Royals Sign Sandy León To Minor League Deal
The Royals announced that they have signed catcher Sandy León to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league Spring Training. The backstop is a client of The MAS+ Agency.
León, 35 in March, has appeared in each of the past 12 major league seasons as a glove-first catcher. He had one terrific season at the plate, hitting .310/.369/.476 for the Red Sox in 2016. But for his career, he has hit .208/.276/.311 for a wRC+ of 56. He got 44 plate appearances for the Rangers last year but hit just .146/.186/.195 in those.
It’s a different story when León is behind the plate, however. He has 33 Defensive Runs Saved in his career, with positive framing marks from FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus. Statcast considers him to be above average both in terms of his blocking and his work with the running game.
With MJ Melendez seemingly a full-time outfielder now, that leaves the Royals with just two catchers on their 40-man roster. Salvador Pérez has been the club’s primary backstop for over a decade, but he’s going into his age-34 season and the club might gradually wean him off the position. He made 90 starts behind the plate last year but also 21 at first base and 29 as the designated hitter. Freddy Fermin had a solid season in 2023 and should be in line to split the catching duties with Perez again this year.
León can be in camp to serve as a veteran receiver to the many young pitchers in the organization. If either Pérez or Fermin suffer an injury at any point during the year, he would be an option to come up to the big leagues. Pérez could also move to first more regularly if Vinnie Pasquantino needs to go on the IL, which would also open up a role for another catcher.
The Royals briefly used Logan Porter and Tyler Cropley as depth catchers last year. Both have since been outrighted off the roster and each is still in the organization as non-roster depth. Neither of them has more than a few weeks in the big leagues, however, in contrast to León’s 557 games in the majors dating back to his 2012 debut.
Mariners Sign Austin Voth To One-Year Deal
The Mariners announced that they have signed right-hander Austin Voth to a one-year major league deal. Their 40-man roster is now full. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the deal prior to the official announcement, relaying that the Beverly Hills Sports Council client will make $1.25MM.
Voth, 32 in June, has pitched in each of the past six MLB seasons with mixed results. He has tossed 299 1/3 innings between the Nationals and Orioles, allowing 4.90 earned runs per nine. His 21.6% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate are both in realm of typical league average.
In 2023, Voth missed over two months of the season due to elbow discomfort. When healthy enough to take the mound, he posted a 5.19 ERA over 25 relief outings. He was outrighted by the Orioles in September and elected free agency at season’s end.
Voth is out of options and will have to stick on the club’s active roster or else be removed from the 40-man entirely. He has worked both as a starter and as a reliever in his career but he wouldn’t have an obvious path to a rotation job in Seattle. The club’s starting mix already includes Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Anthony DeSclafani, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock.
DeSclafani has a notable injury history while each of Woo, Miller and Hancock have less than a full year in the majors. Plus, the Mariners are one of the most aggressive clubs in terms of making trades, so perhaps the picture will change, but Voth will project to be in the club’s bullpen for now.
Curiously, he’s actually fared much better out of the rotation so far in his career, with a 4.23 ERA as a starter and a 5.89 ERA out of the ‘pen. But those aren’t huge sample sizes, with 178 2/3 innings out of the rotation and 120 2/3 as a reliever. He’s been fairly inconsistent overall but once looked like a breakout rotation candidate and could perhaps put it together as a reliever in Seattle. The Mariners have been fairly adept at helping pitchers bloom relatively late, with Paul Sewald and Justin Topa just a couple of recent examples. If things go well this year, the Mariners can retain him for 2025 via arbitration.
MLBTR Podcast: The Cubs’ Activity, Marcus Stroman And Jordan Hicks
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Cubs signing Shota Imanaga (1:20)
- The Cubs acquiring for Michael Busch and Yency Almonte from the Dodgers (8:30)
- The Yankees signing Marcus Stroman (13:20)
- The Giants agreeing to sign Jordan Hicks (17:50)
- The Braves extending Alex Anthopoulos (22:30)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Ben Cherington of the Pirates has repeatedly said that he would be active in the market for another starting pitcher and another outfielder. With Spring Training starting in about one month, has he given up on this quest? (25:35)
- Why do general managers not come out and say reports are B.S.? Use the Jays as example. They are not interested in Blake Snell but their name gets thrown in for leverage. Should GMs step in and say this report is false? The endless number of sources is ridiculous and leads nowhere except larger pay days or trade hauls because of fake competition. (27:30)
- I think most of the baseball world is getting really sick of the Dodgers and Yankees buying all the major names. It’s terrible for parity and makes for season after season of “wash, rinse, repeat” storylines. Is the league ever going to enact a salary cap? It’s done great things for the other three major sports leagues. What is the reason for the resistance to it? (31:40)
Check out our past episodes!
