The Opener: Hernández, Imanaga, DFA Limbo
Here are three things we’re monitoring in the baseball world today…
1. Teoscar nearing decision?
A couple of reporters yesterday, Marino Pepén and Moises Fabian, suggested that the market for Teoscar Hernández is nearing resolution. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Angels have been connected to the slugger and it seems those three teams are still at the table. Hernández is coming off a bit of a down year but it’s possible that the pitcher-friendly home park in Seattle played a role in that. From 2020 to 2022, he hit .283/.333/.519 for the Blue Jays for a 133 wRC+. After being traded to the Mariners, he hit just .258/.305/.435 for a 105 wRC+ last year, but he had a 126 wRC+ on the road and 81 at home.
2. One week left for Imanaga:
Left-hander Shota Imanaga‘s posting window is open until January 11, giving him just one more week to work out a deal with interested clubs. Reporting from yesterday suggested that the Yankees may not be that excited about the southpaw, though clubs like the Giants, Red Sox and Cubs appear to still be in the mix. Imanaga has a 3.18 ERA over his career in Nippon Professional Baseball but is coming off two straight seasons at 2.80 or lower.
3. Extended DFA limbo continues:
Players designated for assignment are normally required to have resolution within a week but this clock is paused between Christmas and New Year’s. As mentioned in yesterday’s Opener, right-hander Ryan Jensen was been waiting to find out his status since December 20 and no news arrived before end of day yesterday. Just behind him, catcher Donny Sands and infielder Diego Castillo were designated for assignment December 22 and are still waiting for answers.
MLBTR Podcast: Yamamoto Fallout, the Sale/Grissom Trade and Transaction Roundup
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 Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Dodgers signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto and what’s next for the teams that missed (0:55)
- Red Sox agreed to terms with Lucas Giolito and then traded Chris Sale to the Braves for Vaughn Grissom (7:50)
- The Royals spreading money around to various players (16:10)
- The Blue Jays sign Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (20:25)
- Mariners sign Mitch Garver (26:05)
- Reds sign Frankie Montas (28:35)
Check out our past episodes!
- Tyler Glasnow, Jung Hoo Lee, D-Backs’ Signings and the Braves’ Confusing Moves – listen here
- Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and Deferred Money – listen here
- Winter Meetings, Ohtani Secrecy, and the Mariners Shedding Salary – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Padres Sign Woo-Suk Go To Two-Year Deal
The Padres announced the signing of reliever Woo-Suk Go to a two-year contract with a mutual option covering the 2026 season. He is reportedly guaranteed $4.5MM. Go will make $1.75MM this year and $2.25MM in 2025. There’s a $500K buyout on the option, which is valued at $3MM. San Diego will also owe a $900K posting fee to the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization. The Friars still have five vacancies on the 40-man roster.
The contract also contains a number of performance bonuses. Go would receive an additional $100K if he reaches 70 appearances next season. He can unlock up to $400K in bonuses for 2025 as well: $100K apiece at 40, 45, 55 and 60 games. His 2025 salary could jump by as much as $500K if he reaches 45 games finished next season. Unless the mutual option is exercised, Go will return to free agency two years from now. While he’ll still be well shy of six years of MLB service, most major league deals for players from a foreign professional league include a clause that sends the player back to free agency once the contract expires.
Go, a 25-year-old righty, has pitched parts of seven seasons in the KBO. He has worked as a pure reliever throughout that time, operating as the LG Twins closer for the past five years. After struggling during his first two seasons as a teenager, Go has been a solid bullpen arm for a half-decade.
He has rattled off four seasons with a sub-4.00 ERA, including three campaigns allowing fewer than 2.20 earned runs per nine. Go surpassed 30 saves in each of 2019, ’21 and ’22. He has fanned more than 26% of batters faced in each of the last five years, topping the 30% mark in the last two seasons.
While Go has consistently shown the ability to miss bats, he hasn’t always been around the strike zone. He has walked more than 10% of opposing hitters in four of his seven seasons. Go issued free passes to an alarming 11.6% of batters faced last year, contributing to a 3.68 ERA that made for more of a solid than exceptional platform showing.
Public scouting reports have generally pegged Go as a likely middle reliever at the big league level. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs writes that Go leans primarily on a mid-90s fastball and low-90s cutter while occasionally mixing in a curveball. That’s an intriguing arsenal, but the fringy control could make him a risk in higher-leverage spots.
