Dodgers Sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto To 12-Year Deal
For the second time this month, the Dodgers have made a record-setting free agent strike. Los Angeles announced the signing of Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year contract. The NPB star lands a reported $325MM guarantee, an all-time high for a pitcher. The deal comes with a near-$51MM posting fee to the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball, bringing the overall commitment north of $375MM. Yamamoto is represented by Wasserman.
“I’d like to thank everyone in the Orix organization, the Dodger organization and all the people close to me who have given me so much support throughout this free-agent process,” Yamamoto said in a statement released by the team. “I am truly excited to wear Dodger Blue and can’t wait to play in front of a packed Dodger Stadium.”
Yamamoto receives a massive $50MM signing bonus and a pair of opt-out opportunities. Those are conditional on the status of his elbow but would allow him to retest free agency after the 2029 and ’31 seasons if he stays healthy. If he doesn’t incur a serious elbow injury, he’d be weighing whether to opt out of the last six years and $170MM once the 2029-30 offseason arrives. The deal does not contain any deferred money.
The right-hander has been the best pitcher in Japan for the past few seasons. He spent parts of seven years with the Buffaloes. By his age-20 campaign, he’d emerged as one of the top pitchers at the second-highest level of professional baseball in the world. Yamamoto turned in a 1.95 ERA that season, kicking off a run of five straight years allowing no more than 2.20 earned runs per nine.
That includes sub-2.00 ERA showings over his final trio of seasons. Yamamoto has won the Sawamura Award as Japan’s best pitcher in all three years. He worked to a 1.39 ERA over 193 2/3 innings in 2021, followed by a 1.68 mark in 193 frames the next season. Yamamoto somehow turned in an even better year in his final season, pitching to a microscopic 1.21 ERA through 168 frames.
Among NPB pitchers to reach 100 innings, Yamamoto’s ERA was more than half a run lower than anyone else’s. (Shoki Murakami finished second with a 1.75 mark in 144 1/3 frames). Only Shota Imanaga, who is also available to MLB teams this offseason via the posting system, topped Yamamoto’s 169 strikeouts. He punched out 26.6% of opposing hitters against a tidy 4.4% walk rate.
It’s about as dominant a body of work as a pitcher can build before he faces any MLB hitters. The elite production is supported by both scouting and quantitive evaluations of Yamamoto’s arsenal. Evaluators are nearly unanimous in projecting him as a high-octane major league starter. Conservative estimates on his upside point to a future as a high-end #2 starter, while other scouts have pegged him as a potential ace.
Eno Sarris of the Athletic recently broke down Yamamoto’s repertoire. He suggested Yamamoto brandishes three plus or better offerings highlighted by a split-finger that should be among the best in the majors. The righty worked in the mid-upper 90s with his fastball in shorter stints during the World Baseball Classic. He also sports a promising curveball and a cutter as his third and fourth offerings, while evaluators praise his athleticism and command.
Yamamoto would have been in high demand even if he were in his late 20s or early 30s, the standard age for a free agent pitcher. That he debuted in NPB as an 18-year-old and was made available via the posting system only adds to the appeal. Yamamoto turned 25 in August, making him the first marquee free agent pitcher that age since Masahiro Tanaka signed during the 2013-14 offseason. He’ll be paid through his age-36 season.
To the extent there are concerns about Yamamoto, they’re limited to his lack of MLB experience and a smaller 5’10” frame. That hasn’t worried many evaluators, though, and they’re clearly not issues for the Dodgers.
Entering the offseason, it was widely believed Yamamoto would land the largest contract ever for a player coming over from NPB. It’d have been a far bolder prediction to peg him for the largest deal of any pitcher in major league history. That’s what he’ll receive, though, setting the mark in both contract length and guarantee. He’s the first pitcher in recent memory to reach even the 10-year mark. The guarantee edges past the $324MM which Gerrit Cole landed with the Yankees during the 2019-20 offseason. Yamamoto’s deal stretches three more seasons than Cole’s does, but his camp is surely pleased with the guarantee record even if it required slightly lowering the annual salary.
