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Write For MLB Trade Rumors

By Tim Dierkes | July 21, 2022 at 4:04pm CDT

UPDATE: We are also seeking a writer who is available to work every Saturday from 7am-3pm central time. Ultimately, we’re likely to make two hires. If you’re interested in either the Saturday or the Sunday shift, please apply. We have not yet looked at all the applications that we’ve received so far, but those who are advancing to the second round should hear back next week.

We’re looking to add to the MLBTR writing team, in a part-time position that pays hourly. The criteria:

Availability to work every Sunday from 7am-3pm central time. This would be your regular weekly shift. The ability to occasionally fill in on Saturdays as well would be helpful.
Exceptional knowledge of all 30 baseball teams, no discernible bias. Knowledge of hot stove concepts like arbitration, the competitive balance tax, and new aspects of the latest collective bargaining agreement.
A high school degree is required, and further education is preferred. Please include your highest completed level of education in your application.
Writing experience is necessary, and online writing experience is preferred.
Attention to detail and ability to follow the MLBTR style and tone.
Ability to craft intelligent, well-written posts analyzing and contextualizing MLB hot stove news quickly and concisely.
Ability to use Twitter, Tweetdeck, and WordPress. Experience with these is strongly preferred.
Ability to incorporate feedback to improve performance.
If you’re interested, email mlbtrhelp@gmail.com and explain how you stand out and qualify in a couple of short paragraphs. Please attach your resume to the email. We often receive several hundred applications, so unfortunately we will not be able to reply to each one.

At the end of your application, please fill in the blank: After the ____ season ends, assuming he does not sign a contract extension or go to the minors, Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal will become a free agent. Rather than give an explanation, simply write, “Skubal question: [Year]” at the end.

Latest On Juan Soto’s Market

By Darragh McDonald | July 21, 2022 at 3:52pm CDT

Ever since it emerged that the Nationals are willing to entertain trade offers on Juan Soto, the whole baseball world has been obsessed with trying to figure out where he could go and what a fair trade would even look like. That likely won’t change, with Soto rumors sure to continue flying every day until the August 2 deadline, unless a trade is completed sooner.

MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a look at the situation, outlining how Soto is arguably the most attractive trade chip in recent memory or perhaps ever. Given his talent, youth and remaining years of control, just about every team is going to be calling the Nats and getting a feel for what kind of deal they’re looking to make.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the discussions have begun and, unsurprisingly, Soto is drawing widespread interest. He lists the Mariners, Padres, Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals, Yankees and Mets as seven teams that have already opened up the lines of communication with Washington.

None of those are particularly surprising, with all seven of them having been listed by Adams as being among the best fits. There is a potential complicating factor in the talks, as Jim Bowden of The Athletic reports that the Nationals want to combine Soto with Patrick Corbin in trades, in order to get Corbin’s contract off their books. As an additional detail, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post looks at the pros and cons of including Corbin in the deal, adding that Corbin has a partial no-trade clause. Despite that, Dougherty adds that this won’t prevent a deal from coming together, implying that either Corbin’s clause is minimal enough to not include the primary suitors, or perhaps that he would be willing to waive the clause and move to a new club with Soto.

While the Nationals are surely open to moving Corbin and getting out from under his contract, it’s unclear how important that is to them. Signed to a six-year, $140MM contract prior to 2019, the first season was a resounding success. Corbin threw 202 innings with a 3.25 ERA, then added another 23 1/3 frames in the postseason as the Nats won the first World Series title in the history of the franchise. It’s been essentially all downhill since then, however, with Corbin’s strikeouts disappearing and ERA escalating. After strikeout rates of 30.8% in 2018 and 28.5% in 2019, he’s been hovering around 20% in the three subsequent seasons. His ERA shot up to 4.66 in 2020, then 5.82 last year and 5.87 this year.

As for Corbin’s contract, it was heavily backloaded. His salary this year is $23.42MM, leaving approximately $8MM to be paid out from the deadline onwards. Then he’ll make $24.42MM next year and a big jump to $35.42 in 2024. That’s the last year of the deal, though there’s also $10MM in deferred money to be paid out from November of 2024 to January of 2026.

