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Angels Interested In Gio Urshela

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The Yankees and Mets have shown interest in free agent infielder Gio Urshela, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, though the Angels and Marlins “have made better offers” to this point. The New York clubs were connected to Urshela at the end of last year, while the Marlins were connected to him yesterday. This is the first time that the Angels, for whom Urshela played in 2023, have been reported to be interested in a reunion.

The Halos acquired Urshela from the Twins in November of 2022, with Urshela one year away from free agency, sending prospect Alejandro Hidalgo the other way. Urshela had hit .290/.336/.463 over the previous four seasons between the Twins and Yankees, leading to a wRC+ of 119. That bat was enticing, as was his defense. With Anthony Rendon’s mounting injury history, Urshela gave the club some insurance at third base, while the club also hoped he could fill in at other positions as well.

Unfortunately, the acquisition didn’t work out too well for the Angels. Urshela bounced around to all four infield positions but got into just 62 games on the year before suffering a pelvic fracture in June. He didn’t require surgery but it ended his season nonetheless. Before that injury, he hit just two home runs and his slash line was down to .299/.329/.374, translating to a 92 wRC+.

Despite that disappointing campaign, the reported interest suggests that the club has some confidence in Urshela bouncing back to health and improving his performance. Once again, there may not be a simple everyday job available to him, but putting him back into a multi-positional role would make sense.

The Halos are set to have youngsters Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel at shortstop and first base, respectively. Schanuel held his own in his brief major league debut but is still a risk with just 51 professional games under his belt, having just been drafted last summer. Neto also debuted last year and performed well defensively, but with subpar offense. Third base remains an annual question, with Rendon having suffered through another injury-marred season in 2023.

Brandon Drury and Luis Rengifo are on hand to cover second base and one of these other positions, but bolstering the group overall by bringing Urshela back would improve the overall outlook. The Angels have often been hobbled by injuries or underperformance exposing a lack of depth in recent years. Urshela’s presence would give them some cover for another Rendon injury or any sophomore slump from Neto or Schanuel, or another unforeseen development.

The Halos should have plenty of spending room, looking at their budget at Roster Resource. They are currently slated for a budget of $173MM and a competitive balance tax figure of $188MM. Last year, their payroll finished at $215MM and their CBT just under the $233MM line. Those figures were set to be even higher before they fell out of contention and started taking cost-cutting measures as the season was winding down.

Assuming they are willing to get back near those levels again in 2024, there’s lots of things they could do. At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Urshela for a two-year deal worth $20MM. He may not be able to get that high since it has turned out to be a fairly tepid market for position players and he is still lingering on the market in February. But with Spring Training starting shortly and clubs reportedly having offers out to the infielder, he may be coming off the board soon.

Phillies Claim Diego Castillo From Yankees

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The Phillies have claimed infielder/outfielder Diego Castillo off waivers from the Yankees, per announcements from both clubs. The Yanks designated him for assignment a week ago. The Phils now have a full 40-man roster after this move.

Castillo, 26, spent 2023 with the Diamondbacks but has been on the roster carousel so far this year. Since the calendar flipped to 2024, he’s been claimed by the Mets, Yankees and now Phillies. That’s likely a reflection of the fact that he has some intriguing characteristics, enough to get claimed, but not enough to hold a roster spot.

He generally does a pretty good job of getting on base, but without much power. He also has a bit of speed, some defensive versatility and one option year remaining. With the Snakes in 2023, he only got into one major league game but took 556 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He drew a walk in 17.4% of those and was only punched out at a 14.2% clip. He only hit three home runs in that time but his .313/.431/.410 batting line still amounted to a wRC+ of 117, even in the hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League.

He also stole 13 bases and bounced around the diamond, lining up at the three infield positions to the left of first base as well as left field. In past seasons, he’s played a bit of first base and right field, in addition to some brief mop-up duty on the mound.

For the Phils, Castillo can provide them with some depth all over the diamond, alongside other multi-positional guys like Kody Clemens, Rodolfo Castro and Weston Wilson. The major league bench projects to feature Garrett Stubbs as a backup catcher with players like Edmundo Sosa, Cristian Pache and Jake Cave filling out the final few spots. Those final three names are all out of options, which could give them a leg up in earning a roster spot to start the year.

But injuries will inevitably pop up throughout the season and perhaps open opportunities for Castillo or some of the club’s other depth players. But also, given the way this year is going for Castillo, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back on the waiver wire shortly.

