Cubs, Curt Casali Agree To Minor League Deal
The Cubs have signed veteran catcher Curt Casali to a minor league contract, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The BHSC client spent spring training with the Marlins but didn’t make the roster and was granted his release earlier this week.
Casali, 35, is a veteran of 10 big league seasons. He had a solid run with the Reds and (more briefly) the Rays from 2017-20, batting .262/.348/.444 over the life of 498 plate appearances, working primarily in a backup role. His bat has declined in the three seasons since, however.
Dating back to 2021, Casali has posted a lackluster .201/.311/.315 batting line — about 22% below league-average (78 wRC+) in a span of 504 plate appearances. He had a tough showing in camp with Miami, too, going just 1-for-17 with a double, a pair of walks and a pair of strikeouts.
Though his bat has seen a clear downturn in recent seasons, Casali is generally regarded as a sound defender. He nabbed six of 19 potential thieves on the bases last year (32%), and Statcast graded him as better than average when it comes to blocking pitches in the dirt. Defensive Runs Saved (+3) had a favorable view of his glovework as well.
The Cubs don’t have an immediate need behind the dish. Veteran Yan Gomes is slated to serve as the primary catcher for new manager Craig Counsell, and he’ll split time with 25-year-old Miguel Amaya, who’s out of minor league options and thus has to remain on the big league roster or else be traded or exposed to waivers. Presumably, Casali will head to Des Moines to suit up for the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate and be one of their first considerations in the event of an injury on the big league catching corps.
Players Who Sign Extensions Prior To MLB Debut Are Not PPI Eligible
A player who signs a contract extension prior to making his major league debut is not eligible for the prospect promotion incentive, reports JJ Cooper of Baseball America. He specifically mentions Jackson Chourio of the Brewers and Colt Keith of the Tigers, who both signed extensions with their respective clubs this offseason, as players who are not PPI eligible.
The latest collective bargaining agreement introduced the PPI to encourage clubs to carry top prospects on Opening Day rosters, rather than hold them down in the minors to gain an extra year of control, a move generally referred to as service time manipulation.
A major league season is 187 days long and a player needs 172 days in the big leagues to earn one year. By holding a player down in the minors for a few weeks, a club can prevent that player from getting to the one-year mark. Since a player needs a full six years of service to qualify for free agency, the club can gain an extra year of control over a young player by doing this. Some of the oft-cited examples of this practice are Kris Bryant of the Cubs and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays, both of whom were top prospects who were called up a few weeks into their respective rookie seasons, thus coming up just short of one year of service.
In an attempt to curb this behavior, the CBA introduced the PPI system, whereby teams could earn an extra draft pick by promoting certain players early in the season. To qualify, a player had to be on at least two out of the three top 100 lists at Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, as well as being rookie eligible and have fewer than 60 days of service time. If such a player was called up early enough in the season to accrue 172 days of service the traditional way*, they would be PPI eligible and could net their club an extra pick just after the first round. To earn a pick, a PPI eligible player has to either win a Rookie of the Year award or finish in the top three of voting for Most Valuable Player or Cy Young prior to qualifying for arbitration.
(*There was another new measure in the CBA to disincentive service time manipulation, whereby a player could earn a full year of service even if called up too late. If they were otherwise PPI eligible and finished in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting, they could be bumped up to a full year, but they would not earn their clubs an extra pick. This situation arose with Adley Rutschman of the Orioles in 2022, who finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting despite missing the first few weeks of the season. He earned a full year of service but the O’s would not have received a bonus pick for that if he had finished first.)
This new detail provides an extra wrinkle, as Chourio and Keith would have been in play for PPI picks. Both of them are top prospects who signed offseason extensions and then cracked Opening Day rosters. However, this new development means they won’t be in play for those bonus picks after all.
On the flip side, Cooper adds that Michael Busch of the Cubs and Joey Ortiz of the Brewers are PPI eligible. When Matt Eddy of Baseball America outlined the PPI rules back in February, he noted that players who debut in the majors and are then traded do not have PPI status with their new club. Busch debuted with the Dodgers last year and was traded to the Cubs this winter while Ortiz debuted with the Orioles before being flipped to the Brewers. Eddy provided a further update today, stating that they are PPI eligible since they were not moved via midseason trades.
