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Ronald Acuña Jr. Wins NL MVP

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For the first time in his career, Ronald Acuña Jr. is an MVP. The Baseball Writers Association of America announced this evening that Acuña was unanimously selected as the National League’s top player. Dodger teammates Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman finished second and third, respectively.

Acuña has been a star for years. The sport’s #1 prospect before he reached the majors in 2018, he won Rookie of the Year and finished 12th in MVP voting during his debut campaign. He got onto MVP ballots in each of the next two seasons and has been named to the All-Star Game in every season since his rookie year (excluding the 2020 campaign in which there was no Midsummer Classic).

In 2023, he firmly cemented himself as one of the top three to five players in the game. Acuña turned in an unbelievable .337/.416/.596 batting line over an NL-high 735 trips to the dish. He led the majors in hits and runs scored from the top of a loaded Atlanta lineup and paced the Senior Circuit in OPS. The Venezuela native tied his career high with 41 home runs and stole a major league leading 73 bases.

That power-speed impact was unparalleled in baseball history. Acuña became the first player ever to go 40-70. One could quibble with his NL-leading 14 times caught stealing or middling defensive grades in right field, but the sheer offensive dominance and unprecedented nature of Acuña’s stat line made him the clear choice in the eyes of voters.

While this was his career season to date, Acuña could be a perennial MVP candidate He won’t turn 26 until December and is squarely in the midst of his prime. Only adding to the appeal for the Braves is that they have their superstar outfielder on perhaps the game’s most team-friendly contract. Acuña is signed for a total of $61MM over the next three years, while the team has options that could (and very likely will) keep him in Atlanta through 2028.

Acuña winning the award was expected. That he received all 30 first-place votes is a bit more surprising. Betts ranked second on every ballot, hammering home how clearly that duo had separated themselves from the pack. The Dodger star hit .307/.408/.579 over 693 plate appearances. He played solid defense in right field and handled the middle infield with aplomb, logging action at second base and shortstop.

Freeman and Matt Olson were third and fourth on every ballot, with Freeman picking up four more third-place nods to secure the #3 spot overall. Corbin Carroll, Juan Soto, Austin Riley, Luis Arraez, Cody Bellinger, William Contreras and Blake Snell all received at least one fifth-place vote. Others receiving votes: Francisco Lindor, Bryce Harper, Fernando Tatis Jr., Ha-Seong Kim, Ozzie Albies, Logan Webb, Pete Alonso, Marcell Ozuna, Devin Williams, Dansby Swanson, Kyle Schwarber, Zac Gallen, Christian Walker, TJ Friedl and Nick Castellanos.

As noted by Sarah Langs of MLB.com (on X), this is the first time in MLB history in which both MVP selections were unanimous. Shohei Ohtani took all 30 first-place nods in the American League. Full voting results are available courtesy of the BBWAA.

Image from USA Today Sports.

Shohei Ohtani Wins AL MVP

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Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani has been voted the Most Valuable Player in the American League for 2023, per an announcement from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Corey Seager and Marcus Semien of the Rangers were second and third in the voting, respectively.

The news hardly comes as a surprise, with Ohtani having delivered another two-way season for the Angels in which the only precedent was himself. He made 23 starts as a pitcher, tossing 132 innings with an earned run average of 3.14. His 10.4% walk rate was a bit on the high side but he struck out 31.5% of batters faced. Among pitchers with at least 130 innings pitched on the year, only Spencer Strider punched out opponents at a greater rate.

As a hitter, he launched 44 home runs and drew walks at a 15.2% clip. His .304/.412/.654 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 180, indicating he was 80% better overall than the average hitter. He accomplished all of these things despite having his season cut short by injury. Due to some finger issues and then a torn UCL, he only tossed 1 1/3 innings after August 9 and not at all after August 23. He continued hitting but he later suffered an oblique strain and his last game as either a hitter or pitcher was September 3.

That didn’t matter as Ohtani had already racked up enough accomplishments to take home the award for a second time, the first coming in 2021. If it weren’t for Aaron Judge’s record-breaking 62 home runs last year, Ohtani would have gotten a hat trick. The BBWAA notes that this is the first time a player has won a unanimous MVP twice. The most unique baseball player of all time is now the most unique free agent of all time and is surely in line to break another record, or records, when he finally puts pen to paper.