- Teoscar Hernández Signs With L.A. And The Move-Making Mariners and Rays – listen here
- Yoshi Yamamoto Fallout, the Chris Sale/Vaughn Grissom Trade and Transaction Roundup – listen here
- Tyler Glasnow, Jung Hoo Lee, D-Backs’ Signings and the Braves’ Confusing Moves – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Diamond Sports Group Announces Restructuring Deal Featuring Investment From Amazon
9:50am: Josh Kosman of The New York Post reports that Amazon is giving Diamond roughly $100MM for the streaming rights of the Tigers, Royals, Marlins, Brewers and Rays. That money and the Sinclair settlement money could be presented to a Houston bankruptcy judge as early as today.
8:45am: Diamond Sports Group announced that is has a restructuring support agreement in place that will allow it to emerge from bankruptcy and continue operating, as relayed by Brendan Coffey of Sportico. It apparently has approval from most of the company’s debt holders and also features an investment from Amazon. It also has a $495MM deal from Sinclair Broadcasting Group to settle outstanding litigation.
“We are thrilled to have reached a comprehensive restructuring agreement that provides a detailed framework for a reorganization plan and substantial new financing that will enable Diamond to operate and thrive beyond 2024,” Diamond CEO David Preschlack stated. “We are grateful for the support from Amazon and a group of our largest creditors who clearly believe in the value-creating potential of this business. Diamond’s near-term focus will be on implementing the RSA and emerging from bankruptcy as a going concern for the benefit of our investors, our employees, our team, league and distribution partners, and the millions of fans who will continue to enjoy our broadcasts.”
As noted by Coffey, Diamond is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means that any deals will have to be approved by the court. But Diamond also says they have a deal in place with some debt holders to raise $450MM of “junior secured superpriority debtor-in-possession financing.” If the company can wriggle out of bankruptcy or get the court’s approval, this has the potential to be a significant development for them and for baseball.
Cord cutting in recent decades has led to significant challenges for the regional sports network (RSN) model, wherein RSNs pay millions of dollars to clubs for their broadcasting rights. The ongoing bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, which owns Bally Sports, has impacted the roster moves of several clubs. The company dropped its contracts with the Padres and Diamondbacks last year, with Major League Baseball stepping up to take over local broadcasts. Their contract with the Twins expired after 2023.
The Padres and Twins have each been operating with lower payrolls this year compared to last year, with the loss of RSN revenue a clear factor. There are 11* other teams that still have deals with Diamond but the uncertainty around how things would proceed has seemingly impacted some of them as well. For example, the Rangers are one of those 11 clubs and they have been acting with less aggression this winter, despite having just won the World Series. It has been speculated by some observers that their desire to re-sign Jordan Montgomery, or to make other theoretical moves, might hinge on the development of this bankruptcy and their broadcast situation.
Part of the proposal will see Amazon make a minority investment and offer direct-to-consumer services on their Prime Video platform. That will apparently include games from MLB, NBA and NHL, including pre-game and post-game content. The full details of those offerings aren’t fully clear at the moment. It was reported back in December that Amazon was discussing a streaming deal with Diamond but the latter company only had streaming rights for five clubs: the Tigers, Royals, Marlins, Brewers and Rays. Reporting from last week suggested that MLB shot down the discussions between the two companies, perhaps with the intent of negotiating a deal with Amazon directly.
In addition to the impact on clubs and their finances, it’s also possible this will have an impact on fans. The RSN model involved widespread blackouts, as those RSNs wanted to ensure customers were watching on cable on not on a streaming service like MLB.TV. These blackout areas have often been frustrating for fans due to some absurd overlap, such as the fact that the people of Iowa couldn’t stream games featuring the Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Twins, Royals or Brewers.
