- The relief corps has been a target area for the Mets this offseason, including the recent re-signing of Adam Ottavino. SNY’s Andy Martino writes that the Mets still weighing whether or not to add yet another reliever to the mix, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds that the club has a particular interest in left-handed bullpen help, with Wandy Peralta one of the names under consideration. Peralta was initially connected to the Mets earlier this month, and he is no stranger to the Big Apple after pitching the last three seasons with the Yankees (new Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is also the Yankees’ ex-bench coach). Brooks Raley is currently the only southpaw slated for a regular role in the Amazins’ bullpen, so some more lefty depth would certainly appear to be a useful addition.
Mets Rumors
Blue Jays, Orioles Have Shown Interest In Domingo German
The Orioles and Blue Jays are among six teams that have shown interest in free agent starter Domingo Germán, reports Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post. Sanchez adds that the Mets have also checked in but casts doubt on the chance of the right-hander heading to Queens.
Germán has spent his entire MLB career with the Yankees, who acquired him as a prospect in a 2014 trade with the Marlins. At times, he looked like a key mid-rotation arm in the Bronx, yet his tenure was marred by off-field issues. After working as a depth arm between 2017-18, he tallied a career-high 143 innings over 27 appearances (24 starts) in 2019. Germán was having a productive season, working to a 4.03 ERA with a near-26% strikeout rate.
That September, MLB placed Germán on administrative leave after he reportedly assaulted his girlfriend at a charity event. MLB finished its investigation that offseason and suspended him for the first 81 games of the 2020 season. That year wound up being shortened by the pandemic, so MLB reinstated him after he missed the entire 60-game schedule.
Germán returned to the Yankees in 2021. He missed parts of the next two seasons battling shoulder issues, combining for a 4.17 ERA over 170 2/3 innings. He held a spot in the New York rotation for the early portion of last year. Germán’s start to the year was middling and he was suspended for 10 games in mid-May after failing a foreign substance inspection.
He carried a 5.10 ERA through his first 14 appearances into a late-June start in Oakland. Germán turned in a legendary performance at the Coliseum that night, throwing MLB’s 24th perfect game, the first since Félix Hernández’s outing in 2012. Germán followed that up with a 4.61 ERA over five starts in July.
On August 2, the Yankees announced they were placing Germán on the restricted list so he could report to an inpatient treatment facility for alcohol abuse. Lindsey Adler of the Wall Street Journal subsequently reported that an apparently intoxicated Germán had argued with teammates and coaches in the New York clubhouse and flipped a couch amidst those confrontations.
That ended Germán’s tenure with the Yankees. He spent the rest of the season on the restricted list. At year’s end, New York placed him on outright waivers. Once he went unclaimed, he elected free agency.
Sanchez writes that Germán has completed the requirements of his inpatient treatment and is seeking a return to the majors in 2024. According to Sanchez, his camp has received two formal contract offers (although it isn’t clear if those proposals have come from Baltimore and Toronto specifically). If he lands a major league deal, it’d surely be a cheap one-year pact.
Of the two AL East teams known to have shown interest, Baltimore has the greater need for rotation help. Aside from depth righty Jonathan Heasley, the O’s have yet to add a starting pitcher this offseason. They’re slated to begin the year with Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, John Means and likely Dean Kremer in the top four spots. Cole Irvin and Tyler Wells (each of whom worked out of the bullpen at points last year) would be the best options for the #5 job at present. The starting staff is the weakest point on an otherwise loaded roster coming off a 101-win season.
It’s unlikely Baltimore will come away from the offseason completely empty-handed. Yet they’ve thus far resisted dealing from the top of their vaunted farm system to add starting pitching via trade. While they seemed a candidate to at least play in the middle tiers of the free agent rotation market, the organization again hasn’t shown that kind of appetite for spending.
The O’s signed Craig Kimbrel to a $13MM guarantee to take the ninth inning after losing Félix Bautista to Tommy John surgery. They’ve otherwise sat out MLB free agency this winter. Roster Resource projects their 2024 spending around $81MM. That’s well above last year’s approximate $61MM Opening Day figure but puts them in the league’s bottom five in terms of estimated payroll.