Justin Steele Likely Headed To IL With Hamstring Injury
Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele left his Opening Day start early on Thursday after fielding a bunt and falling as he flipped the ball to first base. He seemed to be holding his left hamstring as he walked off the field, per Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. The team later confirmed to reporters (including Sharma) that Steele exited the game with left hamstring tightness.
After the game, a 4-3 loss to the Rangers in extra innings, Cubs manager Craig Counsell used the word “strain” to describe Steele’s injury (per Sharma). He added that the All-Star left-hander will likely go on the injured list, but as Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune notes, the skipper would not speculate about how much time Steele could miss. The southpaw will undergo an MRI on Friday (per Montemurro), after which the team will likely have a better idea about the severity of his injury and how long he might spend on the IL.
Counsell told reporters, including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times, that the team does not yet have a plan for who will take Steele’s spot in the rotation. Left-hander Drew Smyly and right-hander Hayden Wesneski seem to be the most likely candidates, given their presence on the 40-man roster and recent experience pitching out of the big league rotation. Smyly, 34, made 23 starts for the Cubs last year, while Wesneski, 26, made 11. However, Smyly found success in a bullpen role down the stretch in 2023; he made some starts this spring but was largely preparing to start the season as a reliever. Meanwhile, Wesneski struggled tremendously as a starter last year (5.51 ERA, 6.26 FIP) and looked even worse in six outings (four starts) this spring.
Ben Brown, 24, is one more name on the 40-man roster to keep an eye on. He transitioned to a bullpen role last season, but he has recent starting experience and looked sharper than either Smyly or Wesneski this spring. What’s more, his move to the bullpen may have simply been a way to accelerate his path to the major leagues, not a permanent change. He was quite good in 19 minor league starts last season, pitching to a 3.81 ERA and racking up 120 strikeouts in only 85 innings pitched. However, his lack of experience may work against him; Brown has yet to make his MLB debut.
Whether it is Smyly, Wesneski, Brown, or another arm entirely, the Cubs have a difficult decision to make before what would have been Steele’s next turn in the rotation: the final game of the home opener series against the Rockies on Wednesday, April 3.
Joe Boyle To Begin Season In A’s Rotation
A’s right-hander Joe Boyle is set to open the season in the Oakland rotation, manager Mark Kotsay told reporters (including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle) this evening. He’ll be the club’s fifth starter behind veterans Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, and Paul Blackburn as well as southpaw JP Sears.
Boyle, 24, was a fifth-round pick by the Reds in the 2020 draft and made his big league debut with the A’s back in September. The hulking 6’7”, 240-pound hurler made the most of a three-start cup of coffee down the stretch in 2023 as he pitched to a sterling 1.69 ERA with a 3.13 FIP across 16 innings of work. In that time, Boyle struck out 25% of batters faced while walking 8.3%. Both of those rates were noticeably lower than his minor league numbers. The right-hander’s powerful arsenal, headlined by a triple-digit fastball, allowed him to breeze through the minor leagues with a career 35.4% strikeout rate at the time of his call-up. That being said, he also struggled badly with his control throughout his time in the minors; his MLB debut was the first time he had walked less than 10% of the batters he faced at any level since his seven-inning stint in rookie ball back in 2021.
Given the excellent start to his big league career back in September, it’s perhaps not a shock to see the A’s offer him a chance to claim a more permanent spot in the rotation to open the season. With that being said, Boyle’s work this spring did little to inspire confidence in his ability to maintain his command as a starting pitcher. Boyle posted a worrisome 5.89 ERA across six starts and 18 1/3 innings of work this spring. While spring training stats typically aren’t particularly indicative of regular season performance, the fact that Boyle walked a whopping 15 batters during camp is sure to raise some eyebrows in conjunction with the control issues he demonstrated during his time in the minor leagues.
It’s not the first time in recent years the A’s have offered a high-octane arm with concerns regarding his command a spot in their Opening Day rotation; right-hander Shintaro Fujinami signed with the club out of Japan last winter and four disastrous starts with the club before being moved to the bullpen. Fujinami walked 12 batters while posting a 14.40 ERA in 15 innings of work across those four turns through the rotation, but after his pronounced struggles to begin the season managed to settle into a bullpen role with a 3.94 ERA and 3.71 FIP in his final 48 frames last year. Should Boyle falter during his time in the rotation, the A’s could take a similar route and see how he performs in relief if they don’t decide to simply option the youngster to the minors and allow him to continue working on his command as a starter.