The deal comes with a $27.08MM average annual value. Regardless of the precise salary distribution, that’s the relevant factor for the Dodgers’ competitive balance tax picture. That pushes L.A. well into the third tier of luxury tax penalization. Roster Resource calculates the club’s CBT number in the $282MM range.
The Dodgers are set to pay the tax for a third consecutive season. They’re taxed at a 50% rate for spending between $237MM and $257MM, 62% for their next $20MM, and a 95% clip for spending between $277MM and $297MM. (They’ll be taxed at a 110% rate for any dollars above $297MM.) By pushing the Dodgers from around $255MM to $282MM from a tax perspective, the contract adds roughly $18.2MM in tax payments. It also means that future acquisitions will come with an elevated tax height.
On top of the money to Yamamoto and the tax payments, the Dodgers are on the hook for a huge sum to Orix. Under the terms of the NPB/MLB posting system, a posting fee is calculated as 20% of a deal’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of further spending. That comes out to $50.625MM which the Dodgers owe to the Buffaloes.
It’s a staggering outlay, one that pushes near the $400MM mark in aggregate. It’s the kind of massive strike the Dodgers envisioned in the wake of the Shohei Ohtani signing. The defending AL MVP deferred $680MM of his $700MM deal until 2034-43. That left plenty of money at the front office’s disposal to fix the starting rotation. With Ohtani unable to pitch until 2025, he signed with a team that only had Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller as locks for the Opening Day rotation.
Within a couple weeks, the Dodgers have constructed a star-studded pitching staff to complement their strong bullpen and loaded lineup. Los Angeles acquired and promptly extended Tyler Glasnow. Adding Yamamoto to the group gives them a potentially elite front four. There’s still some risk. Glasnow and Buehler have concerning injury histories, while neither Yamamoto nor Miller has pitched a full season in MLB. Yet it’s also not difficult to see the path to excellent results regardless of whomever takes the final spot. Ryan Yarbrough, Emmet Sheehan and Michael Grove project as the top internal options, but it’d be foolish to rule out the Dodgers adding a veteran arm to continue their all-in push.
Aggressive as the signing is for L.A., they weren’t meaningfully above their top competitors in the bidding. Martino reports that the Yankees put forth a 10-year, $300MM offer, while the Mets put the same $325MM figure on the table. According to Martino, Yamamoto’s camp had sought opt-out provisions after the fifth and eighth seasons in those discussions. The Giants, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Phillies were also in the running down to the final week.
In the end, it seems Yamamoto preferred the Dodgers to the other clubs that were seriously involved. The Athletic’s Will Sammon reports that the Mets first presented the $325MM offer, which the Dodgers agreed to match. He’ll join Ohtani, Glasnow, Buehler, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith on a team that’s likely to enter the 2024 campaign as the most popular World Series pick.
The rest of the clubs will look elsewhere. The Mets seem likely to have a fairly quiet offseason, as they reportedly viewed Yamamoto as a unique free agent based on his youth and talent. They’re not expected to pivot to the next tiers of free agency. The Yankees, Giants, Blue Jays and Red Sox could all still be in play for top-of-the-market talent, either on the rotation front or at other positions. Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery now stand atop the starting pitching class, while Cody Bellinger is arguably the best remaining overall free agent. The market could also now accelerate for Imanaga, the #2 NPB pitcher who has until mid-January to sign with an MLB team.
Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported that Yamamoto would sign with the Dodgers for more than $300MM. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the 12-year, $325MM term. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale was first with the $50MM signing bonus, while Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the absence of deferrals. Passan reported the two opt-out possibilities.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Rangers Sign Derek Hill, Andrew Knapp, Elier Hernandez To Minors Contracts
The Rangers announced seven minor league signings today, with the players all receiving invitations to the club’s big league Spring Training camp. The signings of Diego Castillo and Jesus Tinoco were previously reported, and Texas’ group included three more players with MLB experience — outfielder Derek Hill, catcher Andrew Knapp, and outfielder Elier Hernandez.