Toronto took some early swings at the top of the free agent market. They’ve pivoted to the middle tiers in recent weeks, including a rotation acquisition. The Jays agreed to terms with Cuban right-hander Yariel Rodríguez on a four-year, $32MM deal last week. He’ll likely compete for the final spot with Alek Manoah, who is trying to bounce back from a dismal 2023 season. With Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi occupying the top four positions, it’s unlikely they’d give Germán a look in the season-opening rotation. If Rodríguez doesn’t take them out of the market for Germán entirely, they’d probably view him as a long relief option.
MLBTR Podcast: The Broadcasting Landscape, Josh Hader and the Relief Market
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The RSN model for MLB clubs (1:00)
- The latest details on the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy (4:05)
- The Astros signed Josh Hader (12:35)
- The Angels signed Robert Stephenson (19:05)
- The Pirates signed Aroldis Chapman (21:50)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Does J.D. Martinez make sense for the Angels? (24:30)
- With the Mets in rebuild/retooling mode and the Mariners in need of another infield bat (and a surplus of controllable young arms), is there a trade there? (27:55)
- How odd is it that we are this late in January and have several players likely to get multi-year deals? (31:55)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Cubs’ Activity, Marcus Stroman And Jordan Hicks – listen here
- Teoscar Hernández Signs With L.A. And The Move-Making Mariners and Rays – listen here
- Yoshi Yamamoto Fallout, the Chris Sale/Vaughn Grissom Trade and Transaction Roundup – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Mets Interested In Ryne Stanek, Héctor Neris
The Mets have interest in free agent right-hander Ryne Stanek, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. That would track with the club’s interest in making further bullpen moves, something that was confirmed by president of baseball operations David Stearns recently. Andy Martino of SNY relays that the club is willing to spend another $10MM or so this offseason, with perhaps more funds available at the deadline if they are contending. Martino adds that the club has spoken to the representatives for free agent righty Héctor Neris.
There has been a lot of turnover in the Mets’ bullpen relative to last year. David Robertson and Dominic Leone were traded at last year’s deadline, then Adam Ottavino opted out of his deal. Various other players were either non-tendered or outrighted.
Since then, the club has given one-year deals to Michael Tonkin, Jorge López and Austin Adams. That’s been in keeping with the club’s slate of short-term moves to bolster other parts of the roster. Sean Manaea got a two-year deal but with an opt-out after year one, while to Luis Severino Harrison Bader and Joey Wendle all inked one-year deals. The bullpen also got a new arm via trade when the Mets acquired Yohan Ramírez from the White Sox, and they’ve given minor league deals to journeymen like Cole Sulser, Yacksel Ríos and others.
It seems the club is still hoping to add another arm in there before Opening Day. Stanek, 32, has had a solid run for the Astros over the past three years. He’s made 186 appearances in that time with a 2.90 earned run average. He has struck out 27% of batters faced but also given out walks a a 12.2% clip. That strikeout rate fell to 23.9% in 2023, but he also cut his walk rate to 9.9%, a career low for him.
Neris, 35 in June, spent the past two years with Houston, with a 2.69 ERA over his 141 appearances. He paired a 29.1% strikeout rate with a 9% walk rate. His ERA dropped from 3.72 in 2022 to 1.71 last year, but that seems to have involved quite a bit of good fortune. His strikeout and walk rates actually worsened compared to the year prior, but his batting average on balls in play dropped by more than 70 points while his strand rate spiked from 63.4% to 90.5%. Neris’ 3.83 FIP and 3.89 SIERA in 2023 were each more than a full run higher than they were in 2022.
Either pitcher could be a sensible option for the Mets. Astros general manager Dana Brown recently said that they have interest in bringing those pitchers back, though that was before they signed Josh Hader and launched themselves over the competitive balance tax threshold. Neris has also reportedly received interest from the Rangers, Yankees and Cardinals.
