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Freddie Freeman Rumors: Monday

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Freddie Freeman’s 12-year run with Atlanta came to a close Monday afternoon, as the Braves acquired slugging first baseman Matt Olson from the Athletics.  With the Yankees pessimistic on their chances of signing Freeman, here’s the latest…

  • The Blue Jays have conveyed serious interest in Freeman, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network.  On Friday Morosi suggested Freeman’s signing was imminent and said the Dodgers were making a strong push.
  • The Rays and Jays “have remained aggressive” on Freeman, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter thread) notes that rival clubs perceive the Jays as a threat to utilize some of their available payroll space to make a splash on the offense. He also suggests the Yankees could make sense as a Freeman suitor, but notes that it’s unclear if ownership wants to take on a long-term deal when they’re hoping to work out a long-term extension with Aaron Judge at some point down the line.

Phillies To Re-Sign Odubel Herrera

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2:12pm: Herrera’s contract will be worth $1.75MM with another $750K in incentives, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

7:59am: The Phillies have reached an agreement to bring back center fielder Odubel Herrera on a Major League deal.  The story emerged through tweets from Jim Salisbury of NBCSPhilly, Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Matt Gelb of The Athletic, and Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.  A center field platoon with Matt Vierling appears to be in the cards.

Herrera, 30, took over the regular center field job for the Phillies back in 2015 after being selected from the Rangers in the Rule 5 draft.  He made the All-Star team the following year, and then inked a five-year, $30.5MM contract extension.  Matt Klentak was the Phillies’ GM at the time.  After a third straight solid year in 2017, Herrera powered up for a career-best 22 home runs in 2018 but didn’t finish particularly well and lost playing time.  He showed impressive maximum exit velocities in each season up through 2018.

Entering a competition for the Phillies’ center field job in 2019, Herrera hit the IL with a hamstring strain in April.  In May of 2019, Herrera was arrested in a domestic violence incident and charged with simple assault of his girlfriend.  His girlfriend later declined to press charges.  After reviewing the incident, MLB issued an 85-game suspension to Herrera that ran through the rest of the 2019 season.  It stands as the third-longest domestic violence suspension MLB has given out.

In January 2020, with his suspension served, the Phillies designated Herrera for assignment.  He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, but had $19.5MM remaining on his contract.  With no minor league season in 2020, Herrera sat out until joining a Dominican Winter League team in November of that year.  Last spring, Herrera emerged as the frontrunner for the Phillies’ center field job once again.  Though he failed to make the team out of camp, they selected his contract in late April and he was ultimately the club’s primary center fielder by a wide margin despite an IL stint for ankle tendinitis.  Upon re-adding Herrera to the team, manager Joe Girardi said, “We just felt it was time,” having not received objections from other Phillies players.

Faced with a $12.5MM club option or a $1MM buyout, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski chose the buyout back in November prior to the lockout.  Several alternatives came off the board since then, with Byron Buxton and Michael A. Taylor signing extensions, Starling Marte signing with the Mets, and Jackie Bradley Jr. getting traded to the Red Sox.

Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander recently told Kevin Kiermaier to find a place near spring training, and furthermore, Jayson Stark of The Athletic says the Phillies are officially out on him.  Other than Brett Gardner, who remains a free agent, options have become limited for the Phillies in center field.  Teams continue to try to pry Bryan Reynolds loose from the Pirates, but with the season less than a month away the Phillies seem to have settled for Herrera once again.

Vierling, 25, played 34 games for the Phillies in 2021 as a rookie.  Baseball America ranked Vierling eighth among Phillies prospects, noting big exit velocities and adding, “Vierling is an impressive athlete who can play both corner infield spots and anywhere in the outfield, with plus speed and above-average defense in center field to go with a plus arm.”  Though Herrera, a left-handed hitter, hasn’t shown an extreme platoon split, former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler did deploy him in that way.

