last year, but lost velocity and was handled carefully after that due to shoulder issues. Rodon went on to sign a two-year, $44MM deal after the lockout with the Giants that allows him to opt out after the first year if he reaches 110 innings. Rodon’s market would have been different if he had a qualifying offer attached, due to draft pick forfeiture.
In granting righty Lance Lynn a two-year, $38MM extension last July – similar to the contract Rodon would eventually sign – it might be that the White Sox felt they could choose only one of their 2021 aces. That’s only true in that owner Jerry Reinsdorf decided not to set a payroll that would accommodate both. So, the White Sox received no compensation for Rodon’s departure, while Lynn had knee surgery earlier this month and isn’t expected to make his season debut before his 35th birthday on May 12th. The second half of the season will determine whether the White Sox made the right bet: Lynn will be a big factor in Chicago’s rotation, and we’ll learn whether Rodon holds up all year.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the White Sox showed “strong interest” in Justin Verlander before he reached an agreement to re-sign with the Astros on November 17th. That would’ve been a reasonable way to fill Rodon’s shoes, but competition for Verlander was fierce and the Astros were at the top of his list. Most other top free agent starting pitchers signed prior to the lockout as well, and the White Sox weren’t rumored to be interested in them.
Otherwise, the White Sox made a pair of free agent strikes before the December 2 lockout. They gave out a pair of decent-sized three-year deals, adding setup man Kendall Graveman and retaining super-utility man Leury Garcia. The Graveman signing laid groundwork for the eventual Kimbrel trade, ensuring the team would remain strong in the late innings behind top closer Liam Hendriks. Garcia garnered a larger commitment than expected, but would end up as part of the team’s second base solution.
Rick Hahn’s first post-lockout move was to finish off that second base combo with the signing of Josh Harrison. Through nine games of the season, manager Tony La Russa has split second base time evenly between Garcia and Harrison. Harrison is a righty batter with a modest platoon split, with a 113 wRC+ against southpaws from 2020-21. Garcia, a switch-hitter, is also better against lefties. From 2019-21, Garcia and Harrison sport identical 83 wRC+ marks against right-handed pitching. So for the 70% of the time a righty pitcher is on the hill, the White Sox figure to have a fairly easy out coming from the second base position in the lineup.
On the same day as the Harrison signing, the White Sox somewhat surprisingly moved to further bolster their bullpen with the signing of Joe Kelly. Not only was the team surprising given Chicago’s existing bullpen commitments, but Kelly had exited Game 5 of the NLCS with biceps tightness and still secured a strong commitment. His White Sox debut has been delayed by at least a couple of weeks due to the injury. When Kelly is healthy, he, Graveman, and Aaron Bummer can form a very strong bridge to Hendriks.
After the lockout, the White Sox added only back-end starting pitchers to cover for the loss of Rodon and ineffectiveness of Dallas Keuchel, as Lynn had not yet gotten injured. Vince Velasquez, 29, has longstanding control issues that pitching coach Ethan Katz will attempt to solve. Johnny Cueto, meanwhile, can be a source of veteran innings. The White Sox can still plan a hopeful playoff rotation of Lucas Giolito, Lynn, Dylan Cease, and Michael Kopech. While their depth to cover April injuries to Lynn and Giolito isn’t impressive, if everyone is healthy this will be a fearsome rotation.
The White Sox made efforts to trade for Sean Manaea or Frankie Montas, and Montas remains available. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Sox “nearly acquired” Manaea from the A’s before the Padres closed the deal. Nightengale suggests the A’s have sought Andrew Vaughn from the White Sox for Montas. If nothing else, these rumors suggest the White Sox know they’re a bit short on pitching depth, especially with Keuchel’s struggles last year and Kopech’s likely innings limit.