The combination of Corbin’s poor performance and hefty salary give him negative trade value. As such, any Corbin-Soto combo trade will lead to the Nationals recouping a lesser prospect package than a trade involving Soto alone. On the surface, it seems strange that the Nats would be strongly motivated towards such a scenario. Trading Soto means giving up on being competitive through 2024 anyhow, so getting Corbin’s contract off the books for that season shouldn’t be a high priority. With Soto out of the picture, the only other meaningful salary they will be paying in 2024 and beyond is going to Stephen Strasburg, who’s getting $35MM per year through 2026. Spending $70MM to Strasburg and Corbin in 2024 surely isn’t ideal, but the rest of the roster will likely be filled out with pre-arb players or those who have just qualified and earned minimal raises. The club ran a payroll of $183MM as recently as last year, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, and has already stripped it down to $135MM this year.

But if the Nats are indeed motivated to get that money off the ledger ahead of schedule, it will change the calculus of which teams make the most sense as trading partners. Teams on the receiving end will be taking on two meaningful salaries, as Soto is well-paid himself. He’s earning $17.1MM this year and will be due arbitration raises in the next two campaigns, possibly getting near the $25MM range next year and above $30MM for 2024, as long as he stays healthy. Even for the rest of this campaign, Soto will have about $6MM left to be paid out at the time of the deadline. Combined with the approximately $8MM owed to Corbin, that will add $14MM to this year’s payroll for any team acquiring both.

As Steve Adams highlighted in the piece linked above, all seven teams that Nightengale listed have marquee young players that could headline a return in a Soto deal. The prospect of taking Corbin in return might be more exciting to some than others, however. The Padres crossed the luxury tax line last year and have been right up against it this year, seemingly loath to cross it for a second straight season and therefore facing escalating penalties. They’ve been rumored to be trying to trade away one of their pitchers in order to create payroll space for additions elsewhere. Suddenly acquiring another expensive starter, and one who isn’t pitching well, would fly in the face of those plans. Although, perhaps Soto’s availability is such a unique situation that it makes them rethink everything.

The Cardinals had an Opening Day payroll of $155MM, per Cot’s, which is a bit shy of their $164MM record. Adding $14MM to get into record territory is likely an acceptable outcome this year, but would become complicated in the years to come. Adam Wainwright’s $17.5MM is the biggest contract coming off the books at the end of the year, but there would likely be mutual interest in another deal, based on precedent. He’s having another excellent season and would likely command a similar contract. Yadier Molina’s $10MM is coming off the books, though Soto and Corbin would add about $50MM onto it, and the Cards would still have to figure out a solution behind the plate.

The Mets already have a massive payroll but don’t seem to have any limitations in that regard. Owner Steve Cohen has expressed a willingness to spend beyond the fourth CBT barrier, which the club is already right on top of. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource calculates their CBT number as $290.1MM, a smidge over the $290MM barrier. Regardless of the financial picture, however, there’s the question of whether the Nats have any interest in trading Soto within the division. Andy Martino of SNY reports that Soto landing with the Mets is extremely unlikely, with the Nats not keen on seeing Soto return to Washington so frequently with a new uniform.

The Giants and Mariners might be in a better position than these other teams to take on meaningful salary in order to get Soto. The Giants had a payroll of $155MM on Opening Day, per Cot’s, but were up at $201MM a few years ago. They also have some decent money coming off the books this winter. Carlos Rodon is making $21.5MM and can opt out if he reaches 110 innings pitched. Given that he’s currently at 105 and having another excellent season, he’s a virtual lock to trigger that opt-out. Brandon Belt accepted the $18.4MM qualifying offer and will return to the open market in a few months. Brandon Crawford is making $16MM this year and next, but a free agent after that. The only guaranteed contract they have on the books for 2024 is the $12MM owed to Anthony DeSclafani. The Mariners opened the year at $104MM, per Cot’s, but have been in the $150-160 range in recent years.

As for the Yankees and Dodgers, they’re both running franchise-high payrolls but might still like the idea of Corbin’s contract being involved. Recent reporting has suggested both clubs are leery of decimating their farm systems in order to acquire Soto, despite his talents. Taking on Corbin and reducing the prospect hit should appeal to both clubs.

Of course, all this still seems to be exploratory on the part of the Nationals. Getting rid of Corbin’s money surely has appeal, but they will also have to weigh that against the offers they get that don’t involve Corbin. If one teams offers, say, six good prospects but doesn’t want Corbin, would the Nats really take a less package just to get Corbin out the door? There’s at least some precedent, given that the Red Sox included David Price in the Mookie Betts deal. However, the situations are not entirely analogous, as the Red Sox had gone over the luxury tax in the two previous seasons and were primarily interested in tearing down their roster for the cost savings. For the Nats, they are already operating with a budget well below previous seasons and should theoretically be more concerned with maximizing their prospect return in any Soto deal.

