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Royals Hire Zach Bove As Assistant Pitching Coach

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Zach Bove is the latest new face on the Royals’ coaching staff, as Sports Illustrated’s Pat Ragazzo (Twitter link) reports that Bove is leaving the Twins’ staff to become Kansas City’s new assistant pitching coach.  Bove has been in Minnesota for the last four seasons, working in the assistant pitching coordinator role in 2022.

It marks another Royals hire from inside the AL Central, as K.C. just named Brian Sweeney (formerly the Guardians’ bullpen coach) as the team’s new pitching coach earlier this week.  Beyond these hirings, the Royals also named Matt Quatraro as their new manager and Paul Hoover is the new bench coach, with both men coming from the Rays organization.  Additionally, longtime former Giants coach José Alguacil is coming aboard as the Royals’ new infield coach.

Bove is one of several pitching coaches and coordinators around baseball who came to the majors from the college ranks, as Bove was a pitching coach at the College of Central Florida for seven years before he joined the Twins.  With more of a new-school, analytical approach, Bove brings some different perspectives towards the Royals’ stated goal of helping bring their younger pitchers along at the MLB level.  Brady Singer pitched well in 2022, but with Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic, and Jackson Kowar all struggling, the Royals haven’t gotten nearly the expected results from the pitchers they thought would be the backbone of the team’s latest rebuild.

MJ Melendez Drawing Trade Interest

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  • The Royals have drawn some trade interest in young catcher/outfielder MJ Melendez, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. The 24-year-old made his major league debut this year and hit .217/.313/.393 with 18 home runs across 534 plate appearances. That’s roughly league average output once one accounts for the diminished offensive environment and Kansas City’s cavernous ballpark, by measure of wRC+. Melendez, a recent top prospect, showed a promising combination of power and plate discipline while splitting his time between catcher, the corner outfield and designated hitter. Kansas City can control Melendez for six seasons and seems unlikely to deal him, although his path to everyday reps behind the plate is blocked by face of the franchise Salvador Perez. The seven-time All-Star is under contract through 2025, and the deal contains a club option for the ’26 season. Rosenthal unsurprisingly writes that Kansas City has no interest in trading Perez.

Royals Hire Brian Sweeney As Pitching Coach

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The Royals announced two additions to their coaching staff today, with Brian Sweeney being named pitching coach and José Alguacil named infield coach.

Sweeney, 48, is a former big league pitcher, having thrown for the Mariners and Padres over 2003-2006. He went to Japan for three seasons from 2007 to 2009 and came back to the Mariners in 2010. He played a few more seasons in the minors but that was his last stint in the big leagues.

Prior to the 2015 season, he took a pitching coach job in the minor league system of the Phillies. He joined Cleveland’s coaching staff at the big league level going into 2018 and has served as their bullpen coach for the past three years. He’s now been poached by Cleveland’s division rival and will come to Kansas City to serve as the pitching coach. Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports that Royals’ owner John Sherman, who used to be a minority owner of the Guardians, has been “extremely involved” in the process of filling out the coaching staff.

Getting better results from the pitching staff will surely be a primary area of focus for the Royals, as many of their young pitchers have disappointed in recent years. Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic and Jackson Kowar have all struggled in their MLB time so far, despite being first-round draft picks. Those disappointing results have helped lengthen the club’s rebuilding period, with their last season above .500 coming with their World Series victory back in 2015.

They’ve made many changes to try to turn their fortunes around going forward, including firing president of baseball operations Dayton Moore, manager Mike Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred. General manager J.J. Picollo is now in charge of the front office while Matt Quatraro is now the bench boss. Sweeney will jump onto Quatraro’s staff to replace Eldred.

As for Alguacil, 50, he spent 15 years in the Giants’ organization, taking on various roles including first base coach at the MLB level from 2017 to 2019. He spent last year as a minor league infield coordinator with the Nationals but will now return to the big leagues with the Royals.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Sweeney’s hire prior to the official announcement.

Gaylord Perry Passes Away

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Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry has passed away, according to multiple reports. He was 84 years old.