Things have been gradually shifting towards a direct-to-consumer model, with MLB having expressed a desire to embrace that path forward. When the league took over the Padres’ broadcasts in May of last year, they announced that people in the San Diego area could stream games blackout-free for $19.99 per month or $74.99 for the remainder of the season.
As for Sinclair, they bought Diamond in 2019 but the companies began operating independently after Diamond accused Sinclair of siphoning funds from the subsidiary.
Many of the details are still to come and there are still hurdles to clear but today’s news is a notable development for many facets of the baseball world.
* Those clubs are the Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Guardians, Marlins, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, and Tigers.
Yankees Designate Oscar González For Assignment
The Yankees officially announced their signing of right-hander Marcus Stroman, with outfielder Oscar González designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
González, 26, has only been a Yankee since early December, when they claimed him off waivers from the Guardians. The outfielder burst onto the scene with Cleveland in 2022, hitting 11 home runs in 382 plate appearances. His 3.9% walk rate was quite low but he hit .296/.327/.461 overall for a wRC+ of 125. He also became a fan favorite by using the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as his walk-up music and also hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 15th inning of Game 2 of the Wild Card series, which broke a scoreless tie and clinched the series for the Guardians.
Unfortunately, 2023 was a disaster for González. His offense fell off precipitously and he spent most of his time on optionable assignment in Triple-A. In his 180 major league plate appearances, his walk rate fell even lower to 2.8% while his strikeouts increased, leading to a paltry line of .214/.239/.312. His work in Triple-A led to a nicer line of .287/.323/.496, but that still translated to a subpar wRC+ of 98.
Since he’s considered a poor defender and doesn’t steal a lot of bases, González really needs to hit to provide value. There’s clearly some power there but poor plate discipline as well. He has swung at 49.1% of pitches outside the strike zone in his career, the highest rate among MLB hitters with at least 550 plate appearances over the past two seasons. In 2,734 minor league plate appearances, he has walked in just 109 of them, a 4% rate.
He is still young and has a couple of option years remaining, so a club could keep him in Triple-A as a depth piece while seeing if his approach improves. The Yanks likely had such a plan in mind when they claimed him, but they have since changed their outfield significantly by trading for Juan Soto, Trent Grisham and Alex Verdugo. Those moves have seemingly pushed González down the depth chart and off the roster.
The Yanks will now have a week to trade González or pass him through waivers. If he were to go unclaimed, he could stick with the club as non-roster depth, but some other club around the league might take a shot on him.
Advertise With MLB Trade Rumors
The Trade Rumors network consists of MLB Trade Rumors, Hoops Rumors, Pro Football Rumors, and Pro Hockey Rumors. In aggregate, our four sites received 389 million pageviews in 2023. For details on advertising opportunities, please check out our media kit here.
The Opener: Injuries, Relief Market, Rodriguez
As the MLB offseason continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Are more injury announcements on the horizon?
With Spring Training less than a month away, Astros right-hander Kendall Graveman joined Rangers ace Max Scherzer as one of the first players to be announced as undergoing a surprise surgery that will impact their availability for the 2024. While Scherzer is expected to return to the mound sometime this summer after undergoing back surgery last month, Graveman is poised to miss the entire 2024 season on the heels of his recent shoulder surgery. Both veterans serve as a reminder that players will occasionally discover unexpected injury concerns as they ramp back up in preparation for the season over the weeks leading up to pitchers and catchers reporting in February.
While the Astros appear unlikely to change course following the Graveman news, unexpected injury announcements of this sort can at times serve as a catalyst for a sudden development on the free agent market as the club looks for a back-up plan to its injured player. With just 28 days until Spring Training, are there any other players who won’t make it to camp this year?
2. When will the relief market begin to heat up?
The market for relief pitching has largely stayed stagnant this winter, with two of the biggest signings (namely Jordan Hicks and Reynaldo Lopez) expected to compete for roles in their new club’s starting rotation. With that being said, plenty of demand for relief helps still remains as the Astros, Cardinals, and Cubs all remain heavily involved in the hunt for bullpen additions. While each of those clubs appear to be on the lookout for relief help more generally, both the Rangers and Yankees were specifically name-checked as potential frontrunners for right-hander Hector Neris over the weekend. Other teams that could be on the periphery of the relief market are the Dodgers, Angels, and Orioles, each of whom were connected to veteran righty Ryan Brasier earlier this month. Will the recent smoke percolating over the bullpen market lead to a signing in the coming days?