Boras On Juan Soto Extension Offer, Potential Trade, Rumored Nationals Sale

By Steve Adams | July 20, 2022 at 11:59pm CDT

All eyes will be on Juan Soto over the next 13 days. With the annual amateur draft and All-Star Game now in the rearview mirror, what figures to be a frenzied and condensed summer trade market will be up and running. Soto’s recent rejection of a 15-year, $440MM contract extension has already drawn countless headlines, and his reported subsequent availability on the trade market will generate unprecedented intrigue.

Agent Scott Boras addressed Soto’s decision to turn down what would’ve been the largest total guarantee in MLB history this week, first in an interview with James Wagner of the New York Times and then with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of the New York Post on their podcast, “The Show.” There were plenty of factors in the decision, but Boras suggested that the average annual value, the potential sale of the franchise and uncertainty about the team’s direction all weighed heavily.

“I don’t think anybody wants to work for someone they don’t know,” Boras told Wagner. “So it’s kind of a ghost contract. We don’t know who’s going to pay it. Consequently, when you’re a player like Juan, you’re a winning player and you want to make sure there’s a lot more things than dollars and cents involved and who you’re going to work for and where you’re going to be for the majority.”

In his appearance with Sherman and Heyman, Boras spoke about the respect Soto has for the Lerner family and the commitment they’ve shown to winning over the years, but the direction of an incoming ownership group can’t be known at this time. Even if a swift return to contention is the goal, the Nationals’ bleak farm system, lack of big league talent on the current roster, and the strong division in which they play all coalesce to make an immediate rebound unlikely. Soto is surely aware of this.

“Juan Soto has a ring on his finger and he has had people that he knows and trusted ever since his inception with the franchise, but now that group of people has said, ’We’re going to move on and assign this team to another group,'” said Boras, in reference to the Lerner family’s likely sale of the franchise. “…When you’re a player, you can talk about being offered things, but it doesn’t carry with it the intentions [of ownership] and the security of winning — the goals of the player that are beyond economic.”

As one would expect, the potential sale of the Nationals is a complicating factor in both extension and trade talks. It’s understandable if Soto prefers to wait to see what happens with the franchise to get a feel for a new owner’s mentality. Conversely, whether Soto is or isn’t with the team will have an impact on the sale of the team itself. Boras is, unsurprisingly, of the mind that Soto is an asset who’ll enhance the team’s appeal for prospective buyers, as “billionaires certainly like their choices” and will want the option of whether to build around Soto or commit to an early rebuild.

ESPN’s Buster Olney sees things differently, saying on yesterday’s Baseball Tonight podcast that executives around the game believe new owners will want the situation resolved one way or another before taking over. With an extension likely off the table, that would mean completing a trade before the sale of the team goes through. Of course, we don’t yet know who the new owners will be, so that’s a speculative view of the scenario (much like Boras’ belief that the new owners will want the chance to make the choice themselves).

Even in the absence of the current ownership uncertainty, however, Boras seemed to intimate that the Nationals’ offer simply wouldn’t have been sufficient. As we saw with Aaron Judge prior to the season, being paid at an annual rate that’s commensurate with baseball’s top stars appears important to Soto.

“The rarity of Juan Soto, this is from age 19 to 23, so he’s really separated himself to be in a very small group, among Major League history, of performance levels,” said Boras.”[Those players] are going to be at the highest order of average annual values, and yet the proposal placed him well below the top group, in the No. 15 or 20 range.”

All of that lines up to further cement the reality that Soto will at least be available in talks over the coming two weeks, but it’s wholly unclear whether any team will meet what will be a historic asking price. Olney suggested in that previously referenced segment that the Nationals are going to want Major League-ready talent to headline a return and, of note, added that the Yankees and Dodgers are at least somewhat wary of surrendering the type of enormous prospect value Soto will command. The Yankees, of course, also have the future of their own superstar outfielder (Judge) to consider in conjunction with any theoretical Soto scenarios, which only further complicates the equation on their end.

Reds Plan To Activate Tyler Mahle For Sunday Start

By Steve Adams | July 20, 2022 at 9:24am CDT

The Reds are set to welcome right-hander Tyler Mahle back from the injured list this weekend, as they announced to reporters Wednesday that he’s in line to start Sunday’s game against the visiting Cardinals (Twitter link via Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer). The team also reinstated right-hander Dauri Moreta from the Covid-related injured list and returned righty Ryan Hendrix to Triple-A Louisville.