Perry made his MLB debut with the Giants in 1962 and wound up sticking around the majors through 1983, getting into 22 different seasons with eight different ball clubs. Perry gained a reputation around the league for his use of a spitball, leading to frequent suspicion from opposing teams and inspection from umpires.

Regardless, Perry went on to rack up numerous accolades in his career, making the All-Star team in 1966, 1970, 1972, 1974 and 1979. He pitched a no-hitter against the Cardinals in 1968. He lead the league in wins in 1970, 1972 and 1978 and also won the Cy Young in the latter two of those seasons.

In his career, he played for the Giants, Indians, Rangers, Padres, Yankees, Braves, Mariners and Royals. He got into 777 MLB games, tossing over 5,000 innings. He is one of just 24 pitchers in history to crack the 300-win barrier, with his final tally of 314 placing him 17th on the all-time list. He’s also just one of 18 pitchers to strike out more than 3,000 hitters. His 3,534 punchouts are the eight-most in the history of the majors.

Perry wasn’t particularly shy about his use of the spitter, even co-authoring a book on the subject in 1974, while he was still in the midst of his playing career. Despite his open admittance of using the illegal pitch, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991, his third year on the ballot.

MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, friends, loved ones, former teammates and all those mourning him today.

Rangers Name Mike Maddux Pitching Coach, Hire Dayton Moore As Senior Advisor To Baseball Operations

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The Rangers on Wednesday announced that they’ve brought veteran coach Mike Maddux back for a second stint as the team’s pitching coach. The team also announced that longtime Royals general manager Dayton Moore has joined the organization as a senior advisor to the baseball operations department.

Maddux, 61, is among the game’s most experienced and respected pitching coaches. A veteran of 15 Major League seasons himself — and the older brother of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, of course — the elder Maddux brother retired in 2000 and has served as a Major League pitching coach every year since 2003. Maddux enjoyed a six-year stint with the Brewers before spending seven years as the Rangers’ pitching coach, two as the Nationals’ pitching coach and most recently, five seasons as the Cardinals’ pitching coach.

Maddux’s return is the latest step in an organizational shakeup that saw manager Chris Woodward and longtime president of baseball operations Jon Daniels ousted over the summer. Veteran manager Bruce Bochy was recently named the new skipper in Arlington, with former big league outfielder Will Venable — who’s been fast rising through the MLB coaching ranks — brought aboard as the organization’s “associate manager.” The Rangers announced back in early October that co-pitching coaches Doug Mathis and Brendan Sagara would not return next season, and in recent days, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News had reported that Maddux was emerging as a prime candidate to reprise the role he held in Texas from 2009-15.

Turning to Moore, his appointment as a senior advisor to general manager Chris Young will give Young some valuable experience from which to draw. Young only retired as a pitcher himself following the 2017 season, and after a quick stop working in the league’s central offices, he was tabbed as the Rangers’ GM, working underneath Daniels.

That arrangement lasted fewer than three seasons, and Young is now in the midst of his first offseason as the primary baseball operations decision-maker with any organization. He’ll still have autonomy when it comes to roster decisions, of course, but Moore can speak from a place of experience while providing guidance. The pair are already familiar with one another, as Young spent the final three seasons of his 13-year Major League career pitching for Moore’s Royals.

In a situation not entirely dissimilar to the Rangers’ front office shakeup, Moore found himself relieved from his duties as Kansas City’s president of baseball operations just a few months ago. Daniels had been running baseball operations for Texas since 2005, while Moore was tabbed as Kansas City’s GM a year later, in 2006. Both were replaced by in-house general managers who were ascending to that post for the first time: Young in Texas, and longtime Moore lieutenant J.J. Picollo in Kansas City. Daniels has since been named a senior advisor to the Rays’ baseball operations department.