Seager and Semien each had fine seasons in their own right, but had little chance to catch Ohtani here, though they have World Series rings to soften the blow. Seager hit 33 home runs and had a wRC+ of 169 while those numbers were 29 and 124 for Semien.

Other players receiving votes were Julio Rodríguez, Kyle Tucker, Yandy Díaz, Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, José Ramírez, Gerrit Cole, Luis Robert Jr., Yordan Alvarez, Adolis García, Judge, Bo Bichette, J.P. Crawford, Cal Raleigh, Rafael Devers, Isaac Paredes, Sonny Gray, Alex Bregman and Josh Naylor.

Blue Jays Showing Interest In Top Free Agent Bats

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Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins has admitted the club is looking to add multiple bats this winter and it seems they are setting their sights high in that pursuit. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported earlier this week that the club was looking to make a big splash and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic today reports that at least one person in the industry considers them a sleeper for Shohei Ohtani. Additionally, Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports they are interested in outfielder Cody Bellinger and infielder Jeimer Candelario. Bob Nightengale of USA Today also connected the Jays to Bellinger earlier this week.

That the Jays are looking to add some thump to their lineup is not surprising. The club’s offense fared decently in 2023, with an overall wRC+ of 107 that put them in the back of the top 10 out of the 30 clubs in the league. Their 20.9% strikeout rate was better than average, with only five clubs getting punched out at a lower clip, but the 188 home runs hit by the Jays was 16th. Matt Chapman, Brandon Belt, Whit Merrifield and Kevin Kiermaier all became free agents at season’s end, subtracting four regulars from the group.

The club has already been publicly connected to a few names, including having interest in a Chapman reunion as well has exploring trades for players like Eugenio Suárez of the Mariners and Dylan Carlson of the Cardinals. But the club appears to also be exploring the possibility of signing a top free agent.

Ohtani is, of course, the biggest splash imaginable. He’s hit 124 home runs over the past three years while walking in 13.6% of his plate appearances, leading to a slash of .277/.379/.585. That translates into a wRC+ of 157, indicating he was 57% better than the league average hitter in that time. He won’t be pitching in 2024 as he recovers from elbow surgery but a return to the mound in 2025 is something he will surely be attempting. The Jays will have a rotation spot opening up at that time with Yusei Kikuchi set to return to free agency after 2024.

Though Ohtani will be exclusively a designated hitter next year, that won’t be a problem for the Jays, with Atkins already declaring the club is open to such an addition. Belt played some first base in 2023 but was mostly a DH, so Ohtani or someone else could take on a similar role to the one Belt had.

As for Bellinger, the Jays were interested in him last year before he signed a one-year deal with the Cubs. The outfielder was miserable at the plate in 2021 and 2022, seemingly due to injury, but bounced back in 2023. He hit 26 home runs and only struck out at a 25.6% clip. His overall batting line was .307/.356/.525, leading to a wRC+ of 134. He also stole 20 bases and was worth four Outs Above Average in center field. Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating weren’t as high on his defense this year but they still have considered him to be above-average in his career. With Kiermaier’s departure, the Jays have George Springer and Daulton Varsho in two outfield spots but could easily fit Bellinger in there. His ability to play first base on occasion could be a useful bonus as well.

Candelario is a corner infielder and would fit as a replacement for Chapman at third in Toronto. Like Bellinger, Candelario had a bounceback season in 2023 after being non-tendered. Between the Nats and the Cubs, he hit 22 home runs and walked in 9.2% of plate appearances. He hit .251/.336/.471 overall for a wRC+ of 117. DRS has never liked his glovework at third but UZR and OAA consider him to be around league average. His 2022 campaign was a disaster but his 2021 and 2023 seasons look quite similar and he was even better in the shortened 2020 season.

It’s perhaps notable that Candelario is a switch-hitter while each of Bellinger and Ohtani are left-handed. With players this good, the handedness may not matter as much as simply upgrading the lineup overall, but they would add some balance to a lineup that currently projects to lean right-handed. The departures of Kiermaier and Belt leave the Jays with just Varsho and Biggio as lefties who seem likely to get regular at-bats, with Spencer Horwitz and Nathan Lukes perhaps in depth roles. Addison Barger is also on the roster but has yet to make his major league debut. Tyler Heineman is a switch-hitter but is third on the catching depth chart behind Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk.