Mahle, one of the most notable trade candidates on the summer market, hit the injured list with what was deemed a minor shoulder strain earlier this month. The 27-year-old righty said shortly thereafter that he planned to return quickly after the All-Star break, and that will indeed be the case. A Sunday return will give Mahle enough time to make two starts before the Aug. 2 trade deadline, so scouts from opposing clubs will have multiple opportunities to evaluate him on the heels of his recent shoulder issue.

Prior to landing on the injured list, Mahle was trending upward in terms of his performance. The former seventh-rounder got out to a brutal start this season but turned a corner in late May and stringing together a 2.58 ERA over a stretch of seven outings. Dating back to May 1, Mahle has a 3.86 ERA with strikeout and walk rates that fall in line with the standards he set when establishing himself as at least a quality mid-rotation hurler from 2020-21.

While Mahle doesn’t draw as much fanfare as rotation-mate Luis Castillo, he’s quietly built a nice track record at the big league level. Even including a pair of his worst-ever starts earlier this season (combined 15 runs allowed in 7 2/3 frames), Mahle has a 3.94 ERA in 320 innings dating back to the 2020 season. He’s punched out 27.5% of his opponents against an 8.9% walk rate along the way, sitting at 94 mph with his heater and brandishing a splitter and slider that have both graded out as above-average pitches at times. Lately, he’s gravitated more toward the low-spinning splitter — particularly against lefties.

It’s hard not to wonder how Mahle might fare with another club, as his hitter-friendly home park has been a thorn in his side even as he’s found success over the past three seasons. Mahle has a bloated 4.90 ERA and has yielded 1.71 homers per nine innings pitched at Great American Ball Park dating back to 2020. During that same three-year stretch, he’s notched an excellent 2.93 ERA on the road, while yielding an average of just 0.52 homers per nine innings.

Like Castillo, Mahle is controlled not only for the 2022 campaign but also through the 2023 season via arbitration. He’s being paid $5.2MM for the current season and will earn a raise on top of that figure for the 2023 season before hitting the free-agent market in advance of his age-29 campaign.

Chris Sale Undergoes Finger Surgery, Could Still Return This Season

By Darragh McDonald | July 18, 2022 at 5:25pm CDT

The Red Sox have announced that Chris Sale “underwent an open reduction and internal fixation of a left fifth finger proximal phalanx fracture” today. While the timeline isn’t crystal clear at the moment, the team believes it’s still possible for Sale to return later this year. (Twitter links from Chris Cotillo of MassLive and Chad Jennings of The Athletic.)

Yesterday, Sale had to leave his start against the Yankees without getting out of the first inning after a comebacker struck his pitching hand, clearly injuring it. The Red Sox later announced that his pinky finger, or “left fifth finger,” was broken. After the game, Sale himself said he expected to miss 4-6 weeks, though the fact that surgery was necessary raises the potential that a longer recovery time might be required.

In a lengthier look at the issue, Cotillo speaks to orthopedic surgeon Chris Geary, who believes that Sale won’t even be able to pick up a ball for 4-6 weeks. That means it would be late August before Sale can even begin to throw bullpen sessions, which wouldn’t leave him much time to go on a rehab assignment and get himself back into game shape, especially when considering he had just returned from a different injury. After being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his rib cage in the spring, he missed the first few months of the season and only recently returned, making one healthy start, followed by the start where his finger was broken.

While the club believes Sale can still return at some point, they may have to operate under the assumption that his season is done, at least from a rotation perspective. Ramping up towards shorter stints out of the bullpen wouldn’t take as much time as returning to a full starter’s workload, which would make it easier for Sale to return as a reliever.

The club has been especially snakebit in the rotation lately, with Rich Hill, Michael Wacha, Connor Seabold and Josh Winckowski all landing on the injured list in the past three weeks. With Sale sure to join them, that will leave Boston with a rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta and Kutter Crawford coming out of the All-Star break. James Paxton is still working his way back from April 2021 Tommy John surgery but has yet to begin a rehab assignment. Garrett Whitlock was in the rotation earlier this year but just returned from his own IL stint as a reliever and isn’t fully stretched out. Prospect Brayan Bello made a couple of starts recently, but allowed nine earned runs in eight innings.