Despite heading into 2024 with a sort of retool in mind, the Mets have a CBT number of $318MM, per Roster Resource. That’s well over the fourth and final tier of the CBT, which is $297MM this year. As a third-time payor in that stratosphere, the Mets are subject to a 110% tax rate on any further spending, though it seems that won’t be an obstacle to them adding to their bullpen in the coming weeks.
Collin McHugh Announces Retirement
Veteran right-hander Collin McHugh announced his retirement from the game Monday (Instagram link). The 36-year-old pitched in parts of 11 MLB seasons from 2012-23 and accrued more than nine years of big league service along the way.
“I was never the best player on any team I played for,” McHugh wrote in his announcement. “Including my 7th grade church league team, on which I played catcher. I never did travel baseball. I went to a small private high school and a small NAIA college. I got drafted in the 18th round by the Mets, most likely as a favor to my college coach. I threw 90 mph. I was NEVER supposed to make it out of A ball. 16 years later, it’s finally time for me to hang ‘em up. And as cringey as it might sound, I’m proud of myself. Proud that I didn’t give up. Proud of the clubhouses I’ve been lucky enough to have a locker in. Proud to be a member of the MLBPA alongside this generation of amazing ballplayers. To the Mets, Rockies, Astros, Red Sox, Rays, and my hometown Braves: Thanks for taking a chance on a kid like me. I’ll never forget it. And don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I’ll be around the game forever. So if we see each other at a park near you, come say hey!”
McHugh, indeed, was never regarded as a top prospect. He debuted with the 2012 Mets and was tagged for a 7.59 ERA in 21 1/3 frames as a rookie. His struggles in Queens continued into the following season, and McHugh was traded to the Rockies in exchange for outfielder Eric Young Jr., who’d been designated for assignment in Colorado. Things didn’t pan out at Coors Field either; McHugh was torched for 21 runs in 19 innings as a Rockie.
Despite the lack of success, the Astros both tried to trade for McHugh prior to his Rockies acquisition and then later claimed him off waivers when Colorado removed him from its 40-man roster. That interest and subsequent acquisition came back in 2013, prior to the public advent of a great deal of pitching data that is now commonplace. At the time, the high spin rate on McHugh’s curveball gave the Astros confidence that with some tweaks to his repertoire and general approach to hitters on the mound, that could be a plus breaking pitch that fueled a breakout for the little-known righty.
Houston’s interest proved prescient. In 2014, McHugh stepped into the Astros’ rotation and made 25 starts while working to an excellent 2.74 ERA over 154 2/3 frames. He fanned just over a quarter of his opponents against a tidy 6.6% walk rate while keeping the ball on the ground at a roughly average clip. A year later, McHugh followed up with a career-high 203 2/3 innings, pitching to a 3.89 ERA in a full slate of 32 trips to the hill.
McHugh finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting during that 2014 breakout and was eighth in Cy Young voting during his followup effort. He made another 33 starts for Houston during the 2016 season before sustaining a shoulder injury that limited him to 12 starts of 3.55 ERA ball in 2017. McHugh returned as a reliever in 2018 and went from a key member of the Houston rotation to a similarly important reliever; he fired 72 1/3 innings of 1.99 ERA ball in 2018 before struggling to more pedestrian results in a 2019 campaign split between the rotation and bullpen.
Overall, McHugh went from a nondescript late-round pick to a clear-cut big leaguer during his time in Houston. He pitched 753 1/3 innings of 3.63 ERA ball there before hitting free agency and taking a one-year deal with the Red Sox that was wiped out by injury and the pandemic-shortened schedule. McHugh landed with the Rays in 2021 and bounced back in a major way: a 1.55 ERA in 64 innings. That prompted a two-year deal with the Braves — a homecoming for a pitcher who went to high school in Lilburn and college in Mount Berry — where McHugh went on to throw another 128 innings of 3.38 ERA ball.