3. Is Rodriguez close to a deal?
The Blue Jays have been tied to a number of major players this winter, ranging from Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto to Cody Bellinger and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, though they’ve either come up short or seemingly backed away from the market’s top players in every instance in favor of lower-level additions like Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. That trend may be continuing on the starting pitching side of things, as reports indicated yesterday that the club is “optimistic” about their chances of signing Cuban right-hander Yariel Rodriguez. Rodriguez did not pitch with an affiliated league in 2023 as he worked to be declared an MLB free agent and most recently pitched to a 1.15 ERA in 54 2/3 NPB innings back in 2022.
It’s the second such report in that vein in as many months, as Toronto was said to have “taken the lead” in the hunt for Rodriguez’s services a few weeks ago. The addition of Rodriguez to the club’s pitching staff would likely give right-hander Alek Manoah competition for the club’s fifth starter spot this spring, and add a potentially strong late-inning reliever to the back of a Toronto bullpen that recently lost Jordan Hicks in the event that Manoah maintains his hold on the role. Will the club be able to get the deal done after missing on most of its targets earlier this winter?
Craig Breslow Discusses Red Sox’s Outfield, Rotation
The Red Sox are open to adding another right-handed hitter to their outfield mix, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow tells Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. To that end, Abraham reports that Boston remains in contact with free agent outfielder Adam Duvall’s camp.
Duvall had a solid, if volatile, 2023 season. Signed to a one-year, $7MM contract over the offseason, he was arguably the best hitter in MLB for the first couple weeks. Duvall ran a .455/.514/1.030 line over his first 37 plate appearances before fracturing a bone in his left wrist while diving for a fly ball. The injury cost him two months.
He was mired in an extended slump upon coming off the injured list, limping to a .175/.253/.313 showing through the All-Star Break. Duvall found his stride again coming out of the Break, raking at a .293/.349/.654 clip through the end of August. The year ended on a dismal note, as he struck out in over 40% of his plate appearances while hitting .149/.177/.324 from September 1 on.
Despite the extreme peaks and valleys, Duvall’s overall offensive production was well better than average. He hit 21 homers with a .247/.303/.531 slash in 353 plate appearances. Boston’s decision to give him nearly 500 innings in center field predictably didn’t work out well, as he rated between three and five runs below average by Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved. Duvall has been a plus defender in left field throughout the course of his career though. Between the strong corner outfield defense and 30-homer upside, he’s a valuable player despite high strikeout totals and subpar on-base marks.
The Angels are the only other team that has been publicly linked to Duvall this offseason. At age 35, it seems likely he’ll sign another one-year pact, although there’s an outside chance he lands a second guaranteed season.
Breslow wasn’t with the Sox when they signed Duvall last January. Yet the front office has sought right-handed power in the outfield throughout his first offseason at the helm. Boston already swung a trade for Tyler O’Neill. They were linked to Teoscar Hernández before he signed a one-year, $23.5MM pillow contract with the Dodgers. Duvall would be significantly cheaper.
Even as the Sox pursued Hernández, they’d pointed to the rotation as their biggest priority. Boston took a rebound flier on Lucas Giolito. Not long thereafter, they subtracted Chris Sale in the trade to add Vaughn Grissom from the Braves. While Giolito seems a safer bet than Sale to log a full workload, the pair of moves leaves the Sox with the same number of starters they had at the beginning of the winter.
Breslow told Abraham the current rotation consists of four pitchers: Giolito, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta. That’d leave Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Josh Winckowski competing for the final spot. Offseason acquisitions Cooper Criswell and Max Castillo are among the depth options on the 40-man roster.
