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Pirates, Ben Heller Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates have agreed to a deal with free agent reliever Ben Heller, as first reported by Jomboy’s Jack Oliver. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette adds that it’s a minor league deal for the right-hander. Heller is a client of Onyx Sports Management.

Heller, 32, pitched 18 2/3 innings for the Braves in 2023, logging a 3.86 ERA with a 19.5% strikeout rate, 13.1% walk rate and 49.1% ground-ball rate. He also notched a tidy 3.27 ERA with a 28.9% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate in 44 2/3 Triple-A frames between the Braves and Rays organizations.

Once a fairly well-regarded bullpen prospect who went from Cleveland to the Bronx (alongside Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield and J.P. Feyereisen) in the 2016 Andrew Miller trade, Heller has seen his career decimated by injuries. From 2018-22, Heller dealt with bone spurs in his pitching elbow (2018), underwent Tommy John surgery (2019) and was plagued by a nerve injury in his right biceps (2020-21). He was limited to just 35 2/3 innings between the big leagues and minors combined during that brutal stretch of health woes.

When he’s been healthy enough to pitch in the majors, Heller has been quite effective. He touts a career 3.06 ERA in 50 frames, albeit with suboptimal strikeout and walk rates of 20.9% and 11.8%, respectively. While he was working to rehab all those injuries, Heller restored some zip on his fastball; he flashed a 96.2 mph average as a rookie in 2016 before dipping to 94 mph in 2017-20. He was back up to 95.9 mph on his seldom-used four-seamer with Atlanta this past year, however, and averaged 94.9 mph on his newly implemented sinker.

He’ll need to make the big league roster as a non-roster invitee, but if Heller works his way back to the big leagues in Pittsburgh, he can be controlled for at least three more seasons via the arbitration process.

Rockies Focused On Pitching Help, Bench Upgrades

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The Rockies’ 59-103 record in 2023 was third-worst in baseball, leaving general manager Bill Schmidt no shortage of paths to explore when searching for upgrades. However, although the Rockies were somewhat surprisingly one of MLB’s lightest-hitting clubs in ’23 — 17th in batting average, 25th in on-base percentage, 20th in slugging percentage and 30th in wRC+ — Schmidt said at this week’s Winter Meetings that pursuing a power bat isn’t high on his list of priorities (via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). Upgrading the pitching staff and deepening manager Bud Black’s bench will be the greater focus, per Schmidt. Specifically, he’d like to add a veteran backup catcher behind Elias Diaz (via DNVR’s Patrick Lyons).

Both areas could clearly use augmentation. The pitching staff, in particular, was dreadful — due in no small part to injuries. An already shaky Rockies staff lost both German Marquez and Antonio Senzatela to Tommy John surgery last year. Each of Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner, Connor Seabold, Chase Anderson, Ty Blach, Peter Lambert and Chris Flexen started at least 10 games for the Rox. None did so with an ERA lower than Freeland’s 5.03. Colorado starters posted an MLB-worst 5.91 ERA, and things weren’t any better in the bullpen, where the Rockies sported an MLB-worst 5.41 ERA and a 29th-ranked 20.4% strikeout rate.

Schmidt has already added one arm to the rotation mix, buying low on Guardians righty Cal Quantrill following a down season. Coors Field isn’t exactly an ideal spot for a pitcher to try to rebuild his value, but Quantrill did post a 3.08 ERA in 368 innings from 2020-22. Shoulder inflammation limited him to 19 starts in 2023 (and perhaps contributed to an ugly 5.24 ERA), but Quantrill took the ball 32 times as recently as 2022. He was a perfectly sensible addition for a Rockies team that’s desperate for arms but lacking in high-end prospects needed to acquire difference-making pitchers. Most available high-end trade targets are controllable for two or even just one year anyhow, and a Rockies team that’s at best an extreme long-shot to contend probably doesn’t want to sacrifice too much long-term value for short-term upgrades.