Hill has seen some action in each of the last four Major League seasons, beginning with his big league debut as a member of the Tigers in 2020. Hill appeared in 95 games with Detroit from 2020-22 before signing a minors deal with the Nationals last winter that resulted in 13 more MLB appearances this past season. Washington designated Hill for assignment and outrighted him off the 40-man roster in July, and Hill chose to become a minor league free agency after the regular season was over.
Just a few days shy of his 28th birthday, Hill hasn’t hit much over his limited big league career, with a .229/.279/.314 slash line over 304 plate appearances. Selected 23rd overall by the Tigers in the 2014 draft, Hill’s bat took a while to get going even in the minors, though he has hit .288/.348/.472 with 22 homers and 28 steals (in 35 tries) over 756 career PA at the Triple-A level.
These numbers hint at some “quad-A” uncertainty for Hill, yet his speed, Triple-A production, and his ability to at least passably play all three outfield positions should keep giving him some opportunities on minor league contracts. With Robbie Grossman and Travis Jankowski both free agents, Hill and Hernandez will give the Rangers some outfield depth at the Triple-A level, especially since top prospect Wyatt Langford is expected to make his MLB debut in 2024 and Evan Carter has already broken out as an outfield regular heading into next season.
It’s a familiar role for Hernandez, who is returning for his fourth straight season in the Texas organization. Originally an international signing for the Royals way back in 2011, the 29-year-old Hernandez has become a fixture at Triple-A Round Rock, posting particularly good numbers for the Rangers’ top affiliate in each of the last two seasons. That production earned Hernandez his first big league look in 2022, when he had a .442 OPS over 35 PA in 14 games with Texas.
The 32-year-old Knapp has the most Major League experience of the trio, as the veteran backstop suited up for 325 appearances from 2017-22. Most (309) of that work came as a part-time catcher and backup with the Phillies, but Knapp has since bounced around the league since he first elected free agency following the 2021 season. Knapp saw MLB action with three teams (the Pirates, Mariners, and Giants) in 2022, and he has also been a member of the Reds, Tigers, and Astros organization without the benefit of any big league call-ups. Knapp spent all of 2023 at Triple-A, hitting a combined .233/.328/.377 over 358 for Detroit and Houston’s top affiliates.
With Mitch Garver now joining the Mariners and already leaning more towards a DH-only role anyway, the Rangers were in need of some additional depth behind the plate. Jonah Heim will start and Knapp could give Sam Huff some competition for the backup job in Spring Training. Since there aren’t any other catchers in the organization with any big league experience, Texas will likely look to add one or two more backstops on minor league deals to further add to their list of catching options heading into camp.
Blue Jays Interested In Amed Rosario
The Blue Jays have some level of interest in Amed Rosario, as Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes that the veteran infielder is “on the team’s radar,” and that “under the right circumstances” Rosario could be a fit for Toronto’s roster. These conditionals seem to imply that multi-positional players like Rosario or Isiah Kiner-Falefa (another known player of interest for the Jays) could perhaps be fallback options if the Blue Jays can’t land one of their primary targets for their vacancies at second and third base.
Rosario was one of baseball’s top minor leaguers during his time in the Mets’ farm system, universally seen as a top-10 prospect heading into the 2017 season. A lack of inconsistency over his first four MLB seasons ultimately made the Mets willing to part ways, though Rosario held enough value that he was still one of the key pieces of the four-player trade package New York sent to Cleveland for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco in January 2021.
The change of scenery seemed to work out, as Rosario hit .282/.316/.406 with 22 home runs and 31 steals (in 35 attempts) over 1258 plate appearances during the 2021-22 seasons. Between this above-average (103 wRC+) offensive production and some passable defense, Rosario generated 5.2 fWAR for the Guardians over those two seasons as their regular shortstop.
2023 was much more of a struggle, as Rosario hit only .263/.305/.378 over 545 total PA with the Guardians and Dodgers. A deadline trade to Los Angeles didn’t get Rosario’s bat on track, though his new role as a second baseman showed some promising results in a small sample size. Rosario had +3 Defensive Runs Saved and a +18.2 UZR/150 over 190 innings at second base in L.A., which marked the first time he had played the position in his big league career.