Those struggles in the rotation have coincided with a slide in the standings. Since June 26, they’ve gone 6-14 and slipped to two games back of the Blue Jays for the final American League Wild Card spot. The August 2 trade deadline is now just over two weeks away and they will surely have to consider adding some arms, even if some of their injured hurlers are able to make it back onto the hill. Although, if they slide any further in the coming weeks, it might impact how aggressive they are willing to be.

Rangers, Kumar Rocker Agree To Terms

By Steve Adams | July 18, 2022 at 8:59am CDT

The Rangers and No. 3 overall draft pick Kumar Rocker have agreed to terms on a $5.2MM bonus, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The right-hander’s bonus clocks in well south of the pick’s $7,587,600 slot value, which should afford the Rangers flexibility further down their board. Rocker is represented by the Boras Corporation.

Rocker was the No. 10 overall pick by the Mets a year ago and was reportedly set to ink a $6MM bonus before medical concerns scuttled that deal. He’d eventually go on to have an arthroscopic procedure on his right shoulder last August. Rather than returning to Vanderbilt for his senior season, Rocker instead opted to pitch for the Tri-City Valley Cats of the independent Frontier League (an official partner league of MLB). Health hasn’t looked to be an issue at all for Rocker this time year; he’s pitched 20 innings for the Valley Cats and turned in a 1.35 ERA with a dominant 32-to-4 K/BB ratio while reportedly running his heater back up to 99 mph.

The selection by the Rangers improbably reunites Vanderbilt’s 2021 co-aces, as Texas took right-hander Jack Leiter with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft just last season. Leiter and Rocker were widely viewed as two of the top arms in last year’s draft — evidenced by their top-ten selections — and will now give the Rangers a pair of high-ceiling arms upon which to build. (Leiter certainly seems pleased with the Rangers’ selection, celebrating the pick with a pair of tweets last night.)

Rocker, 22, starred alongside Leiter for the entirety of his three years at Vanderbilt, pitching to a 2.89 ERA with a 33.2% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate in 236 1/3 innings for the Commodores in a tough SEC setting. The 6’5″, 245-pound righty has an upper-90s heater, and scouting reports from Baseball America, The Athletic, ESPN, MLB.com and FanGraphs credit him with a slider that draws 60 to 70 grades on the 20-80 scale. Rocker has also worked with a curveball and changeup, both drawing at least average ratings in most reports.

While Rocker was one of the most recognizable names in this year’s draft, his selection at No. 3 overall nonetheless registered as a draft-night surprise. Most rankings had him as a late first-rounder or even in the second round, considering last summer’s shoulder surgery and some oft-cited inconsistency in his stuff at Vanderbilt. The Rangers were clearly heartened by Rocker’s strong showing in the Frontier League, and they’ll also now have the option to use the savings on their No. 3 selection to scoop up some lingering, hard-to-sign talents who remain on the board.

Despite picking at No. 3, Texas entered the draft with just the 14th-largest bonus pool — a reflection of the fact that they surrendered their second- and third-round picks (and the associated bonus pool allotments) to sign free agents Corey Seager and Marcus Semien this past winter. Because of those forfeitures, Rocker remains the only selection Texas has made thus far. The Rangers’ next pick will come in Round 4, and there are still a few highly regarded high school options on the board, headlined by Clemson-committed righty Brock Porter, who’s regarded as a first-round talent but was not selected on Day 1 of the draft.

Orioles Select Jackson Holliday With First Pick Of 2022 Draft

By Mark Polishuk | July 17, 2022 at 11:34pm CDT

The Orioles selected high school shortstop Jackson Holliday with the first overall selection of the 2022 amateur draft. Holliday joins Adley Rutschman (2019) and Ben McDonald (1989) as players taken by the Orioles with the 1-1 pick, and he is the first high schooler taken first overall since the Twins drafted Royce Lewis in 2017.

Talent runs in the family, as Jackson is the son of longtime Cardinals and Rockies star Matt Holliday. Continuing the theme of family ties, the younger Holliday becomes only the second son of a former Major League player to be taken with the 1-1 selection — the first was Ken Griffey Jr. back in 1987.

Time will tell if Holliday can approach a Hall-of-Fame or All-Star level, but the 18-year-old is one of the more highly-touted members of the 2022 draft class. Fangraphs and MLB Pipeline each ranked Holliday as the second-best prospect of the class, with Kiley McDaniel and Baseball America each slotting Holliday third on their rankings, and The Athletic’s Keith Law rated Holliday sixth.