On April 1st, the White Sox finally found a match for Kimbrel, sending him to the Dodgers for AJ Pollock. This was a strong move for the White Sox, vindicating their decision to exercise Kimbrel’s option. In the 34-year-old Pollock, the White Sox effectively fill their right field vacancy with a player who posted a 135 wRC+ over 632 plate appearances from 2020-21. Pollock’s injury history suggests he’s good for about 115 games per year, so the Sox will be covering his absences with Adam Engel and Vaughn. The White Sox can’t exactly time when Pollock will get hurt, but the goal will be to have him active for the playoffs. The Sox also completed a smaller swap with the Collins-McGuire deal, improving their defense at the backup catcher position.
With Yasmani Grandal behind the plate, Jose Abreu at first base, Tim Anderson at shortstop, Yoan Moncada at third, Eloy Jimenez in left, and Luis Robert in center, the White Sox came into the offseason with a strong core of hitters. Pollock only deepens that mix. Vaughn, the third overall draft pick in 2019, should bounce around between the outfield corners, first base, and DH depending on the team’s needs. Anderson is under team control through 2024, Moncada through ’25, Jimenez and Vaughn through ’26, and Robert through ’27.
In the aggregate, the White Sox didn’t necessarily do much to improve upon last year’s 93-win team. When Pollock is healthy, they’ll clearly be better in right field, and the team won’t have to play Vaughn at an outfield corner. Second base is mostly a wash. They covered the losses of Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera with Graveman and Kelly, but also lost Garrett Crochet to Tommy John surgery. The rotation is worse off for the loss of Rodon, but Kopech and/or a future trade might fill much of that void. But maybe this was enough – the White Sox remain the clear favorite in the AL Central, and Tony La Russa’s crew is a credible threat to win the World Series in 2022.
Yankees, Aaron Judge Fail To Reach Contract Extension Prior To Season
TODAY: According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Judge didn’t ask for an extension longer than eight years (or nine years, counting the 2022 season). The Yankees’ offer to Judge also didn’t include any deferred money.
APRIL 8, 3:23pm: Jon Heyman of the New York Post hears from multiple sources that Judge had sought an offer of nine to ten years with an average annual value of $36MM. Heyman cautions that a person close to Judge contested those numbers. Max Scherzer ($43.333MM AAV over three years with the Mets) is the only player in history with an AAV north of $36MM, with Mike Trout’s $36MM annual salary the largest for a position player.
Over a ten-year span, a $36MM AAV would match Trout’s $360MM guarantee. Trout’s deal has the largest present day value in MLB history, although Mookie Betts (who received $365MM in total guarantees but with deferrals that reduced its present value) topped that mark in raw dollars. The Yankees never seemed likely to go to that kind of offer, particularly since a deal buying out nine free agent seasons would take Judge through his age-39 campaign. Heyman adds that the Yankees were willing to include one or more opt-out possibilities for the star outfielder.
10:17am: Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters there will be no extension with Aaron Judge today, hours before the slugger’s self-imposed Opening Day deadline. In a rare disclosure, Cashman detailed that the Yankees offered a seven-year, $213.5MM extension beginning in 2023, representing a $30.5MM average annual value.
That AAV would have ranked 17th in baseball history. Notably, the Yankees were willing to extend Judge through age 37, the same as recent contracts for Corey Seager, Freddie Freeman, Marcus Semien, and Francisco Lindor, despite Judge’s injury history.
Cashman sounds like he’d like to avoid an arbitration hearing for Judge’s 2022 salary, which Lindsey Adler of The Athletic believes would happen in June. Beyond that, the two sides will engage after the season. Of the 24 arbitration eligible players currently headed toward a midseason hearing to determine their 2022 salary, Judge’s $5MM gap with the Yankees ($17MM vs. $22MM) represents the largest.
Cashman’s comments come less than two hours before the Yankees open their season against the Red Sox, Judge’s deadline for a a contract extension as he enters his walk year.
