Twins Sign A.J. Alexy To Minor League Deal
The Twins have signed right-hander A.J. Alexy to a minor league deal, according to the transactions section of Alexy’s MLB.com player page. It’s currently unclear if the deal includes an invite to big league Spring Training.
Alexy, 26 in April, got his start back in 2016 when the Dodgers selected him in the eleventh round of that year’s draft. Alexy didn’t stay with L.A. for very long, quickly getting shipped to the Rangers in a package that brought Yu Darvish to the Dodgers at the 2017 trade deadline. At the time of the deal, Alexy sported a respectable 3.67 ERA through 19 starts at the Single-A level that season. His five starts after changing uniforms down the stretch were even more impressive, as he posted a 3.05 ERA and struck out 30.3% of batters faced.
The righty’s success continued in 2018, as he posted a 3.58 ERA with a similar 30.5% strikeout rate across 108 innings in a repeat of the Single-A level that season. Unfortunately for the right-hander, he was limited to just five starts in the 2019 season due to injury and did not pitch in 2020 due to the cancelled minor league season. That being said, Alexy looked nothing short of dominant at Double- and Triple-A levels upon his return to the mound in 2021, with a 1.66 ERA and a 29.8% strikeout rate in 65 innings of work across both levels.
That success in the minors earned Alexy his first cup of coffee in the majors, and he held his own with a 4.70 ERA (95 ERA+) in 23 innings across five appearances. Alexy’s peripheral numbers, including a 6.30 FIP and identical 17.5% strikeout and walk rates, were potential red flags but the right-hander nonetheless appeared poised to earn a more significant opportunity in the majors in 2022. Things did not go according to plan for Alexy, however, as he posted the worst season of his career in 2022. He walked (9) more batters than he struck out (6) while surrendering nine runs on ten hits across seven innings of work at the big league level, and his Triple-A numbers weren’t much better as he posted a 5.91 ERA across 96 innings of work.
Alexy’s struggles in 2022 led the Rangers to designate him for assignment in December of last year to make room for left-hander Andrew Heaney on the club’s 40-man roster. The move kicked off a ride on the transactional carousel for Alexy, who was claimed by the Nationals before being traded to the Twins only to be put on waivers and claimed by the White Sox, who held him on their 40-man roster for the remainder of the offseason before eventually sneaking him through waivers and assigning him outright to Triple-A in late April.
Alexy’s time with Chicago did not go well, as the righty posted a 12.00 ERA in 21 innings at the Triple-A level before the White Sox cut him loose back in July. Since then, Alexy completed a brief stint in the Atlantic league, where he struggled to a similar 11.81 ERA in 5 1/3 innings of work before heading back to the open market this offseason.
Now, the Twins will take another chance on Alexy on a minor league deal, surely hoping that he can put his struggles from the past two seasons behind him and recapture the dominant form he flashed in 2021. Going forward, Alexy appears likely to act as non-roster depth for the Twins at the Triple-A level who the club can call on to pitch out of either the bullpen or rotation in a pinch.
Hazen: Diamondbacks Looking To Add Another Bat
The Diamondbacks have had a fairly busy offseason in the aftermath of their surprising playoff run that saw them reach the Fall Classic for the first time since the club’s lone championship in 2001. The club made a big addition to its rotation via free agency by landing left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez on a four-year pact and just recently brought back outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a three-year deal. On the trade market, meanwhile, Arizona landed third baseman Eugenio Suarez in a deal with the Mariners, adding a power bat to the club’s infield mix. The additions of Gurriel and Suarez both add some balance to Arizona’s lineup, which is largely dominated by lefty and switch-hitters outside of first baseman Christian Walker.
Even after those major acquisitions, Arizona does not appear ready to call it an offseason just yet. As noted by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, GM Mike Hazen indicated during Gurriel’s introductory press conference yesterday that the heavy lifting of the club’s offseason is not yet done.
“I feel like we’ve certainly added to our team. I think our team on paper, starting out next season, is going to be in a very similar, if not slightly better, position than we started out 2023 with,” Hazen said, “That’s a decent starting point. I think the competitiveness within our division is going to require us to continue to upgrade the roster any way we can.”
Hazen went on to add that the club is looking to add another position player to the lineup, though he’s “not so sure” that the addition will have to hit from the right-hand side after the club’s acquisitions of Gurriel and Suarez. Hazen went on to suggest that the club is looking at more of an offensively oriented addition— hardly a surprise given the club’s lack of a clear starting option at DH.