The Twins made Go available via the posting system on December 4. That opened a 30-day period for him to sign with a major league club. (Unlike Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, whose posting windows last 45 days, there’s a 30-day opening for South Korean players). That was concluding this afternoon. If Go hadn’t signed with an MLB team by 4:00 pm CST, he’d have remained with the Twins for another season.
San Diego has been one of the sport’s most aggressive teams in targeting players making the jump from Asian professional leagues. They recently signed lefty Yuki Matsui to a five-year, $28MM pact as he came over from NPB. San Diego has added Ha-Seong Kim from the KBO and the likes of Nick Martinez and Robert Suarez from NPB in previous offseasons.
With Josh Hader, Martinez and Luis García hitting free agency, the Padres have Matsui and Suarez as their top two leverage relievers. Go joins that mix alongside righty Enyel De Los Santos, whom San Diego acquired from the Guardians in exchange for Scott Barlow this winter. Go is reportedly in the mix for the ninth inning.
Under the MLB-KBO posting agreement, the release fee is proportional to the size of the contract. For players guaranteed $25MM or less, it is calculated as 20% of the contract value. The $900K fee brings San Diego’s total outlay for Go to $5.4MM.
The deal’s $2.25MM average annual value brings San Diego’s projected luxury tax number to roughly $212MM, according to Roster Resource. That’s $25MM shy of next year’s lowest threshold. Their actual payroll sits in the $156MM range. Even in an offseason defined by budgetary limitations, adding Go shouldn’t have much of an impact on San Diego’s ability to continue bolstering the roster. The Padres still need one or two outfield acquisitions and would benefit from a back-of-the-rotation starter.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that Go and the Padres were nearing an agreement. The Post’s Joel Sherman reported the sides had agreed to a two-year, $4.5MM guarantee. Dennis Lin of The Athletic was first to report the 2026 mutual option and the specific salary breakdown. The Associated Press reported the bonuses and escalators.
Reports: Wander Franco Detained In Dominican Republic
January 3: Prosecutors accused Franco of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering on Wednesday, according to a report from the Associated Press. The money laundering charges stem from law enforcement’s assertion that Franco paid the mother of one of the minors. As previously reported, the mother has also been detained. Prosecutors are requesting that a judge order Franco and the woman each remain confined under house arrest and prevented from leaving the country.
A hearing is scheduled for Friday morning, at which point a judge will decide whether Franco is to be released on bond pending further investigation and trial.
January 1: Authorities in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic have arrested Wander Franco, according to multiple reports out of the D.R. (Spanish-language link via Listín Diario and ESPN Dominican Republic). He is expected to go in front of a judge for arraignment proceedings within the next 48 hours.
Officials have investigated two formal allegations that Franco has had inappropriate relationships with minors. (A third minor has made similar claims but did not file an official complaint.) According to Listín Diario, the mother of one of the alleged victims was also detained this afternoon.
Franco’s arrest was for failure to report for a summons last week, not a reflection of any new information in the investigations themselves, according to a report from ESPN.
The allegations against Franco went viral on social media on August 13. The Rays placed him on the restricted list the following day. A week later, he was transferred to administrative leave — common practice for players under investigation for possible violations of the MLB/MLBPA Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy. Franco was reinstated onto the Rays’ 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason in a procedural transaction.
While MLB quickly opened its own investigation into the social media allegations, the league is awaiting resolution of the legal process in the Dominican Republic before acting. Authorities summoned Franco for questioning last Wednesday. The 22-year-old did not report at the time. His previous attorneys later informed prosecutors that Franco had dismissed them. He did appear for questioning alongside his new legal representation this morning. Following that meeting with investigators, he was detained.
Diamondbacks Sign Logan Allen To Minor League Contract
The D-Backs signed lefty Logan Allen to a minor league contract yesterday, according to an announcement from their Triple-A team in Reno. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster Spring Training invitee.
Allen, 26, is the older of the two Logan Allens with MLB experience. As with the current Guardians starter of the same name, he was once a fairly well-regarded prospect in the Cleveland farm system. The 26-year-old Allen has yet to find much MLB success, however. Over three seasons in Cleveland, he pitched to a 5.45 ERA in 69 1/3 innings. The Guardians waived him in May 2022, where he was nabbed by the Orioles.