The Jays will undoubtedly have plenty of competition in these pursuits. Ohtani’s unique talents and marketability have led to widespread interest around the league, while Bellinger and Candelario have had plenty of suitors as well. The Jays currently have a 2024 payroll of $205MM and a competitive balance tax figure of $216MM, per Roster Resource, though non-tendering a couple members of their arbitration class could knock those numbers down some.

MLBTR’s predicted Ohtani to get a record-setting deal of $528MM over 12 years, Bellinger to get $264MM over the same length and Candelario $70MM over four years. The Jays have given out some sizeable contracts in recent years, including Springer getting $150MM while Kevin Gausman got $110MM. Signing Ohtani or Bellinger would require them to go to a new level but they may be willing to do so in order to make the big splash they seek. Cot’s Baseball Contracts estimated their Opening Day payroll was $210MM in 2023, though their CBT number went into the $260MM range. President/CEO Mark Shapiro has indicated the club expects payroll to be in a similar range in 2024.

GM: Angels Not Rebuilding, Plan To Be “Aggressive” In Offseason

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The Angels’ last-gasp push for a postseason bid with Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout on the same roster fizzled late in 2023. After an aggressive deadline highlighted by the acquisitions of Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Randal Grichuk and C.J. Cron, the Halos embarked on the equivalent of an August fire sale, placing nearly a quarter of their roster on outright waivers late in the month, in hopes of shedding some payroll and perhaps dipping under the luxury tax threshold. While Giolito, Lopez, Hunter Renfroe, Matt Moore and Dominic Leone were all claimed by other clubs and changed hands, the Halos still remained a bit north of the tax line.

Now faced with the possibility — if not the likelihood — of Ohtani signing elsewhere in free agency, there have been ample questions about the team’s direction. However, general manager Perry Minasian made clear at newly hired manager Ron Washington’s introductory press conference that he has no plans to take a step back, let alone embark on a full-scale rebuild (link via ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez).

“We’re going to be aggressive this offseason, and we’re going to make this team better,” Minasian said.

With Ohtani’s potential departure and the aforementioned slate of waiver departures late in the season, there’s no shortage of holes for the Angels to fill. That said, Minasian and his staff also have plenty of financial leeway to augment the club. Roster Resource projects a $152MM Opening Day payroll in Anaheim — roughly $60MM shy of the team’s franchise-record mark. Whether owner Arte Moreno will green-light a return to those heights remains unclear, but the Angels haven’t had an Opening Day payroll shy of $182MM since 2019. (Their prorated payroll in the shortened 2020 season was just over $71MM — the equivalent of about $192MM over a full schedule.)

Perhaps the most glaring area of need for the Halos, as has often been the case even during Ohtani’s stay with the club, lies in the rotation. The Angels’ starting staff ranked 19th in the Majors with a 4.47 ERA — and that included Ohtani’s 3.14 mark in 132 innings. The staff at present is slated to include Reid Detmers, Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, Griffin Canning and Chase Silseth, with younger arms like Sam Bachman and Davis Daniel among the depth options to already accrue some MLB service.

It’s a deep crop of free-agent pitchers this offseason, headlined of course by Ohtani — who won’t pitch next year due to elbow surgery but figures to return to the mound in 2025 — and a slate of intriguing arms. Blake Snell hits the market fresh off his second career Cy Young Award, while NPB ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be posted for big league clubs and likely sign the largest contract of any player ever making the jump from Japan to North American ball. Others on the market include Aaron Nola, Jordan Montgomery, Sonny Gray, Eduardo Rodriguez and a second highly touted NPB arm: lefty Shota Imanaga.

For all of the Angels’ struggles, their lineup is set in many places. Trout has increasingly battled injuries in recent seasons but remains one of MLB’s premier hitters when healthy. Taylor Ward didn’t fully replicate his 2022 breakout but had a solid season nonetheless, while former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak had a breakout of his own. That pair will presumably flank Trout in the outfield.

On the infield dirt, 2022 first-round pick Zach Neto had an excellent debut at shortstop but saw his production take a nosedive after a trip to the injured list. Neto graded as a quality defender at the position and batted .259/.338/.431 through his first 200 plate appearances prior to landing on the IL. If he can get back to that form, he looks every bit the part of an everyday MLB shortstop. Switch-hitting Luis Rengifo had a breakout year at the plate and figures to handle second base duties. Young catcher Logan O’Hoppe, who swatted 14 homers in just 199 plate appearances but missed most of the year with a labrum tear, is in line for a full healthy season in ’24.