Because of their long odds at playoff contention, it seems the Rockies are intent on taking a look at a series of young players rather than displacing them with more expensive free agents. Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar will get another opportunity to provide some value with his bat after a brilliant defensive showing in his rookie season but a lackluster offensive performance (.253/.287/.408). The 2024 season will be something of a mulligan for second baseman Brendan Rodgers, who missed much of the 2023 season on the injured list. Nolan Jones will look to build on an impressive rookie showing, likely in right field.

Schmidt indicated that first base will likely belong to Kris Bryant, though occasional right field work is also on the table (link via Lyons). Ryan McMahon, signed through 2027, is locked in at the hot corner. The Rox re-signed veteran Charlie Blackmon to serve as their primary DH before the season even opened, guaranteeing him a surprisingly strong $13MM salary in the process.

Saunders writes that the Rockies also have higher hopes for outfielders Sean Bouchard and Brenton Doyle. The former suffered a ruptured biceps tendon prior to the season and missed most of the year, but he’s produced a massive .304/.429/.563 slash in 140 plate appearances between 2022-23. Doyle was perhaps baseball’s least-productive hitter in 2023, batting .203/.250/.343 with a 35% strikeout rate in 431 plate appearances. He also posted flat-out elite defensive grades, however, drawing enormous positives from Defensive Runs Saved (19), Ultimate Zone Rating (24.5) and Outs Above Average (16) in well south of a full season’s worth of innings. With that type of defensive wizardry, he only needs to clear a low bar at the plate to be a valuable everyday player, but last year’s output wasn’t enough.

Improving the bench shouldn’t be a difficult proposition. Brian Serven is the current favorite for backup catching work but carries just a .195/.248/.314 line in 228 MLB plate appearances. Bouchard and/or 24-year-old Hunter Goodman could get regular work in right field or carve out a bench role, but both have minor league options remaining. Utility infielder Alan Trejo has hit .243/.292/.367 in 402 MLB plate appearances over the past three seasons. He’s versatile but also out of options, and a more productive utility infielder should be available.

The main question for the Rockies’ bench could pertain to former top prospect Elehuris Montero, who’s yet to cement himself at either infield corner. The presence of McMahon, Bryant and Blackmon leaves the 26-year-old Montero, who’s hit just .239/.283/.428 in 492 MLB plate appearances, without a path to regular playing time. But Montero is also out of minor league options, so he’ll have to crack the big league roster or else be either traded or exposed to waivers. Montero was a notable piece of the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado return from the Cardinals, but he’s something of an odd man out with regard to the current allotment of playing time. Then again, Bryant has spent ample time on the injured list in recent seasons, and Montero could be the first man up should he again need time on the shelf.

The Rockies currently project for a payroll of about $142MM, per Roster Resource, which is around $30MM shy of last year’s franchise-record Opening Day payroll (a bit more than $172MM). There’s room for the club to spend, but convincing free agent pitchers to sign on the dotted line and call Coors Field home is no small feat. And the Rockies’ farm system generally isn’t well regarded, which makes adding arms on the trade market difficult, too (hence the buy-low pickup of Quantrill).

Breslow: Red Sox Will Be “Aggressive” In Search For Rotation Upgrades

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New Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has a tall task ahead of him, trying to bring a fifth-place club back into contention in a stacked AL East. Perhaps the hardest part of his job will be improving a starting rotation that finished with a bottom-ten ERA and FanGraphs WAR last season. Indeed, while the Red Sox have starting pitching depth, their rotation has too many question marks and not enough top-end talent.

Chris Sale is a lock for the 2024 rotation. So is 24-year-old Brayan Bello, who pitched to a 4.24 ERA in 28 starts last year. After that, the Red Sox have four more experienced arms who will stretch out to start this winter but could move into a bullpen role at any time: Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Garrett Whitlock. All four have made at least ten starts and at least ten relief appearances over the past two years. With a rotation led by an aging, oft-injured veteran followed by a still-developing young starter and four guys who have bounced in and out of bullpen roles the past years, it’s clear the Red Sox could use a lot more stability and at least one front-line pitcher.