A left-handed hitter, Holliday has a smooth swing that generated a lot of hard contract and an increasing amount of power as his senior year progressed. Most evaluators give him at least plus grades across the board, and as Fangraphs’ scouting report puts it, Holliday “checks literally every box, and there aren’t many lefty-hitting shortstops with this kind of juice. He projects as an All-Star shortstop.” While not a defensive standout per se, Holliday’s instincts and throwing arm should allow him to remain at shortstop, though he would seem to have the athleticism to be tested at other positions if the Orioles wanted to experiment.

With Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg also in Baltimore’s system as blue-chip shortstop prospects, the O’s have built up some enviable depth at a key position on the diamond. The Orioles’ lengthy rebuild has brought quite a few top youngsters into the farm system, and perhaps the earliest impact is starting to be seen on the field in 2022, given the team’s surprising presence in the wild card race at the All-Star break.

Since Mike Elias took over the Orioles’ front office, the club has traditionally drafted college players early — Grayson Rodriguez (2018) is the only other prep first-rounder selected during Elias’ tenure. Signability has also been a factor for the O’s, who have often taken players slightly lower on projection boards, in an attempt to land players who would sign for under-slot deals.

That way, Baltimore has more bonus-pool space to spend on other quality picks later in the draft, and perhaps have flexibility to go over-slot to land premium talent at lower draft positions. The Orioles have a $16,924,000 bonus pool, and the first overall pick has an assigned slot value of $8,842,200.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2022 MLB Draft, First Round Results

By Mark Polishuk | July 17, 2022 at 11:20pm CDT

The 2022 MLB Draft is underway, and here is the full list of each team’s selections from the first round. The Dodgers are the only team without a first-rounder, as their top pick (originally 30th overall) was dropped 10 places to 40th overall (the first pick of the second round) as part of their punishment for exceeding the highest luxury-tax tier in 2021. However, there are still 30 picks in the first round proper since the Mets have both the 11th and 14th overall picks — for not signing 10th overall pick Kumar Rocker last year, New York was given a compensatory selection in the 11th overall spot this year.

This year’s draft will again be 20 rounds long, and split over three days. The first 80 picks will be made tonight — the first two official rounds, the two Competitive Balance Rounds, and the two sets of compensatory rounds (giving picks to teams who lost qualifying offer-rejecting free agents). Rounds 3-10 take place on Monday, and rounds 11-20 on Tuesday.

Under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, the 2023 draft will have several differences, including a lottery to determine the top six picks, a revamped process for deciding the Competitive Balance rounds, possible extra picks for teams due to the Prospect Promotion Incentive rules, and possibly the end of the qualifying offer system as we know it should an international draft be implemented.

For one final year under this draft format, however, let’s dive into the picks. More details and scouting reports on all these young players are available in pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. As well, Pipeline has the breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.

The selections….

Baltimore Orioles: Jackson Holliday, SS, Stillwater High School (OK)
Arizona Diamondbacks: Druw Jones, OF, Wesleyan High School (GA)
Texas Rangers: Kumar Rocker, RHP, Vanderbilt (played in independent Frontier League in 2021)
Pittsburgh Pirates: Termarr Johnson, SS, Benjamin E. Mays High School (GA)
Washington Nationals: Elijah Green, OF, IMG Academy (FL)
Miami Marlins: Jacob Berry, 3B/OF, LSU
Chicago Cubs: Cade Horton, RHP, University of Oklahoma
Minnesota Twins: Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly
Kansas City Royals: Gavin Cross, OF, Virginia Tech
Colorado Rockies: Gabriel Hughes, RHP, Gonzaga
New York Mets: Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech
Detroit Tigers: Jace Jung, 2B, Texas Tech
Los Angeles Angels: Zach Neto, SS, Campbell University
New York Mets: Jett Williams, SS/OF, Rockwall-Heath High School (TX)
San Diego Padres: Dylan Lesko, RHP, Buford High School (GA)
Cleveland Guardians: Chase DeLauter, OF, James Madison University
Philadelphia Phillies: Justin Crawford, OF, Bishop Gorman High School (NV)
Cincinnati Reds: Cam Collier, 3B, Chipola JC (FL)
Oakland Athletics: Daniel Susac, C, University of Arizona
Atlanta Braves: Owen Murphy, RHP, Riverside-Brookfield High School (IL)
Seattle Mariners: Cole Young, SS, North Allegheny High School (PA)
St. Louis Cardinals: Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, Oregon State University
Toronto Blue Jays: Brandon Barriera, LHP, American Heritage High School (FL)
Boston Red Sox: Mikey Romero, SS, Orange Lutheran High School (CA)
New York Yankees: Spencer Jones, OF, Vanderbilt University
Chicago White Sox: Noah Schultz, LHP, Oswego East High School (IL)
Milwaukee Brewers: Eric Brown Jr., SS, Coastal Carolina University
Houston Astros: Drew Gilbert, OF, University of Tennessee
Tampa Bay Rays: Xavier Isaac, 1B, East Forsyth High School (NC)
San Francisco Giants: Reggie Crawford, LHP/1B, University of Connecticut