The Angels even got an encouraging debut from their top pick in this past summer’s draft, as first baseman Nolan Schanuel sprinted to the big leagues and batted .275/.402/.330 in his first 132 plate appearances. If either Rengifo or Schanuel falters, veteran infielder Brandon Drury is on hand to take up a larger share of plate appearances. If not, he can split time with former star Anthony Rendon at the hot corner and/or log some time at designated hitter.

Rendon’s decline at the plate and frequent injury issues since signing a seven-year, $245MM contract are perhaps the single largest detriment to the Angels’ efforts to improve for the upcoming campaign. He’s owed $38MM annually in each of the next three seasons, making the contract all but immovable and leaving the Angels will little recourse but to hope for a rebound — if not to his former MVP-caliber output then at least to something resembling a solid regular at the position. Rendon did post a hearty .361 OBP and walk nearly as often as he struck out (13.7% against 14.8%) in last year’s 183 trips to the plate, but his power has largely eroded and he’s played in just 36.6% of the Angels’ games since signing his megadeal.

The Angels, then, are set to face a host of familiar problems. As has been the case for more than a decade, they’re saddled with at least one immovable megadeal gone wrong, while the farm system is once again regarded among the thinnest in the league. Minasian has the funds to make some aggressive splashes in free agency, but ending a playoff drought that dates back to 2014 is a daunting task — particularly when the Angels have been unable to do so even while rostering two of the generation’s premier talents in Trout and Ohtani.

Washington, for his part, voiced confidence and seemed unfazed by the challenges that lay ahead.

“If you remember now — I was in Texas, and guess what we did? We ran the Angels down,” Washington said in reference to his former stint as Rangers’ manager, during which he oversaw consecutive World Series appearances (and losses). Washington pointed to the irony that the script has now been flipped as he’s tasked with helping the Angels run down the Rangers before voicing confidence and declaring the Angels’ “whole focus” to be on returning to the top of the American League West.

MLB Owners Unanimously Approve Athletics’ Move To Las Vegas

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Major League Baseball’s owners have unanimously voted to approve the Athletics’ move from Oakland to Las Vegas, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The approval was seen as something of a formality, with little — if any — opposition from the sport’s other owners anticipated.

The Athletics’ current lease at the Coliseum only runs through the end of the 2024 season, which leaves plenty of questions about where the club will play its home games in the interim. Among the potential scenarios that have been discussed are sharing the Giants’ Oracle Park, playing home games at their Triple-A stadium in Las Vegas, or temporarily extending the current lease. The current plan, while not yet final, could see them split their time between multiple sites, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The Athletics plan to build a $1.5 billion stadium with a capacity of 33,000 on the Las Vegas strip, at the site of the Tropicana Casino. That new home, however, is not expected to be ready until the start of the 2028 season.

With the valuation of the Athletics’ franchise slated to rise following the move, Nightengale further reports that the remaining owners included a provision with their vote that team owner John Fisher would be taxed “heavily” on any sale if he ultimately strives to sell the club for an immediate profit. The magnitude of the tax isn’t clear, nor is the length of time for which he’ll need to retain ownership of the team before he is exempt from said taxation. In such an event, the amount that he’s taxed would be divided among the other 29 franchises.

It’s the first relocation of any Major League team since the Expos moved from Montreal to Washington D.C. in 2005 (and, of course, became the Washington Nationals). The move from Oakland to Vegas, while still not yet 100% official — hurdles remain to be cleared with the funding and construction of the new facility — will bring a 55-year run in Oakland to an end and leave Northern California as the sole territory of the cross-bay Giants.

The Athletics’ stadium outlook and potential relocation bid has been an ongoing source of drama over the past decade-plus, as the A’s have sought a move from their dilapidated environs in the Coliseum. Previous efforts to move to San Jose were protested by the Giants, claiming that to be an infringement on their territory. The A’s had similarly explored new facilities at various spots around the city, including a new stadium at the current site and, most recently, a new waterfront development in Oakland’s Howard Terminal neighborhood.

Whether those efforts were explored in good faith is debatable; Oakland mayor Sheng Thao has vocally disputed assertions from both Fisher and MLB commissioner that the Howard Terminal scenario was pursued to its fullest extent — instead contending that Fisher never had interest in remaining in Oakland and had been intent on a Vegas move all along.