Judge has missed significant portions of three of the last five seasons due to injury. Seager, at least, had a notable injury history of his own, but his deal was struck on the open market in advance of his age-28 season. Judge will play in 2023 at age 31. Offering to sign Judge through age 37 is a significant gesture by the Yankees. The AAV, while perhaps not elite, isn’t unreasonably light and could be considered a tradeoff for the club including a seventh year.
If Judge reaches the open market, he could be joined in a 2022-23 free agent class again strong at the shortstop position. The outfield market doesn’t project to be too impressive beyond Judge, with other names including Joey Gallo, Mitch Haniger, Brandon Nimmo, and Kiké Hernandez.
Judge is set to bat second in the Yankees’ Opening Day lineup in today’s game against Nathan Eovaldi and the Red Sox, which begins at 12:05pm central time.
Latest On Pirates, Bryan Reynolds
Due to the 99-day lockout this winter, a significant number of arbitration cases remain unsettled as the season begins. One of those is Pirates center fielder Bryan Reynolds. With the player filing at $4.9MM and the team at $4.25MM, a $650K gap exists between the sides. While some teams have made exceptions this year to the game’s otherwise-pervasive file-and-trial policy, it appears the Pirates would like to stay true to that without setting up a midseason fight with their best player. According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “the team has been pushing to sign Reynolds to at least a two-year deal.”
Reynolds, 27, is entering the arbitration system for the first time. That means his 2022 salary will echo down the road, since he’ll also be arbitration eligible for the 2023, ’24, and ’25 seasons. A two-year deal would at least provide the Pirates with some cost certainty. Plus, Mackey’s sources say owner Bob Nutting does not like the optics of going to an arbitration hearing with Reynolds.
A recent example of what the Pirates appear to be aiming for happened with the Dodgers and Walker Buehler. The club had exchanged figures with Buehler in January ’21 and were facing an $850K gap, but instead hammered out a two-year, $8MM deal to buy out his first two arbitration years without affecting the team’s control over the player, going to a hearing, or violating the file-and-trial policy.
Reynolds generated plenty of interest on the trade market this offseason, with the Padres and Marlins among those recently connected. Pirates GM Ben Cherington recently said to Mackey, “Those calls are incoming calls. They’re not outgoing calls.”
Yesterday, the Pirates announced the largest contract in franchise history, an eight-year, $70MM extension with third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. Reynolds reportedly turned down some extension offers from the Pirates prior to the 2021 season. His price can only have risen since, significantly beyond that of Hayes. Reynolds told Mackey in February of this year that he hadn’t heard anything from the Bucs prior to the lockout.
Eovaldi Willing To Negotiate In-Season; No Talks Yet
In a few short hours, hard-throwing righty Nathan Eovaldi is set to make his third consecutive Opening Day start for the Red Sox, against the Yankees. As Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic notes, Eovaldi is in rare company in doing so. The 32-year-old Eovaldi told reporters yesterday that while the Red Sox did not approach him about a contract extension during spring training, he’d be willing to negotiate in-season.
Eovaldi’s current contract, a four-year, $68MM deal, was something of a new standard when it was struck with Dave Dombrowski 36 days after the team’s World Series parade. A veteran of two Tommy John surgeries who had limited innings in the years prior, Eovaldi was still able to score a fourth year given the buzz around him at the time.
Eovaldi has mostly answered health and durability questions since then, and has also posted career-best strikeout and walk rates. Still, he’ll pitch in the first year of a new contract at age 33. He’d be justified seeking a new contract at least in the range of the $23.67-25MM AAV achieved by Marcus Stroman and Justin Verlander this winter. The comparable Eovaldi will likely be pointing to age-wise: Hyun Jin Ryu’s four-year, $80MM deal with the Blue Jays, which also began with Ryu’s age-33 campaign. The two bear little similarity otherwise, as Eovaldi’s 96.9 mile per hour average fastball velocity ranked fifth among qualified starting pitchers in 2021.