Nationals To Entertain Trade Offers For Juan Soto After He Rejects $440MM Offer

By TC Zencka | July 17, 2022 at 3:11pm CDT

TODAY: The Nationals aren’t planning to increase their offer beyond $440MM, The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty writes. Soto is reportedly looking for a deal that is at least a decade long, gives him the most guaranteed money in baseball history, and gives him an AAV at least close to the highest average annual values. In a Twitter thread, Dougherty suggests that the Nats could come closer to Soto’s demands by offering $440MM over 12 or 13 years rather than 15, though that scenario might not be palatable to the Nationals for luxury tax reasons.

JULY 16, 3:04PM: While the Nationals’ offer didn’t have any deferred money, the $440MM was “heavily backloaded” into the offer’s last six seasons, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports. The offer’s backloaded nature played a part in Soto’s decision, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, and other factors included the relatively low AAV and the uncertainty surrounding the Nats’ ownership situation.

11:21AM: In a somewhat shocking development, the Washington Nationals will now listen to trade offers for transcendent superstar Juan Soto, per the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Soto reportedly rejected a $440MM extension offer, prompting the change of heart on the Nationals’ part.

The Nationals have long held the position that they would not be open to trading Soto, their 23-year-old superstar, who is already firmly listed among the best hitters in baseball. The Nationals have some time to make a decision, as Soto is under team control for another two seasons beyond this one. As of right now, however, the team is among the worst in baseball, and their farm system continues to be understocked.

All that said, the Nats have made consistent efforts to come to a contract extension with Soto’s agent Scott Boras, with no success. According to Rosenthal, the latest such offer – the third offer from the Nationals’ side – was for 15 years and a total of $440MM. Perhaps more shocking than the number itself is that the Nats did not include any deferred money in the deal. The Nationals are well known for deferring money in most of their long-term deals. That they were willing to avoid that practice shows some bend on the Nats’ part, but it was not enough to consummate a deal.

If those numbers are correct, the Nats’ offer would have given Soto an AAV of $29.33MM over that 15-year span, which falls a little shy of some of the game’s top contracts. While that’s nothing to scoff at, it would not be a record-setting number. The total dollar amount would, however, top MLB’s largest contracts.

The deal would have carried Soto through to his 38th birthday, effectively locking him in as a National for the entirety of his career. It’s certainly a large chunk of money to offer, but Soto might not be so ready to put a cap on his career earnings – even such a lofty one. Soto is currently making $17.1MM this season, with another two arbitration raises yet to come in his final two seasons. If he stays healthy, he’ll easily make more than $29.33MM AAV by his final season before free agency.

With their latest offer rejected, the Nats will now spend the next couple of weeks listening to trade offers for Soto ahead of the August 2nd trade deadline. Certainly, given the team control remaining, the Nationals would have to be floored by an offer in order to move him. The likelihood of a deal at this juncture still feels slim. An offseason deal is more likely. Still, interested parties now have a couple of weeks to begin making headway.

It’s difficult to fathom what exactly it would take to pry Soto loose from the Nationals. No matter what the return package, it’s sure to seem light in the eyes of local fans. Soto is the lone superstar and fan attraction at this point. The club has seen the departure of organizational mainstays like Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, and Ryan Zimmerman in the past calendar year alone. Without Soto, the club would be starting from scratch, especially given the state of the farm system. A player of Soto’s stature does not come along frequently, and it’s unlikely they could recoup anywhere close to equal value for Soto.

For the Nationals to deal him, they have to really believe they have no chance of signing him to a long-term contract extension. Perhaps this latest rejection makes that point for them. From the outside, there are certainly ways in which the Nats could improve their offer, namely with a larger AAV, which does seem to be something that matters to players. They have, as is often pointed out, crossed this bridge with Boras before, both in signing Stephen Strasburg to a long-term deal, and in not coming to terms with players like Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon.