It’s not surprising to hear Breslow call rotation upgrades his top priority as the Red Sox navigate the offseason (links via Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam of MassLive.com). Breslow expressed optimism about Sale’s health, at least publicly voicing confidence that the lefty could hold up over a full, healthy season in 2024. Of course, that’s quite a charitable outlook for a pitcher who’s totaled just 151 innings over the past four seasons.

Granted, 102 2/3 of those frames came in 2023, when Sale worked to a respectable 4.30 ERA with excellent strikeout and walk rates of 29.4% and 6.8%, respectively. But Sale still missed two months last summer with a shoulder injury, and in the three seasons prior he underwent Tommy John surgery, suffered a stress fracture in his ribcage, broke his wrist in bicycling accident and sustained a broken a pinkie finger on his pitching hand upon being struck by a comeback liner. The Sox don’t have much choice but to hope Sale is healthy this year — he’s entering the final season of his five-year, $145MM contract — but recent history is not on their side, regardless of whatever optimism the team’s brass wants to forecast.

Even if the Sox were able to somehow manifest a 32-start season from Sale, there’d be need to further solidify the group. For his part, Breslow pledged to be “as aggressive as we possibly can” to fill the rotation (link via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic), be it via free agency or trade. Boston has already been linked to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jordan Montgomery and Seth Lugo in free agency. McCaffrey indicates that the Sox had an initial Zoom meeting with Yamamoto’s camp (as has been standard for interested teams thus far) but adds that a team official declined to state whether the Red Sox were in position for a forthcoming in-person sitdown with the NPB ace.

Breslow’s pledge to be as aggressive as possible is sensible for a team with a projected payroll ($172MM, per Roster Resource) that’s more than $10MM shy of their end-of-season levels and a whopping $64MM short of their franchise-record Opening Day mark of $236MM. That said, it’s also somewhat at odds with prior reporting on Boston’s rotation search. McAdam reported last month that the Sox have a preference for the trade market before free agency, notably specifying that at that point, they had not yet been active in the market for Dylan Cease.

The previously mentioned piece from McCaffrey quotes Breslow in acknowledging that the Sox will have to “be willing to give up position player capital” in order to bolster the starting staff, though McCaffrey notes that the Sox aren’t likely to trade top-end prospects for pitchers with only one year of club control remaining. That’ll make names like Corbin Burnes, Shane Bieber and division foe Tyler Glasnow particularly difficult to obtain. And just yesterday, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported that Boston prefers to avoid free agents who’ve rejected a qualifying offer.

There’s room to be aggressive within a fairly measured set of free-agent and trade targets, but whether avoiding qualified free agents and one-year rentals is truly acting “as aggressive as we possibly can” is up for debate, at the very least. It’s understandable that Breslow, particularly in his first season on the job, might not want to recklessly spend and saddle the club with a long-term contract or deplete the farm system he’s still learning, but imposing those limitations on his front office only makes the goal of bettering the starting staff in a meaningful way all the more daunting.

Of course, the goal in the long term is to better the organization’s ability to develop its own pitchers. To that end, the Red Sox announced yesterday that they’ve hired Twins minor league pitching coordinator Justin Willard as their new director of pitching.

“We’re really excited to bring him on board,” Breslow said (relayed by Cotillo). “Someone that comes with a pretty strong track record of pitching development. We’ve been mindful of what Minnesota’s done over the last few years in the development of some of their guys. We feel really lucky, really fortunate.”

The Twins have had some success stories with late-round starters, as both Bailey Ober and Louie Varland have reached the Majors and held their own (a good bit more than that in the case of Ober, a 12th-rounder). The Twins’ bullpen has seen multiple names emerge from within the system as well, headlined by closer Jhoan Duran and setup man Griffin Jax.