The club’s willingness to consider left-handed hitters is a sensible change in tone given the additions of Gurriel and Suarez to the lineup. While Arizona’s 97 wRC+ (18th in the majors) as a team last year was held back by the team’s 92 wRC+ (23rd) against southpaws, the club’s 99 wRC+ against right-handers (17th) was still below league average. Gurriel and Suarez sport career wRC+ marks of 117 and 126 respectively figure to help the club get up to par against lefties, but their lesser marks of 111 and 106 against right-handed pitching will be less impactful. Given that, a left-handed hitter or at least a right-handed hitter who fares well against same-handed pitching could be a wise addition to the club’s hitting corps.
Of course, even if Hazen is open to adding a lefty bat to the club it’s worth noting that the club has largely been attached to right-handed bats to this point. J.D. Martinez, Jorge Soler, and Justin Turner all fit the club’s reported preference for a bat-first hitter. As such, it’s no surprise that each has been connected to Arizona even as they hit from the right side. A reunion with Tommy Pham or a deal with Rhys Hoskins could also make sense for the club in terms of righty bats. In terms of left-handed hitters, Brandon Belt, Joc Pederson, Michael Brantley, and Joey Gallo are among the options available on the open market.
Angels Sign Chad Wallach To Minor League Deal
The Angels have re-signed catcher Chad Wallach to a minor league contract, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (X link). Wallach entered free agency after being outrighted off the Halos’ 40-man roster following the season, and it is safe to guess that his new minors deal contains an invitation to Spring Training.
It is the second catcher signing in as many days for Los Angeles, as Francisco Mejia was also added on a minors contract yesterday. Logan O’Hoppe is set to be the Angels’ starting catcher and Matt Thaiss has the inside track on the backup job, but Mejia and Wallach will provide some veteran competition and depth in Spring Training. Since Thaiss also has some experience as a corner infielder, the Halos could even consider carrying three catchers on the Opening Day roster, depending on how the rest of their offseason dealings play out.
Wallach is a known quantity in Anaheim, first joining the organization after being claimed off waivers from the Dodgers in August 2021. The Angels have outrighted Wallach off the roster four times, and this marks the second straight offseason that Wallach had elected free agency and then re-signed with the organization.
Wallach’s defense and reputation as a quality game-caller have led to a seven-year Major League career, consisting of 155 career games and 443 plate appearances with the Reds, Marlins and Angels from 2017-23. Due to the Angels’ catching injuries last season, Wallach set new career highs in both games played (65) and PA (172), though he didn’t deliver much at the plate. Over his 443 career PA, Wallach has hit .198/.263/.328 with 11 home runs — seven of those dingers came in 2023.
Padres Discussed Jake Cronenworth Trade With Blue Jays
The Padres had talks with the Blue Jays about a possible trade involving Jake Cronenworth, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. These discussions notably took place prior to the trade that saw the Padres move Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Yankeees, and Rosenthal now suggests that Cronenworth might not be moved since San Diego would be moving another left-handed hitter from a lineup that now tilts rather heavily to the right side.
Rosenthal’s suggestion notwithstanding, the Padres’ payroll balance might be a bigger factor than lineup balance in gauging a Cronenworth trade. Cost-cutting has been the central theme of the Friars’ offseason, as the team is looking to reset its luxury tax status and perhaps drop the payroll under $200MM, from an approximate $255MM figure in 2023. This was the chief reasoning behind the Soto trade, as well as Grisham’s inclusion in the deal to move some extra salary off the books. The Padres also dealt Matt Carpenter to the Braves in another salary dump of a move, while free agent pitchers Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Nick Martinez have all signed elsewhere (and Blake Snell and Josh Hader also doesn’t seem likely to be re-signed).
With this focus in mind, it is hard to imagine that the Padres wouldn’t also be eager to get Cronenworth’s contract off the books. The infielder is still owed $78MM over the course of a seven-year extension that officially begins with the 2024 season, and that deal now looks like a front office misfire in the wake of Cronenworth’s disappointing 2023 campaign. While Cronenworth hit a solid .256/.338/.431 over 1519 plate appearances for San Diego from 2020-22, he stumbled to a .229/.312/.378 slash line in 522 PA last season and suffered a right wrist fracture that ended his year in late August.
MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently looked at the obvious difficulties San Diego would face in trying to trade Cronenworth at this low point in his value, and it seems very unlikely the Padres would be able to swing a deal unless they either ate a big chunk of Cronenworth’s deal, or took on another undesirable contract in return. As such, it might benefit the Friars to just hang onto Cronenworth and hope that he can rebound next season — either to boost his trade value or simply to reclaim his spot as a building block in the team’s future.