Red Sox chief baseball office Chaim Bloom had avoided large and long-term contracts in his 29-month tenure with the club until signing Trevor Story for six years a few weeks ago. If Eovaldi does insist on four years and the Red Sox let him reach the open market, he could be joined by free agent starters such as Chris Bassitt, Mike Clevinger, Jacob deGrom, Zach Eflin, Clayton Kershaw, Sean Manaea, Joe Musgrove, Carlos Rodon, Noah Syndergaard, and Justin Verlander.
Mariners Sign J.P. Crawford To Extension
The Mariners have officially announced a contract extension with shortstop J.P. Crawford, which reportedly adds on four additional years and $46.15MM in new money. Crawford, who is now signed through 2026, is represented by Wasserman.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the deal, worth $51MM in total, starts this year and buys out two free agent seasons. Crawford had already agreed to a $4.85MM contract for 2022. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has the financial breakdown of the new contract. Jon Heyman of the New York Post notes that the deal does not contain option years and provides details on no-trade provisions.
Crawford, 27, was drafted 16th overall by the Phillies out of high school back in 2013. He was traded to the Mariners with Carlos Santana in December 2018 in a deal that sent Jean Segura to Philadelphia.
Crawford has served as the Mariners’ starting shortstop since that trade. Defense is Crawford’s calling card, as he landed a Gold Glove for his work in the shortened 2020 season. In the 2021 Fielding Bible Awards voting, Crawford ranked sixth. He didn’t particularly shine in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric in ’21, but rated well there in ’20. Crawford did rank seventh among shortstops last year in defensive runs saved.
With the bat, Crawford has steadily ascended to become above average, with a 103 wRC+ in 687 plate appearances last year. That led to a career-best 3.1 FanGraphs WAR, though on a pro-rated basis Crawford was also close to that mark in 2020. Back in November, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto made it clear that Crawford would be the team’s starting shortstop for 2022, regardless of who the team ended up pursuing in free agency.
Now, Dipoto has locked up Crawford through the 2026 season. Dipoto said in a statement Friday, “J.P. brings excellent defense at a critical position, in addition to solid on-base skills and a penchant for delivering in the big moment. He’s an incredibly competitive player who has become an integral part of our team, both on the field and in the clubhouse.”
Crawford represents the sixth Mariners player under contract beyond 2022, joining Robbie Ray, Eugenio Suarez, Marco Gonzales, Evan White, and Andres Munoz. The club has about $80MM in commitments for 2023.
It’s been a while since a somewhat glove-first, lower power position player in the three year service bracket signed a contract extension. Back in January 2016, Dee Strange-Gordon signed a five-year, $50MM deal with the Marlins.
Offseason In Review: Chicago Cubs
The Cubs made two big signings and added a ton of veterans on short-term deals as they attempt to move past their 2016 championship core.
Major League Signings
- Seiya Suzuki, RF: five years, $85MM plus $14.625MM posting fee
- Marcus Stroman, SP: three years, $71MM
- Yan Gomes, C: two years, $13MM
- Jonathan Villar, IF: one year, $6MM
- Drew Smyly, SP: one year, $5.25MM
- Mychal Givens, RP: one year, $5MM
- Andrelton Simmons, SS: one year, $4MM
- David Robertson, RP: one year, $3.5MM
- Chris Martin, RP: one year, $2.5MM
- Daniel Norris, RP: one year, $1.75MM
- Clint Frazier, LF/RF: one year, $1.5MM
- Michael Hermosillo, OF: one year, $707K
- Total spend: $213,832,000
Options Exercised
Trades and Claims
- Claimed SP Wade Miley off waivers from Reds
- Acquired OF Harold Ramirez from Guardians; later traded to Rays
- Acquired cash considerations from Diamondbacks for IF Sergio Alcantara
Notable Minor League Signings
- Jesse Chavez, Steven Brault, Robel Garcia, Robert Gsellman, Adrian Sampson, Ildemaro Vargas, Jonathan Holder, Eric Yardley, John Hicks
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Zach Davies, Matt Duffy, Sergio Alcantara, Eric Sogard, Robinson Chirinos, Rex Brothers
The Cubs’ first order of business during the 2021-22 offseason was hiring a general manager, after leaving the position under president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer open for nearly a year. Hawkins had spent 14 years in Cleveland, regarding which Hoyer noted, “certainly their ability to develop pitching has been remarkable.” Finding pitching late in the draft or cheaply in the marketplace and getting good Major League results had not been a strong suit of the Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer regime.