On the other hand, if Boyle is able to maintain anything close to his big league debut over a full season in 2024, the deadline deal the A’s swung to acquire him from the Reds in exchange for lefty reliever Sam Moll would be nothing short of a coup. Gordon Wittnmyer of the Cincinnati Inquirer discussed this evening the circumstances surrounding the deal, adding that the Reds initially rebuffed Oakland’s proposal of Boyle as the return in a Moll trade with A’s GM David Forst acknowledging that Cincinnati declined to include Boyle “a couple of times” before eventually agreeing to the swap.
Had the Reds not come back to the negotiating table, Wittenmyer notes, it’s possible that Moll could have wound up pitching for the Cubs down the stretch last year. Wittenmyer reports that the club believed they were close to finalizing their own deal for Moll before Oakland landed Boyle. Moll, 32, enjoyed a dominant stretch run of his own with Cincinnati last fall as he pitched to a microscopic 0.73 ERA in 25 appearances with the Reds following the deal. Moll was slowed by shoulder soreness throughout camp this spring and stands to open the season on the injured list but figures to play a key role in the Cincinnati bullpen this season once healthy alongside the likes of Alexis Diaz and Emilio Pagan.
Cubs Release Jorge Alfaro
The Cubs released catcher Jorge Alfaro this evening, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times.
Alfaro, 31 in June, was in camp with the club on a minor league deal and had been informed last week that he wouldn’t make the club’s Opening Day roster out of camp. As an Article XX(B) free agent, Alfaro had the right to opt out of his minors deal with Chicago if not added to the 40-man roster. It’s unclear if he ever formally exercised that right, but he’ll now return to the open market where he can pursue opportunities elsewhere that may provide a clearer path to playing time at the big league level.
Once a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Alfaro was part of multiple significant trades as a youngster. After initially signing with the Rangers as an international free agent, he was included as part of the prospect package the club sent to Philadelphia in the Cole Hamels trade at the 2015 trade deadline. He made his big league debut with the Phillies the following year and slashed a solid .270/.327/.422 in 143 games with the club across three seasons before once again finding himself moved as part of the return in a blockbuster. This time, Alfaro was shipped to Miami as part of the return for All Star catcher J.T. Realmuto during the 2018-19 offseason.
Alfaro’s first season with the Marlins went rather well, as he slashed a respectable .262/.312/.425 with 18 home runs in 465 trips to the plate. His defense behind the plate left something to be desired, however, and over the next two seasons Alfaro would begin to deal with similar struggles on offense. In 123 games with the Marlins between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, he hit just .240/.282/.343 in 411 trips to the plate. That performance was good for a wRC+ of just 69, 31% worse than the league average hitter over that same period.
With his struggles with the glove now compounded by struggles at the plate, the Marlins decided to move on from Alfaro during the 2021-22 offseason by moving him to the Padres in a cash deal. Alfaro rebounded somewhat to post a decent 91 wRC+ in 82 games with the Padres in 2022 but found himself non-tendered that November, after which point he spent the 2023 campaign bouncing between several organizations while spending time with the Red Sox and Rockies at the major league level.
Looking ahead, it would be something of a surprise to see Alfaro land a major league deal given his struggles in recent years. With that being said, the Colombia native’s prospect pedigree and previous offensive success at a position where upper-level depth is particularly valuable should make him one of the more attractive options to catching-needy clubs available on the market at this stage of the offseason, and it’s easy to imagine him finding a minor league deal where he’ll be more likely to impact the big league roster than he was in Chicago, where the Cubs are poised to rely on a tandem of Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya behind the plate.
Carl Edwards Jr. Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Cubs
Right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. is opting out of his minor league deal with the Cubs, as first reported by The Bigs Media on X. Edwards signed the minors pact with Chicago back in January, though as an Article XX(B) free agent Edwards received the ability to opt-out from his contract yesterday if not added to the 40-man roster.