From the Blue Jays’ perspective, acquiring Cronenworth makes sense given the club’s needs at second base and third base. The versatile infielder has primarily played at the keystone at the MLB level, though he could chip in at third base in a pinch, and also act as a backup for Toronto at shortstop and first base, to boot. The Jays are also short on left-handed hitters, though naturally the bigger question would be whether Cronenworth would provide much of a lineup upgrade given his 2023 struggles.
It is fair to assume that Toronto’s inquiries didn’t involve the Jays picking up even the majority of Cronenworth’s deal, unless perhaps the interest was also tied into the Blue Jays’ known interest in Soto. This is purely speculative on my part, but the Jays might’ve considered the idea of taking on the bulk of Cronenworth’s contract in addition to Soto, as a way of reducing the prospect cost that would’ve gone back to San Diego in return. This tactic would’ve added quite of bit of extra money to Toronto’s payroll, yet the Jays might’ve considered it worthwhile to land Soto even for a year, and without dealing from its minor league ranks. If Cronenworth had then bounced back in a Jays uniform, that would’ve been an additional long-term bonus.
While Grisham was unloaded as part of the actual Soto trade with the Yankees, the Padres prioritized talent acquisition rather than pure salary offload in the eventual deal, upgrading their rotation with pitchers who can help now (i.e. Michael King) and in the future. Given how the Padres still plan to compete in 2024 rather than embark on a pure fire sale, watering down Soto’s trade value by attaching a more cumbersome contract like Cronenworth’s extension to the package wouldn’t have been the wiser long-term play.
Eight Teams Combine For Record $209.8MM In Luxury Tax Bills
Major League Baseball has finalized the luxury tax calculations for the 2023 season, and the eight teams over the Competitive Balance Tax threshold will combine for a total bill of $209.8MM, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports. Both the total number of tax-paying teams and the total sum are new records, surpassing the previous highs of six teams (in 2016 and 2022) and $78.5MM (in 2022).
Here is what each of the eight teams owes for surpassing at least the $233MM base CBT threshold….
- Mets: $100,781,932
- Padres: $39.7MM
- Yankees: $32.4MM
- Dodgers: $19.4MM
- Phillies: $6.98MM
- Blue Jays: $5.5MM
- Braves: $3.2MM
- Rangers: $1.8MM
As a reminder of how the luxury tax operates, the CBT figures are determined by the average annual value of salaries for players on the 40-man roster. A player earning $20MM over two seasons, for example, has a CBT number of $10MM, even if the player might earn $8MM in the first year of the contract and $12MM in the second year. Deferred money in a contract can reduce a luxury tax number to some extent — most famously, Shohei Ohtani‘s $700MM deal with the Dodgers contains $680MM in deferred money, so his CBT hit will be roughly $46MM per season instead of $70MM.
A team is considered a “first-time payor” if they haven’t spent above the CBT threshold in the previous season. A first-time payor would owe a 20% surcharge on any dollar spent between $233MM and $253MM, 32% of anything between $253MM and $273MM, 62.5% on anything between $273MM and $293MM, and then 80% of overages for anything beyond $293MM. These percentages rise if a team is a tax payor for two consecutive seasons, and then even further if a team exceeds the CBT line in three or more consecutive seasons. This year’s CBT class featured three first-time payors (Texas, Atlanta, Toronto), three two-time payors (Philadelphia, both New York teams) and two three-time payors (San Diego, Los Angeles).
The $293MM threshold was instituted in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement as a fourth penalty tier, and it is unofficially known as the “Steve Cohen Tax” in a reference to the Mets owner’s penchant for big spending. Even though New York has only topped the CBT whatsoever in 2022 and 2023, it isn’t surprising that Cohen’s team set new standards for tax payouts. The Mets’ tax payroll of $374.7MM and approximate $100.78MM tax bill far exceeded the 2015 Dodgers’ previous records of $291.1MM and $43.6MM, respectively.
This bill would’ve been even higher if the Mets hadn’t unexpectedly struggled, and unloaded some expensive contracts at the trade deadline in order to save some money and reload with an eye towards probably 2025 as a more clear-cut return to contention. Blum also notes that the Mets received a $2,126,471 tax credit related to a CBA provision, which slightly reduced their bill further.