All told, McHugh’s career will draw to a close with a 71-47 record, 46 holds, one save and a 3.72 ERA in 992 2/3 innings at the MLB level. He struck out 967 hitters against 280 walks and added another 27 innings of 4.00 ERA performance in the postseason. McHugh won a World Series ring with the controversial 2017 Astros club that is now infamous for its sign-stealing setup. FanGraphs valued McHugh’s career at nearly 16 wins above replacement, while Baseball-Reference pegged him at 12.4 WAR in a career that netted him just under $27MM in earnings. Few 18th-round signees can boast anything close to that type of success; McHugh and Mike Cameron stand as two of the best ever selected in that round. McHugh’s comment about being “around the game forever” seems to leave the door open for some kind of role with a team in the future. Best wishes to the righty on whatever the next step may be.
Adam Ottavino On Decision To Decline Player Option
Veteran right-handed reliever Adam Ottavino turned down a $6.75MM player option to remain with the Mets at the beginning of the offseason. The decision was a surprise to some, as it’s always risky for any 38-year-old reliever to test the free-agent waters — particularly in lieu of accepting a locked-in salary that’s near the going market rate for a veteran setup man. However, Ottavino was a guest on Foul Territory this morning and, when asked, explained that his decision wasn’t so much a financial one but rather one of wanting to ensure he was in a competitive situation as he progresses into the latter stages of his career.
“To be clear, I wanted to stick with the Mets,” Ottavino explained to host Scott Braun (video link). “It’s the best situation for me, being a New York guy. I loved my time with the Mets. It’s just more of a function of, at the moment I had to make the decision, there was just so much uncertainty with the team. They hadn’t hired a manager yet. There was no coaching staff. They hadn’t gotten any free agents yet. We’d kind of scuffled down the stretch. There was this narrative that the team wasn’t going to try to compete this year. Obviously, I’m not getting any younger. I tried to talk to [president of baseball operations] David Stearns and get a little certainty on my end. Obviously, he’s going to play things close to the vest. That’s the way front offices operate, and I totally understand that. But from my perspective, I just didn’t feel 100% certain of what direction the team was going to look like, come spring training. I also had a lot of deferred money in my contract for this year. In that moment, it made sense for me to test the waters. I’d still like to be back there, but my mind is open to lots of different outcomes this time around. I feel like I’m on a year-to-year basis at this point with my age. I just don’t want to sell myself short; I’ve still never won, and I would like the opportunity to do that.”
Ottavino is an accomplished reliever with more than $50MM in career earnings to date, which also surely factored into his comfort level with turning down that guaranteed sum. It’s understandable, given his age and career earnings, that maxing out his salary in 2024 perhaps isn’t the right-hander’s top priority. Ottavino has pitched in five different postseasons for four different teams (Rockies, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets) but never advanced beyond the League Championship Series.
Given his track record and his 2023 platform year, it’s certainly possible that Ottavino can come close to or even exceed the money he declined from the Mets, particularly when factoring for the deferrals. At the time he declined his option, Ottavino told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that $4MM of that $6.75MM sum was deferred. The right-hander said he approached the Mets about a two-year deal (that would extend into a 2025 season where the club ostensibly will be taking larger strides to be competitive), but the team did not reciprocate that interest.
The 2023 season was yet another solid one for Ottavino. The former No. 30 overall pick (2006, Cardinals) pitched 61 2/3 innings of 3.21 ERA ball for the Mets and picked up a dozen saves and holds apiece along the way. Ottavino’s average sinker dipped for a second straight season (94.2 mph in ’22, 92.8 mph in ’23), and he saw both his strikeout and walk rates take a turn for the worse (30.6% and 6.2%, respectively, in 2022; 23.8% and 11.1% in 2023). This year’s 56.3% ground-ball rate was his highest mark since an injury-shortened 2016 season with the Rockies, however, and was the largest single-season mark he’s posted in his lengthy career.
Only once in the past six years has Ottavino had a sub-par season — that being the shortened 2020 campaign, when he had a 5.89 ERA in a tiny sample of just 18 1/3 innings. Collectively, he touts a 2.89 ERA, 29.7% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate and 46.4% ground-ball rate in 351 2/3 innings since Opening Day 2018. There ought to be at least a one-year deal out there in free agency, and it sounds as though Ottavino will prioritize signing with a team that has a rather clear chance at a postseason berth.