In addition to improving the pipeline, the Cubs needed pitching to get through the 2022 season, which Hoyer called his “top priority” in early October. Hoyer spoke about being “active” in free agency, a word echoed by owner Tom Ricketts in a letter to fans. Hoyer and Ricketts made sure to couch their comments with words like “intelligent” and “thoughtful,” which I took to mean the Cubs would be out on the top dozen or so free agents given a desire to avoid long-term commitments.
After following the Hawkins hire with the additions of Ehsan Bokhari as assistant GM and Greg Brown as hitting coach, the Cubs kicked off their active offseason by claiming veteran lefty Wade Miley off waivers from the cost-cutting Reds. Given the Cubs’ extremely thin starting rotation at the time behind Kyle Hendricks, snagging Miley off a 3.37 ERA/163 inning campaign without giving up any players was an easy win – even if he doesn’t meet the desire for someone with strikeout ability. It was the equivalent of an early free agent signing, at a commitment probably a bit lower than what the market would have required. An injury development has dampened enthusiasm for the Miley claim, as the 35-year-old southpaw is experiencing elbow inflammation that will keep him out until at least late April.
As the lockout approached in late November, the Cubs reportedly made an offer to free agent lefty Steven Matz. According to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, “The Cubs were heavily involved with Matz, but were unwilling to go to four years,” as the Cardinals ultimately did. Instead, the Cubs were able to lure Marcus Stroman with a three-year, $71MM offer that was very different from MLBTR’s projected five years and $110MM. Apparently the pre-lockout market wasn’t offering Stroman four or five years at an AAV he liked, and the Cubs pounced.
The Stroman signing marked the Cubs’ biggest free agent expenditure since they signed Yu Darvish nearly four years earlier. Like Miley, Stroman still didn’t match Hoyer’s goal of adding strikeout pitchers to the rotation, as Stroman’s success has been built on groundballs and good control. It was another case of the Cubs adapting to what the market gave them while avoiding long-term commitments, and Stroman should give the team much-needed above-average innings. They didn’t have to commit to his age 34 and 35 seasons, as the Blue Jays did with Kevin Gausman, or forfeit their second-highest draft pick as they would have with Robbie Ray.
The Cubs also added a pair of position players prior to the lockout, signing catcher Yan Gomes and corner outfielder Clint Frazier. Gomes, perhaps the best catcher in a weak free agent market at the position, will serve as Willson Contreras insurance in multiple ways. For as long as the two are together, Gomes will lighten the load on Contreras, who caught two-thirds of the Cubs’ innings behind the plate in 2021 despite missing more than three weeks with a knee sprain. Gomes also ensures the Cubs will have a capable backstop in the event they trade Contreras between now and the August 2nd deadline.
The Cubs seem to have little desire in extending Contreras, one of the last remaining links to the 2016 championship club. Thus far, they haven’t even been able to agree on his 2022 salary, and they’re headed toward a midseason hearing over the $1.25MM gap. Contreras’ free agency will begin with his age-31 season, and he figures to seek at least a four-year deal. The Cubs have one well-regarded catching prospect in Miguel Amaya. He underwent Tommy John surgery in November after playing only 23 games in 2021, so Gomes is necessary to bridge the gap.
Frazier is a lottery ticket that makes tons of sense for the Cubs. The 27-year-old former fifth overall pick cost just $1.5MM, and if he has any measure of success the Cubs can control him through 2024 as an arbitration eligible player. Frazier hit well in the brief 2020 season, but he’s also dealt with the effects of multiple concussions. The Cubs’ outfield should offer ample opportunity for Frazier to re-establish himself.