As always, the actual financial cost of exceeding the tax is perhaps the least-important part of the penalties, especially for teams who barely across the first threshold. Teams who exceed the CBT line would face further punishment in regards to free agents who reject qualifying offers, whether that translates to additional compensation required to sign a QO-rejecting player, or lesser compensation received if a team’s own qualified free agent signs elsewhere. For instance, signing Ohtani cost the Dodgers not just $700MM, but also $1MM in international draft pool money and their second- and fifth-highest picks in the 2024 draft. For a team like the Padres, should Blake Snell or Josh Hader sign elsewhere, San Diego’s compensatory draft selection wouldn’t come until after the fourth round of the 2024 draft.
Spending on talent is more often than not a recipe for success on the field, though obviously hardly a guarantee. The Mets had a losing record, and the Padres and Yankees each squeaked over the .500 mark with 82-80 records. The other five tax payors reached the playoffs, though the Phillies and the World Series champion Rangers were the only members of that group of five to win at least one postseason series.
The $209.8MM in tax revenues will be split up in three ways by the league. The first $3.5MM is devoted to funding player benefits, $103.15MM will go towards funding individual player retirement accounts, and the other $103.15MM will be put into a supplemental commissioner’s discretionary fund and distributed amongst revenue-sharing recipient teams who have grown their (non-media) local revenue over a pre-determined number of years.
Giants Sign Tom Murphy
TODAY: The Giants officially announced the signing.
DECEMBER 18: The Giants are in agreement with free agent catcher Tom Murphy on a two-year deal with a 2026 club option, according to multiple reports. The Ballengee Group client is reportedly guaranteed $8.25MM, including a $250K buyout on the option. The deal can max out at $12MM.
Murphy heads to the Bay Area after five seasons in the Pacific Northwest. The right-handed hitter played a semi-regular role during his time with the Mariners. On a rate basis, Murphy has been one of the most productive power bats at the catcher position.
In 807 plate appearances with Seattle, Murphy blasted 38 home runs. He hit .250/.324/.460 overall, well above-average offense in one of the sport’s more pitcher-friendly home parks. That’s excellent production for a #2 catcher. However, that Murphy has only stepped to the plate 807 times over the last five years also points to a concerning injury history.
Going back to the start of 2020, the Buffalo product has missed time with a fractured left foot, a left shoulder dislocation and a sprained left thumb. The foot injury cost him the entire shortened season, while the shoulder limited him to 14 games in 2022. Last season’s thumb issue, suffered in mid-August, ended his year.
Despite the injury history, it’s easy to see the appeal of bringing Murphy aboard on a fairly low-cost contract. He’ll add a legitimate power presence as the backup behind 24-year-old Patrick Bailey. He’ll strike out a fair amount as well, but there aren’t many depth catchers who have the same kind of slugging upside that Murphy possesses.
The 32-year-old (33 in April) isn’t as highly-regarded on the other side of the ball. Statcast graded him below average from both framing and blocking perspectives. He only threw out one of 28 attempted basestealers in 2023. While that’s not entirely on the catcher — a pitcher’s ability to hold runners is also a factor — Statcast ranked Murphy 69th out of 74 catchers (minimum 10 throws) in average pop time to second base.
Signing Murphy could signal the forthcoming end of Joey Bart’s time in San Francisco. The second overall pick in 2018, Bart has hit only .219/.288/.335 in 162 big league contests. This year marked his final minor league option season, meaning San Francisco will have to carry him on the MLB roster or make him available to other clubs via trade or waivers.
Bailey and Murphy are the top two on the depth chart. Blake Sabol also seems ahead of Bart on the organizational hierarchy, although he has a trio of options and could play the corner outfield. Even if the Giants were to send Sabol to Triple-A, there’s not much value in keeping Bart as a sparsely-used third catcher. A sell-low trade of the former top prospect this offseason seems likely.
The Giants had a payroll in the $155MM range before the Murphy signing, according to Roster Resource. A $4MM salary would push that north of $158MM. The contract’s $4.125MM average annual value puts their luxury tax number around $192MM, about $45MM below next year’s lowest threshold.
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported the sides were nearing a multi-year deal, as well as the $8MM guarantee. Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first with an agreement. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported it was a two-year guarantee with a third-year option. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first with the $250K option buyout, which Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 specified was not in the originally reported $8MM total. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the $12MM maximum value.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes Re-Sign Ariel Jurado
The Korea Baseball Organization’s Kiwoom Heroes have reached a new deal with right-hander Ariel Jurado, Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News reports (via X). Jurado will earn $1.2MM in salary on his new one-year contract, and another $100K worth of incentive bonuses are also available.