Of course, that’s not necessarily the mix they’ll take to Spring Training. Breslow conceded their efforts to add rotation help have thus far “been a challenge” but said they’re “still engaged in conversations with free agents and teams via trade.” The Sox have been loosely tied to top arms Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery (more so the latter) during the offseason, but more recent reports indicated they were looking at the next tiers down. With mid-level arms like Shota Imanaga and Marcus Stroman recently coming off the board, the free agent supply is dwindling beyond Snell and Montgomery.
That hints at payroll questions that have hung over the offseason. The Sox opened the 2023 season with a player payroll in the $181MM range, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That ranked 12th in the majors, their first time outside the top 10 this century. Roster Resource projects their 2024 payroll in a similar range, a little under $178MM. They’re almost $40MM away from next year’s base luxury tax threshold.
An offseason headlined by Giolito and trade pickups of Grissom and O’Neill presumably isn’t what many in the fanbase envisioned. That’s especially true after team chairman Tom Werner vowed in early November the organization would go “full throttle” to put their two straight last place finishes behind them.
Werner walked that phrasing back in a conversation with Sean McAdam of MassLive this afternoon. “Maybe that wasn’t the most artful way of saying what I wanted to say, which is that we’re going to be pressing all levers to improve the team,” he said. “In the end, nobody’s happy with our performance the last few years. Some years, we go after somebody who is about to be a free agent, or was a free agent, as it pertains to Trevor Story or Raffy Devers.”
After noting the organization made an unsuccessful run at Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Werner added the Sox “certainly aren’t happy with the current roster as it was at the end of last year, so if I was going to say it again, I would say that we’re going to be pressing all levers and weren’t going to be happy with just one (method) — that includes free agency, trades or talent from Triple and Double A. … In the end, we don’t have a line in terms of our payroll that we look at as much as trusting that Craig is going to deliver on his assurance that we’re going to be competitive.“
Cardinals Notes: TV Deal, Bullpen, Edman
Cardinals officials met with reporters to close the organization’s Winter Warm-Up on Monday. The team’s local broadcasting contract was among the topics.
Owner Bill DeWitt Jr. confirmed the Cardinals would receive their full rights fees for 2024, per their contract with Bally Sports Midwest (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). The Cardinals are among 12 teams affected by the ongoing Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy. Even as MLB and the broadcasting conglomerate continue discussions about renegotiating some of the deals, St. Louis has been assured they’ll be paid in full next season.
That doesn’t provide any kind of certainty beyond 2024. There’s a real possibility Diamond ceases operation of all the Bally Sports RSNs after next season. In that case, the teams will need to find a new means of in-market broadcasting. DeWitt suggested the Cards were considering a handful of different paths. One option would be a partnership with the NHL’s Blues for a shared channel. The club could also create a standalone channel of its own or partner with some of the other MLB teams that will likely be dropped by Bally after the ’24 campaign.
However they handle their post-’24 broadcasts, they’ll have one more season at their negotiated rights fees. Goold reports that number to be around $73MM (potentially more depending on inflation adjustments). DeWitt said the Cardinals approached the 2023-24 offseason without any spending restrictions tied to the rights fees as they operated on the assumption they’d be paid at least 80% of their contract for next season.
St. Louis is on track for a similar payroll as they had a season ago. Roster Resource projects their 2024 spending around $178MM. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, they opened the ’23 campaign in the $177MM range. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak indicated last weekend there was still some room to add this offseason, even if team president Bill DeWitt III has downplayed the chance of any huge splashes.
The middle relief corps stands as perhaps the team’s top remaining priority. After the Cardinals dealt Richie Palacios to the Rays for Andrew Kittredge, Katie Woo of the Athletic writes they’re likely to continue searching for free agent bullpen help. Previous reports have linked the team to Ryan Brasier and Phil Maton, each of whom remains unsigned.
Also in attendance on Monday was center fielder/middle infielder Tommy Edman. The switch-hitter discussed his rehab from October’s arthroscopic wrist procedure. He noted he hasn’t yet been cleared to make contact when he swings a bat. He’s likely to be delayed on the hitting side in camp but said he’s “very confident” he’ll be at full strength by the start of the season (Post-Dispatch link via Goold).