Public defensive metrics had generally been down on Rosario’s shortstop glovework throughout his career, and last season represented a nadir of -16 DRS, -4.4 UZR/150, and -14 Outs Above Average. It was a disappointing setback after Rosario had very impressive DRS and UZR/150 numbers as a shortstop in 2022, and it could hint that Rosario’s defensive future is ultimately at the keystone. Rosario has also gotten some limited playing time in left and center field, so he could be more of a utility player even if he isn’t a defensive standout as an outfielder.
MLBTR ranked Rosario 39th on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, projecting a two-year, $18MM deal even in the wake of his lackluster 2023 season. The combination of Rosario’s age (28), his past top-prospect pedigree, and the overall thin middle infield market factored into the prediction of a multi-year contract, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see him land just a one-year “prove it” type of contract. Such a deal might appeal to Rosario and his reps at Octagon as well, as a bounce-back in 2024 could then line Rosario up for a more lucrative multi-year contract as a free agent next winter.
In Toronto, Rosario would essentially be a replacement for Whit Merrifield — a right-handed hitter mostly slotted for second base but who could also fill in for Daulton Varsho or Kevin Kiermaier in left or center field when a southpaw starter is on the mound. Rosario also brings a lot of speed and good contact numbers, as evidenced by a solid 22.1% strikeout rate.
However, as Nicholson-Smith’s report hinted, there are some reasons why the Blue Jays might not necessarily have Rosario at the top of their wishlist. His subpar numbers in 2023 don’t represent much of an upgrade for a Toronto team whose offense struggled last year, and it can be argued that the Jays already have comparable internal options at second base. The group of Cavan Biggio, Davis Schneider, Santiago Espinal, and Ernie Clement are still on the roster, and prospects Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger, or Leo Jimenez could all make their MLB debuts perhaps rather early in the 2024 campaign. Most players in this group are better suited for second base than third base, so signing Rosario for at least a semi-regular keystone role would create a bit of a logjam for the Jays.
The Blue Jays’ pursuit of Shohei Ohtani dominated the headlines and seemingly much of the team’s attention for the first portion of the offseason, but the Jays made their first big move of the winter just yesterday as news broke of the club’s reunion with Kiermaier on a one-year deal. Beyond Rosario and Kiner-Falefa, such infielders as Jonathan India, Jake Cronenworth, Justin Turner, Rhys Hoskins, and Isaac Paredes have been linked to the Blue Jays on the rumor mill, plus re-signing third baseman Matt Chapman remains a possibility. With Kiermaier’s return helping solidify the outfield picture, Toronto’s focus may now shift to addressing their needs in the infield and at DH.
NPB’s Rakuten Golden Eagles Sign Cody Ponce
The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball have signed right-hander Cody Ponce, the team announced. This will mark Ponce’s third straight season in NPB, as he pitched for the Nippon Ham Fighters in both 2022 and 2023.
Ponce posted a solid 3.47 ERA over 135 innings for the Fighters over the last two seasons, though he missed about a month of the 2023 campaign due to injury. His 18.76% strikeout rate and 6.88% walk rate basically matched his work over six minor league seasons, as Ponce relies on good command and soft contact to generate outs, rather than missing a lot of bats. Ponce’s tenure in NPB was highlighted by a no-hitter on August 27, 2022, making him the seventh foreign-born player to toss a no-no in NPB since 1950.
A second-round pick for the Brewers in the 2015 draft, Ponce had a 3.93 ERA over 476 career frames in the minors, pitching in both the Milwaukee and Pittsburgh farm systems. The Brewers dealt Ponce to the Pirates in a 2019 deadline deal that brought Jordan Lyles to Milwaukee, and Ponce then made his Major League debut the following season. Over 55 1/3 career innings in the big leagues, Ponce has a 5.86 ERA, 19.6% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate, working mostly as a long reliever but with a few spot starts on his resume.