Regardless, at this point in the process it’s largely a moot point. The move to Oakland is overwhelmingly likely at this point, marking the third recent loss of a major sports franchise for the city of Oakland, which has seen the NBA’s Warriors move across the bay to San Francisco and the NFL’s Raiders move to Las Vegas. The city of Las Vegas, meanwhile, has seen an influx of professional sports teams in recent years. In addition to the Raiders and the likely move of the Athletics, the NHL’s Golden Knights expansion franchise joined the league in 2017.

Heading into the 2024 season, A’s fans will be in an odd position — knowing full well that the relocation they’ve dreaded now looms and facing limited opportunities to cheer on the club they’ve followed for more than five decades (their entire lives, in many instances). At the same time, many will be loath to offer their money to further support an ownership group by whom they understandably feel jilted and betrayed. Beyond that, the team made little effort to field anything resembling a competitive product in recent years, tearing down the core of a team that went 316-230 from 2018-21 and made the playoffs on three straight occasions — including consecutive 97-win campaigns in 2018-19.

That slate of trades hasn’t produced any meaningful level of talent, and payroll has remained near the bottom of the league. Last year’s A’s flirted with a pace for the worst record in MLB history for the season’s first few months, and there’s no indication that ownership will approve any pushes to remedy the situation by allotting more resources to its baseball operations staff this offseason. It’s a bleak time for the Oakland faithful, as the book on their stay in the Bay Area is now on the cusp of closing with an unsatisfying and tumultuous final chapter.

Gerrit Cole Wins American League Cy Young Award

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As expected, Gerrit Cole is the 2023 Cy Young winner in the American League. The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the Yankee star has won the award. Former Minnesota right-hander Sonny Gray was the runner-up, while Toronto’s Kevin Gausman took home third place.

There wasn’t a ton of intrigue, as Cole received all 30 first-place votes. While he’s a six-time All-Star and two-time ERA champion, this is his first career Cy Young. No AL pitcher topped Cole’s 209 innings, while he led Junior Circuit pitchers (minimum 150 innings) with a 2.63 ERA. He was sixth among that group with a 27% strikeout rate and trailed only Gausman and Pablo López with 222 punchouts overall.

That well-rounded dominance made Cole an easy call as the AL’s best pitcher in the eyes of voters. It’s his sixth top five finish and the third time he has been a finalist, as he’d twice before finished as runner-up. Having at least one Cy Young on his résumé could go a long way towards burnishing an eventual Hall of Fame case.

For now, the 33-year-old will look to replicate this year’s success in hopes of leading the Yankees back to the postseason. Despite Cole turning in one of the best seasons of his career, New York floundered midseason and finished barely above .500. Cole will be in the Bronx for at least one more year. He’s headed into year five of a nine-year, $324MM free agent contract. He has the ability to opt out after next season.

Gray received 20 second-place votes to earn the highest Cy Young finish of his career. It was well timed for the three-time All-Star, who hit free agency a couple weeks ago. Gausman secured seven second-place votes and was the most common selection for third. Stray second-place votes went to Luis Castillo and Zach Eflin, although Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish edged out that duo for fourth in overall balloting.

Others to receive at least one vote: López, George Kirby, Framber Valdez, Chris Bassitt, Félix Bautista and Chris Martin. The full results are available at the BBWAA website.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Blake Snell Wins National League Cy Young Award

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Free agent left-hander Blake Snell has been named the National League Cy Young Award winner for 2023, per an announcement from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Logan Webb of the Giants finished second in the voting while Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks finished third.

Snell, 31 next month, has now earned a Cy Young award for the second time in his career. The first trophy was in the American League, with Snell winning as a member of the Rays in 2018. He is just the seventh pitcher to win the award in both leagues, joining Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martínez, Max Scherzer, Gaylord Perry and Roy Halladay.

The left-handed Snell hasn’t been the most consistent pitcher in his career, with both his health and performance wobbling over the years, but his two award-winning campaigns have been excellent. His first trophy came after posting an earned run average of 1.89 with the Rays and this second piece of hardware was earned by posting a 2.25 for the Padres this year. His most recent campaign saw him walk 13.3% of batters faced but he danced around those by striking out 31.5% of his opponents and keeping the ball on the ground at a 44.4% clip. He probably had some help from the baseball gods as his .256 batting average on balls in play and 86.7% strand rate were both on the lucky side of average, but his punchouts and grounders surely helped him somewhat as well.

