Guardians Outright Myles Straw
TODAY: Straw cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
MARCH 22: The Guardians have placed center fielder Myles Straw on waivers, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Any team will have the opportunity to claim him, although doing so would require taking on the entirety of the three years and $19.25MM still remaining on his contract. That appears quite unlikely. Straw figures to clear waivers, at which point the Guardians could assign him outright to a minor league affiliate.
While Straw’s 4.112 years of MLB service time give him the right to reject that outright assignment, he’s still short of the five years necessary to reject an outright and retain the money he’s owed. There’s no chance he’d forfeit that $19.25MM to go into free agency, so the likely outcome seems to be Straw clearing and heading to Triple-A Columbus while no longer occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. It’s also feasible that the Guardians could simply be gauging whether there’s a taker for Straw and, if not, could simply plug him back into their center field spot. He can be optioned to Triple-A if the club keeps him on the 40-man roster. A player does not have to be assigned outright to a minor league affiliate after clearing waivers (though that’s obviously the most common outcome).
With Straw in limbo for the time being, that leaves Steven Kwan and Ramon Laureano as locks in the Cleveland outfield. The former will see regular reps in left field. The latter had been slated for right field work but can handle center. It’s also possible the Guards will go with Will Brennan and/or Estevan Florial to fill outfield roles. Infielder Tyler Freeman has also gotten looks in center this spring. Brennan has all three minor league option years remaining, while Florial is out of minor league options. Top outfield prospect Chase DeLauter could be an option eventually, but he was never a full-time member of big league camp and was only called up on occasion to fill at-bats as needed, Meisel notes. He was never a consideration to make the Opening Day roster.
Cleveland originally acquired Straw in a now-regrettable 2021 deadline swap sending right-hander Phil Maton and catcher Yainer Diaz to the Astros. He made a strong first impression, hitting .285/.362/.377 with plus defense and baserunning down the stretch. That brought his season-long line to a solid .271/.349/.348 — just shy of league-average production (98 wRC+). Paired with Straw’s speed and glovework, it was a strong effort that served as a catalyst for the Guards to sign him to a five-year, $25MM extension with a pair of club options for two additional seasons.
Unfortunately, Straw’s bat has cratered since putting pen to paper on that deal. Over the past two seasons, he’s turned in just a .229/.296/.284 in 1114 trips to the plate. That’s about 32% worse than average, by measure of wRC+. Straw is a light-out defender in center (23 Defensive Runs Saved, 17 Outs Above Average over the past two seasons) and offers blazing speed (41-for-48 in steals since 2022), but his lack of offensive ability has severely capped his overall value. For an immensely cost-conscious Guardians club, his contract has apparently reached a point where they’ll see if another club is willing to take him on for no return other than salary relief.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat
Blue Jays To Select Daniel Vogelbach
Blue Jays manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and other reporters that designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach will be part of Toronto’s Opening Day roster. Vogelbach will join Davis Schneider, Ernie Clement, and Brian Serven as the Jays’ bench mix to begin the season.
As noted earlier in regards to Serven, Vogelbach will also have to be added to the Jays’ 40-man roster prior to their first game on Thursday. Vogelbach signed a minor league deal last month that will pay the slugger $2MM in guaranteed money if he makes Toronto’s active roster, though Davidi suggests that the Jays could possibly avoid that full payout if Vogelbach agrees to an advanced consent. This would create a 45-day window wherein the Blue Jays could outright Vogelbach off their 40-man roster and owe him only a prorated portion of that $2MM salary.
This contractual loophole could reflect Vogelbach’s status as something of an understudy for Joey Votto, as it looked like Votto’s arrival in Toronto on a minor league deal would likely spell the end of Vogelbach’s stint in the Jays’ camp. However, it already seemed like Votto was going to need some extra tune-up time in the minor leagues once Spring Training was over, and the former NL MVP has also been hampered by a minor ankle injury that has limited him to just one plate appearance (a home run) this spring.