Willard will join newly hired pitching coach Andrew Bailey in working with Breslow and the rest of the Boston baseball ops and player development staff to hopefully optimize the Sox’ pitching development systems. While each of Bello, Houck and Crawford has had some big league success, they’re all still relatively inexperienced. The Red Sox have regularly relied on free agency and the trade market to round out the pitching staff over the past decade, but they’ve struggled to supplement those high-profile additions (e.g. Sale, Rick Porcello, David Price, Nathan Eovaldi) with cost-effective arms produced by their own system.

Reds, Mark Mathias Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have agreed to a minor league deal with infielder/outfielder Mark Mathias, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll presumably head to big league camp this spring. Mathias is repped by Apex Baseball.

The 29-year-old Mathias split the 2023 season between the Mariners, Pirates and Giants organizations, reaching the big leagues with the latter two of that trio. In a small sample of 72 trips to the plate, Mathias batted .226/.333/.258. He’s a career .246/.317/.391 hitter with six home runs and seven stolen bases in a total of 199 big league plate appearances. Mathias has walked at a healthy 9.5% clip in that time against a higher-than-average 26.1% strikeout rate.

Mathias hasn’t had much big league experience, but he’s a lifetime .288/.383/.454 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons totaling 919 plate appearances. He’s logged more than 3000 career innings at second base and more than 1000 frames at third base, with additional cameos at shortstop, first base and the outfield corners.

Cincinnati is already loaded with infield options, with Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Noelvi Marte, Jonathan India and Christian Encarnacion-Strand all in the mix. Jack of all trades Spencer Steer can play virtually any infield or corner outfield spot as well, though he may be ticketed for left field to begin the upcoming season. TJ Friedl and Will Benson are slated to handle center field and right field, respectively, and the Reds also have former top prospect Jose Barrero and outfielder/DH Jake Fraley in the mix for playing time.

Mathias doesn’t have a clear path to a prominent role with the team, but he provides some defensive versatility with a decent track record at the plate both in Triple-A and in the big leagues.

The Opener: Winter Meetings, Draft Lottery, Fedde

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As the Winter Meetings carry on, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around baseball:

1. The Winter Meetings continue

While plenty of updates and rumors came out of the Winter Meetings on Monday, we have still yet to see a major signing. However, with new reports that teams are interested in top-50 free agents Matt Chapman (Cubs), Jordan Hicks (Astros, Rangers, Cardinals, and Orioles), Seth Lugo (Braves, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox), and Jack Flaherty (Pirates), perhaps that’s about to change.

Wade Miley’s one-year, $8.5MM guarantee from the Brewers has been the largest free agent contract signed at the Winter Meetings so far, but that’s unlikely to remain the case for long.

2. The draft lottery is coming up

The MLB draft lottery will take place this afternoon at 4:30 pm CT as part of the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee. All 18 teams that missed the postseason in 2023 will have a chance to win one of the top six selections in next year’s first-year player draft, although the teams with the three worst records – the Athletics, the Royals, and the Rockies – have the best odds of claiming one of the top picks.

Complete odds for the draft lottery can be found here.

3. Where will Erick Fedde land?

On Monday afternoon, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that former MLB pitcher and 2023 KBO MVP Erick Fedde was nearing a two-year deal with an unspecified MLB team. Later that day, Feinsand added that there were, in fact, two teams in the running for Fedde’s services – the Mets and the White Sox – and the 30-year-old righty was expected to finalize a contract with one of those two clubs as early as today.

Feinsand reports that the deal will be in the two-year, $10MM range, and if so, Fedde could surpass Wade Miley for the largest free agent guarantee of the Winter Meetings – although it’s hard to imagine he would hold that distinction for long.

Blue Jays “Believed” To Have Met With Ohtani On Monday

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Blue Jays officials are “believed” to have met with Shohei Ohtani at the team’s complex in Dunedin on Monday, writes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. It’s the latest development in a free agency process shrouded in secrecy, as Ohtani’s camp has reportedly made clear that the superstar would hold it against teams if they leak pertinent information.