The Cubs’ first post-lockout move was a contract extension for manager David Ross. After that, it was back to the free agent market. While fans had visions of Carlos Correa, to whom the Cubs were at least loosely connected, they instead signed Andrelton Simmons to a modest one-year deal. The 32-year-old defensive wizard will start the season on the IL due to a sore shoulder, putting Nico Hoerner into the starting role.
As for Correa? His three-year, $105.3MM deal with the Twins, which includes opt-outs after each season, reportedly came together with the Twins in the span of 14 hours, initiated by agent Scott Boras. Boras certainly spoke to other clubs during that frenzied late-March period. Aside from the draft pick forfeiture, Correa’s contract generally fit with the Cubs’ new m.o., but it’s unknown whether they were in the mix late. As of now, shortstop is an unsettled position for the Cubs for the next several years.
I had mentioned in November that free agent right fielder Seiya Suzuki, one of the best players in Japan and only 27 years old, made sense for the Cubs. Hoyer agreed, winning the bidding with an aggressive five-year, $85MM contract plus a $14.625MM posting fee. According to MLBTR’s Steve Adams, “The most bullish opinions we’ve gotten peg Suzuki as an everyday Major League right fielder — a solid defensive player with a strong arm and enough power to hit in the middle of a big league lineup.” This is the type of player the Cubs were sorely lacking, and if Suzuki’s power translates, fans will start to replace those Rizzo, Baez, and Bryant jerseys with Suzuki ones.
Beyond the big splashes in Stroman and Suzuki, the Cubs lived up to their word about being active in free agency. I can’t remember another time a team brought in a dozen free agents on Major League contracts, and the number grows to 14 once you add Miley and Jesse Chavez, whose contract has already been selected. It’s a crazy number of players to add to the Major League roster in one offseason, and it speaks to the lack of MLB-ready talent the Cubs had after trading away every decent veteran last summer.
The Cubs’ approach to building a bullpen is as good as any, given the volatility of relievers and how often the larger free agent contracts go bust. With basically no established bullpen to speak of, especially after Codi Heuer went down for Tommy John surgery, Hoyer added five free agents on one-year deals for a total of $14MM: Mychal Givens, David Robertson, Chris Martin, Daniel Norris, and Jesse Chavez. It’s difficult to say which of these five new relievers will succeed in Chicago, but the Cubs were likely emboldened by getting excellent work out of Ryan Tepera and Andrew Chafin after signing them for a total of $3.55MM last winter. The pair signed two-year deals for $14MM and $13MM with the Angels and Tigers, respectively, this offseason.
We thought Jonathan Villar might require a two-year deal, so the Cubs did well to grab him for one year and $6MM. He’ll likely see time mainly at third and second base, but could also serve as the Cubs’ third-string shortstop. Villar is a switch-hitter without much of a platoon split, and he’ll spell Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal, and Hoerner.
Drew Smyly has had interesting free agent experiences in his career. The 32-year-old southpaw has just one 2-WAR season on his resume, back in 2014. He signed a two-year, $10MM deal with the Cubs with an eye on his 2019 season, as he spent 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Cubs instead shipped him to Texas to save money before realizing that plan. Smyly struggled in ’19 but still found $4MM the following offseason as one of the Giants’ pitching projects. That went well enough that the Braves gave Smyly $11MM on the strength of 26 1/3 innings in 2020.
After middling results for Atlanta, Smyly received another $5.25MM from the Cubs and will open the season in a rotation that’s missing both Miley and Adbert Alzolay due to injuries. The Cubs also added some rotation depth with Steven Brault, who continues to battle injuries. The Cubs’ season-opening rotation is shaky behind Hendricks and Stroman, with Smyly, Justin Steele, and Alec Mills penciled in. As aggressive as Hoyer was in free agency, the Cubs are still running a competitive balance tax payroll more than $60MM below the $230MM threshold, and it seems like they could have piled up more rotation depth.