Edwards, 32, got his start a professional in the Rangers system after being selected in the 48th-round of the 2011 draft. Despite that lack of prospect pedigree, Edwards broke out to become a consensus top prospect after he was traded to the Cubs as part of the return for Matt Garza back in 2013. After making his debut in Chicago in 2015, Edwards pitched to an excellent 3.06 ERA and 3.12 FIP in 159 innings spread across four seasons. He struck out an excellent 33.9% of batters faced during that time, though it was accompanied by an elevated 13.6% walk rate.
The right-hander’s performance took a turn for the worse as he battled injuries and ineffectiveness from 2019 to 2021, with a 7.90 ERA across 34 appearances split between the Cubs, Padres, Mariners, Braves, and Blue Jays. That led to him signing a minor league deal with the Nationals back in February 2022, and he enjoyed something of a career resurgence in D.C. Over his two seasons with the club, Edwards pitched to a 3.07 ERA with a 4.11 FIP. While the run prevention numbers were similar to that of his peak years in Chicago, the right-hander’s strikeout rate had declined as he punched out just 20.1% of batters faced while maintaining a slightly elevated 10.5% walk rate. Even so, he provided solid results for the Nationals while generating groundballs at a 47.1% clip.
A stress fracture in Edwards’s shoulder brought his 2023 season to a premature end, though he appeared to be fully healthy upon arriving in camp with Chicago last month. This spring, he’s allowed just two runs (one earned) while striking out six and walking three in seven appearances with Chicago. Those solid results evidently weren’t enough to crack the Cubs’ Opening Day roster, but it would hardly be a shock if they caught the attention of another club in need bullpen help in the coming days. At the very least, Edwards appears to be a safe bet to find another minor league deal elsewhere in the league if he cannot secure a spot on a big league roster to open the season.
As for Chicago, the Cubs appear poised to enter the season with Adbert Alzolay, Hector Neris, Drew Smyly, Julian Merryweather, Yency Almonte, and Mark Leiter Jr. locked into spots in the club’s bullpen. That leaves two spots to be filled as things stand, one of which Edwards was in contention for. With him no longer a factor, optionable relief arms already on the 40-man roster such as Luke Little, Jose Cuas, Daniel Palencia, and Keegan Thompson figure to be in the mix for the final spots in the club’s relief mix.
Cubs To Select Garrett Cooper
First baseman Garrett Cooper has made the Opening Day roster with the Cubs, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid (X link). He’s not on the 40-man roster, so Chicago will need to select his contract in the next few days.
Cooper somewhat surprisingly settled for a minor league deal after camp had begun. He was among 31 players who had the automatic ability to opt out of that contract today. Article XX(B) free agents — typically those with over six years of major league service who finish the previous season on an MLB roster — who sign a minor league deal over the offseason have the ability to opt out five days before Opening Day.
Whether Cooper did so or the Cubs expected he would is immaterial. In either case, he’ll get back to the majors as a righty-hitting complement to Michael Busch at first base and designated hitter. Cooper had a limited ramp-up period in Spring Training. He only appeared in 10 games but hit a pair of homers and a double over 30 trips to the plate. The 33-year-old has a .231/.333/.500 batting line in exhibition play.
Cooper spent the majority of his career with the Marlins. He was a quietly effective hitter when healthy, running a .269/.338/.436 slash for the Fish. That production dipped last season, as he was sitting on a .256/.296/.426 line in 82 games before Miami traded him to the Padres. Cooper’s finish in San Diego (.239/.323/.402) wasn’t much better and he hit the open market coming off his worst offensive season since he established himself as a major leaguer in 2019.
Calling Cooper up makes it seem unlikely that Chicago will have room for Dominic Smith. The lefty-swinging Smith opted out of his own minor league pact this afternoon. The Cubs have until Sunday to decide whether to add him to the MLB roster, but it’d be a surprise if they carried both players.
Dominic Smith To Opt Out Of Minors Deal With Cubs
First baseman Dominic Smith is opting out of his minor league deal with the Cubs, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN.
Smith, 29 in June, is primarily a first baseman. The Mets moved him to left field for a while since Pete Alonso took hold of the first base job, but Smith graded poorly out there and eventually moved back to first base with the Nationals last year.
The Cubs are likely going to give a lot of run to Michael Busch at first base this year, after acquiring him from the Dodgers in an offseason trade. They also re-signed Cody Bellinger after Smith signed his minor league pact, further crowding the path to playing time. Bellinger will likely be in the outfield but it’s possible that he winds up at first if Busch falters or if Pete Crow-Armstrong forces his way into the center field job.