Speculation about Ohtani and the Jays heightened this afternoon when Toronto general manager Ross Atkins switched his media availability to a Zoom conference. Atkins declined to specify his location, but his absence from Nashville’s Winter Meetings indicated he had other priorities. The Jays called the matter a “scheduling conflict.”

Ohtani meeting with Jays’ officials, assuming that was indeed the case, affirms that they’re in the running for the AL MVP. Yet it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a clear favorite. Rosenthal adds that the Dodgers and Cubs are involved, with other teams possibly still under consideration.

To that end, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote this evening that there are “indications” Ohtani had met with Giants’ brass on Saturday. Team officials were spotted at Oracle Park, while Slusser wrote on Saturday of “rumblings” that Ohtani was in San Francisco.

As a result of Ohtani’s evident desire to keep the process as mysterious as possible, executives and coaches with every team involved have steadfastly remained quiet. Angels manager Ron Washington joked at his media availability today that he “didn’t have anything to say about (Ohtani’s free agency) right now, because (he didn’t) want to let anything out of the bag” (video provided by Beyond the Halo).

With Ohtani’s free agency contributing to a slow pace early in the offseason, many fans have hoped for a resolution at the Winter Meetings. That may not be coming. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote on Monday afternoon that Ohtani could continue meeting with interested teams beyond the conclusion of the meetings on Wednesday.

Picollo: Royals Have At Least $30 Million To Spend This Offseason

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The Royals have been relatively active over the first month of the offseason, inking one of the four free agent position players to sign so far this winter and trading for two pitchers ahead of the non-tender deadline in November. Still, the front office has plenty of work to do if the team is going to improve upon a 56-106 record in 2024. On Monday, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo spoke with members of the media at the Winter Meetings to discuss the team’s plans for the remainder of the offseason.

Most notably, Picollo revealed that he has at least $30MM to spend in free agency (as relayed by Jaylon Thompson of The Kansas City Star). That could bring the team’s 2024 payroll just over $100MM, a total the Royals have not surpassed since 2019. What’s more, the executive suggested he could spend beyond that estimate for the right players.

Presumably, Picollo will use most of his budget to improve a pitching staff that finished second-last in the AL in ERA, SIERA, and FanGraphs WAR last season. He specified that he would like to acquire one starting pitcher and two relievers, one of whom would hopefully step into the closer’s role.

While Picollo didn’t identify any particular targets, he stated on MLB Network Radio that the Royals “can be competitive” in the price range several free agent starting pitchers have already signed for. Presumably, he’s not referring to Aaron Nola and Sonny Gray, but instead the next tier down. That means pitchers like Kyle Gibson, Kenta Maeda, Luis Severino, Nick Martinez, and Lance Lynn, all of whom signed for an annual average salary in the $11MM to $13MM range.

During his appearance on MLB Network Radio, Picollo also touched on the non-monetary side of free agent negotiations. Factors beyond money are particularly relevant for a rebuilding team like the Royals, as they try to convince free agents they are an attractive destination despite their recent string of losing seasons. “When you’re recruiting free agents they want to know what your plan is,” he said. “So our process has got to be pretty deep and thorough because we’re really selling those players on what we can do for them.”

One name on many fans’ minds is Zack Greinke, who became a free agent following the 2023 season. According to Picollo (and as relayed by Thompson), the Royals are still waiting to hear if the six-time All-Star plans to retire this winter. While he isn’t the star he used to be during his first run with Kansas City, Greinke has been a reliable innings eater for the Royals over the last two seasons, pitching 279 1/3 innings with a 4.38 ERA. Given his popularity within the organization, his solid performance over the past two years, and the team’s lack of pitching depth, one would think the Royals would be interested if Greinke decided to pitch again in 2024, but Picollo stopped short of confirming as much.