The 2022 Cubs figure to be, if nothing else, a watchable club with the additions of Suzuki and Stroman and the likely summer promotion of top prospect Brennen Davis. FanGraphs projects them for about 75 wins. Given a 12-team playoff field, the Cubs should at least be able to hang around the periphery in a division where the Pirates are rebuilding and only the Brewers stand out.
White Sox Sign Johnny Cueto To Minor League Deal
The White Sox have signed veteran righty Johnny Cueto, according to Mike Rodriguez of Univision. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Cueto signed a minor league deal and will earn a prorated $4.2MM in the Majors. According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, Cueto has a May 15 opt-out. Cueto is represented by Bryce Dixon.
Cueto, 36, provides rotation depth for a White Sox club that recently saw Lance Lynn go under the knife for a slightly torn right knee tendon. Lynn is expected to be out for nearly two months. The club also recently took a couple of hits in the bullpen – a voluntary one with the trade of Craig Kimbrel to the Dodgers, and an unfortunate injury with Garrett Crochet needing Tommy John surgery.
The White Sox will still slot Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, and Dallas Keuchel into their first four rotation spots. The newly-added Cueto will look to ramp up and join a fifth starter mix that already includes Reynaldo Lopez and Vince Velasquez. Cueto has familiarity with White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz, who worked for the Giants from 2019-20, and he’s been training in recent offseasons with Lopez.
After Cueto posted a solid age-24 season back in 2010, then-Reds GM Walt Jocketty had the foresight to lock him up on a four-year, $27MM deal with a club option. That gave Cincinnati two extra years of control, a period during which Cueto blossomed into a Cy Young contender. When free agency did approach, Jocketty shipped Cueto the Royals for their World Series run. The righty capped his brief Royals career with a complete game victory in Game 2 of that World Series.
About a month after the parade, Cueto signed a six-year, $130MM free agent deal with the Giants under Brian Sabean’s regime. Cueto was excellent in his first season for the Giants, but the investment failed to pan out for San Francisco. Cueto’s contract included an opt-out after the second year, which he might have utilized if not for a flexor strain in ’17.
Cueto then developed an elbow sprain in May of 2018, which led to Tommy John surgery in August of that year. He returned to pitch in September of 2019, a surprisingly brief 13-month recovery. Cueto served as the Giants’ Opening Day starter in 2020, taking all of his turns in the shortened season.
In ’21, Cueto missed nearly a month with a lat strain, and then more time late in the season with flexor and elbow strains. His final appearance for the Giants was a September 30th relief outing – the first of his storied 14-year career. Given his limitations, Cueto wasn’t able to crack the Giants’ NLDS roster, and the club made the unavoidable choice to buy out his $22MM club option for $5MM. Still, Cueto tallied 114 2/3 innings for the Giants in 2021, the first time he’d exceeded 63 1/3 in a season since 2017.
Since 2020, Cueto has a 4.55 ERA, 20.1 K%, 7.3 BB%, and 39.1% groundball rate in 178 innings. Even in his heyday, Cueto wasn’t a big strikeout pitcher, and he threw harder in 2021 than he did in his last strong season, back in 2016. Though it’s surprising Cueto wasn’t able to secure a Major League contract, his salary in the bigs will be hefty compared to the typical minor league deal. A couple of other AL Central teams, the Twins and Tigers, at least considered Cueto after the lockout. There’s a good chance the control artist will find himself in Chicago before long as the team attempts to weather Lynn’s injury.
With Opening Day two days away, the free agent market for starting pitching is down to Brett Anderson, Jake Arrieta, Trevor Cahill, Mike Foltynewicz, J.A. Happ, and Matt Harvey.
31 Players On Track For Arbitration Hearings
201 arbitration eligible players have reached agreements with their teams on a 2022 salary, most of which occurred just prior to Tuesday’s filing deadline.