As a hitter, Herrera has a career wRC+ of exactly 100 and has sat in the 93-111 range in each season outside of 2019.  A left-handed hitter, the Phillies increasingly shielded Herrera against southpaws until his post-suspension return, at which point he was not deployed in a platoon.  Defensively, Herrera has generally graded well in Statcast’s Outs Above Average.  Stats like Defensive Runs Saved have generally shown him to be average or better, outside of a down year in 2018.  Herrera rated as one of the game’s slowest center fielders in 2021, with a sprint speed of 27.3 feet per second.

Brewers In Talks With Andrew McCutchen

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The Brewers are in talks with free agent outfielder Andrew McCutchen, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.  The Brewers’ outfield is generally set with Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Hunter Renfroe, and Tyrone Taylor, but Cutch could certainly supplement that mix and spend time at designated hitter.

McCutchen, 35, posted a 107 wRC+ in 574 plate appearances with the Phillies last year.  A right-handed hitter, McCutchen has been particularly strong against southpaws, with a 154 wRC+ dating back to 2017.

Upon getting fourth place in the 2009 NL Rookie of the Year voting, McCutchen established himself as the face of the Pirates and once of the best players in baseball.  From 2011-15, McCutchen ranked second in baseball among position players in WAR, making five straight All-Star teams, winning the 2013 NL MVP, and garnering top-five MVP votes in three other seasons.

In January 2018, with free agency on the horizon, the Pirates traded McCutchen to the Giants for Bryan Reynolds, Kyle Crick, and international bonus pool money.  The Giants later shipped McCutchen to the Yankees at the August waiver trade deadline.  McCutchen signed a three-year, $50MM free agent deal with the Phillies in the offseason.  Off to a strong start in his young Phillies career, McCutchen tore his ACL in June of 2019 and missed the remainder of the season.

McCutchen hit .222/.334/.444 in 574 plate appearances for the Phillies in 2021, spending all of his time in left field.  After the season, the Phillies declined his $15MM club option in favor of a $3MM buyout.  An everyday center fielder in Pittsburgh, McCutchen has become a below-average defensive left fielder with age, according to Statcast.  Given the advent of the NL DH, McCutchen could complement Milwaukee’s offense if they close a deal.

Rangers To Sign Jake Marisnick

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The Rangers are signing outfielder Jake Marisnick to a non-roster deal, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

Marisnick, 31 later this month, slumped to a 78 wRC+ last year in 198 plate appearances with the Cubs and Padres.  He’s known mainly for his glovework, and has predominantly played center field in his nine-year big league career.

Marisnick was drafted out of high school by the Blue Jays in the third round back in 2009.  In November 2012, he was on the other side of the blockbuster deal that sent Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Josh Johnson to Toronto.  He then joined the Astros at the 2014 deadline in a trade involving Jarred Cosart and Colin Moran.

From 2015-19, Marisnick got semi-regular playing time in Houston, averaging 116 games per season.  In 2015, ’18, and ’19, he led the Astros in defensive innings in center field.  Marisnick posted some stellar Statcast Outs Above Average marks in several of his seasons with the Astros.

The Astros traded Marisnick to the Mets in December 2019, but he played only 16 games in 2020 due to hamstring injuries.  Marisnick inked a $1.5MM free agent deal with the Cubs for 2021, but suffered another hamstring strain in May.  At the trade deadline, the Cubs shipped him to the Padres for Anderson Espinoza as part of their sell-off.  Marisnick struggled to find his hitting stroke in 54 plate appearances with the Padres, who declined their end of his $4MM mutual option after the season.

The Rangers committed $500MM to new infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien prior to the lockout, but haven’t yet moved to aggressively upgrade their outfield.  They added Kole Calhoun, and are projected to play Adolis Garcia and Nick Solak as well.