This created an opening for Vogelbach to stick with the team, and he helped his case by hitting .226/.314/.581 with three homers over 35 plate appearances in Grapefruit League play. Vogelbach doesn’t bring much roster flexibility as a DH-only player who is only playable against right-handed pitching, yet he has shown some solid pop against righties over his eight big league seasons. His left-handed bat is also particularly helpful on a heavily right-handed Jays team, as Daulton Varsho, Kevin Kiermaier, and Cavan Biggio are the only lefty-swingers on the Opening Day roster. (Nathan Lukes and Spencer Horwitz were optioned to Triple-A.)
Vogelbach hit .233/.339/.404 with 13 homers over 319 PA with the Mets in 2023, and all but 16 of those plate appearances came against right-handed pitchers. Over his career, Vogelbach has a drastic set of splits — 74 home runs and a .240/.362/.452 slash line in 1555 PA against righties, and a dismal .129/248/.215 slash in 323 PA against southpaws.
NL West Notes: McCarthy, Barnhart, Molina, Slater
The Diamondbacks have gotten a lot of trade interest in outfielder Jake McCarthy but Arizona isn’t yet interested in dealing the 26-year-old, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. This isn’t the first time McCarthy’s name has surfaced in trade rumors, though the buzz quieted after McCarthy turned in a lackluster 2023 season. The outfielder finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022, but followed up that breakout campaign by hitting only .243/.318/.326 over 312 plate appearances last season. McCarthy’s struggles resulted in a loss of playing time and even a demotion to Triple-A, plus an oblique injury kept him from being a part of Arizona’s postseason rosters during the team’s run to the World Series.
Randal Grichuk is expected to begin the season on the injured list, so McCarthy should probably land a job as the Diamondbacks’ fourth outfielder for at least the start of the year. He also has a minor league option remaining, so the D’Backs could stash him back at Triple-A if necessary. It is worth noting that the D’Backs were reportedly open to moving either McCarthy or Dominic Fletcher in February’s trade with the White Sox that sent Fletcher to Chicago, though in the wake of that deal, Arizona might not be willing to further deplete their stock of young outfielders by also moving McCarthy in another trade. Nightengale feels McCarthy might be more of a trade chip later in the season, if the Diamondbacks are having trouble finding playing time or a roster spot available for him.
More from around the NL West…
- Minor league signing Tucker Barnhart looks to have won the Diamondbacks‘ backup catching job, as The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro (X link) was among those to note that the D’Backs optioned Jose Herrera to Triple-A today. Herrera acted as Gabriel Moreno‘s backup last season once Carson Kelly was let go in August, but Arizona will now turn to the veteran Barnhart as a more experienced bench option. Barnhart has won two Gold Gloves over his 10 MLB seasons, spent mostly with the Reds before one-year stints with the Tigers and Cubs over the last two seasons.
- Right-hander Anthony Molina will make the Rockies‘ Opening Day roster, according to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (via X). Selected as the third overall pick of the Rule 5 Draft last December, Molina was an international signing for the Rays who posted a 3.64 ERA over 301 2/3 innings in Tampa Bay’s farm system, including a 4.37 ERA in 55 2/3 Triple-A frames last season. The 22-year-old worked mostly as a starter last year but now looks slated for a bullpen role in Colorado. As per the stipulations of the Rule 5 Draft, Molina will have to remain on the Rockies’ active roster for the entire season in order for the Rox to claim his rights, or else Colorado will have to offer him back to the Rays.
- Austin Slater returned to the field yesterday and is also set to play in today’s game, marking the Giants outfielder’s first action since last weekend. Slater has been bothered by discomfort in his right elbow, which is a troubling sign since Slater underwent surgery on that same elbow last October to both remove a bone spur and address some nerve problems via an ulnar nerve transposition. His recovery led to a slower start to his Cactus League work, and Slater has played in only six games this spring, so manager Bob Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Shayna Rubin and other reporters that Slater might need to start the season on the injured list. As Slater himself told Rubin and company, “The quantity of at-bats, I’m not super concerned about. It’s more about feeling healthy and being able to bounce back the next day which, at this point, I haven’t been able to do.” If Slater isn’t available for Opening Day, Luis Matos is the likeliest candidate to step into the backup/platoon outfield role.
Matt Duffy Opts Out Of Minors Contract With Rangers
Infielder Matt Duffy has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Rangers, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports (via X). Last Friday was the deadline for Article XX(B) free agents like Duffy to use the opt-out clauses in the minors contracts, thus giving their teams 48 hours to decide on either releasing the player or adding them to the Opening Day roster. Since Texas isn’t including Duffy on the 26-man roster, the 33-year-old will now return to the open market.