Yankees Claim Diego Castillo, Designate Jeter Downs For Assignment
The Yankees have claimed utility player Diego Castillo off of waivers from the Mets, the team announced. In a corresponding move, infielder Jeter Downs was designated for assignment.
Castillo, 26, returns to his original organization. The Yankees signed him as an international amateur out of Venezuela but flipped him to the Pirates alongside Hoy Park in the 2021 deadline deal that didn’t work out well for the Bucs. Both Castillo and Park were designated for assignment and traded to new clubs by the end of 2022, while Holmes has turned into the closer for the Yankees.
As for Castillo, he hit .206/.251/.382 in 96 games with the Bucs in 2022 then was traded to the Diamondbacks. The latter club mostly kept him in the minors, putting him into just one major league game. In 124 Triple-A contests, he only hit three home runs but walked more than he struck out, a 17.4% rate of free passes compared to 14.2% for the punchouts. His .313/.431/.410 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 117. He’s had other good Triple-A seasons in that vein, pairing minimal power with strong on-base abilities.
Defensively, Castillo has played all four infield positions and has spent some time in the outfield corners. He can also swipe a bag here and there, stealing 13 with the Reno last year. Despite that solid year with the Aces, he’s been on the transaction carousel this offseason, getting claimed off waivers by the Mets and now the Yankees.
The Yanks project to have an infield of Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres, Anthony Volpe and DJ LeMahieu. The guys on the corners are into their mid-30s now and coming off injury-marred seasons. Volpe had some mixed results but was only 22 and should get a chance to continue his development. Torres is solid at the keystone but is in his final year of club control before reaching free agency. Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Jorbit Vivas are also on the 40-man but the club continues to focus on the depth. They recently signed Kevin Smith, Josh VanMeter and José Rojas to minor league deals and have now added Castillo into the mix. Since Castillo still has an option remaining, he can be kept in the minors as depth until his services as needed at the big league level.
They are also potentially losing one depth infielder in today’s transaction, with Downs no longer on the roster. The 25-year-old is perhaps best known for going from the Dodgers to the Red Sox as part of the return in the deal for Mookie Betts and David Price. Though he was once a top 100 prospect, he hasn’t lived up to that billing thus far. He struggled to establish himself with the Sox and has since gone to the Nationals and Yankees on waiver claims.
Between the Sox and the Nats, he’s only been put into 20 major league games, hitting .182/.260/.273 in those. His work in the minors hasn’t been much better, with a combined slash of .200/.309/.365 over the past three years.
The Yanks, who just claimed him last month, will now have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers. Despite the lack of offensive production, he may still garner interest from other clubs. He’s still quite young, has the former prospect pedigree and defensive versatility. He’s lined up at the three infield positions to the left of first base and a brief spell in the outfield. He also has one option year remaining, meaning he doesn’t need to be guaranteed an active roster spot.
Mets, Phillies Interested In Robert Stephenson
Free agent right-hander Robert Stephenson continues to receive plenty of attention, with Jon Morosi of MLB.com listing the Mets, Dodgers and Phillies as clubs with interest in him. The Dodgers have previously been connected to the righty, as have the Rangers, Yankees, Astros, Angels, Cubs, Red Sox and Orioles, though some of those clubs have subsequently pivoted to other bullpen moves.
Though Stephenson might not be a household name, the popularity is understandable since Stephenson was one of the best relievers in the game during the second half of 2023. The Rays acquired him from the Pirates in early June and he went on to make 42 appearances for Tampa with a 2.35 earned run average. He only walked 5.7% of the batters he faced in that time while punching out 42.9% of them.
From the start of June to the end of the season, only Félix Bautista, Aroldis Chapman and Pete Fairbanks had higher strikeout rates among pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched. But all three of them had higher walk rates, meaning Stephenson’s strikeout-to-walk ratio was higher than those three. At the start of the offseason, MLBTR put Stephenson in the #27 slot on the annual Top 50 Free Agents post with a prediction of a four-year, $36MM contract.