Yankees Acquire Caleb Ferguson From Dodgers

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The Dodgers and Yankees swapped left-handed relievers on Monday. New York acquired Caleb Ferguson for Matt Gage and minor league right-hander Christian Zazueta.

Ferguson, 27, joins a new organization for the first time in his career. He was drafted by the Dodgers in 2014 and has been with them ever since. He made his debut in 2018, starting his first three major league outings before being moved to a relief role. Apart from some occasional starts as an opener, he’s stayed in the bullpen ever since.

The results have been quite strong, with Ferguson making 96 appearances from 2018 to 2020, tossing 112 1/3 innings while allowing 3.93 earned runs per nine. He struck out 29.1% of batters faced in that time, gave out walks at an 8.7% clip and kept 44% of batted balls on the ground. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in September of 2020, wiping out the remainder of that campaign and preventing him from pitching at all in 2021.

He has since returned to the mound and has produced fairly similar statistics to before his injury layoff. In 126 appearances over 2022 and 2023, he has 113 2/3 innings pitched with a 2.85 ERA. He struck out 27.5% of opponents in that time, walking 8.8% of them and getting grounders at a 48% clip. Those results have come with Ferguson moving to higher leverage appearances, as he earned seven holds in 2022 and 17 last year.

He is now in his final season of club control, slated for free agency after the upcoming season in which he’ll make a salary of $2.4MM. This is the second left-handed reliever that has gone from the Dodgers to the Yankees this offseason, with Victor González having been dealt to the Bronx in December.

The Yankees have used Wandy Peralta as their primary lefty out of the bullpen in recent years, but he became a free agent this offseason and signed with the Padres last week. They now have Ferguson and González as their top southpaw relievers, alongside righties Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loáisiga and Tommy Kahnle.

Gage, 31 next week, will give the Dodgers another lefty to replace Ferguson, but one with a more limited track record. Gage has made 16 big league appearances over the past two years, suiting up for the Astros and Blue Jays, with a 1.83 ERA in a tiny sample of 19 2/3 innings. He spent most of last year’s with Houston’s Triple-A club, tossing 37 1/3 innings at that level with a 4.58 ERA, 23.4% strikeout rate, 12% walk rate and 41.5% ground ball rate. New York claimed him off waivers from the Astros last week.

For now, it appears the trade will be 40-man neutral. By sending Gage to the Dodgers, the Yanks opened up a 40-man spot for Ferguson. The Dodgers are also reportedly signing Ryan Brasier, so they will still need to open a spot for him but could perhaps do so by designating Gage or some other player for assignment.

For the Yanks, they upgrade their bullpen for the 2024 season while giving up a bit of future value in Zazueta, a 19-year-old who posted a 3.29 ERA in the DSL last year. The Dodgers, meanwhile, were going to be facing a roster squeeze with the Brasier signing and have used one year of Ferguson’s services to give them an extra prospect and some more roster flexibility. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them pursue a different lefty at this point, as they are now down to Alex Vesia, Ryan Yarbrough and Gage as their southpaw relievers.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the Yankees were acquiring Ferguson. The Post’s Joel Sherman reported the Dodgers were acquiring two players, one in the upper minors and one nowhere near the majors. Heyman reported Gage’s inclusion.

Tony Kemp Getting Interest From Five Teams

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The Blue Jays, Pirates, Reds, Red Sox, and Yankees have all shown interest in veteran second baseman/left fielder Tony Kemp, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports.  These are the first teams linked to Kemp this offseason, as the 32-year-old is a free agent for the first time in his career.

One of the few experienced players on a young and rebuilding A’s team, Kemp has spent the last four years in Oakland, bridging the gap between the last contending Athletics club and its current state of extreme teardown.  Most of his playing time has some against right-handed pitching (though Kemp’s career splits are pretty even against both righties and lefties), and Zack Gelof’s emergence at second base meant that Kemp was mostly a left fielder in the back half of the 2023 season.

Kemp’s own lack of production didn’t help his cause for more playing time, as he hit only .209/.303/.304 over 419 plate appearances last year.  Kemp posted strong numbers in a part-time capacity with the A’s in 2021 and the Astros in 2018, though he has generally been a below-average hitter during his career, with a 94 wRC+.

It seems likely that any of Kemp’s suitors would be viewing him as a bench piece or platoon option at best, plus the respected Kemp would be a boost in any clubhouse.  While he played some center field early in his career and he has a handful of games as a right fielder and shortstop, it seems like Kemp is pretty set as a two-position player, and the public defensive metrics have been more positive about his work as a left fielder than at second base.