He did, however, confirm that MJ Melendez will continue to play the outfield next season. The 25-year-old was once one of the top catching prospects in baseball, but he transitioned to a full-time outfield role this past season. His defense never stood out behind the plate, where he was blocked in the Royals organization by Salvador Perez anyhow. With the emergence of backup catcher Freddy Fermin, and with the way Melendez improved at the plate after he stopped catching in 2023, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the Royals are going to keep him in the outfield going forward.

Finally, Picollo revealed that first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino is ready to return to normal baseball activities over the winter after missing the final four months of the 2023 season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder. According to Thompson, the team will provide further information on his status during today’s media session.

Joe Ross, Brewers In Agreement On Major League Deal

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Today: The deal between Joe Ross and the Brewers is worth a guaranteed $1.75MM, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic. The contract also includes unspecified financial incentives.

December 4: The Brewers and right-hander Joe Ross are in agreement on a major league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The details of the deal, which is pending a physical for the Wasserman client, aren’t publicly known at this time.

Ross, 31 in May, has dealt with significant injury issues in his career and is coming off another notable absence. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2022, the second time he required that procedure, the first one coming in 2017. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants for 2023 and was able to get back on the mound by late August, starting a rehab assignment at that time. He eventually tossed 14 innings over eight appearances on the farm with a 5.14 earned run average in that small sample.

It would appear that the Brewers were intrigued by that showing, or perhaps his larger body of work and previous prospect pedigree. A 5.14 ERA is obviously not going to blow anyone away, but the fact that he was healthy and on the mound is the more important thing. As relayed by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the righty’s velocity was in good shape at Triple-A late last year, actually above his previous seasons.

Ross was once a highly-touted prospect, having been drafted 25th overall by the Padres in 2011. He later debuted with the Nationals and posted a combined 3.52 ERA over 181 2/3 innings between 2015 and 2016. But he was limited to 13 starts in 2017 before, as mentioned, he required Tommy John. He missed most of 2018 and then posted middling results in 2019. He elected to sit out the shortened 2020 season and then had a 4.17 ERA in 2021 before suffering another partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament. He tried to rehab that injury via non-surgical means at first but eventually underwent his second TJS in May of 2022.

The Brewers probably can’t rely on Ross to suddenly take on a full stater’s workload. With his injuries and opting out of 2020, he’s only twice reached the 80-inning plateau in a major league season, in 2016 and 2021. Even in those two seasons, he was barely over the century mark. Perhaps the Brewers will end up deploying him in something of a swing role or as a multi-inning pitcher out of the bullpen, but that could depend on how he looks in Spring Training or what other moves the club makes before then.

The club also agreed to a deal with left-hander Wade Miley today, which means their current rotation projects as Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Miley, Adrian Houser and Colin Rea. Ross could perhaps try to force his way into the back end, particularly if an injury creates a new need. There’s also been plenty of rumors about the club considering a trade of Burnes, which would bump Ross and everyone else up one spot on the depth chart.

All teams deal with pitching injuries and it takes more than five starters to get through a full 162-game season. The Brewers also have Janson Junk and Aaron Ashby on the 40-man roster with prospects like Robert Gasser and Jacob Misiorowski pushing towards their major league debuts. Ross figures to be in the mix somewhere, with his eventual contributions dependant on his health and the circumstances around him.

East Notes: Rays, Phillies, Nationals

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Several Rays players have come up in trade rumors recently, with the team currently set to run a payroll well north of $100MM, far higher than the $70MM to $90MM range they have sat in for the past three seasons. Among those trade candidates are Tyler Glasnow, whose $25MM salary makes him far and away the highest-paid player on the roster, and Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes, each of whom is sure to earn a sizeable raise in arbitration this winter.

However, president of baseball operations Erik Neander threw some cold water on the rumors surrounding Arozarena and Paredes on Monday. While the Rays seem to be actively shopping Glasnow, the executive clarified that the team is merely listening to offers for the left fielder and third baseman (per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Fielding trade proposals is simply standard operating procedure and a matter of due diligence for an MLB front office, especially for a team like Tampa Bay that is often highly active on the trade market.