Duffy began his MLB career as a member of the Giants’ world championship team in 2014, and then finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2015. Since that impressive start, Duffy has mostly settled into a part-time and utilityman role, mostly playing third base but also getting a lot of time at the other three infield positions plus a handful of games as a left fielder.
Over the last three seasons, Duffy has appeared in 252 of a possible 486 games with the Cubs in 2021, the Angels in 2022, and the Royals last year. Duffy signed one-year contracts with all three clubs (only the L.A. deal was guaranteed) and had about league-average production with Chicago over 322 plate appearances but his bat has gone cold in the last two seasons. Since Opening Day 2022, Duffy hit just .251/.307/.317 in 456 PA with the Halos and Royals.
Texas signed Duffy back in January to provide some experienced depth behind younger backup infielders Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith. As the season is set to begin, the Rangers seem comfortable enough with Duran and Smith that Duffy’s services won’t be required. Any excess roster space the Rangers might’ve had will now be taken up by top prospect Wyatt Langford and another minor league signing in Jared Walsh, who seems to be on track to have his contract selected as a temporary first-base fill-in for the injured Nathaniel Lowe.
Rockies Release Bradley Zimmer
The Rockies have released outfielder Bradley Zimmer, the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders reports (X link). Zimmer was in camp on a minor league deal, but became expendable when the Rox acquired another left-handed outfield option in Jake Cave via a trade with the Phillies earlier today.
While Cave’s numbers have been shaky at best over the last four seasons, Cave still bring more offensive upside than Zimmer, who has hit .213/.298/.333 over 975 career plate appearances in the bigs from 2017-22. Zimmer was a top-100 prospect during his time in Cleveland’s farm system, but his bat simply hasn’t translated against Major League pitching. Now entering his age-32 season, Zimmer has still carved out a niche for himself as a backup outfielder and pinch-runner due to his excellent speed (42 steals in 50 career chances) and all-fields defense.
This skillset gives Zimmer a pretty decent chance of catching on with another team in need of extra defensive help, whether as upper minors depth or on the bench of a big league roster. Zimmer last appeared in the majors in 2022 as a member of the Blue Jays, and he spent last season playing with the Triple-A affiliates of the Dodgers and Red Sox.
Red Sox To Select Joely Rodriguez; C.J. Cron Granted Release
TODAY: The Red Sox released Cron and informed Rodriguez that he made the roster, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (X link).
MARCH 22: First baseman C.J. Cron and left-hander Joely Rodriguez have both exercised the uniform opt-out provision in their minor league contracts with the Red Sox, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Both players were Article XX(B) free agents — six-plus years of service time, finished the season on a major league roster or injured list — who signed minor league contracts and were thus granted a trio of mandatory opt-out opportunities: five days prior to Opening Day (today), May 1 and June 1. The Red Sox will now have 48 hours to either put Cron and/or Rodriguez on the 40-man roster. They’ll have to release either player if they decide against carrying him on the Opening Day roster.
Cron, 34, has four seasons of 25-plus homers under his belt and was consistently an above-average hitter from 2014-22. Back and neck injuries tanked his 2023 season, limiting him to 278 plate appearances with a .248/.295/.434 slash, but he has a strong track record of hitting for power — with largely even platoon splits. From 2018-22, Cron piled up 2290 plate appearances and hit .260/.331/.490 with 116 home runs. He’s only had 15 plate appearances this spring, during which he’s 2-for-11 with three walks and two strikeouts. The Red Sox are set at first base and DH with Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida, but Cron could serve as a right-handed complement/insurance to either or perhaps some right-handed pop off the bench.
Rodriguez, 32, was with the Sox in 2023 but pitched just 11 innings due to oblique, shoulder and hip injuries that combined to result in three different stints on the injured list. He posted a 6.55 ERA in his short time on the mound, striking out 27.5% of his opponents against an 11.8% walk rate and 45.2% ground-ball rate.