It’s feasible that Moore will again pursue a position of greater prominence in a different organization’s front office, but for the time being, he’ll bring more than 30 years of scouting acumen and nearly 20 years of experience running his own baseball operations outfit to the Rangers as they gear up for what’s expected to be a second consecutive aggressive offseason. Texas cannonballed into the deep end of the free-agent pool last offseason, signing Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray for a combined $556MM. Now, after vastly overhauling their front office and dugout leadership, they’re expected to aggressively pursue top-of-the-market starting pitching and have already been connected to the likes of Jacob deGrom, Carlos Rodon and Kodai Senga.

Do The Royals Have A Problem Behind The Plate?

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Since winning the 2015 World Series, the Royals have been on a downward trajectory. The went 81-81 in 2016 and have been below .500 in the five seasons after that. After rebuilding the farm for a few years, the club has been trying to return to contention over the past couple of seasons by giving out some aggressive contracts, at least by their modest standards. It hasn’t worked out, with the past two seasons resulting in a fourth and fifth place finish in the weak AL Central.

A significant factor in the club’s results has been that many of their top pitching prospects have struggled in the majors. Brady Singer seems to be front of the pack now, despite posting a 4.91 ERA in 2021 and getting demoted to the bullpen to start 2022. He wound up back in the rotation and finished the season with a 3.23 ERA. Daniel Lynch was a 34th overall pick in 2019 but he has a 5.32 ERA in 199 2/3 innings thus far in the big leagues. Kris Bubic was taken 40th overall in 2018 but has a 4.89 ERA in over 300 MLB innings thus far. Jackson Kowar was selected 33rd overall in 2018 but has only been given 46 innings of action so far, in which he has a 10.76 ERA. Those are just a few examples of many.

For a team that doesn’t usually spend on marquee free agents, developing their own prospects into useful major leaguers is essential to their success and this is something they will need to get to the bottom of. Finding an explanation for all this likely won’t lead to a simple answer. It’s possible it has something to do with the scouting that led to those players being drafted in the first place, although public prospect evaluators have liked each of those players quite a bit. Perhaps it’s related to coaching or development in the minors. But it’s also possible the club’s major league catching is playing a role.

Salvador Perez has been the club’s catcher for over a decade now, having debuted in 2011 and firmly securing the job in 2013. He was the primary backstop as the club went to the World Series in consecutive years, winning the second trip in 2015. As much of that championship core moved on, he remained as the face of the franchise and unofficial captain. While he’s been above-average at the plate in each of the past three seasons, his defense is another matter.

Defensive Runs Saved has placed Perez at -5 in 2021 and -4 in 2022. Baseball Prospectus’ Catcher Defensive Adjustment gave him a -14.8 last year, which was last in the majors, and -14.1 this year, which was third-last. Though Perez has had success throwing out baserunners in his career, his pop time was ranked by Statcast as 50th out of 83 catchers this year.

In terms of framing, the problem appears to be more chronic. FanGraphs has only given him a positive grade in that department once, which was the shortened 2020 season. He posted a -19.6 and -12.6 over the past two campaigns, bringing his career tally to -106.5. That’s last in the majors among all catchers from 2011 to the present. Baseball Prospectus is fairly similar, as Perez has been tagged with a negative number in each season except for 2013 and 2020, with a -14.3 and -14.2 in the past two years. Statcast framing data only goes back to 2015, but it also isn’t fond of his work. Apart from an even zero in 2020, he has all negative numbers there, including a -8 this year, fifth-worst in the league, and a -18 last year, which was dead last.

All of this isn’t to say that Perez is solely responsible for the club’s pitching woes. As mentioned, baseball teams have dozens of coaches and analysts who all play a role in the results. But these numbers surely aren’t ideal when trying to mold a batch of pitching prospects into effective major leaguers. It’s also possible that health is playing a role, since Perez underwent left thumb surgery in 2022. He was supposed to be out of action eight weeks but returned after just over a month and maybe wasn’t 100%. If better health in 2023 leads to better outcomes, that would be fantastic for KC. But if it doesn’t and the problem persists, finding a solution will have multiple challenges.