Given that situation, it makes sense that Smith would look for opportunities elsewhere. He’s been in great form this spring, having hit .346/.370/.538 thus far, which could perhaps help him market himself to other clubs.
He’s coming off an uninspiring season, his first outside of Queens. He hit just .254/.326/.366 for the Nationals, leading to a wRC+ of 90, his third straight subpar campaign. Interested clubs will be hoping that he can get back to his 2019-20 form, when he hit .299/.366/.571 for a wRC+ of 150.
There is plenty of roster churn going on around baseball today, with several cuts being made and veterans opting out. A game of musical chairs will play out in the coming days as guys look for new clubs and Smith will see if he can wind up somewhere with a decent path to playing time.
Cubs To Begin Season With Wicks, Assad In Rotation; Smyly In Bullpen
With Opening Day now one week away, the Cubs made some decisions on their starting pitching plan to begin the year. Manager Craig Counsell told members of the club’s beat, including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, that left-hander Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad will have rotation jobs to open the campaign. Veteran lefty Drew Smyly, meanwhile, will head to the bullpen. In a separate tweet, Montemurro confirms that righty Jameson Taillon will start the season on the injured list. In terms of the catching group, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times relays that both Jorge Alfaro and Joe Hudson have been told they won’t make the team but are staying in big league camp for now.
The Cubs came into camp with a front four of Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Shota Imanaga and Taillon, with one spot available for guys like Wicks, Assad, Smyly, Hayden Wesneski or Caleb Kilian. In early March, Kilian was diagnosed with a teres major strain and will be out for several months, taking him out of the competition.
Taillon was dealt much smaller issues but they nonetheless slowed his progression. He initially had some soreness is his calves and that was followed by some lower back tightness. He still has not appeared in an official Spring Training game and will begin the season on the IL. He told Bruce Levine of WSCR on the weekend that he was planning to throw off a mound this week, which shows some progress, but he’s likely still a few weeks away from readiness.
With Taillon out of action, there were two open spots at the back of the rotation, which will go to Wicks and Assad. Wicks is one of the club’s top pitching prospects and he made his major league debut last year with a 4.41 earned run average in seven starts. In 91 1/3 innings of minor league work, he had a 3.55 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate.
He only struck out 16.3% of hitters in his first taste of the majors, but in a fairly small sample of 34 2/3 innings. For what it’s worth, he’s posted a 2.60 ERA this spring, though with a modest 16.9% strikeout rate. But he has also limited his walks to 2.8% and it’s a small sample of 17 1/3 innings. He’ll get a chance to take a step forward at the major league level to start the season. He still has a full slate of options, so the Cubs could easily send him back to the minors when Taillon is healthy if they so choose.
Assad has a bit more experience, having served in a swing role for the Cubs over the past two years. He has a 3.06 ERA in 147 innings over 41 appearances, including 18 starts. His 20.2% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate are both slightly worse than league average but he’s kept 44.7% of balls in play on the ground and was in the 78th percentile of qualified pitchers last year in terms of average exit velocity. He has allowed seven earned runs in nine innings this spring. He has a couple of options and could wind up in the minors later but the Cubs have used him as a long reliever out of the bullpen in the past.
That long relief role could perhaps be taken by Smyly, who was also in that role for a time last year. The Cubs signed him to a two-year, $19MM deal last offseason but he struggled in 2023 and wound up moving to the bullpen on multiple occasions. He finished last year with an even ERA of 5.00, but it was 5.62 as a starter and 2.51 out of the ‘pen. That latter number was in a small sample of 28 2/3 innings but the Cubs will be hoping his stuff will play up in shorter stints. Spring results are to be taken with a grain of salt but he hasn’t done much to win back a rotation job lately, with a 7.71 ERA, 15.1% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate in 11 2/3 innings.
His past experience as a starter could have him working multi-innings stints as a reliever, but he could also be utilized as a situational lefty. The only other southpaw reliever currently on the roster is Luke Little, who has just 6 2/3 innings of major league experience and notable control issues in the minors.