Yankees Pessimistic On Chances Of Signing Freddie Freeman

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The Yankees are pessimistic on free agent first baseman Freddie Freeman, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.  The Yankees have also thus far said no to an ask of top prospect Anthony Volpe plus more for Oakland first baseman Matt Olson, Heyman explains.  As such, a reunion with free agent Anthony Rizzo is suggested to be “the most realistic” first base addition for the Yankees.

Three days ago, Heyman wrote that the Dodgers and Braves are the most likely landing spots for Freeman, who reportedly has sought a six-year deal.  The Yankees have since revamped the left side of the infield, shipping out Gio Urshela and adding Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Twins.  The Yanks still have Luke Voit, DJ LeMahieu, and Gleyber Torres on the roster, so further adjustments may be coming.

Volpe, ranked by Baseball America as the tenth best prospect in the game, isn’t necessarily an unreasonable request by the A’s.  Recent precedent for trading a five-WAR type player in the offseason with two years of control is rare, but the Marlins were able to land Sixto Sanchez and others when shopping J.T. Realmuto three years ago.  Other clubs known to be in the mix for Olson include the Guardians, Rangers, Padres, and naturally the Braves if they lose Freeman.

Rizzo posted a 113 wRC+ for the Yankees in 200 plate appearances after coming over from the Cubs at the trade deadline.

Giants Designate Caleb Baragar For Assignment

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The Giants designated lefty Caleb Baragar for assignment, according to MLB.com’s Maria Guardado among other reporters.  Baragar joins Hunter Harvey in DFA limbo as the Giants opened up 40-man roster spots for new signings Carlos Rodon and Jakob Junis.

Baragar, 28 in April, was drafted in the ninth round by the Giants back in 2016 out of Indiana University.  He’s tallied 45 1/3 innings across the 2020-21 seasons, posting a 2.78 ERA, 18.8 K%, 9.1 BB%, and 21.7 GB%.  He’s only faced 74 lefties in his brief big league career, but hasn’t handled them well with a 4.1 K-BB%.  Baragar had a particularly rough go of it in Triple-A in ’21, posting an 8.46 ERA while walking 17.6% of batters faced and allowing seven home runs in 22 1/3 innings.

Tigers Sign Drew Hutchison, Ramon Rosso To Minor League Deals

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The Tigers have agreed to terms on a minor league deal with righty Drew Hutchison, announced the team.

Hutchison, 31, made nine appearances for the Tigers in 2021 in his first Major League action since 2018.  Hutchison had signed a minor league deal in February of last year.  He made a pair of starts for the Tigers in August and then spent September working in long relief.  Prior to that, Hutchison made 19 starts in Triple-A with a 23.5 K%, 10.8 BB%, and 41.2 GB%.

Hutchison made 32 starts in a solid sophomore season with the Blue Jays back in 2014, even garnering the club’s Opening Day start the following year.  He wasn’t able to stick in the Jays’ rotation in 2015, though, and was traded to the Pirates for Francisco Liriano at the 2016 deadline.  He was booted off the Pirates’ 40-man roster in September of ’17, electing free agency and signing a minor league deal with the Phillies the following February.  He made that team out of camp, but lost his 40-man spot by June.  He then moved to the Dodgers on a minor league deal, quickly opting out and signing with the Rangers.  Hutchison spent 2019 with the Yankees, Twins, and Angels’ Triple-A affiliates before resurfacing with the Tigers a year ago.

Detroit also signed reliever Ramon Rosso to a minors contract. The 25-year-old righty made seven appearances with the Phillies in each of the last two seasons. He owns a 6.11 ERA in 17 2/3 MLB innings but averaged 95.2 MPH on his fastball last year.

Nationals To Sign Sean Doolittle

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The Nationals have reached an agreement with reliever Sean Doolittle, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post first reported the presence of Doolittle’s locker and contact between the two sides.  He notes the contract is a Major League deal. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reports (Twitter link) he’ll be guaranteed $1.5MM with an additional $2.1MM attainable in incentives.