It wasn’t a strong year overall for Rodriguez, but the lefty has posted far better numbers over the three preceding seasons in his return from an excellent two-year stint in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. From 2020-22, Rodriguez pitched 109 1/3 frames between the Rangers, Yankees and Mets, working to a 4.28 ERA with even more encouraging secondary marks. Rodriguez fanned 25.5% of his opponents in that time and induced grounders at a huge 55.7% clip. His 10.3% walk rate was still a couple ticks north of the league average, but the lefty offered an enticing blend of missed bats and grounders while excelling at keeping the ball in the park (0.58 HR/9). Metrics like FIP (3.14) and SIERA (3.51) were rather bullish on his work.
Rodriguez has had a strong showing this spring, holding opponents to a pair of runs on nine hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in seven innings of relief. He’s also recorded a massive 61.9% ground-ball rate. He seems like he has a decent shot to make the roster, and even if the Sox don’t add him, the left-hander should command interest elsewhere.
Angels Release Drew Pomeranz
The Angels announced that left-hander Drew Pomeranz has been released from his minor league contract with the team. Pomeranz and Jake Marisnick were two Article XX(B) free agents who had the ability to opt out of their minor league deals on Friday if they weren’t added to the Angels’ Opening Day roster, and while Pomeranz is moving on, Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group writes that Marisnick won’t make the team but isn’t exercising his opt-out clause.
Pomeranz hasn’t pitched in a big league game since August 2021, as the southpaw underwent a flexor tendon surgery that has essentially put his career on hold. Pomeranz has tossed only 10 1/3 minor league innings over the 2022-23 seasons due to a number of setbacks, including an unspecified “cleanup surgery” in his throwing elbow last May. His eight innings of relief work in the Angels’ spring camp actually represents one of his longer stretches of pitching in a while, and Pomeranz posted a 5.63 ERA over those eight frames and nine appearances.
The Padres signed Pomeranz to a four-year, $34MM deal in the 2019-20 offseason, betting that his impressive results as a full-time relief pitcher late in the 2019 season with the Brewers would continue in the coming years. Pomeranz had a 1.62 ERA over 44 1/3 innings up until the time of his flexor surgery, cutting short what seemed to be a very promising new chapter of his career as a bullpen weapon.
The four-year contract expired at the end of the 2023 campaign, putting Pomeranz back onto the open market and landing in Los Angeles on a minors contract. Now entering his age-35 season, nobody would blame Pomeranz if he chose to call it a career in the wake of so many injury woes, though it would be equally unsurprising if he continued to seek out another minor league deal if he is finally feeling healthy for the first time in years. Given his past pedigree, another club could well bring him into the fold on a minors contract in order to see what the left-hander still has in the tank.
Latest On Jordan Montgomery’s Market
With less than a week remaining until Opening Day, left-hander Jordan Montgomery stands alone as the clear top free agent remaining on the market. That could change in the coming days, however, as Jim Bowden reported on MLB Network Radio this morning that the southpaw’s camp has two “long-term” offers on the table and that he could sign somewhere as soon as this week. It’s unclear which teams have made an offer to Montgomery at this point, though he’s be connected to the Yankees and Red Sox in recent weeks.
One club it appears is not among the two teams to have made an offer to Montgomery at this point is Philadelphia, though that’s not to say the Phillies don’t have interest in the lefty. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Phillies are “internally discussing” a pursuit of Montgomery, though he adds that a decision on whether or not to contact Montgomery’s agent, Scott Boras, about a potential deal has not yet been made. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reported recently that the Phillies had previously shown interest in Montgomery on a one-year deal prior to the start of Spring Training last month, though he adds that the club’s interest has “cooled” in the weeks since camp began.
All of that would seem to indicate that Philadelphia is something of an unlikely landing spot for Montgomery, unless the club not only reopens negotiations with the 31-year-old’s camp but also expands their interest beyond a one-year deal into a potential multi-year arrangement. Signing a multi-year pact could certainly make some sense for Montgomery, as the southpaw was ineligible to receive a Qualifying Offer this winter and therefore is likely to see his stock negatively impacted by one in a second trip through free agency.