As for the catchers, it’s not too surprising they won’t make the club. The Cubs have Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya set to be their primary catching tandem. Gomes is a 12-year veteran coming off a solid season while Amaya has been a notable prospect for a while and made his major league debut last year. It’s unclear if either Alfaro or Hudson have opt-outs in their minor league deals, but it seems they will be staying in camp for the time being.
31 Veterans With Opt-Out Opportunities Looming This Week
One of the provisions in that 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement is uniform opt-out opportunities for Article XX(B) free agents on minor league deals. An Article XX(B) free agent is one with at least six years of service time who finished the previous season on a major league roster or injured list. Any such player who signs a minor league deal more than ten days prior to Opening Day can opt out of that deal at three points if they haven’t been added to the 40-man roster: five days before Opening Day, May 1 and June 1.
The first uniform opt-out date on this year’s calendar falls Friday at 1pm CT. Any player can trigger his out clause at that point, and the team will subsequently be given a 48-hour window to either add him to the roster or release him. With many clubs around the league dealing with spring injuries, some of these players should be able to find opportunities elsewhere if they can’t find it with their current organization. Their current clubs can prevent them from opting out by giving them a roster spot, but that may involve cutting someone else.
Angels: OF Jake Marisnick, LHP Drew Pomeranz
Marisnick, 33 this month, is a right-handed-hitting fourth outfielder with a plus glove and questionable bat. He can hold his own against right-handed pitching (career .237/.293/.417, 93 wRC+) but is typically overmatched by righties (.223/.274/.365, 74 wRC+). He’s having a huge spring, but the Angels already have Taylor Ward, Mike Trout, Mickey Moniak, Aaron Hicks and Jo Adell on the 40-man roster.
The 35-year-old Pomeranz was a good starter from 2016-17 and a dominant reliever from 2019-21, but he didn’t pitch in 2022-23 due to arm injuries. He’s pitched 6 2/3 innings with the Angels this spring with middling results.
Blue Jays: 3B/2B Eduardo Escobar, 1B Joey Votto
A poor season between the Mets and Angels last year set the stage for the 35-year-old Escobar to take a minor league deal. He’s long been a productive MLB hitter and even topped 30 homers back in 2019, but Escobar’s now in his mid-30s and struggling through an ugly spring while trying to win a spot in a crowded infield mix also featuring Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio, Ernie Clement and Davis Schneider.
Votto, 40, has been connected the Blue Jays seemingly forever due to his Canadian roots. He finally suited up for the Jays after agreeing to a minor league deal and homered in his first at-bat of camp. He’s had a lackluster showing at the plate in each of the past two MLB seasons, however.
Cubs: 1B/OF Garrett Cooper, RHP Carl Edwards Jr., OF David Peralta
An underrated hitter for years in Miami, Cooper slashed .274/.350/.444 in nearly 1300 plate appearances from 2019-22 before a poorly timed down showing in 2023’s walk year. He’s hitting quite well in spring training, and the Cubs don’t have a proven option at first base — though they’re understandably high on 26-year-old trade acquisition Michael Busch.
Edwards had a nice 2022 season with the Nats and posted a solid ERA in 2023 but did so with dismal K-BB numbers. He’s competing for a spot in an uncharacteristically crowded Cubs bullpen and could be squeezed out. The 32-year-old pitched for the Cubs from 2015-19, so Chicago brass knows him well. From 2022-23 in D.C., he posted a 3.07 ERA but a middling 20% strikeout rate against a 10.5% walk rate.
Peralta, 36, has a trio of hits and a walk in ten plate appearances this spring. He was an above-average hitter with the D-backs every season from 2017-20 but has been less consistent of late. He’s a left-handed hitter who’s long had glaring platoon splits and is limited to the outfield corners.
Diamondbacks: SS Elvis Andrus
Andrus is 35 but can still pick it at shortstop or second base. His once above-average speed has faded to the 30th percentile of MLB players, per Statcast, but his range at short remains excellent. Andrus hit .251/.304/.358 (81 wRC+) for the White Sox in 2023 and only has one year of above-average offense (2022) in the past six seasons.