For one thing, there’s the fact that Perez, who turns 33 in May, is still under contract for at least three more seasons. As part of an extension he and the club agreed to in 2021, he’ll get $20MM in 2023 and 2024, $22MM in 2025, and then a $13.5MM club option for 2026 with a $2MM buyout. For a low-spending team like the Royals, he’s easily their highest-paid player.

Due to Perez having the catching position on lockdown, that’s led to MJ Melendez playing elsewhere. Melendez was a highly-touted catching prospect when coming up through the minor league ranks, but he also played some third base and the corner outfield spots in the minors in order to open up new paths of getting into the lineup. He made it to the big leagues this year, making 65 starts behind the plate and 37 in the outfield.

The results of this have been mixed, to put it politely. At the plate, Melendez finished the season with a 99 wRC+. That’s just a hair below league average overall but slightly above average for a catcher. Defensively, all of the advanced metrics gave him poor grades for his work on the grass, which isn’t terribly surprising since he’s effectively learning on the fly out there. But his numbers behind the plate are also quite poor. DRS gave him a -18 in 2022, the worst in the majors. FanGraphs framing gave him a -15.7, also dead last. CDA at BP gave him a -18.6, also dead last. Their BlkR, a measure of a catcher’s blocking ability, gave him a -1.1, again, dead last. Statcast’s framing metric had him at -12, second-worst in the league.

To be fair to Melendez, he has been given sporadic playing time in his first taste of the majors, while also trying to learn other positions. Becoming a successful major league catcher is already challenging enough without those extra factors thrown in. He’s also still quite young, turning 24 years old later this month. Ideally, he’d be given a full-time catching job and have some time to refine his game and see if he can hack it in the majors, but it doesn’t seem like that will happen in Kansas City as long as Perez is there.

There’s been nothing to indicate the club is considering supplanting Perez as the everyday catcher, but even if they did, that path would have its own challenges. The Royals have a cluttered first base/designated hitter mix at the moment, with Vinnie Pasquantino, Nick Pratto, Ryan O’Hearn and Hunter Dozier all candidates for at-bats in those slots. Some of those guys are candidates to move to the outfield corners, though that’s less than ideal defensively and also could squeeze out guys like Drew Waters, Edward Olivares or Kyle Isbel.

Taken all together, it’s hard to figure out how to put these ingredients together in a way that leads to something appetizing. With Perez behind the plate, Melendez is likely serving as a part-time catcher and outfielder who isn’t great at either spot. Giving the job to Melendez crowds out the 1B/DH picture and doesn’t even necessarily lead to better work behind the plate. It’s possible that either arrangement leaves roadblocks in front of the young pitchers in the system.

Clearly frustrated by the continued losing, the club has decided a shakeup is in order. They recently fired their long-time baseball ops leader Dayton Moore, with general manager J.J. Picollo now in charge of baseball operations. They also made a change in the manager’s seat, firing Mike Matheny and replacing him with former Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro. They will be tasked with trying to turn a 65-win team into a contender. They’re looking up at a Cleveland team that just surged to the top and is built to stay strong for years to come. The White Sox and Twins had disappointing seasons in 2022 but will be looking to reload in 2022. There’s also a Tigers team that, though currently in a down cycle, is trying to overhaul its analytical systems and will surely spend aggressively once it does. The Royals have lots to deal with in the road ahead, but they might have to start by looking within.

Trying To Find Hidden Gems With BB/K – 2022-23 Edition

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Last offseason, I tried to find under-the-radar minor league prospects by looking at how much a hitter walked and struck out. Sometimes, these stats can indicate a hitter has a keen eye at the plate which will help them succeed as they move up the minor league ladder. I used Mookie Betts and Jose Ramirez as examples of young players who had strong BB/K rates in the minors who then went on to have greater MLB success than many prospect evaluators had projected.

Looking at 2021 stats, I highlighted players who had 300 or more plate appearances at Double-A and/or Triple-A and a BB/K rate of 1.00 or higher. Did this help us find hidden gems? Let’s look at the results before moving on to this year’s crop. The names on the list were Alejo Lopez, Isaac Paredes, Steven Kwan, Tyler White, Cooper Hummel and Jonah Bride.