Edman also discussed his contract situation as he prepares for a potential arbitration hearing. He’s one of 22 arbitration-eligible players in MLB — and the only Cardinal — who didn’t reach a settlement before last Thursday’s deadline to exchange filing figures. Edman’s camp filed for a $6.95MM salary, while the team countered at $6.5MM. Like most clubs, St. Louis takes the “file-and-trial” approach and won’t continue negations on a one-year salary past the filing deadline.
Even “file-and-trial” teams are typically willing to discuss multi-year pacts after exchanging figures, however. Edman said he hasn’t heard anything about a multi-year deal to this point but suggested he expects there to be some discussion between the team and his representatives before the hearing. Edman has between four and five years of service time. A two-year deal would allow the sides to avoid a hearing without affecting his free agent trajectory.
Cubs Continuing Search For Bullpen Help
Bolstering the relief corps is “a focus” for the Cubs, writes Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. They’ve shown interest in Guardians’ closer Emmanuel Clase, Levine adds.
Almost every team probably has some degree of interest in Clase. He has led MLB in saves and games finished in each of the last two seasons. The 25-year-old righty has made the All-Star Game in consecutive years. He has essentially been an elite reliever from the time Cleveland was able to put him on the mound.
Cleveland acquired Clase in what turned out to be a very lopsided trade sending former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber to the Rangers during the 2019-20 offseason. His tenure with the club couldn’t have begun much worse, as Clase was suspended for the shortened season after a failed PED test. Once he took the Progressive Field mound, he was dominant. The fireballing righty turned in a 1.29 ERA over 69 2/3 frames as a rookie.
The Guardians signed Clase to a $20MM extension the following April. He responded with a 1.36 ERA over a league-leading 77 appearances. Clase’s numbers took a step back last season, as he allowed 3.22 earned runs per nine. After running a 27.5% strikeout rate between 2021-22, he fanned a slightly below-average 21.2% of hitters last year. Ground-ball rates that had sat north of 60% in each of his first two years in Cleveland dropped, albeit to a still excellent 55% clip.
Even if Clase wasn’t quite as dominant last season, he’s still one of the best relievers in the game. His primary pitch, his cutter, averages more than 99 MPH. He’s one of the sport’s top ground-ball pitchers and rarely issues free passes.
The contract only adds to the appeal. Clase will make just $2.5MM next season. He’s due respective $4.5MM and $6MM salaries in 2025-26. The deal contains $10.5MM club options (with $2MM buyouts) covering 2027-28, although he’s likely to escalate the value of those options to $13MM apiece. He’d also receive a $1MM assignment bonus in the event of a trade. That’s nevertheless affordable enough to comfortably fit in the budget for any team, including the Guardians, at least for the next three seasons.
That seemingly makes it a long shot Cleveland pulls the trigger on a deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported shortly before the Winter Meetings the Guardians were open to offers, however. They’d presumably only do so for a package built around multiple top prospects given Clase’s ceiling and five years of club control.
Clase is one of a number of possibilities. Top free agent reliever Josh Hader remains unsigned. So does Robert Stephenson, arguably the top righty reliever in this year’s class (and a player in whom the Cubs have shown interest). Hector Neris and Phil Maton are solid middle relief options.
A run at anyone in that group would require a pivot from the Cubs’ general approach to the relief corps. Chicago has shied away from notable free agent investments since their signing of Craig Kimbrel. As shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the Cubs haven’t guaranteed more than one year or $5MM to a free agent bullpen arm over the past five offseasons.
Hoyer spoke generally about that reluctance to commit top dollar in the relief corps. “The elite, elite closer, the leverage they pitch in can make a difference,” he said (via Levine). “But the bullpen performances are the most volatile on the baseball field. … The pen is a higher volatility and aggression area. So you want to put your dollars to use in the areas you are most certain about.”
That could point to a preference to add to the group via trade if possible. The bullpen and third base are potential targets a month from Spring Training. At least week’s Cubs Convention, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer downplayed the chances of signing another starter after the four-year deal for Shota Imanaga (link via Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic).
Hoyer and skipper Craig Counsell have each suggested trade pickup Michael Busch could address their first base vacancy (link from Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). If the Cubs are content with Christopher Morel at designated hitter and the combination of Mike Tauchman and Pete Crow-Armstrong to handle center field, that leaves the hot corner and bullpen as the biggest areas of concern.