He made three relief appearances before Baltimore outrighted him from the 40-man roster. Those are Allen’s most recent MLB outings. He has spent the past year and a half in Triple-A. After finishing the 2022 campaign with the O’s, he split last year with the top affiliates of the Rockies and Mariners.
Allen struggled mightily with Colorado’s highest minor league team, allowing a 7.20 ERA through 45 frames. He found slightly better results after signing with Seattle around the All-Star Break. Over 14 appearances (10 starts) in the Mariner organization, he allowed 4.66 earned runs per nine innings. His 19.1% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk percentage over that stretch were still worse than average, however. That has generally been the case over parts of five Triple-A seasons, where Allen has a 6.04 ERA.
While he hasn’t found extended success in either the majors or Triple-A, Allen’s results up through Double-A were excellent. Evaluators credited him with an above-average to plus changeup during his time as a prospect. He’s a non-roster depth option who could start or work in long relief with the Aces to open the 2024 campaign.
Latest On Shota Imanaga’s Market
Shota Imanaga is among the more intriguing starting pitchers still on the free agent market. The Japanese left-hander became available to MLB teams on November 27, when he was formally posted by the Yokohama BayStars.
That opened a 45-day window for Imanaga to sign with a major league club. He’ll need to ink a contract with an MLB team by January 11 if he’s to make the jump to North America this offseason. With eight days to go, it’s little surprise Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that Imanaga’s market will gain steam this week. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported around Christmas the southpaw was planning a trip to meet with interested teams shortly after the New Year.
The Red Sox, Giants, Mets and Cubs are among the teams that have been connected to Imanaga since his posting window opened. In mid-December, Jon Heyman of the New York Post also listed the Yankees as a team that was keeping an eye on Imanaga as a fallback option if they missed on Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
However, Heyman suggested in an appearance on Bleacher Report this afternoon (X link) that the Yankees weren’t enamored with the southpaw. Imanaga allowed 17 home runs in 148 innings a season ago, the second-most in Japan’s top league. New York’s front office seemingly has concerns about how well he’d profile in a park as hitter-friendly as Yankee Stadium.
Despite the home run concerns, the 30-year-old is going to do quite well financially. Imanaga led NPB with 174 strikeouts while issuing only 24 walks (a meager 4% rate). Some evaluators project him as a mid-rotation starter. Passan reiterated this morning that many executives feel he’ll land a contract in excess of $100MM. That’d be well above the five-year, $75MM pact secured by Kodai Senga last winter even though Senga was arguably coming off a better platform showing.
Senga had allowed just seven homers with a 27.5% strikeout rate and a sparkling 1.94 ERA in 2022. Imanaga had a slightly superior strikeout percentage (29.2%) and allowed 2.80 earned runs per nine last year. Senga was also entering his age-30 season. Unlike Imanaga, he was a true free agent, so the Mets weren’t required to send any compensation to his NPB club. Any team that signs Imanaga would owe the BayStars a fee valued at 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of further spending.
That said, it’s possible teams harbored reservations about Senga’s health that they won’t have regarding Imanaga. The Mets reportedly expressed some trepidation with his elbow during their physical. That obviously didn’t scuttle the deal, but it could’ve factored into his earning potential.
Imanaga may also benefit from the success Senga had in his first MLB campaign. The righty finished runner-up in NL Rookie of the Year balloting after posting a 2.98 ERA across 166 1/3 innings. That Senga looked like more than a mid-rotation starter in his first MLB season could give some clubs added confidence in projecting Imanaga’s ability to handle big league hitters with a fairly similar projection.
Reds Sign Justin Bruihl To Minor League Deal
The Reds announced that they have signed left-hander Justin Bruihl to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league camp.
Bruihl, 27 in June, made his major league debut with the Dodgers in 2021 and served as a frequently-optioned depth arm for that club until a few months ago. Through the end of July 2023, he had made 65 appearances for Los Angeles with a solid 3.65 earned run average. His 7.6% walk rate was fairly strong and his 44.7% ground ball rate around average, but his 15.6% strikeout rate in that time was quite low. Some good luck may have kept runs from crossing the plate, as his .263 batting average on balls in play was on the low side, and ERA estimators like his 4.48 FIP and 4.61 SIERA were less impressive than his actual ERA.
He was designated for assignment as the club needed some roster spots after acquiring Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly from the White Sox. He was flipped to the Rockies for cash but then struggled badly with his new club, allowing six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings over seven appearances. He was designated for assignment again in late August and passed through waivers unclaimed, eventually reaching free agency at season’s end.