Two of these players had breakout years in 2022. Kwan made his MLB debut and had a tremendous season on both sides of the ball. He provided excellent outfield defense and continued his great work at the plate, walking more than he struck out at the major league level. He had a season strong enough he could have won Rookie of the Year honors in another year, but he had to settle for third this year due to an incredible batch of rookie campaigns that also included Julio Rodriguez and Adley Rutschman. The other breakout was Paredes, who was traded to the Rays in April as part of the Austin Meadows deal. He hit 20 home runs in 111 games while posting walk and strikeout rates that were both better than league average. Paredes is less of a hidden gem since he snuck onto the back end of Baseball America’s top 100 in 2019 and 2020, though he had fallen off in the two subsequent seasons. Kwan never made it onto the top 100 and only made the top 30 among Cleveland farmhands for the first time going into 2022, coming in at #27. FanGraphs, it’s worth noting, was far more bullish, slotting Kwan third in the Guardians system and 57th overall heading into the year.

Most of the rest of the group is TBD, as they only got limited MLB appearances. Lopez was frequently optioned and got into 61 games in the majors, still proving very tough to strike out but not doing much damage when he did connect. Hummel struggled in his first 66 games but still hit very well in the minors, walking in 15.4% of his plate appearances and slashing .310/.423/.527. The Mariners must be intrigued by him, since they just traded Kyle Lewis to get him from the Diamondbacks. Bride made his MLB debut and scuffled in 58 games but hit .342/.453/.568 in the minors while still walking more than he struck out. As for White, he was 31 last year and only really plays first base, making it hard for him to carve out a role on a major league team. He started the year in the Brewers’ system but was acquired by the Braves in a midseason trade. Between the Triple-A teams of the two organizations, he had another decent season at the plate, walking in 16% of his appearances while striking out just 20.1% of the time.

Out of six guys highlighted last year, two became MLB regulars, two didn’t immediately hit the ground running but still hit well in the minors and another two were sort of mediocre. It’s not a perfect system but not a bad shorthand, in my opinion. A common theme you will see with the players below is their strike zone discipline often comes with a lack of power. In order to turn this profile into a breakout, that usually means the hitter needs to get stronger or change their approach slightly. In the case of Paredes, he seems to have started selling out more in 2022, as his strikeout rate climbed but so did his isolated power. Kwan didn’t add power, only going deep six times, but his on-base skills were combined with speed and defense to help him be an all-around producer.

If we look at the 2022 numbers, can we find next year’s Kwan or Paredes? Even if that’s setting our sights too high, some of these guys are Rule 5 eligible and could be candidates to be nabbed in next month’s draft. Let’s take a look at the players with a BB/K rate at 1.00 or above with 300 or more plate appearances at Double-A and/or Triple-A in 2022.

Michael Stefanic, infielder, Angels, BB/K rate at Triple-A: 2.18

Stefanic got 346 plate appearances in Triple-A this year, walking in 13.9% of them while striking out just 6.4% of the time. He didn’t provide much power, however, hitting only four home runs in that time despite playing in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His final batting line there was .314/.422/.425 for a wRC+ of 122. He also got into 25 major league games without finding much success. It’s a somewhat similar profile to another Angels infielder in David Fletcher. Stefanic was an undrafted free agent, has never been on BA’s top 100 and only cracked the Angels’ top 30 for the first time a year ago. He’ll turn 27 in February.

Nick Dunn, infielder, Cardinals, BB/K rate at Double-A: 1.50

The Cardinals seem to have a knack for turning their lesser draft picks into solid major leaguers, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see a couple of them on this list. Dunn was selected in the fifth round in 2018 and has never cracked a BA list of top prospects in the system, though he was mentioned at FanGraphs, where Eric Longenhagen called him “a free-swinging Brendan Donovan — same hair and everything.” In 2022, Dunn got 472 plate appearances and walked 13.3% of the time while striking out at just a 8.9% clip. Similar to Stefanic, it hasn’t resulted in much power, with Dunn only hitting seven long balls on the year, which was a career high. He’ll be 26 in January. He’s eligible to be selected in next month’s Rule 5 draft.