According to Jake Seiner of The Associated Press, 31 arbitration eligible players remain unsigned and are on track for hearings. Due to the lockout, the hearings are expected to take place during the season if agreements are not reached. The full list of unsigned players, which includes Aaron Judge, Willson Contreras, and Dansby Swanson, can be found in our tracker. Judge, having submitted a $21MM figure against the Yankees’ $17MM submission, represents the largest gap at $4MM.
All the other gaps are less than $2MM, and the smallest is the $200K separating Lucas Giolito and the White Sox. Yesterday, Giolito told reporters that the sides were only $50K apart prior to filing, which the righty described as “very unfortunate, disheartening.”
The Braves have five of the 31 cases, with Swanson, Adam Duvall, Luke Jackson, Max Fried, and Austin Riley. Six of the 31 players were traded this offseason: Jesse Winker, Adam Frazier, Gary Sanchez, Chris Bassitt, and Jacob Stallings.
A look at the number of hearings by year in the last decade:
- 2021: 8
- 2020: 12
- 2019: 10
- 2018: 22
2017: 15 - 2016: 4
- 2015: 14
- 2014: 3
- 2013: 0
- 2012: 7
Multiyear deals are always an option, and we record those in our extension tracker.
Yankees To Sign Marwin Gonzalez To Minor League Deal
The Yankees agreed to a minor league deal with utility man Marwin Gonzalez, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’ll earn $1.15MM if he reaches the Majors, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Gonzalez, 33, has struggled with the bat over the last two seasons with the Twins, Red Sox, and Astros, posting a 62 wRC+ in 506 plate appearances. Gonzalez came up with the Astros, establishing himself as a versatile oft-used utility player capable of above average offense, particularly in 2017 when he put up a 144 wRC+. He has experience at all four infield positions as well as both corner outfield spots.
Though he fell back to Earth in 2018, Gonzalez was good enough after that season to rank 16th on MLBTR’s top 50 free agents list. He set out looking for a four-year deal, but landed a two-year, $21MM pact with the Twins. After the 2020 season, Gonzalez signed a one-year, $3MM deal with the Red Sox. He was released by August 2021, returning to the Astros and cracking their World Series roster.
Ultimately, Gonzalez represents nothing more than a harmless minor league deal for the Yankees. Every team signs at least a half-dozen of these every spring, to little consequence. However, it’s difficult denying the poor optics and timing of the Gonzalez signing for the Yankees. While the Yankees have found their 2021 shortstop in Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the Gonzalez minor league deal comes about a day after the Twins landed Carlos Correa on a three-year, $105.1MM deal, and minutes after the Red Sox reached a six-year, $140MM agreement with Trevor Story.
The juxtaposition with Correa is particularly stark. Both Correa and Gonzalez were heavily involved in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal of 2017 and ’18. In Tony Adams’ research of 58 home games from the ’17 Astros, no player had more correct trash can bangs (signifying what type of pitch was coming) than Marwin Gonzalez. It had been reported that at least one of the reasons the Yankees were cool on Correa was his involvement in the scandal, with the club having lost the 2017 ALCS to the Astros. Now the Yankees have added perhaps the chief perpetrator to the organization.
Of course, a no-risk minor league deal for Gonzalez is not analogous to the ten-year commitment Correa initially sought, but it’s still a bad look. Throw in Story’s surprising megadeal with the arch-rival Red Sox, who already had an excellent player at shortstop in Xander Bogaerts, and this morning’s Gonzalez signing may represent more for Yankees fans than a minor depth addition.
Ultimately that’s all it is, and Gonzalez isn’t guaranteed a spot on the big league team. Having traded Luke Voit, the Yankees are set up around the infield with Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Josh Donaldson, with DJ LeMahieu filling in at first, second, and third as needed. LeMahieu has never played the outfield and has almost never played shortstop. But the Yankees also still have Miguel Andujar on the 40-man roster, and the 27-year-old has experience at both third base and left field.