Of course, as recently discussed by MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald, Montgomery wouldn’t be eligible for a Qualifying Offer this coming winter if he were to sign with a club after Opening Day. Speculatively speaking, that could create a situation where Montgomery remains focused on finding a multi-year deal in the days leading up to Opening Day without considering one-year arrangements until it, and his eligibility for a Qualifying Offer this coming winter, have already passed. Reporting earlier this month suggested that Montgomery was hoping to land a seven-year deal, though it’s unclear if either of the reported offers Montgomery currently has in hand approach that length.
With that being said, a lengthy deal that features a deflated average annual value could make a great deal of sense for a club such as the Yankees that has is approaching or has already surpassed the highest threshold of the luxury tax. Any expenditures over the final $297MM threshold are taxed at a 110% rate. That reality left the Yankees reportedly disinterested in engaging with Montgomery’s fellow top-of-the-market southpaw, Blake Snell, as he pivoted towards prioritizing a short-term deal at a high AAV.
The two-year, $62MM deal Snell signed with the Giants earlier this month came with an AAV just under $30MM, which would have left the Yankees to pay more than $32MM in taxes on top of the lefty’s actual salary had they signed him to that same deal. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible that both sides could benefit as the lefty could get the long-term security he’s reportedly searching for while New York would enjoy a much smaller tax bill on a yearly basis if Montgomery were amenable to a lengthy deal at a much lower annual salary.
Of course, given how close we are to the start of the regular season, it’s fair to wonder just how quickly Montgomery would be ready to enter a club’s rotation even if he were to sign before Opening Day. It’s possible he wouldn’t be too far behind, as Travis Sawchik of theScore reported this morning that Montgomery has ramped up to 75 pitches in preparation for the start of the season. On the other hand, Sawchik acknowledges that Montgomery’s preparation process may not be a perfect analogy for work in Spring Training, which involves facing live, big-league caliber hitting and working with a club’s coaching staff. Given those discrepancies, it would be somewhat surprising if Montgomery were able to start for a club on Opening Day at this point, though it’s at least reasonable to think that his ramp-up process will shorten the time he needs to prepare for the season once signed.
Red Sox Sign Chase Anderson
March 24, 1:13pm: MassLive’s Christopher Smith reports that Anderson’s deal with the Red Sox guarantees him $1.25MM and comes with an additional $500k in potential performance bonuses.
March 24, 9:38am: The Red Sox have made their deal with Anderson official, per a club announcement. Right-hander Lucas Giolito was transferred to the 60-day injured list in the corresponding move. Giolito’s placement on the IL is hardly a surprise, given he’s expected to miss the entire 2024 season after undergoing an internal brace procedure on his right elbow.
March 23: The Red Sox have signed right-hander Chase Anderson to a Major League deal, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (X link). It was a very short stint in free agency for Anderson, who was only officially released from his minors deal with the Pirates earlier today.
Yesterday was the deadline for Anderson and other Article XX(B) free agents to decide whether or not to exercise the opt-out clauses in their minor league contracts, unless their teams had already agreed to include them on the 26-man active roster. Since it seems like the Pirates preferred other options for their starting rotation, Anderson was prepared to opt out, and then quickly landed with Boston after he returned to the open market.
Assuming Anderson appears in a big league game, the Red Sox will be the eighth different team Anderson has pitched for during his 10 MLB seasons. The right-hander posted some solid numbers with the Diamondbacks and Brewers from 2014-19, but he has struggled mightily ever since, with a 6.19 ERA over 192 innings since the start of the 2020 season.
Anderson has subsequently bounced around to seven different teams (including two stints with the Rays) in the last four-plus years, seeing action at the big league level with the Blue Jays, Phillies, Reds, Rays, and Rockies. Anderson had a 5.75 ERA over 17 starts and 81 1/3 innings last season for a Rockies team that was desperate to fill innings within an injury-riddled rotation. Boston’s pitching situation isn’t in quite such a dire state, though there is some definite uncertainty within the projected starting five of Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock, and Tanner Houck.
Lucas Giolito‘s season-ending elbow surgery thinned out a rotation that was already lacking in depth, so Anderson can now fill a swingman role who can step in for a spot start if necessary. The fact that Anderson landed a guaranteed big league deal might speak to how urgently the Red Sox wanted to add pitching help prior to Opening Day, though it is safe to assume that Anderson’s deal isn’t overly pricey.