Pitching in Japan has allowed Ponce more of an opportunity as a regular starter than he likely would’ve received in North America, not to mention a steadier paycheck. It isn’t surprising to see Ponce stick around for another year in NPB, and since he doesn’t turn 30 until April, there’s still plenty of time for the righty to consider a return to the Show down the road.
Guardians Acquire Estevan Florial From Yankees
The Yankees and Guardians have agreed on a trade that will send outfielder Estevan Florial to Cleveland in exchange for right-hander Cody Morris, per an announcement from both clubs.
The trade ends Florial’s tenure with the Yankees, with whom he signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2015. After posting solid numbers in the lower levels of the minor leagues during his teenage years and reaching the High-A level before his 20th birthday, Florial began getting buzz as a consensus top-50 prospect throughout the sport prior to the 2018 season. Unfortunately, things came off the rails for Florial somewhat from there as the outfielder struggled at the High-A level in both 2018 and 2019. He made his big league debut during the shortened 2020 season and since then has served as a depth outfielder for the big league Yankees, with 48 appearances in the majors total in his four-year big league career.
While Florial, 26, has managed a slash line of just .209/.313/.296 across his 134 career plate appearances in the majors, his time in the minor leagues has seen him improve substantially in recent years. Fl0rial sports a career slash line of .265/.358/.490 at the Triple-A level, with an even more impressive .284/.380/.565 slash line in 101 games at the level in 2023. Given Florial’s extremely limited big league exposure to this point in his career, it’s easy to imagine him finding some level of success in Cleveland, where he should have a clear path to at least semi-regular at-bats. The Guardians put forth the third-worst outfield unit in the majors last year by measure of wRC+, as the club’s outfielders collectively hit just .250/.312/.342. Florial could challenge the likes of Ramon Laureano and Myles Straw for regular playing time alongside Steven Kwan, who appears locked into left field entering the 2024 campaign.
In exchange for Florial’s services, the Guardians are parting with Morris. The 27-year-old right-hander was the club’s seventh-round pick in the 2018 draft and first made his big league debut in 2022, where he performed well in seven appearances (five starts). While Morris posted an elevated walk rate of 12% that pushed his FIP up to 4.34, he struck out a respectable 23% of batters faced and managed an excellent 2.28 ERA in 23 2/3 innings of work during his first season in the majors.
In the minor leagues, Morris was even more impressive, with a career 1.68 ERA and a 37.8% strikeout rate in 80 1/3 innings of work between the Double-A and Triple-A levels as the 2022 campaign came to a close. Morris opened the 2023 season on the injured list due to a teres major strain but returned to action in June. While the right-hander put up respectable numbers at Triple-A, including a 3.23 ERA in 39 innings of work across 21 appearances, he struggled badly across six relief appearances in the majors with a 6.75 ERA over eight innings of work.
Despite Morris’s struggles with injury and ineffectiveness at the big league level last year, he provides the Yankees with an interesting, optionable arm who has experience pitching both out of the rotation and in the bullpen with strong numbers at the minor league level and some small-sample size success at the big league level. That type of arm would surely be attractive to just about any club, but could be particularly appealing to the Yankees after the club shipped cost-controlled pitchers like Michael King, Randy Vasquez, and Jhony Brito to San Diego as part of the package that landed the club Juan Soto earlier this month.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Re-Sign Ricardo Sanchez
The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization re-signed lefty Ricardo Sánchez yesterday, the team announced (h/t to Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News). He’ll receive a $100K signing bonus and a $500K salary, while the contract contains another $150K in incentives.
Sánchez signed with the Eagles in April, landing a $400K contract to spend the bulk of the 2023 campaign there. The 5’10” hurler had a decent debut in Korea. He pitched to a 3.79 ERA through 126 innings. Sánchez’s 18.3% strikeout rate was modest, even in the context of a high-contact KBO environment. He showed good control, though, keeping his walk rate around 5%.