Of the five teams mentioned by Murray, the Red Sox might be the cleanest fit for Kemp given that Tyler O’Neill and Vaughn Grissom (their projected left field/second base starters) are both right-handed hitters.  Utilityman Rob Refsnyder is right-handed and infield backup Enmanuel Valdez is short on big league experience, perhaps creating an opening for Kemp on the roster.  Red Sox manager Alex Cora is also a familiar face, as Cora was on Houston’s coaching staff during Kemp’s time with the Astros.

The Pirates have a pretty crowded second-base competition heading into the season, with Ji Hwan Bae, Liover Peguero, Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo, and others all battling for time at the keystone.  While the Bucs would prefer to see one of their youngsters grab the job, adding a seasoned player like Kemp could help add some depth in the event that nobody really breaks out.  Kemp’s reputation as a leader could also be particularly useful for a young Pirates team, particularly after several players spoke of how the addition of such veteran voices as Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Santana helped the club last year.

New York, Cincinnati, and especially Toronto could all use some more left-handed balance in their lineups, though Kemp isn’t as clear-cut of a fit given how all three of these teams are already pretty deep in second base and left field options.  Kemp’s experience could again be a factor here as something more of a proven commodity, in case any of the Reds’ prized young infielders need some more minor league seasoning or if the Yankees want some depth in case Oswaldo Cabrera or Oswald Peraza don’t develop at the plate.

Yankees, Greg Allen Agree To Minor League Deal

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Fleet-footed outfielder Greg Allen is returning to the Yankees organization on a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The CAA client will be in camp as a non-roster invitee this spring. Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that Allen would earn at a $1.1MM rate if selected to the big league roster. There’s another $400K available via incentives, per Sherman, which takes the form of a $50K bonus for every 50th plate appearance beginning at 150 and ranging through 500. Allen hasn’t reached 150 MLB plate appearances since 2019 and has never topped 291 plate appearances in a season.

It’s the third stint with the Yankees for the 30-year-old Allen, who was traded from San Diego to New York back in 2021. Allen appeared in 15 games that season and has since bounced from the Pirates, to the Red Sox, back to the Yankees, to the Brewers and now back to the Bronx.

Allen spent the bulk of the 2023 season in the Yankees organization but was designated for assignment in August and elected free agency after going unclaimed on waivers. He took just 28 plate appearances with the Yanks — his only big league action last season — and slashed .217/.333/.478 with a homer and three steals in that tiny sample. The rest of his season was spent in Triple-A, where he batted a combined .252/.388/.371 between the Yankees, Brewers and Red Sox organizations.

In parts of seven of MLB seasons, Allen is a .231/.300/.340 hitter with 11 homers, 31 doubles, eight triples, a 5.7% walk rate and a 23.4% strikeout rate in 828 plate appearances. He’s a switch-hitter with minimal pop but plus speed and strong defensive skills across all three outfield positions. Allen won’t have an easy path to a big league roster spot on a team whose outfield mix consists of Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo, Trent Grisham and Giancarlo Stanton (though he’ll primarily DH). That said, he’s a fine depth piece to stash in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the season, which seems to be the likeliest role for him unless injuries create some openings on the big league roster during spring training.

Yankees Designate Diego Castillo For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that they have claimed left-hander Matt Gage off waivers, a move which was reported on earlier today. Infielder/outfielder Diego Castillo was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Castillo, 26, has had his name on many transactions over the past few years. An amateur signing of the Yankees, he was traded to the Pirates as part of the 2021 Clay Holmes deal. He was traded to the Diamondbacks after the 2022 season and spent the 2023 campaign with that club. But he was designated for assignment last month, going to the Mets and then Yankees on waiver claims. Now he’s been designated for assignment for the third time in just over a month.

He doesn’t have a ton of power but generally fares well at the plate apart from that. Last year, he took 556 trips to the plate at Triple-A, hitting just three home runs. But he drew walks in 17.4% of those plate appearances while striking out at just a 14.2% clip. His .313/.431/.410 batting line translated to a 117 wRC+, indicating he was 17% better than league average overall. His work in the majors hasn’t been as impressive, with Castillo hitting .205/.250/.380 in his 284 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 71.

Defensively, Castillo is capable of moving around quite a bit. He’s spent time at all four infield positions, the outfield corners and has even made a couple of mop-up appearances on the mound. He also has a bit of speed, having stolen 13 bases in Triple-A last year, the third time he’s reached double digits in the minors.

This winter, it seems he has fallen into a bucket of being just good enough to intrigue clubs but not quite good enough to hold a roster spot for very long. The Yanks will now have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. He still has one option remaining. Between that, his plate discipline and defensive versatility, he may find himself on the move yet again in the coming days. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Yankees as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have three years of MLB service time or a previous career outright, meaning he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency.