That’s a far cry from the six years and $110MM predicted for Josh Hader, which is a reflection of the differences in their track record. Hader has years of dominant relief work on his résumé while a team signing Stephenson would be banking on a few good months. But he has shown glimpses of his potential in the past, having been a first-round pick of the Reds in 2011 and a top 100 prospect as he worked his way up the minor league ladder.
He began his major league career as a starter and struggled, but a move to the bullpen seemed to work for him. He had a 3.76 ERA with the Reds in 2019, had a rough time in the shortened 2020 season, then rebounded with a 3.13 ERA for the Rockies in 2021. He struggled early in 2022 but finished strong after a claim by the Pirates. He started 2023 with some arm discomfort and struggled out of the gate, before getting traded to the Rays and having the aforementioned breakout.
That inconsistency would appear to make him more of a risk than Hader, but that will also make him more affordable and perhaps give some more upside to whoever eventually gets him to put pen to paper. If he signs for a guarantee roughly a third of what Hader gets and then can maintain his dominance going forward, it would be a clear bargain. But another swoon in his performance would obviously push things the other way.
If the Mets were to be the club to take the plunge, it would be at least a bit of a surprise. President of baseball operations David Stearns did just say last week that he expected more work to be done on the bullpen, and owner Steve Cohen has shown that he isn’t afraid to throw money around when he wants to get a deal done. But on the other hand, the club has been shifting gears this winter, opting for short-term and depth moves as they do a sort of retool.
The only multi-year deal they’ve given out so far this winter was a two-year pact for Sean Manaea, with that deal having an opt-out halfway through. The Mets have also given one-year deals to Luis Severino Harrison Bader, Joey Wendle, Jorge López, Austin Adams and Michael Tonkin. It seems the plan is to limit long-term commitments as they assess some internal players and decide how to proceed with more aggression next winter.
Beyond their own habits this offseason, there’s the competitive balance tax to consider. Roster Resource pegs the club’s CBT number at $318MM right now, well beyond the top tier of the tax, which is $297MM. As a third-time payor at that level, all further spending comes with a 110% tax rate, meaning they would have to pay out more than double the amount Stephenson would make. Combining that with their modest operating strategy in recent months, they may not end up with Stephenson on the roster, but they could make it happen if they decided they really wanted to.
As for the Phillies, they’ve had a relatively quiet winter, apart from re-signing Aaron Nola. The 2024 bullpen looks quite similar to the 2023 version, though Craig Kimbrel reached free agency and signed with the Orioles. That relief corps posted a collective 3.58 ERA last year, the seventh-best mark in the league. But relievers are known to be a fungible bunch and the club already has a strong lineup and rotation, leaving the bullpen as an obvious target area for the remainder of the offseason.
José Alvarado, Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Matt Strahm all had strong results last year, to varying degrees, and will be back this year. Orion Kerkering had an exciting season, blasting through four minor league levels and then having an enticing MLB debut. Dylan Covey had some interesting results in a low-strikeout, high-grounder fashion while Andrew Bellatti took a step back from a strong 2022 season.
It’s a strong group overall but any club could benefit from adding an elite reliever and bumping everyone down a peg on the chart. The Phillies currently have a CBT number of $252MM, per Roster Resource, which puts them over the $237MM base and nearing the $257MM second line. They finished last year between the second and third line and perhaps would be comfortable ending up in that range again. Crossing the $277MM third line would involve the club’s top pick in the 2025 draft being moved back 10 places, in addition to a higher tax rate. Perhaps the club would view that as a sort of barrier, but they have plenty of room to add a reliever on a significant contract even if that is a line they don’t want to cross.
For clubs that miss out on Hader and Stephenson, some of the other relievers still available include Aroldis Chapman, Matt Moore, David Robertson, Héctor Neris and Phil Maton.
Giants Acquire Cooper Hummel From Mets
The Mets announced that they have traded catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel to the Giants in exchange for cash considerations. The Mets had designated him for assignment last week. MLB Transactions Daily reported that the Giants were acquiring Hummel prior to the official announcement. The Giants will now have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move when they make their signing of Jordan Hicks official.