Before signing with the Eagles, Sánchez had been in Triple-A with the White Sox. He only made three appearances for the Sox’s top affiliate, leaving him without much time to put together a case for a big league call. His MLB experience consists of three relief appearances for the Cardinals in 2020. Sánchez has also spent minor league time with the Angels, Braves, Mariners, Phillies and Tigers since entering the professional ranks in 2014.
The Eagles have filled their allotted three spots for foreign-born players to open next season. They also re-signed pitcher Félix Peña while brining in former Cubs minor leaguer Yonathan Perlaza (who has never played in the majors) last month.
Latest On Red Sox’s Free Agent Pursuits
The Red Sox have yet to make any waves on the free agent market. Boston’s offseason spending thus far consists of a $1MM signing of depth arm Cooper Criswell. Boston has been linked to a number of high-profile players in recent weeks, many of whom remain available. The Sox were at least on the periphery of the Yoshinobu Yamamoto bidding in its final few days. With free agency’s top pitcher headed to Los Angeles, first-year chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and his staff are looking elsewhere.
The Red Sox have been linked to Jordan Montgomery and, to a lesser extent, defending NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell at points this offseason. While there’s no indication they’re out of the market for either player, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe wrote over the weekend they appeared more engaged with the next tier of free agents.
Speier indicates the Sox remain involved on Shota Imanaga and Lucas Giolito on the rotation front while showing interest in outfielder Teoscar Hernández — all of whom have previously been reported as targets. Of that group, Imanaga figures to have the highest price tag. The #2 pitcher moving from Japan this offseason, he’s coming off a 2.80 ERA with an NPB-leading 174 strikeouts over 148 innings.
Imanaga doesn’t have the ceiling that Yamamoto possesses, but he’s generally viewed as a likely mid-rotation starter. As with Yamamoto, Imanaga is available via the posting system. The Yokohama BayStars formally posted him on November 27. That opened a 45-day window for the southpaw to sign with a major league club. He’ll land with an MLB team by January 11 at the latest. Speier reports that Imanaga will travel to the U.S. shortly after the New Year to meet with interested teams. The Giants, Cubs and Yankees are among the others linked to Imanaga within the past month.
While Imanaga figures to secure four or five guaranteed years, a reunion with James Paxton would be a much shorter commitment. WEEI’s Rob Bradford recently reported the Sox were interested in bringing the southpaw back. Chris Cotillo of MassLive wrote this evening that the team has maintained contact with Paxton throughout the offseason, although there’s no indication a deal is imminent.
Paxton, 35, pitched to a 4.50 ERA over 19 starts last season. He struck out almost a quarter of opponents while inducing swinging strikes on 12.7% of his offerings. Paxton is still capable of missing a decent number of bats behind a fastball that sits in the mid-90s, but he hasn’t been able to shoulder many innings. He made only six appearances between 2020-22, missing most of that stretch to Tommy John surgery and a pair of lat strains. Paxton had a pair of injured list stints last season, landing on the shelf early with a hamstring strain before knee inflammation ended his year in early September.
Kyle Keller Signs With NPB’s Yomiuri Giants
Reliever Kyle Keller has signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced. He’ll spend a third season in Japan after pitching for the Hanshin Tigers between 2022-23.
Keller, 30, pitched in the majors between 2019-21. The right-hander logged big league time with the Marlins, Angels and Pirates. He set a personal high with 33 1/3 innings for the Bucs in 2021, albeit with a lackluster 6.48 ERA, before making the move to Japan.
Over his two NPB seasons, Keller has found more success than he had during his big league run. He posted a 3.31 ERA with a stellar 46:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 32 2/3 innings in 2022. This year, his run prevention improved while his peripherals went in the other direction. Keller allowed only 1.71 earned runs per nine but issued 16 walks while fanning 28 across 26 1/3 frames. He spent some time with the Tigers’ minor league affiliate, making 18 appearances there.
FanSided’s Robert Murray reported last month that Keller was receiving some attention from MLB clubs. That apparently wasn’t robust enough to result in a better opportunity than the one he’ll receive from the Giants. If Keller can combine this year’s run prevention with something closer to his ’22 strikeout and walk profile, he could find stronger MLB interest next winter.