Yankees Claim Matt Gage

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The Yankees have claimed left-handed reliever Matt Gage off waivers from the Astros, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He was designated for assignment last week. The team has not formally announced the move or a corresponding transaction, which will be required since New York currently has a full 40-man roster.

Gage, who’ll be 31 in a couple weeks, has spent time in the majors in each of the past two seasons, logging a combined 1.83 ERA in 19 2/3 innings between the Blue Jays and Astros. He’s punched out a strong 26% of his opponents but also demonstrated some shaky command, evidenced by 20 walks (11.7%) and one hit batter in just 77 faced as a big leaguer.

While Gage has an overall 5.17 ERA in parts of five Triple-A seasons, he’s been better there in the past two years (2.34 ERA in 42 1/3 innings in 2022, 4.58 ERA in 37 1/3 innings in 2023). A good portion of his Triple-A struggles came several years ago when he was working as a starter in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League while pitching in the Giants’ and Mets’ systems.

A move to the bullpen seems to have been agreeable to Gage, however, and like so many other Yankee bullpen targets, Gage will bring a track record of inducing ground-balls at a strong clip to his new club. He’s posted a 48.9% grounder rate in his limited MLB time and typically sits in the mid-40s at the Triple-A level as well. Overall, he has a 45.4% ground-ball rate in his time at the Triple-A level. He also has a minor league option remaining, so he can be sent to Scranton without first needing to pass through waivers.

The Yankees are generally light on established left-handed bullpen candidates. Gage certainly isn’t an established option himself, but he’ll join Victor Gonzalez, Matt Krook and Nick Ramirez as 40-man possibilities for the Yankees to evaluate this spring. The Yanks have reportedly been on the hunt for bullpen help in free agency but are also already into the fourth and highest tier of luxury penalization, meaning they’ll pay a 110% tax on any additional salaries added to the books. A reunion with Wandy Peralta is said to be of interest, but it’s not yet clear whether the Yankees will effectively spend double whatever the market bears (including tax penalties) in order to retain him. For now, they’ll stock up on some affordable depth as they continue surveying the market.

Yankees Interested In Ryan Brasier, Phil Maton

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As the Yankees continue their search for another middle reliever, they’ve been in contact with Ryan Brasier and Phil Maton, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. They’ve also been tied to Héctor Neris and old friends Wandy Peralta and Keynan Middleton in recent reports.

Brasier, 36, had a surprisingly excellent second half to the 2023 campaign. The righty had struggled to a 5.78 ERA over 62 1/3 innings for the Red Sox in 2022. When he began last year with a 7.29 mark over 21 innings, Boston designated him for assignment. The Dodgers brought him in on a minor league deal, selecting him onto the MLB roster in late June.

From then on, Brasier was among the best relievers in the game. He pitched to a microscopic 0.70 ERA through 38 2/3 innings in Los Angeles. He punched out nearly 27% of batters faced, a marked jump over the 18.9% rate he carried in Boston. Brasier also kept the ball on the ground at a robust 51.1% rate and limited his walk percentage to a modest 7% clip as a Dodger.

There’s no question Brasier pitched himself to a major league contract now that he’s back on the open market. It’s possible he could drum up enough interest to land a two-year deal, unexpected as that seemed a few months ago. The Cardinals, Orioles, Cubs and incumbent Dodgers were linked to Brasier a few weeks back. The Rangers and Angels were also tied to him at that point, although they’ve since made notable additions to their bullpens — David Robertson to Texas, Robert Stephenson and Matt Moore to the Halos.

Maton, who turns 31 in March, has been a solid middle innings pitcher for the Astros. Acquired at the 2021 deadline for center fielder Myles Straw, Maton worked to a 3.67 ERA over two and a half seasons in Houston. He’s coming off arguably the best season of his career. The right-hander allowed an even three earned runs per nine through 66 frames. He fanned 27% of opponents behind an excellent 15.4% swinging strike percentage.

As with Brasier, Maton has a solid case for a two-year contract. He’s not a prototypical late-innings power arm. Maton’s fastball sat at just 89 MPH on average. Yet he hasn’t had any issues missing bats thanks to an excellent breaking ball. Maton uses a curveball as his primary offering. Opponents hit only .169 against the pitch last year. St. Louis has also shown interest in the Illinois native this offseason.

Yankees, Luis Torrens Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees have agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Luis Torrens, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Presumably, he’ll be in camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.