Jurado’s debut season in the KBO League was a success, as he posted a 2.65 ERA over 183 2/3 innings. Though he struck out only 19.3% of batters, Jurado (who turns 28 next month) had a solid 5.4% walk rate and a staggering 65.5% groundball rate. The righty allowed only seven homers last season, a noteworthy feat in the hitter-friendly KBO.
Jurado’s performance was one of the few highlights of a tough season for the Heroes, who followed up a Korean Series appearance in 2022 with a last-place finish in 2023. It isn’t surprising that the team was eager to retain Jurado as it tries to get back on track, and Jurado cashed in with a substantial raise on his $850K salary from last season. Another nice showing in the KBO League could get Jurado some more attention from MLB clubs, though his grounder-heavy approach doesn’t have as much traditional appeal to scouts as a more strikeout-reliant pitcher.
A veteran of three MLB seasons, Jurado tossed 181 innings for the Rangers and Mets in 2018-20, with all but a single one of those frames coming in a Texas uniform. Jurado posted a 5.97 ERA while working mostly as a swingman, and he started 27 of his 45 Major League appearances. He missed all of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and then posted a 3.30 ERA over 57 1/3 frames in the Twins’ minor league system in 2022 without getting another call up to the majors.
NPB’s Chunichi Dragons Sign Alex Dickerson
The Chunichi Dragons have signed outfielder Alex Dickerson, according to multiple reports out of Japan (hat tip to Jon Heyman of the New York Post). Dickerson didn’t play in the affiliated minors in 2023, instead playing 115 games with the independent Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks, and also 12 games with Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League.
Dickerson is a veteran of six MLB seasons from 2015-2022, playing in 339 games and hitting .255/.325/.460 over 1001 career plate appearances. The large majority (872) of those plate appearances came against right-handed pitching, even though the lefty-swinging Dickerson’s career splits aren’t too dissimilar, apart from a lot more power against righty pitching.
Injuries have been perhaps the chief reason why the 33-year-old hasn’t been able to carve out a solid niche for himself in the big leagues. Dickerson missed all of the 2017-18 seasons due to back surgery and Tommy John surgery, and he has been a frequent visitor to the injured list several other times in his career. The pandemic-shortened 2020 season was the only “full” season of good health for Dickerson, and he delivered an impressive .298/.371/.576 slash line over 170 PA for the Giants.
Though Dickerson hit very well after being acquired by San Francisco during the 2019 season, his production started to tail off during an injury-marred 2021. The Giants designated him for assignment after the season and he caught on with the Braves, but Dickerson struggled badly in 13 games with Atlanta in April 2022, which marked his last appearances in the major leagues.
Dickerson will now get another international opportunity with the Nagoya-based Dragons, who are looking to reverse their fortunes after struggling for most of the last decade. While Dickerson’s big numbers in the Atlantic League may not necessarily hint at future success in NPB, it seems quite possible that the outfielder might get on track if he can just stay healthy. A successful season with the Dragons might then led to more opportunities in Japan, or perhaps more looks from MLB teams next winter.
Phillies Prioritizing Extension With Zack Wheeler
The Phillies’ “No. 1 priority” for the remainder of the offseason “is signing ace Zack Wheeler to a contract extension,” MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Wheeler is set to be a free agent next winter, as he is entering the final season of his five-year, $118MM contract.
Four seasons in, that deal has been an unqualified success from the Phillies’ perspective. Wheeler has the most fWAR (19.3) of any starter in baseball since the start of the 2020 season, as he has posted a 3.06 ERA, 26.7% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate, and 47% grounder rate over 629 1/3 regular-season innings in a Philadelphia uniform. The right-hander has been even more dominant during the postseason, delivering a 2.42 ERA over 63 1/3 playoff innings to help carry the Phillies to an NL pennant and an NLCS appearance over the last two seasons.
There aren’t many red flags on Wheeler as he enters his age-34 season, even if his 3.61 ERA in 2023 was the highest of his Philadelphia tenure. He generated fewer grounders and allowed a bit more hard contact than usual, and Wheeler relied more heavily on his signature four-seamer than ever before — he reduced his cutter usage since the secondary pitch wasn’t as effective as it had been in 2021-22.
Health-wise, Wheeler underwent a Tommy John surgery in 2015 and battled some other arm problems during his time with the Mets in 2016-17. He has been quite durable ever since, and a month-long bout of forearm tendinitis late in the 2022 season ended up being relatively minor, as Wheeler returned in strong form for the Phillies’ playoff run.