Doolittle, 35, will return for a fifth season with the Nats after splitting the 2021 season between the Reds and the Mariners. The two-time All-Star saved 75 games and pitched to a 3.03 ERA with a 28.2% strikeout rate and a 5.7% walk  rate with Washington through 142 2/3 innings after coming over from the A’s at the 2017 trade deadline.

The past two seasons haven’t been the best for Doolittle, who’s logged a combined 4.71 ERA through 57 1/3 innings during that time. However, after seeing his average fastball drop to a career-worst 90.9 mph in 2020, Doolittle rebounded to 93.3 mph in that regard in 2021 — including a 93.9 mph average late in the season after being claimed off waivers by the Mariners. Last year’s 12% swinging-strike rate and 33.6% opponents’ chase rate also marked bouncebacks, to an extent.

At his best, Doolittle has overpowered both left-handed and right-handed opponents, but he’s developed more of a platoon split in recent seasons. It was particularly pronounced in ’21, when lefties mustered just a .222/.276/.389 batting line but righties rocked him at a .288/.390/.510 pace. It’s unlikely he’ll bounce all the way back to his 2018 levels, when Doolittle was one of the best relievers on the planet, but even a return to his 2019 form would be a welcome addition to a threadbare Nationals bullpen that was lacking in stable contributors but has begun to add some veteran pieces.

Doolittle joins sidearming veteran Steve Cishek as the second experienced addition for the Nats in the past day. That pair will join Kyle Finnegan, Tanner Rainey and Will Harris in the late innings. Rainey is in need of a rebound himself, however, after pitching to a grisly 7.39 ERA in 31 2/3 innings in 2021. Harris, meanwhile, missed time with a series of blood clots early in 2021 before undergoing thoracic outlet surgery on Memorial Day weekend last year, making him something of a question mark himself.

It’s been an active few days for a Nationals club that has begun to add some short-term veterans. The Nats tore down much of the roster at the 2021 trade deadline, dealing Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Daniel Hudson, Yan Gomes, Josh Harrison, Brad Hand and Jon Lester in rare fire sale for GM Mike Rizzo. However, Rizzo pushed back against the idea of a lengthy rebuild in the days after the deadline and early in the offseason. The recent signings of Doolittle, Cishek, and particularly Nelson Cruz suggest that Rizzo & Co. will continue to add some veteran pieces to round out the 2022 roster.

If things break right and they get strong rebounds from key starters like Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, the Nats could be more competitive than many onlookers expect. If not, a series of short-term veteran additions will help to mentor some younger Nats before becoming trade fodder for a second straight deadline season.

Nationals Sign Aaron Sanchez To Minor League Deal

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March 15: In a subsequent tweet, Dougherty clarifies that Sanchez will make a base salary of $2MM, with a chance make a total of $3MM through performance bonuses.

March 13: The Nationals have signed righty Aaron Sanchez to a minor league deal, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman and Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post.  Sanchez is represented by the Boras Corporation.  Dougherty notes that if Sanchez makes the Majors, he has a $2MM base salary and another potential $4MM in incentives.

Sanchez, 29, was a first-round draft pick of the Blue Jays back in 2010.  He hit a high point in 2016 at the age of 23, when he made the All-Star team and finished seventh in the AL Cy Young voting.  Sanchez would be limited to just eight starts in 2017 due to a blister/split fingernail that required four separate IL stints. Further finger issues held him to 20 starts in 2018, culminating in season-ending surgery. Sanchez battled through similar issues in 2019, making 27 starts on the season but averaging fewer than five innings per turn. Sanchez was not able to replicate his previous success, posting a 5.45 ERA, lackluster 18.6 K%, and unfortunate 11.7 BB% across 2018-19.

By the 2019 trade deadline, the Blue Jays had seen enough, trading Sanchez to the Astros.  While it was thought that the Astros might work magic with Sanchez’s curveball, the righty quickly went down for shoulder surgery and was non-tendered after the 2019 season.