Hummel, 29, has received 227 major league plate appearances thus far in his career, spending time with the 2022 Diamondbacks and 2023 Mariners. He has drawn walks at a 11% clip but has also been struck out in 32.2% of those trips to the plate, leading to a batting line of .166/.264/.286. His offense has been much better at Triple-A. In 977 appearances at that level over the past three years, he has paired a 17.3% walk rate with a 21.2% strikeout rate. His .288/.420/.492 slash line in that time translates to a wRC+ of 132.
That kind of Triple-A production is surely enticing, as is Hummel’s defensive versatility. In the major leagues, he’s mostly split his time between catcher and left field, with a little bit of work in right field as well. He’s also played those three positions in the minors, along with a decent amount of time at first base and some brief looks at third base. He also still has an option year remaining and can be kept in the minors if the Giants don’t have a spot for him on the active roster.
The Giants already showed an affinity for this type of player when they utilized catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol on their club last year. Sabol struck out in 34% of his plate appearances but still managed to hit .235/.301/.394 for a wRC+ of 92, splitting his time almost evenly between catcher and left field. He was under Rule 5 restraints in 2023 but the club has now obtained his full rights and can option him going forward.
Patrick Bailey figures to be the primary catcher while Tom Murphy was signed to be the backup. Murphy is generally considered to be on the bat-first side of things and also has significant health concerns, having never surpassed 325 plate appearances in any big league season. Perhaps one of Sabol or Hummel could secure a job as a utility player that takes on part-time catching duties and allows Murphy to spend some time as the designated hitter. But since each of them are optionable, they could also be in Triple-A as depth until their services are required. The club also has Joey Bart in its catching mix but he is now out of options and may get squeezed from the roster at some point.
Jung Hoo Lee, Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski project as the everyday outfielders with Austin Slater likely to be in a fourth outfielder role. Wilmer Flores and Murphy will perhaps get the lion’s share of DH time. Outfielders like Heliot Ramos and Luis Matos are also on the 40-man roster but have options and could get regular playing time in the minors while Hummel and/or Sabol serve in bench jobs at the big league level. Since Hummel has spent a bit of time at the infield corners, an injury to either LaMonte Wade Jr. or J.D. Davis could also open up some playing time for him.
Mets Sign Yolmer Sanchez, Austin Allen To Minor League Deals
The Mets signed infielder Yolmer Sanchez and catcher Austin Allen to minor league contracts on Tuesday, the team announced. Both players will be in big league camp as non-roster invitees to spring training.
Sanchez, 31, won a Gold Glove with the 2019 White Sox and was their regular second baseman from 2017-19, batting a combined .253/.314/.368 in 1751 plate appearances. The glove-first switch hitter has tallied just 65 MLB plate appearances since that time, however, with an ugly .170/.302/.283 output in that tiny sample. Sanchez spent the 2023 season with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, for whom he turned in a .236/.381/.350 slash in 481 plate appearances.
Allen, who turns 30 today, once ranked as one of the better prospects in the Padres and Athletics systems. He’s only received 127 big league plate appearances, batting .195/.252/.288 in that time. However, Allen carries a stout .287/.349/.555 batting line in parts of four Triple-A seasons. He spent the ’23 season with the Marlins Triple-A club, batting .225/.312/.491 with 15 home runs in 366 trips to the plate. Allen has posted roughly average framing marks in the upper minors, per Baseball Prospectus, and he sports a career 23% caught-stealing rate between the big leagues and minors combined.
Sanchez joins a list of infield depth options that includes waiver claim Zack Short, free agent signee Joey Wendle and fellow minor league free-agent pickups Jose Iglesias and Rylan Bannon (both of whom will be in camp as non-roster invitees as well). Francisco Alvarez is expected to be the Mets’ everyday catcher, with Omar Narvaez and Tyler Heineman both as 40-man options behind him. Allen joins Tomas Nido as a non-roster entrant into the mix for playing time behind the dish.