Torrens, 27, has spent time in the big leagues in each of the past five seasons, suiting up for the Mariners, Padres and Cubs in that time. He had a solid run with the ’21 Mariners, popping 15 home runs and hitting .243/.299/.431 over a career-high 378 plate appearances, but he’s generally struggled at the plate since. In 196 trips to the plate over the past two MLB seasons, Torrens carries just a .229/.286/.307 slash.

The Yankees are plenty familiar with Torrens, as they’re the organization that originally signed him as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela back in 2012. The Padres plucked Torrens out of the Yankees’ system in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft even though he’d never played above A-ball. A then-rebuilding San Diego club succeeded on keeping Torrens on its Major League roster all season, thus acquiring his long-term rights. He spent nearly all of the 2018-19 seasons in the minors, hitting quite in well in Double-A, but was traded to the Mariners alongside Ty France, Andres Munoz and Taylor Trammell in the 2020 swap that sent Austin Nola and Dan Altavilla to the Padres.

Overall, Torrens is a career .227/.289/.354 hitter in the bigs and a .246/.311/.486 hitter in Triple-A. He has at times shown the ability to be an above-average hitter relative to his position, and at his best he draws interesting ratings from Statcast in terms of his batted-ball profile. From 2020-22, Torrens averaged a hearty 91 mph off the bat and saw a sizable 45.7% of his batted balls travel at velocities of 95 mph or greater. But he’s also been too strikeout prone, sports a below-average walk rate and puts the ball on the ground far too often (49.9%) for someone who’s ranked in the 26th percentile of MLB players in terms of sprint speed (per Statcast). Defensively, Torrens has some encouraging traits and also some red flags. He’s thwarted a huge 37% of stolen base attempts against him in his professional career but also consistently delivered negative marks for framing.

It’s not a surprise to see the Yankees add some more catching depth. New York traded backup catcher Kyle Higashioka to the Padres as part of their deal to acquire Juan Soto, and they’ll face a decision on Ben Rortvedt this spring given that he’s out of minor league options. With prospect Austin Wells and veteran Jose Trevino already on the 40-man and likelier to make the roster, Rortvedt could be squeezed out, and Torrens adds some depth in the event that he’s claimed by another club. If not, he can join Rortvedt and Carlos Narvaez as catching options in Triple-A Scranton, where he could also see occasional action at first base — a position where Torrens has tallied 482 innings between the majors and minors.

Yankees Outright Oscar González, Jeter Downs

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The Yankees announced that outfielder Oscar González and infielder Jeter Downs were both outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That indicates that both players passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment in the past week. A third player that they club put on waivers, outfielder Bubba Thompson, was claimed by the Twins.

González, 26, debuted with a splash while with the Guardians in 2022. He hit 11 home runs in 91 games and slashed .296/.327/.461 for a wRC+ of 125. He also endeared himself to fans by using the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as his walk-up music and hitting a series-clinching walk-off home run in the 15th inning of a game in the Wild Card round against the Rays.

But things went off the rails last year, as his poor plate discipline got worse and his production couldn’t stay afloat. His 3.9% walk rate in 2022 was already less than half the league average and that mark fell to 2.8% in 2023. His 19.6% strikeout rate also ticked up to 25.6%. He hit .214/.239/.312 in the majors and spent most of the year on optional assignment.

Poor pitch selection seems to be a clear issue for him, as he has swung at 49.1% of pitches outside the strike zone in his career thus far. That’s the highest rate among MLB hitters with at least 550 plate appearances over the past two seasons. He still managed to hit enough to be useful a couple of years ago but his stock has clearly fallen since.

The Guardians put him on waivers earlier in the offseason, with the Yankees making a claim in early December. The fact that he passed through waivers this week means that all 29 other clubs declined to give him a roster spot. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he will stick in the organization as non-roster depth.

The 25-year-old Downs is in a similar situation, having just been claimed by the Yankees last month. Fairly or unfairly, he is best known by many fans for going to the Red Sox in the deal that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers. Once a top prospect, he hasn’t been able to hit much since that trade. He has produced a batting line of .200/.309/.365 in the minor leagues over the past three years, leading to a wRC+ of 80. He’s only been given 50 major league plate appearances in that time and hit just .182/.260/.273 in those.

He has gone from the Red Sox to the Nationals and now the Yankees via waivers, but today’s transaction indicates no club was willing to give him a roster spot. Like González, he lacks the necessary service time or previous outright to elect free agency, meaning he will stick in the organization as depth without taking a spot on the 40-man roster.

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