After missing the shortened 2020 season recovering from surgery, Sanchez re-emerged to sign a $4MM deal with the Giants in February 2021.  He hit the IL in May with right biceps tendinitis, getting further derailed with a blister.  Upon his return in late July, Sanchez was used out of the bullpen.  After three appearances, he was designated for assignment and then released.  At this point, Sanchez has tallied only 35 1/3 innings in the last two years.

If he’s healthy now, Sanchez could hardly find a better opportunity than at the back end of the Nationals’ rotation.  They’ve got Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, Josiah Gray, and Paolo Espino slated for the top four spots, with Sanchez likely to battle with another of today’s non-roster additions, Anibal Sanchez, for the fifth starter job, among others.  Strasburg is said to be healthy after undergoing thoracic outlet surgery last July.  News on Joe Ross was less encouraging, as the righty will be out six to eight weeks due to elbow surgery.

White Sox To Sign Joe Kelly

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7:57pm: Kelly’s deal also contains a club option for 2024, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.  The total value of the deal is $17MM in guaranteed money.

6:19pm: The White Sox have signed right-hander Joe Kelly to a two-year deal, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link).  The signing will become official when Kelly passes a physical.  Kelly is represented by the ACES agency.

The White Sox are a somewhat surprising suitor for Kelly, having inked Kendall Graveman to a three-year, $24MM deal prior to the lockout.  They’re also on the hook for a combined $29MM in 2022 for Liam Hendriks and Craig Kimbrel.  Aaron Bummer is under contract as well, and Garrett Crochet may also work out of the bullpen.  MLB.com’s Scott Merkin notes that the Kelly signing “could indicate a Kimbrel trade on the horizon, but White Sox are not just giving away Kimbrel.”

Kelly, 33, typically rates as one of the game’s hardest-throwing relievers, though every year more relievers are able to average 98 miles per hour as he does.  In his three years with the Dodgers, Kelly boosted his strikeout rate, hitting 27.5% in 44 innings in 2021.  In recent years, his control has generally fallen into the acceptable range of issuing free passes to 8% of batters.  Kelly also posted a healthy 58.9% groundball rate last year, helping him allow only three home runs on the season.

Kelly played a key role for the Red Sox in the 2018 postseason, allowing one earned run in 11 1/3 frames.  Kelly switched sides after helping the Red Sox beat the Dodgers in the World Series, as Los Angeles signed him to a three-year, $25MM deal with a club option for 2022.

Kelly put up an unspectacular 2019 season for the Dodgers.  He memorably earned a five-game suspension in the shortened 2020 season, also spending time on the shelf with shoulder inflammation before again helping his club win the World Series, though with not the same impact as he had for Boston.  Kelly quietly underwent shoulder surgery that offseason, leading to a May 7 season debut in ’21.  Kelly went on the COVID-IL in August of ’21, and later saw his season come to a close as he exited Game 5 of the NLCS with biceps tightness.

Faced with a $12MM club option or a $4MM buyout, the Dodgers chose the buyout.  Though Kelly suggested mutual interest in a Dodgers reunion last month, he’ll instead join the White Sox bullpen.  Kelly ranked seventh in the Dodgers’ bullpen in leverage index in 2021.  Among those ranked ahead of him (used in more crucial situations), Kenley Jansen remains a free agent and Corey Knebel has signed with the Phillies.  Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, and Brusdar Graterol are holdovers, with Daniel Hudson joining as a free agent prior to the lockout.  Tommy Kahnle is expected to pay some dividends after signing a two-year deal in December 2020 less than five months after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Kelly told 570 LA Sports at that time that he would “definitely be ready for the start of the season” after his NLCS biceps injury.  The White Sox, widely expected to trade Kimbrel, have thus far only added a pair of right-handed relievers to their bullpen.  Right around the same time tonight, the White Sox also bolstered their infield with the signing of Josh Harrison.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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