Guardians: RHP Carlos Carrasco
Old friend Cookie Carrasco is fighting for the fifth spot in the Guardians’ rotation, and news of Gavin Williams‘ season-opening stint on the injured list could further open the door for the 36-year-old (37 on Thursday) to make the team. Carrasco was torched for a 6.80 ERA with the 2023 Mets. He allowed 1.80 homers per nine frames through 90 innings, with alarming batted-ball metrics (91.5 mph average exit velocity, 48.2% hard-hit rate, 10.7% barrel rate). He was a solid mid-rotation arm as recently as 2022, when he tossed 152 innings of 3.97 ERA ball with sharp strikeout and walk rates.
Marlins: C Curt Casali
The veteran Casali has batted .201/.311/.315 over the past three big league seasons — a 78 wRC+ in 503 plate appearances. The 35-year-old is off to a rough start in camp and is a long shot to unseat defensive-minded Nick Fortes or Christian Bethancourt, both of whom are already on the 40-man roster.
Mets: 1B/DH Ji Man Choi
From 2017-22, Choi hit .254/.363/.465 (130 wRC+) against right-handed pitching. He walked at a 14.4% clip when holding the platoon advantage and fanned at a higher-than-average but still-manageable 24.1% rate. Lefties have always had Choi’s number, however, and his overall production cratered in 2023 while he dealt with Achilles and ribcage injuries. He’s fighting for a bench spot in New York alongside DJ Stewart and others.
Nationals: RHP Matt Barnes, OF Eddie Rosario, OF Jesse Winker
Barnes was an All-Star closer with the Red Sox in 2021 and briefly one of the game’s most dominant relievers, fanning more than 40% of his opponents for the bulk of that season. He wore down beginning in August and hasn’t been the same since a hip injury. Barnes’ velocity and strikeouts were way down in 2023 before he underwent season-ending surgery. He should have a good chance to win a spot in a Nationals bullpen that has little established talent.
Rosario and Winker are both left-handed-hitting outfielders who are best deployed in left field — with Winker having a particularly shaky defensive reputation. Winker is the younger of the two at 30 years old (to Rosario’s 32). Winker was quietly one of the most productive hitters in baseball against right-handed pitching for much of his time in Cincinnati, but knee and neck surgery in October 2022 look to have taken their toll on him. Rosario was the far more productive hitter in 2023. There may not be room for both veterans on the Washington roster. Winker has been in camp longer and been more productive in their small samples.
Orioles: 2B Kolten Wong
The Orioles seem to bring in a veteran infielder coming off a down season almost every year. It’s Wong’s turn in 2023. The 33-year-old was one of the game’s worst hitters in ’23, slashing just .183/.256/.263 in 250 plate appearances between the Mariners and Dodgers. That was beyond out of character for Wong, who’d been an average or better hitter in five of the past six seasons. If the O’s don’t want to rush Jackson Holliday or Coby Mayo, Wong could win a spot on the roster — but he hasn’t hit that well in camp so far.
Pirates: RHP Chase Anderson
It’s been five years since Anderson’s last solid season in a big league rotation, but the well-liked veteran continues to get work each season. From 2020-23, he’s pitched to a 6.19 ERA in 192 MLB frames — including a 5.42 mark in 86 1/3 innings last year (mostly with the Rockies). Anderson doesn’t miss many bats, but he has good command and is having a nice spring with the Pirates. He’s competing with Luis Ortiz, Jared Jones, Roansy Contreras, Domingo German and others for one of two generally open rotation spots in Pittsburgh.
Rangers: INF Matt Duffy, RHP Shane Greene, RHP Jose Urena
A contact-oriented hitter who can play all over the infield, the 33-year-old Duffy faces an uphill battle with Josh Smith, Ezequiel Duran and Justin Foscue all on the 40-man roster ahead of him. Nathaniel Lowe will open the season on the injured list, but that’ll likely work to Jared Walsh‘s benefit more than Duffy.
Greene, 35, is a former All-Star closer/setup man who peaked with the Tigers and Braves from 2017-20. He’s thrown just three innings in each of the past two MLB seasons but also turned in strong numbers with the Cubs in Triple-A last year.
The 32-year-old Urena made five dismal starts for the Rockies early in the 2023 season and five solid ones for the White Sox late in the season. He also pitched well for Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate. A solid arm for the Marlins in 2017-18, Urena has a 5.50 ERA in 350 1/3 MLB frames dating back to 2019. He’s had a nice spring and could be a depth piece for an injury-plagued Rangers rotation.