Mets Sign Chad Smith To Minor League Contract
The Mets signed reliever Chad Smith to a minor league contract over the weekend, according to the Associated Press. He’ll be in MLB camp as a non-roster Spring Training invitee.
Smith, a 28-year-old righty, has made brief appearances at the MLB level in each of the past two seasons. The Ole Miss product debuted with the Rockies in 2022, allowing 15 runs across 18 innings. Colorado traded him to the A’s a little more than a year ago. Smith pitched 10 times for Oakland, tossing 13 2/3 frames of 10-run ball. Between the two clubs, he owns a 7.11 ERA at the highest level.
While those aren’t especially impressive results, Smith has kept the ball on the ground at a huge 55.2% clip in his limited MLB time. He has posted high grounder marks throughout his professional career. Smith has also run decent strikeout numbers in the minors, including a 26.6% rate over three years in Triple-A.
That combination of whiffs and grounders has thus far been undercut by subpar control. Smith has walked more than 15% of batters faced in his big league time while handing out free passes at a 13.4% clip in Triple-A. His already alarming walk percentage spiked to 17.3% for the A’s top affiliate a season ago. That contributed to a 7.53 ERA over 35 appearances, leading Oakland to outright him from their 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason.
The Mets have added a number of depth players in David Stearns’ first winter leading baseball operations. New York has signed Trayce Thompson, Rylan Bannon, Taylor Kohlwey and José Iglesias to non-roster deals, while Smith joins Cole Sulser, Kyle Crick, Cam Robinson and Andre Scrubb as minor league additions to the relief corps. The Mets have also added Yohan Ramirez, Michael Tonkin, Jorge López and Austin Adams to the 40-man roster via modest acquisitions.
Reds Sign Conner Capel To Minor League Deal
The Reds have signed outfielder Conner Capel to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league Spring Training, per a club announcement.
Capel, 26, was a fifth-round pick by Cleveland in the 2016 draft before being swapped to the Cardinals in 2018 as part of the return in the Oscar Mercado trade. Capel spent the next several seasons in the minor leagues before making his big league debut with the Cardinals in 2022. In nine games with the big league club in St. Louis, Capel struggled to a slash line of just .176/.211/.353 before the club designated him for assignment in late September. Once the Cardinals placed Capel on waivers, the A’s swooped in and claimed him before adding him to the big league roster for the stretch run. Capel caught fire with Oakland during his 13-game stint with the club to end the year, slashing an incredible .371/.425/.600 in his final 40 plate appearances.
That strong performance to end the 2022 season earned Capel a spot on the Opening Day roster in Oakland. Though Capel received regular starts in the outfield corners for the first month of the season, Capel failed to make the most of the opportunity and slashed just .258/.347/.318 across 75 trips to the plate before he was optioned to Triple-A. Capel ultimately finished the 2023 season with a .260/.372/.329 slash line in the big leagues, good for a respectable wRC+ of 109. That success came over the course of just 86 plate appearances, however, and Capel’s mediocre .252/.346/.402 slash line at the club’s Triple-A affiliate, which plays in the offense-inflating Pacific Coast League, wasn’t enough to convince the A’s to keep Capel on the roster. The outfielder was outrighted off the 40-man roster back in August and subsequently hit minor league free agency, allowing him to sign on with the Reds on this non-roster pact.
Capel doesn’t exactly have a clear path to joining Cincinnati’s roster, as the lefty outfielder would be competing with the likes of TJ Friedl, Will Benson, and Jake Fraley for a spot on the club’s roster to say nothing of right-handed outfield options like Stuart Fairchild and Spencer Steer. While the Reds’ deep positional group seems likely to block Capel at least entering Spring Training, an injury or two at the big league level combined with a strong performance from Capel during Spring Training and in the minors could provide him the opportunity to break onto the club’s roster. Until then, Capel figures to serve as a depth option at the Triple-A level for the Reds, who have the likes of Nick Martini and Bubba Thompson also available at Triple-A.