Complicating matters on both sides is the uncertain future of the Nats’ ownership situation. If the Lerners do, in fact, plan on selling the club, keeping Soto on the roster would seem to be positive, almost necessary. A new ownership group would likely rather have Soto than whatever handful of prospects would come back in a deal. And yet, Soto might be disinclined to commit to a new ownership group. How much can the team be sold for if part of the deal necessitates giving Soto more than $440MM? And yet, the franchise has to be far less attractive to potential buyers without Soto as a marketing centerpiece. How intent the Lerners are in selling the Nats might be the crux of this entire situation.

In many ways, it’s reasonable to expect an end to this saga – one way or the other – by the beginning of next season. Unlike a situation like, say, the Cubs had with Kris Bryant, the Nats have no hope of contending at this present moment, which might make them less inclined to suffer the constant trade rumors. When the Cubs held onto Bryant through years of rumors, they were, at least, competitive year-by-year, giving them cause to hold onto Bryant, even if it meant seeing him walk as a free agent. For the Nationals, Soto’s future is the only story in DC until it gets resolved.

For now, it’s going to be a tense couple of weeks for Nats’ fans as they await the trade deadline. Even if Soto stays beyond August 2nd, the trade rumors are going to continue to swirl. The Nationals have to be wondering if Soto’s uncertain future is a tenable situation. If they can’t find the right deal, however, they need to be willing to wait.

Tigers Option Spencer Torkelson

By Darragh McDonald | July 17, 2022 at 12:25pm CDT

The Tigers announced to reporters, including Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, that first baseman Spencer Torkelson has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo. The corresponding move will be announced later, as today’s game was postponed due to rain, meaning the Tigers don’t play again until after the All-Star break.

The first overall selection of the 2020 draft, Torkelson immediately shot onto prospect lists, with Baseball America ranking him #5 overall in 2021. Torkelson did nothing to diminish his prospect status last year, as he mashed at High-A, then got promoted to Double-A and Triple-A all in one year. Across those three levels, he hit 30 home runs, 29 double and a pair of triples, producing an overall batting line of .267/.383/.552. He walked in 14.5% of his plate appearances and struck out in 21.5% of them.

Coming into 2022, he was again slotted into the #5 spot on BA’s prospect list and seemed poised for big things after cracking the Tigers’ Opening Day roster. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet been able to translate his immense hitting ability to the big leagues. Through his first 298 plate appearances, he has hit just .197/.282/.295, resulting in a 68 wRC+. Put another way, that’s production 32% worse than league average.

Torkelson is still capable of putting a charge into the ball, as his max exit velocity is considered to be in the 80th percentile, according to Statcast. However, his hard hit percentage is just 39th percentile and his barrel percentage just 37th, suggesting that he’s not lining up the ball with consistency.

While it’s surely a disappointing result for the Tigers and their fans, it’s worth remembering that there’s still plenty of time for Torkelson to turn things around. He only spent one year in the minors before the aggressive push by the club to add him to the big league team. He’s still just 22 years old, turning 23 in August. Since the club is 37-55 and has no hope of a postseason push this year, they can afford to take whatever steps they think give Torkelson the best chance of long-term success, which they think will be some time in the minors.

Manager A.J. Hinch spoke to reporters about the decision today (Twitter links from Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic and Jason Beck of MLB.com), saying that they want to get him back on track away from the scrutiny that comes from being in the big leagues. “It’s much less spotlight to do it in Triple A than it is to continue to do this in the big leagues,” Hinch said. “He’s too good a hitter for us to just continue to let him grind at this level and not reach the desired results.”

As for the timeline or Torkelson’s return, it seems like that will be dependent on his results. “I told Tork it could be 10 days, it could be two weeks, could be a month. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get him back to feeling good.” The length of time of this optional assignment could potentially have impacts for Torkelson down the line in terms of arbitration and free agency. Since he made the club’s Opening Day roster, he was in line to earn a full year of MLB service time, setting him up to reach arbitration after the 2024 campaign and free agency after 2027. A major league season is 187 days long, but it takes just 172 days on a big league roster for a player to earn a full year of service time. If Torkelson misses more than two weeks of action, he could come up short of the one-year mark here in 2022, therefore pushing his free agency back by a year. Players also reach arbitration after three years, though it’s also possible to qualify as a Super Two player, with the top 22% of players between two and three years service time being eligible. That means the target moves slightly each year, oscillating from 2.115 to 2.146 since 2009.

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