The Reds have Sam Moll and Alex Young as southpaws slated for work in the big league bullpen but Bruihl will give them some experienced non-roster depth. If Bruihl can earn his way onto the roster at any point, he still has an option year remaining, meaning he could be sent back down to the minors without being exposed to waivers again.
Padres Announce 2024 Coaching Staff, Do Not Plan To Hire Bench Coach
The Padres announced the coaching staff that will be working under manager Mike Shildt in 2024. Much of the staff includes coaches returning from last year’s club or previously-reported hires. In terms of new information from today’s announcement, Tim Leiper has been hired to serve as third base coach, as well as infield and base running instructor. Mike McCoy and Pat O’Sullivan were promoted from within the organization to serve as assistant hitting coaches in the major leagues. Ryan Barba has also been promoted from within, in his case taking on the title of major league field coordinator.
Notably absent from the announcement was a bench coach and Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the club does not plan to have a traditional bench coach this year. Instead, the bench coach duties will be divided between pitching coach Ruben Niebla, catching coach and game strategy assistant Brian Esposito, as well as Barba and McCoy.
Leiper, 57, was a first base coach with the Blue Jays from 2014 to 2018 but more recently has been working with the Giants in a player development role. He has also coached for Canadian teams in the Olympics and in the World Baseball Classic.
McCoy, 42, played in 170 major league games from 2009 to 2012, suiting up for the Rockies and Blue Jays. He’s been working as a coach in the Padres’ minor league system for the past eight years. O’Sullivan, 46, spent several years in the minors as a player and has also been coaching in the minors with the Padres for the past six years. Barba, 39, also played in the minor leagues before transitioning to coaching, having worked in the minors with the Padres for the past two years. All three will now get bumped up to the big league staff.
Red Sox Designate Mauricio Llovera For Assignment
The Red Sox officially announced their deal with right-hander Lucas Giolito, with fellow righty Mauricio Llovera designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Llovera, 28 in April, was just acquired from the Giants in a cash deal in July. He went on to toss 29 2/3 innings over 25 appearances after coming to Boston, with a 5.46 earned run average in that time. He had spent time with the Phillies and Giants and now has 59 innings of MLB experience with a 5.80 ERA.
He has fared much better in the minors, with a 2.82 ERA at the Triple-A level in 92 2/3 innings over the past three years. He has struck out 25.9% of Triple-A hitters faced while giving out walks to 8.8% of them. It’s also perhaps worth pointing out that a decent chunk of that came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League while he was in the Giants’ system.
The Sox will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers, though he would be eligible to elect free agency in the latter scenario since he has a previous career outright. His strong Triple-A results could lead to another club putting in a claim but Llovera is out of options, which will limit his appeal as a depth arm.
Red Sox Sign Lucas Giolito
The Red Sox are taking on a flier on Lucas Giolito, announcing to today that they have signed the right-hander. It is reportedly a two-year, $38.5MM guarantee that allows the CAA client to opt out after the first season. Giolito will collect an $18MM salary next year and would receive a $1MM buyout if he exercises the opt-out. His ’25 salary is worth $19MM.
If he doesn’t opt out next winter, a conditional option kicks in covering the 2026 campaign. Were Giolito to throw fewer than 140 innings in 2025, the Sox would have a $14MM club option. If he reaches or tops 140 frames, he’d convert that provision to a $19MM mutual option. Regardless of the option value, there’d be a $1.5MM buyout. The deal also contains $1MM in performance bonuses in each of the next two seasons.
It’s a modified pillow contract for the 29-year-old. That reflects a dismal final few months of last season. Giolito looked on track for a nine-figure deal early in the summer. Over his first 21 starts with the White Sox, he carried a 3.79 ERA while striking out more than a quarter of batters faced. Chicago’s fall out of contention made him one of the top starters available at the deadline.
A trade sending Giolito alongside reliever Reynaldo López to the Angels looked like a boost to his market value. Joining a fringe contender gave him an outside shot at a playoff berth. More meaningfully for his free agency, it took the qualifying offer off the table, as players who change teams midseason can’t be issued the QO.
That’s not how things played out. Giolito was one of the worst pitchers in MLB from the deadline onwards. He made only six starts for the Halos before they placed him on waivers, dumping the remainder of his salary after the team fell from contention to help limbo underneath the luxury tax line. Giolito was hit hard for both Los Angeles and the Guardians, who snagged him off the waiver wire at the end of August.