Outside of those two campaigns, the results have been far more mixed. He got to 180 innings pitched in his award-winning campaigns but hasn’t reached 130 in any other season. He also hasn’t posted an ERA lower than 3.24 in any of them.

Of course, that doesn’t matter for the Cy Young voting. It’s a single-season award and his year-to-year consistency is not something for the voters to consider. Snell’s voting wasn’t quite unanimous but he got 28 of the 30 first-place votes. But his overall track record will be of concern to the clubs considering signing him as a free agent. Pitchers with multiple Cy Youngs don’t hit free agency every day but it’s also incredibly rare for a pitcher to put so many runners on base without allowing them to score. Regardless of those concerns, MLBTR predicted Snell to land a contract of $200MM over seven years and he’s already garnering plenty of interest.

Webb had a 3.25 ERA in 216 innings for the Giants this year, which got him one of the first-place votes and 17 for second. Gallen had a 3.47 ERA in his 210 innings, which led to one first-place vote and three for second. In the full voting, which can be seen here, votes also went to Spencer Strider, Justin Steele, Zack Wheeler, Kodai Senga and Corbin Burnes.

Padres, Dodgers, Giants Interested In Blake Snell

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The Padres, Dodgers and Giants are all interested in free-agent left-hander Blake Snell, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post in a discussion with Lauren Shehadi of MLB Network (video courtesy of MLB Network on X).

Snell, 31 next month, is fairly unique and will likely have wide variances in how he’s valued by clubs. On the positive side, he just finished 2023 with a 2.25 earned run average over his 32 starts. His 31.5% strikeout rate was second among qualified hurlers, trailing only Spencer Strider. He has a decent shot at winning a Cy Young award tonight, which would be the second of his career after winning it with the Rays in 2018.

But Snell has somehow managed to accomplish all of that despite giving out many free passes. He has walked 10.9% of batters faced in his career and that figure was cranked up to 13.3% in 2023. For context, the major league average in the most recent season was 8.6%. The strikeouts surely helped him prevent many of those runners from scoring, but so did a strong 44.4% ground ball rate. But maintaining his .256 batting average on balls in play and 86.7% strand rate would be hard to do over an extended timeline, which is why his 3.44 FIP and 4.06 SIERA suggest his ERA was perhaps flattering him by more than a full run.

He’s also not exactly a workhorse, partly due to some injuries in his career but also due to those walks preventing him from pitching deep into games. He tossed 180 2/3 innings in 2018 and a flat 180 in 2023, with those two seasons being his highest such tallies. Each other season of his career has seen him come in under 130 frames.

Despite some concerning elements in his profile, free agents with multiple Cy Young trophies don’t grow on trees and Snell could be just that in a few hours’ time. Earlier this month, MLBTR’s list of the Top 50 Free Agents predicted Snell could get a contract of seven years and $200MM. That’s based on the fact that pitchers with the potential for dominance can still get paid, even if it’s not a volume proposition. Carlos Rodón got six years and $162MM with a longer injury track record than Snell and never once getting to the 180-inning mark.

That will likely limit Snell’s market to the clubs with deeper pockets, but it sounds like he is still plenty popular. A return to the Padres would make plenty of sense from a strict baseball perspective. The club obviously likes him since they acquired him three years ago, giving up four prospects in the process. The club also has significant rotation needs, with Snell’s free agency coinciding with that of Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and Nick Martinez. That leaves the Friars with Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish as the only locks for their 2024 rotation.

The financial fit would be a little harder to see, however. The club is reportedly set to cut payroll significantly for next year, going from the $250MM range to the $200MM range. Roster Resource currently pegs their payroll for next year at $198MM, leaving very little wiggle room. The club is reportedly shopping reliever Scott Barlow and has at least some openness to Juan Soto trades, but the budget is obviously tight. Moving Soto for major league-ready pieces and then signing Snell with the money saved would be one way to compete again in 2024, but there would be plenty of risk in that path.