That doesn’t mean either player won’t be traded this offseason, but it’s a meaningful distinction nonetheless. Arozarena and Paredes are still an excellent value in their early years of arbitration, and the Rays aren’t desperate to get either one off the books.

More news from around MLB’s East divisions…

  • Turning to the NL East, Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the Phillies are planning to pick up a bullpen piece this offseason, and they’re also considering an outfield acquisition. It’s no surprise the Phillies are looking for another reliever, in light of Craig Kimbrel’s departure in free agency, but the note about an outfielder is slightly more revealing; after all, the three primary outfielders from the team’s 2023 postseason roster are all set to return in 2024. Indeed, with Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh, and Johan Rojas already on the roster, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would only add another outfielder if he finds the “right fit” (as relayed by Coffey). Perhaps that means another impact bat to take over full-time duties in left field while Marsh platoons with Rojas in center.
  • While the Nationals aren’t likely to contend in 2024, president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo is still planning to improve the on-field product. “I think we’re going to be aggressive again this year looking for a bat that can play the corner infield, be it third base or first base or DH or left field, or a combination of all three of those,” the executive told reporters during the Winter Meetings. “And then we’ll resort back to getting more pitching” (per Mark Zuckerman of MASN). Of particular interest, Rizzo also mentioned that the team is prepared to offer multi-year contracts “in the right situation,” which isn’t always common for teams in the middle of a rebuild. Over the previous three offseasons, the Nationals have only signed one free agent to a multi-year deal: Trevor Williams, who signed a two-year, $13MM deal last December.

Mariners Looking To Add Multiple Position Players

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After letting Teoscar Hernández enter free agency without so much as a qualifying offer and subsequently trading both Eugenio Suárez and Jarred Kelenic, the Mariners have lost three hitters who provided above-average offensive production in regular playing time last season. Suárez and Hernández finished second and third on the team in RBI (trailing only superstar Julio Rodríguez), while Kelenic led the team in slugging percentage and isolated power until he fractured his foot in mid-July.

The team’s best options at third base and the corner outfield positions now include Luis Urías, Cade Marlowe, Dominic Canzone, and Taylor Trammell, three unproven 26-year-old outfielders and a former top prospect who struggled tremendously in 2023. Those four combined to hit just .204 last season with a .666 OPS and 87 wRC+ in 515 PA. Veteran utility players Sam Haggerty and Dylan Moore can also cover the outfield and infield corners, but neither is much more than the short side of a platoon given their career numbers against right-handed pitching.

With all that said, it’s no surprise Seattle is looking to add multiple position players this offseason, according to manager Scott Servais (per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). After all, the Mariners are ostensibly competing with the Astros and Rangers for the AL West crown, but if they’re going to win in 2024, they’ll need an offense to support their deep and talented pitching staff.

The Mariners are not thought to be in the running for Shohei Ohtani, but they could be a good fit for almost every other impact bat on the free agent market. They have also been linked to various trade candidates, including, most recently, Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes of the Rays.

It remains unclear how much money president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has to work with this winter, although he has managed to clear a significant amount of salary and he expects the payroll to increase in 2024 (per Adam Jude of the Seattle Times). It’s also hard to guess what trade chips the Mariners will be willing to part with. Entering the offseason, it seemed almost inevitable that they would trade one of their young starting pitchers to improve the offense. However, after sending Marco Gonzales to Atlanta as part of the Kelenic trade, Seattle has less of a logjam in the rotation, and Dipoto says the chances of the team trading another pitcher are “less likely” than they were before (per Jude).

That said, if the Mariners are serious about trading for Arozarena, Paredes, or another middle-of-the-order bat, they’ll need to make a pretty sweet offer, and luckily they still have an abundance of arms to deal from. Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, and Bryce Miller would make a strong starting five to open the season, but eventually Robbie Ray will return from Tommy John rehab and Emerson Hancock will force his way back to the majors. Too much pitching depth is never a bad thing, yet the Mariners might be wise to trade from an area of strength to bolster their depleted lineup.

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