John Nogowski, first base/outfielder, free agent, BB/K rate at Double-A and Triple-A: 1.08

Nogowski got some brief MLB looks in 2020 and 2021 and couldn’t do much with them. He split 2022 between Atlanta’s and Washington’s system, getting 483 plate appearances while walking more than he struck out. Similar to the players above him, it didn’t result in much power, as he went deep eight times and produced a batting line of .248/.366/.362. A 34th-round draft pick from 2014, he’s never been on a team prospect list at BA or FanGraphs. He’ll turn 30 in January.

Willians Astudillo, utility player, free agent, BB/K rate at Triple-A: 1.06

It’s likely that you’re already familiar with “La Tortuga” since he’s appeared in the majors for the past five years and has become a fan favorite. He hardly ever strikes out but also hardly ever walks or goes deep, which is why he’s had trouble sticking in the majors despite incredible bat-to-ball skills. He spent most of this year in Triple-A for the Marlins, hitting very well down there. However, he’s now 31 and hasn’t produced much over 588 career plate appearances in the majors.

Vinnie Pasquantino, first base, Royals, BB/K rate at Triple-A: 1.03

This one is the hardest to call a hidden gem since Pasquantino is already on display. That being said, the 11th round draft pick from 2019 wasn’t a highly-touted prospect until a strong 2021 campaign got him onto the list of top farmhands in the Royals’ system from both BA and FanGraphs going into 2022. He got called up in late June and acclimated to big league pitching immediately. He had already walked more than he struck out at Triple-A in the first half of the year and then did the same in the show. He also went deep 18 times in Triple-A and 10 times in the majors. He only has 298 MLB plate appearances but the signs are pointing to him being the real deal. He just turned 25 last month.

Evan Mendoza, infielder, Cardinals, BB/K rate at Triple-A: 1.00

Another Cardinal, Mendoza was an 11th round draft pick in 2017. In 421 plate appearances this year, his strikeouts and walks came out even at 56. Unfortunately, like some others on this list, his contact wasn’t terribly productive, resulting in a slash line of .247/.348/.325. He did add a speed element to his game recently, though, swiping 15 bags last year and 17 this year. With the new rules coming into play that encourage more baserunning, perhaps his on-base skills will help him prove valuable. He’s never cracked the top 30 prospects in the system at either BA or FanGraphs, though FG did put him at #34 back in 2018. He’s eligible to be selected in the upcoming Rule 5 draft.

Tanner Morris, infielder, Blue Jays, BB/K rate at Double-A and Triple-A: 1.00

Morris began his year in Double-A, getting 186 plate appearances with matching 16.1% walk and strikeout rates. He hit five homers in that sample while slashing an excellent .312/.430/.468. He got bumped to Triple-A but couldn’t keep things rolling, perhaps due to a .233 BABIP, as he hit .173/.352/.173 in 126 plate appearances there. However, he again posted matching walk and strikeout rates of 19.8%, meaning he finished the year with rates of 17.6% over 312 plate appearances between the two levels. He then went to the Arizona Fall League and got into 15 games, walking 15 times against nine Ks for a batting line of .279/.466/.372. A fifth round pick from 2019, he’s been on the back end of Toronto prospect lists over the past few years. He recently turned 25 and is Rule 5 eligible.

Bryce Windham, catcher, Cubs, BB/K rate at Double-A: 1.00

A 32nd round pick of the 2019 draft, Windham got 304 plate appearances at Double-A this year, finishing with walk and strikeout totals of 44, a 14.5% rate for each. It was quite tepid production overall, leading to a batting line of just .202/.322/.289, though his .227 BABIP was well below his previous seasons. He’s never been listed as a top prospect in the system by either BA or FanGraphs. He recently turned 26 and is Rule 5 eligible.