Like the Padres, the Dodgers have a reduced starting staff. Julio Urías, Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn are all now free agents. It’s unclear what the future holds for Urías given an ongoing domestic violence investigation, which could lead to his second such suspension of his career. Kershaw recently underwent shoulder surgery and has an uncertain path forward, perhaps having to miss the first half of 2024. Lynn’s home run troubles were pronounced enough that the Dodgers probably don’t want him back. Among guys still on the roster, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin are both recovering from surgery and may miss all of 2024.

That leaves them with Walker Buehler, who missed all of 2023 due to his own surgery rehab, and then a batch of guys who were rookies coming into 2023: Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot, Michael Grove, Emmet Sheehan and Gavin Stone. There’s also Nick Frasso and Landon Knack, who were just added to the roster yesterday, but adding some proven MLB arms into the mix is a sensible path forward. Heyman lists them as one of many clubs that are looking for multiple starters this winter.

Their payroll situation is far more pleasant than that of the Padres, as Roster Resource has them at just $142MM right now, along with a CBT number of $159MM. Non-tendering Ryan Yarbrough and Yency Almonte would cut both of those figures by over $5MM. It’s unknown how high they want to take the budget in 2024 but they’ve been as high as $280MM in the past, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Even if they want to stay under the luxury tax in 2024, the base threshold is $237MM next year, meaning they have around $80MM in wiggle room.

However, they may end up using a big chunk of that on Shohei Ohtani, with many observers considering them the most likely landing spot for the two-way superstar. Signing a player like Snell would also go against their track record. Despite their big payrolls, they haven’t really spent wildly on long-term deals for pitchers. In the past decade, they gave an eight-year deal to Kenta Maeda, but with a minimal guarantee of just $25MM. Since the Zack Greinke signing way back in 2012, they haven’t given a free agent pitcher more than $50MM.

The Giants also have some money to spend and seem motivated to make a big splash. Roster Resource has their 2024 payroll at $147MM and their CBT calculation at $170MM. They’ve topped out at $200MM in past seasons, per Cot’s, but might be willing to push farther this winter. Recent attempts to land star players have fallen short, with the club just missing on guys like Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa. It is expected that they will be motivated to get something splashy done this time around and could be quite aggressive in trying to do so.

President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi already spoke about the club’s plans for adding to the rotation, which makes sense given the question marks behind Logan Webb, and Heyman says they are also one of the clubs looking for multiple starting this winter. They picked up their option on Alex Cobb for 2024 but he will be coming back from hip surgery. Anthony DeSclafani and Ross Stripling will each be coming off of disappointing seasons in 2023 while guys like Kyle Harrison and Keaton Winn are fairly unproven.

Broadly speaking, the demand for starting pitching is high, with Heyman reporting that there are eight teams looking to add multiple pitchers this winter. Not all of them will have the money and/or the appetite for Snell but it seems like general the market conditions could be working in his favor.

Brewers Name Pat Murphy Manager

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November 15: The Brewers officially announced Murphy’s hiring today.

November 13: The Brewers appear to have settled on their new manager. Milwaukee is expected to promote longtime bench coach Pat Murphy, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Murphy will replace longtime manager Craig Counsell after his departure to the Cubs.

Milwaukee’s managerial search proved to be a short one, ultimately concluding just one week after Counsell officially departed for Chicago. In that time, the Brewers reportedly considered several candidates in addition to Murphy during the short process, including Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly, Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough, 14-year MLB veteran Rickie Weeks and Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker.

Their reported list of candidates also included a pair of names attached to the other managerial vacancies around the league at the time: Astros then-bench coach Joe Espada, who has since been promoted to the managerial gig in Houston, as well as Padres senior advisor Mike Shildt, who is considered a potential favorite to replace Bob Melvin in San Diego. Ultimately, the Brewers decided to go with Murphy, who many around the game had speculated could consider joining Counsell as bench coach in Chicago if not promoted in Milwaukee.

Murphy, 64, has never been formally hired for the manager’s role with a big league organization but has plenty of experience managing in baseball nonetheless. He ran the Padres for 96 games on an interim basis in 2015 after Bud Black was dismissed that June. Murphy also spent more than 20 years as a head coach in college baseball for Arizona State and Notre Dame. Now, he’ll get his first proper managerial opportunity in the major leagues, stepping into Counsell’s shoes in the Milwaukee dugout after the pair worked closely for eight seasons.