With his track record of success and durability, Wheeler figures to be one of the most sought-after members of the 2024-25 free agent class, even if he’ll be turning 35 in May 2025. As such, Wheeler and his representatives at Wasserman might seek out a bit of a premium from the Phillies in order to keep the righty from testing the market. A four-year extension isn’t an unreasonable ask given Wheeler’s relatively clean recent health history, and topping the $23.6MM average annual value on his current contract seems like a given.
The Phillies have obviously shown a willingness to spend big in acquiring and retaining star players over the last few seasons, even if this hasn’t manifested itself in many actual extensions. Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez are the only Phillies to sign extensions during Dave Dombrowski’s three-plus years as president of baseball operations, and those relatively modest deals (two years and $18.55MM in new money for Alvarado, two years and $7.25MM for Dominguez) aren’t in the stratosphere of what it’ll take to lock up Wheeler. While the Phillies kept Aaron Nola and J.T. Realmuto in the fold on new contracts, the Phils let both players reach the open market first before eventually re-signing the duo.
It was just over a month ago that Nola was re-signed to a seven-year, $172MM deal, cementing the right-hander as a staple of the Phils’ rotation through the rest of the decade. Nola joins Bryce Harper and Trea Turner as Philadelphia players who are already signed through at least the 2030 season, plus Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber are on the books through 2025, and Taijuan Walker and Nick Castellanos are signed through 2026. An extension for Wheeler would put yet another hefty contract on the team’s ledger, though spending big on star talent has long been Dombrowski’s M.O. The Phillies have exceeded the luxury tax in each of the last two seasons and are projected to be well over at least the first tax threshold in 2024, so owner John Middleton isn’t showing any signs of cutting back given how close the Phillies have come to a championship.
That said, it seems like a lot of the heavy lifting is over on the Phillies’ 2023-24 offseason work, now that Nola has been re-signed and Yoshinobu Yamamoto is officially off the market. Signing Yamamoto would have arguably been a luxury for the team, yet the team viewed him as a special player worthy of a strong push, and Dombrowski told Zolecki and other reporters that “I think we were extremely competitive” in at least getting Yamamoto’s attention.
“We were aggressive. When we made our presentation [to Yamamoto’s representatives], I think our guys did a tremendous job,” Dombrowski said. “I think they presented the organization well….I don’t think it had anything to do with anything else, he just preferred to be a Dodger. Ultimately he was just not a person attuned to coming to Philly.”
In terms of further pursuits, Dombrowski said other additions would come “more around the edges” of the roster, since so much of Philadelphia’s 26-man is already set. This will take the form of bullpen help and depth/swingman type of pitchers for the rotation, and Dombrowski downplayed the idea of adding another outfielder. With Harper now the regular first baseman and Schwarber the regular DH, the Phillies will have Castellanos, Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas, Cristian Pache, Jake Cave, Simon Muzziotti, and utilitymen Weston Wilson and Kody Clemens all in the mix for outfield playing time.
Red Sox Sign Mark Kolozsvary To Minor League Deal
The Red Sox have signed catcher Mark Kolozsvary to a minor league contract, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel reports (via X). The deal contains an invitation to Boston’s big league Spring Training camp.
Kolozsvary’s MLB resume consists of 10 games with the Reds in 2022 and then one game (or, one half-inning as a defensive replacement) with the Orioles this past season. The 28-year-old backstop was designated for assignment and then outrighted shortly after that lone appearance for the O’s, and Kolozsvary landed with the Twins on a minor league deal soon thereafter.
Originally a seventh-round pick for the Reds in the 2017 draft, Kolozsvary hasn’t hit much during his minor league career, and he has only a .174/.282/.301 slash line over 300 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. However, he managed to climb the ladder and reach the majors on the strength of his all-around solid defensive game. It’s the type of skillset that has extended many a catcher’s career, and Kolozsvary will head to Boston’s camp looking to impress either Red Sox brass or perhaps opposing scouts, if he ends up being a late cut.
The Red Sox already have Connor Wong and Reese McGuire lined up as their regular catching tandem, Roberto Perez was signed to a minor league deal earlier in December, and top prospect Kyle Teel could make his MLB debut at some point in 2024. While perhaps somewhat of a crowded situation on paper, teams usually like to have depth in camp at the catcher position, and the Sox will be looking to both continue Teel’s development while also having an acceptable amount of emergency depth on hand at the Triple-A level.