Rays, Royals Linked With Dominic Smith

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The Rays and Royals “could have interest”in free agent slugger Dominic Smith, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. Smith was recently non-tendered by the Mets after a disappointing campaign in 2022.

Two years ago such a move would have been unfathomable after Smith slashed .316/.377/.616 with ten home runs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, earning down-ballot NL MVP votes for his efforts. However, it’s been a tough slide for the 27-year-old who’s been worth a combined -1.1 fWAR in the two seasons since.

The beginning of that slide came last year, when Smith played through a partially torn labrum in his shoulder and hit just .244/.304/.363 with 11 home runs. His struggles continued into 2022 as he battled for regular playing time, he ended up splitting time between Triple-A and the big leagues. With the Mets, he’d finish up hitting .194/.276/.286 without a single home run, good for a wRC+ of just 67. He went a lot better at Triple-A, slashing .284/.367/.472 with ten home runs in 54 games.

The Mets’ decision to non-tender him drew to a close and underwhelming time in Queens for a player who was drafted 11th overall in 2013 and regularly featured on top-100 prospect lists. His combined 150 wRC+ over the 2019 and 2020 campaigns showed Smith had the talent to excel at the highest level, but emergence of Pete Alonso blocked Smith at first base and he had to spend a fair bit of time in the outfield, where he graded out poorly.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz pegged Smith for a $4MM salary in arbitration, so given his age, talent and low-cost it’s not surprising to see a couple of smaller market teams linked to him. The severe drop in power since his shoulder problems is a big concern, but he had a strong line at Triple-A and it’s possible he’d benefit from the regular playing time he often found hard to come by in New York.

For the Rays, the need at first base is obvious after they traded Ji-Man Choi to the Pirates early in the off-season. Smith could take over as Tampa Bay’s everyday first baseman, while filling in in the outfield and at designated hitter when needed.

It’s less obvious in Kansas City, where the emergence of rookie Vinnie Pasquantino at first base makes the addition of another left handed slugger less important. Of course, the Royals don’t currently have a clear DH option, and Smith could well spend time there while spelling Pasquantino at first base from time-to-time, but they do also have left handed hitter Ryan O’Hearn, and Salvador Perez will likely spend time at the DH spot moving forward, so there’s not a clear need for a hitter like Smith.

There’s no guarantee Smith would perform like a starter for either team, even if they’re willing to offer him regular playing time. However, there’s plenty of upside for the acquiring team, which would also control him via arbitration for the 2024 season, while the likely insignificant financial cost would make parting ways a bit more palatable if Smith were to continue his struggles to begin the season.

American League Non-Tenders: 11/18/22

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The deadline to tender contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7:00pm Central. Here’s a rundown of the players on American League teams that have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all arb-eligible players last month. Onto the transactions…

Latest Transactions

  • The Mariners announced that they have non-tendered three players: catchers Brian O’Keefe and Luis Torrens, as well as righty Luke Weaver. Weaver was just claimed off waivers from the Royals a few weeks ago but will now become a free agent.
  • The White Sox announced three non-tenders: outfielders Adam Engel and Mark Payton, as well as infielder Danny Mendick. Engel is generally considered a strong defensive outfielder but he struggled at the plate in 2022. Mendick played all over the diamond while hitting .289/.343/.443 for a wRC+ of 125.
  • The Guardians announced they have non-tendered lefty Anthony Gose and catcher Luke Maile. Gose was designated for assignment earlier in the week. Maile got into 76 games hit at a below-average level with roughly average defensive marks.
  • The Angels announced four non-tenders: lefties Jhonathan Diaz and Rob Zastryzny, as well as righties Touki Toussaint and Nash Walters. The latter three names were designated for assignment a few days ago.
  • The Rays have non-tendered Ryan Yarbrough, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Tampa designated him for assignment earlier in the week.
  • The Blue Jays announced that they have non-tendered outfielders Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer, as well as infielder Vinny Capra. The two former names were designated for assignment a few days ago.