He’ll inherit a roster that figures to be in flux this offseason. Though the Brewers won 92 games and an NL Central crown in 2023 en route to their fifth playoff appearance in the past six seasons, Counsell’s departure combined with the impending free agencies of ace right-hander Corbin Burnes and shortstop Willy Adames have Milwaukee’s front office potentially contemplating major changes to the roster. Further complicating the club’s offseason plans is the status of Burnes’s fellow ace Brandon Woodruff, who underwent shoulder surgery earlier in the offseason and is expected to miss most or perhaps even all of the 2024 season, though he hopes to be back sometime next summer.

Tumultuous as the coming offseason might be, the outlook in Milwaukee isn’t entirely bleak. Outfielder Jackson Chourio is widely considered one of the top two prospects in the entire sport. The club’s farm system sports three other top 100 prospects per MLB Pipeline. Those prospects could help to supplement a core of quality players at the big league level that includes catcher William Contreras, right-hander Freddy Peralta, closer Devin Williams, and outfielders Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell, among others. Even if Burnes and Adames are dealt this offseason, the club has the pieces to remain competitive in a relatively weak NL Central division if they choose to supplement the roster rather than engage in a larger teardown.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Padres Owner Peter Seidler Passes Away

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The Padres have announced that owner and chairman Peter Seidler has passed away at the age of 63.

“The Padres organization mourns the passing of our beloved Chairman and owner, Peter Seidler,” said Padres CEO Erik Greupner. “Today, our love and prayers encircle Peter’s family as they grieve the loss of an extraordinary husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend. Peter was a kind and generous man who was devoted to his wife, children, and extended family. He also consistently exhibited heartfelt compassion for others, especially those less fortunate. His impact on the city of San Diego and the baseball world will be felt for generations. His generous spirit is now firmly embedded in the fabric of the Padres. Although he was our Chairman and owner, Peter was at his core a Padres fan. He will be dearly missed.”

The club also announced that they will open the Home Plate Gate at Petco Park beginning this afternoon for those who wish to gather to pay their respects. Free parking will be available at Tailgate Lot. Seidler has been battling an illness for months but his family has requested that the cause of death remain private at this time, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Seidler bought a majority stake of the Padres in November of 2020. He was already part of the ownership group but was approved at that time by the 29 other owners to be the control person in San Diego. By doing so, he was following in the footsteps of his grandfather Walter O’Malley, who owned the Dodgers from 1950 to 1979 and moved them from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

Once he took control of the Padres, Seidler quickly earned a reputation as one of the boldest and most aggressive owners in the sport. Per the calculations of Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Padres spent much of the first 20 years of this century with payrolls near the bottom of the league and never higher than the middle. But they have been in the top 10 in each of the past three seasons, getting as high as third in 2023. That period has seen them five nine-figure deals to star players like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Joe Musgrove while also making headline-grabbing trades for Juan Soto and Yu Darvish.

The on-field results have been mixed. After making the postseason in 2020, the Friars had high hopes for 2021 but disappointed with a 79-83 record. They finally broke through in 2022, going 89-73 and making the playoffs in a full season for the first time since 2006. They knocked off the Mets and the Dodgers in the postseason before getting eliminated by the Phillies in the NLCS.

2023 was another disappointment, as the club slid to 82-80 and just missed the playoffs. But on the heels of the 2022 campaign and more spending coming into the year, excitement in San Diego was clearly at a high. 2023 saw the club set a franchise record for attendance, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic. However, it appears that the club’s momentum was fading as the 2023-2024 offseason approached.

The ongoing bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, which operates Bally Sports regional networks, led to Major League Baseball taking over the club’s broadcasts in May. The club reportedly took out a $50MM loan to cover payroll during the season and were reportedly planning to reduce spending this winter. That has led to widespread speculation that the club would consider trading a star like Soto as a cost-cutting move.

It was reported by multiple outlets in September, including the Associated Press, that Seidler was a two-time cancer survivor and he underwent an unspecified medical procedure at that time. It’s unknown if the internal structure of the club changed in recent months with Seidler’s ongoing health situation, but regardless, questions will eventually have to be answered about who is now calling the shots and what the club’s path forward is.

Those questions can be left for another day. Today, the baseball world is mourning an owner who seemed beloved in all corners of the sport. In a few short years, he turned the Padres from a basement-dwelling afterthought into a star-laden club that gave the residents of San Diego pride and excitement. We at MLB Trade Rumors join the rest of the baseball world in sending our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

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