Over his final 12 appearances, he was tagged for a 6.96 ERA through 63 1/3 innings. He was staggeringly prone to the longball, allowing 21 homers (nearly one in every three innings) over that stretch. His walk rate also spiked. He handed out free passes to nearly 11% of opponents after issuing walks at a manageable 8.3% clip in Chicago.
Short of a major injury, it’d be hard to draw up a more frustrating final two months before free agency. That said, there’s a lot in his career résumé that made him arguably the top reclamation target in the rotation class. Giolito turned in upper mid-rotation results between 2019-21, combining for a 3.47 ERA with an excellent 30.7% strikeout percentage despite the hitter-friendly nature of Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field.
He has allowed nearly five earned runs per nine in each of the past two seasons, albeit for different reasons. His 4.90 mark in 2022 was attributable largely to a .340 average on balls in play, by far the highest rate of his career. That dropped to .274 last season, and his early-season results again painted the picture of a solid #3 starter. Then came the late-season homer barrage that left him with a 4.88 ERA at year’s end.
The longball has always been a bit of a problem for Giolito, but his second-half home run rate is unsustainably high. Boston is betting on positive regression in that department, hoping that’ll result in mid-rotation results. While Giolito’s whiffs are down from his 2019-21 peak, he still misses bats at an above-average level. Opposing hitters have swung through 12.2% of his offerings in each of the last two years, which tops the 10.8% league mark for starting pitchers. His fastball sits around 93 MPH and he misses a decent number of bats with both his changeup and slider.
Giolito’s performance has varied over the past few seasons. His durability has not. The 6’6″ hurler has taken the ball almost every fifth day for the last six years. He hasn’t had an injured list stint longer than two weeks at any point in his MLB career. He hasn’t had any arm-related absences as a big leaguer. Giolito has started 29 or more games in each of the past five full schedules and took the full slate of 12 rotation turns during the shortened season. Only Aaron Nola, Gerrit Cole, José Berríos and Patrick Corbin have started more games over that stretch. He’s eighth in the majors in innings pitched since 2018.
A source of volume innings is a sensible addition to a talented but volatile Boston pitching staff. Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock and Kutter Crawford are among the in-house options for the Opening Day rotation. Sale has battled various injuries over the past few seasons. Pivetta, Houck, Whitlock and Crawford have all worked out of the bullpen at times. Aside from Crawford, that group has generally found more success in long relief than out of the rotation. Bello’s rotation spot isn’t in jeopardy, but his production dipped at the end of his first full major league season.
That made adding a starter an offseason priority for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. The Sox were on the periphery of the Yoshinobu Yamamoto market before he signed with the Dodgers. They’d been tied to Jordan Montgomery as well, although recent reporting suggested they were pivoting towards the second tier. Giolito becomes Breslow’s first significant free agent acquisition as Boston’s front office leader. The Sox could still explore the rotation market — they’ve recently been tied to NPB left-hander Shota Imanaga and old friend James Paxton — but this signing may lead them to turn their main focus to another area of need like second base.
The contract falls in line with MLBTR’s prediction of two years and $44MM from the start of the offseason, when we ranked him this winter’s #17 free agent. The two-year guarantee with an opt-out after the first season has become more commonplace in recent years for priority rebound candidates. It affords the player more security than would a straight one-year pact while allowing him to get back to the market after one season if he bounces back.
Giolito turns 30 in July, so he’d be well-positioned for a lofty multi-year pact next winter if he gets on track. Since he was ineligible for the qualifying offer, the signing doesn’t cost Boston any draft compensation. If he pitches well enough to opt out a year from now, the Red Sox would likely make him the QO, allowing them to recoup a draft choice if he only spends one year in Massachusetts.
The Red Sox’s 2024 payroll projection now sits around $187MM, according to Roster Resource. They’re just shy of $200MM from a luxury tax perspective, keeping them $37MM below next year’s lowest threshold. Boston opened last season with a player payroll in the $181MM range after topping $206MM the prior season. They did not exceed the luxury tax threshold in 2023.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the Red Sox were signing Giolito to a two-year, $38.5MM guarantee with an opt-out; Passan was also first with the salary structure and the 2026 option specifics. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported the $1MM in annual incentives and specified that the buyout applied regardless of the option scenario.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.