Earlier Moves

  • The Athletics announced that they did not tender contracts to three players: right-hander Deolis Guerra, left-hander Jared Koenig and infielder David MacKinnon. Guerra is the most seasoned of the trio, having made his MLB debut back in 2015 and made 136 appearances. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in April, missing the entire 2022 campaign and possibly some of 2023 as well.
  • The Red Sox are non-tendering outfielder/first-baseman Franchy Cordero, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Cordero appeared in 84 games for the Red Sox this past season, but hit just .219/.300/.397 with eight home runs while grading out very poorly on defense.  The Sox have also non-tendered infielder Yu Chang, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. The versatile infielder began the year with the Guardians but subsequently went to the Pirates in a trade, then went to the Rays and Red Sox on waiver claims. Across those four teams, he hit .208/.289/.315 for a wRC+ of 78.
  • The Astros will part ways with reliever Josh James, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports they’re expected to non-tender him tonight. He spent the entire 2022 campaign in the minors, and underwent flexor tendon surgery in October and is without a timetable to return.
  • The Rangers announced that right-hander Nick Snyder has not been tendered a contract. He only has 4 2/3 innings of MLB experience over the past couple of seasons. He spent most of 2022 in Triple-A, posting a 4.97 ERA over 38 innings, though with a 30.9% strikeout rate.
  • The Royals opted to non-tender lefty Jake Brentz and right-hander Nate Webb, the team announced. That’s no surprise, as both players were designated for assignment earlier this week. They lost their 40-man roster spots as a result, but the non-tender means Kansas City won’t need to run them through waivers before sending them directly to free agency. Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweets that Kansas City is tendering contracts to the rest of their arbitration class, including Brad Keller and Amir Garrett — each of whom seemed to have a small chance of being cut loose after tough seasons.

A’s Claim Brent Rooker

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The Athletics announced Thursday that they’ve claimed outfielder/first baseman Brent Rooker off waivers from the Royals. Kansas City designated Rooker for assignment earlier in the week.

Rooker, 28, was the No. 35 overall draft pick by the division-rival Twins back in 2017. The hope was that the former Mississippi State slugger could be a quick-the-Majors source of pop for the Twins, and that proved to be partially true. Rooker mashed his way through the minor leagues, reaching Triple-A by the 2019 season and hitting .281/.398/.535 through 274 plate appearances there. Minnesota gave him a brief big league look during the shortened 2020 season, and Rooker responded with a 6-for-19 showing, including a homer and a pair of doubles.

Unfortunately, that brief production didn’t carry over into a larger sample in 2021. Rooker remained productive in Triple-A (.245/.367/.564, 20 homers in 62 games) but managed only a .201/.291/.397 slash with an ugly 32.9% strikeout rate in 213 plate appearances at the MLB level in 2021. The Twins sent Rooker to San Diego alongside Taylor Rogers in the trade that brought Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan to Minnesota, and Rooker again thrived in Triple-A while struggling in limited MLB action.

Overall, Rooker is a .200/.289/.379 hitter in 270 Major League plate appearances but a .274/.387/.590 hitter in 906 Triple-A plate appearances. While he’s seen time both in left field and at first base in his career, however, scouting reports at the time of the draft called it a stretch for him to ever be a full-time outfielder, and that’s just how things have played out so far. In just 386 2/3 innings in the outfield corners, Rooker has posted -11 Defensive Runs Saved, -7 Outs Above Average and a -4.8 Ultimate Zone Rating. Ultimately, if he’s to solidify himself in the big leagues, his bat will need to carry the day, and he’ll likely need to move to either first base or designated hitter.

Rooker has one minor league option year remaining, so the A’s will be able to shuttle him between Oakland and Triple-A Las Vegas in 2022 — assuming he lasts the whole offseason on the 40-man roster. Oakland is as good a landing spot as Rooker could have hoped for, given that the rebuilding A’s only have two set outfielders in the out-of-options Cristian Pache and Ramon Laureano — the latter of whom could be traded. Lefty-swinging Seth Brown will rotate between the outfield corners, first base and DH, but there’s clearly playing time available for Rooker if he can hit his way into a roster spot next spring.

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