Rays: RHP Jake Odorizzi
Odorizzi signed last week and will look to get back on track after a shoulder injury cost him the 2023 season. With the exception of an injury-wrecked 2020 season, he’s been a dependable five-inning starter dating back to 2014 (3.98 ERA in 1216 innings). The Rays’ pitching staff is dealing with plenty of injuries, and Odorizzi should be an option for the Rays early in the season.
Red Sox: 1B C.J. Cron, RHP Michael Fulmer, C Roberto Perez, LHP Joely Rodriguez
Cron has four seasons of 25-plus homers under his belt and was consistently an above-average hitter from 2014-22. Injuries tanked his 2023 season, but he has a strong track record of hitting for power — with largely even platoon splits. He’d make a nice right-handed complement to Triston Casas and/or Masataka Yoshida at first base and designated hitter, providing some insurance against an injury to either.
Perez is an all-glove backup who’s never hit much outside the juiced ball season in 2019, when he popped 24 of his 55 career homers. The Sox figure to go with Reese McGuire and Connor Wong behind the plate, making him a long shot to land a roster spot.
Rodriguez signed a big league deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2023 season but only pitched 11 innings due to injury. He’s having a decent spring training — two runs on nine hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in seven innings — and has a good chance to win a spot in a patchwork Red Sox bullpen. If not, his ability to miss bats and pile up grounders would likely draw interest elsewhere.
Fulmer won’t pitch in 2024 after undergoing surgery last summer. His minor league deal is a two-year contract that stretches into 2025. The two sides knew this going into the arrangement and there’s no reason to expect he’ll opt out.
Royals: RHP Tyler Duffey
Duffey was a mainstay in the division-rival Twins’ bullpen and was a high-end setup option at his peak in 2019-21, posting a 2.89 ERA across 144 frames while fanning 29.8% of his opponents. His results slipped in 2022 as he lost some life on his fastball, and he pitched just two MLB frames with the Cubs in 2023. Duffey recently had a procedure to remove a cancerous mole from his shoulder that understandably halted his baseball activity for a bit. He’s hopeful he’ll pitch again this spring, and while the larger takeaway is relief that the melanoma was discovered and quickly treated, his track record could also give him a shot to crack the Royals’ bullpen early in the season.
White Sox: RHP Jesse Chavez, RHP Brad Keller, RHP Dominic Leone, 3B/1B Mike Moustakas, OF Kevin Pillar, RHP Bryan Shaw
Chavez, 40, has been excellent with the Braves in each of the past three seasons but struggled in stints with the Cubs and Angels. He’s having a tough spring with the White Sox but carries a 2.81 ERA in his past 137 2/3 MLB frames, spanning the 2021-23 seasons.
Keller has spent his entire big league career with the Royals but saw his time in Kansas City come to a rough ending. After a three-year run as a solid starter, Keller struggled in three subsequent seasons, culminating in an IL stint for symptoms indicative of thoracic outlet syndrome. He hasn’t pitched in an official spring game for the White Sox.
Leone struggled late in the 2023 season but has a cumulative 3.38 ERA in 157 innings over the past three seasons. He’s having a solid spring training, has late-inning experience, and seems like a decent bet to win a spot in a White Sox bullpen that’s been completely torn down since last summer.
Moustakas has turned in three straight below-average seasons at the plate and is struggling again with the White Sox in camp (.167/.268/.278 in 41 plate appearances). The Sox have Yoan Moncada and Andrew Vaughn at the corners, plus Gavin Sheets as a lefty-swinging first base option (and corner outfielder) off the bench. Moose seems like a long shot to make the club.
Pillar would give the Sox a right-handed complement to lefty-hitting corner outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Dominic Fletcher. He’s 35 and no longer the plus-plus defensive center fielder he once was but could give them some insurance for Luis Robert Jr. in center as well. He hit .228/.248/.416 with nine homers in 206 plate appearances for the Braves last year.
Shaw pitched 45 2/3 innings for the Sox last year and delivered a respectable 4.14 ERA in that time. His production has tailed off substantially since his days as a consistent setup presence in the Cleveland bullpen — evidenced by a 5.07 ERA over his past six seasons. He’s been tagged for a dozen earned runs in 7 1/3 spring frames but does have 10 strikeouts.