White Sox Sign Paul DeJong
The White Sox announced Tuesday that they’ve signed free agent shortstop Paul DeJong to a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $1.75MM. (Chicago is one of the few MLB organizations that publicly discloses financial terms.) DeJong, a client of the C.L. Rocks Corporation, can reportedly earn another $250K via incentives.
Signing the 30-year-old DeJong is a clear buy-low move for the Sox, as he has struggled badly in recent seasons. He had an incredible debut with the Cardinals in 2017, hitting 25 home runs in his first 108 major league games. His 28% strikeout rate and 4.7% walk rate were not great, but his overall line of .285/.325/.532 translated to a wRC+ of 123.
The Cards made a bet that DeJong could be their shortstop for many years to come, signing him to a six-year, $26MM extension prior to 2018. Unfortunately for them, DeJong’s production slid downhill from the moment that deal was signed. His wRC+ dropped to 103 in 2018, then 101, 87, 84 and 54 through 2022.
In 2023, he seemed to get back on track somewhat. Through 81 games for the Cards, he hit 13 home runs and slashed .233/.297/.412 for a wRC+ of 94. Though he was still below the league average hitter, that kind of production for a strong defensive shortstop was still welcome, and an obvious boost from his previous nosedive.
However, the Cards flipped him to the Blue Jays prior to the deadline, which was the start of another frustrating run for him. The Jays had recently lost Bo Bichette to the injured list and tried to use DeJong to fill the gap, but the move to Toronto didn’t go well, to put it mildly. DeJong hit .068/.068/.068 in his 44 plate appearances, striking out in 40.9% of them without drawing a walk. Once Bichette was reinstated from the injured list, the Jays designated him for assignment and eventually released him. The Giants took a shot on him but he continued to struggle, hitting .184/.180/.286 for that club, striking out at a 32% clip and not drawing a walk for them either. He was released again near the end of September.
The White Sox just moved on from a different shortstop who also endured an awful season in 2023. Tim Anderson had been an above-average hitter from 2019 to 2022 but hit just one home run this past year while batting .245/.286/.296 overall. His wRC+ of 60 was the worst such number from any qualified hitter for the year. The Sox could have retained Anderson via a $14MM buyout and hoped for a bounceback but decided to move on, declining that option.
A couple of weeks ago, general manager Chris Getz said the club would be looking for a veteran with good defense to take over for Anderson, ideally on a short-term deal to bridge the gap to prospect Colson Montgomery. DeJong certainly fits the bill there, having racked up 41 Defensive Runs Saved, four Outs Above Average and earned a grade of 30.5 from Ultimate Zone Rating in his career. He has shown some offensive potential in the past but the recent results have been grisly.
Perhaps the club will only keep DeJong around until the job is wrested away from him, as Montgomery is considered one of the top prospects in the league. He’s currently listed #14 overall at Baseball America, #12 at FanGraphs and #17 at MLB Pipeline, while midseason updates saw him get the #21 spot from Keith Law of The Athletic and #2 from ESPN. Montgomery hit .287/.455/.484 in the minors this year, posting matching strikeout and walk rates of 19%. He finished the year at Double-A and then went to the Arizona Fall League for a bit more action.
Montgomery is still young, turning 22 in February, and has yet to reach Triple-A. But it’s possible he’s not too far away and DeJong may just be a placeholder. The Sox don’t have an obvious solution at second base either, so perhaps DeJong could move across the bag if he is in decent form, but it’s also possible the club could move on if the guarantee isn’t especially burdensome.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the White Sox and DeJong were nearing a major league deal. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first confirmed a deal was in place. Bob Nightengale of USA Today specified it was a one-year contract, and Heyman first reported the terms — which were subsequently publicly confirmed by the club.
KBO’s SSG Landers Sign Robert Dugger
The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization announced Tuesday that they’ve signed right-hander Robert Dugger to a one-year deal worth $750K (link via Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency). He can earn another $150K via incentives.
Dugger, 28, logged MLB time each season from 2019-22, compiling a total of 86 2/3 innings between the Marlins, Mariners, Rays and Reds. He was hit hard during that stretch, yielding a 7.17 ERA, but he’s posted solid results in an exorbitantly hitter-friendly Triple-A setting in each of the past two seasons. Dugger’s 4.31 earned run average with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2023 actually led all qualified starting pitchers in the Pacific Coast League and ranked ranked fourth among starters with at least 70 innings pitched. He coupled that mark with a 22.6% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 43.5% ground-ball rate.
Baseball America ranked Dugger among the Marlins’ top 30 prospects each year from 2018-20, labeling him a potential back-of-the-rotation starter thanks more to a deep and varied five-pitch arsenal than due to any one truly plus offering. He’ll take that skill set overseas in his first foray into professional ball in Asia, and in doing so will secure a much larger payday than he’d have commanded as a depth arm in Triple-A hoping for what would’ve likely been a brief call to the Majors before again being a DFA candidate as an out-of-options journeyman.
Dugger has never been seen as a power arm, averaging just 90.9 mph on his four-seamer and 90.1 mph on his sinker throughout his big league trials. That lack of velo won’t be as glaring in the KBO, where the average fastball clocks in lower than in MLB.
As a former 18th-round pick, he’ll relish this opportunity to secure the largest guaranteed salary of his career. And with a nice season for the Landers, Dugger could position himself to re-sign on a seven-figure deal (or close to it). Enough success could garner him some interest from Japan’s NPB or perhaps even pave the way for an eventual return to the Majors.
Reds, Cubs Have Discussed Shane Bieber With Guardians
Former American League Cy Young winner Shane Bieber is a year from reaching the open market, and the Guardians have discussed potential trade scenarios involving the 28-year-old righty with the Cubs and Reds, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports. Other clubs have surely reached out on Bieber’s potential availability as well, and Morosi notes that the Cubs have also inquired on Rays ace Tyler Glasnow, who’s widely known to be available. Cincinnati was also linked to Glasnow just yesterday.
Bieber’s 2023 season was arguably his worst since his 2018 rookie season, though that’s a testament to his overall track record more than an indictment on his ’23 output. Forearm and elbow troubles limited him to 128 innings this past season, but he pitched to a solid 3.80 ERA when healthy enough to take the mound and averaged better than six frames per start.
That said, it’s worth highlighting that Bieber’s status as a former Cy Young winner probably gives him more name recognition and name value among fans than actual trade value among MLB front offices. Solid as his ’23 results were when he was on the active roster, his performance carried plenty of red flags. Bieber’s fastball velocity has steadily declined since that 2020 Cy Young win, and last year’s average of 91.6 mph was nearly three miles slower than during his 2020 peak. Bieber fanned a ridiculous 41.1% of opponents during the pandemic shortened season, but that mark dropped to 33.1% the following year, 25% in 2022 and a below-average 20.1% in 2023.
Bieber’s walk and ground-ball rates remain strong, but neither is quite elite. After posting ridiculous swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates of 17.1% and 37% in 2020, he checked in below the league average in both last year: 10.5% and 30.6%, respectively. Bieber has never held top-of-the-scale rankings in terms of hard contact allowed, but he’s previously missed so many bats that yielding hard contact at average-ish rates didn’t matter. That’s no longer the case, given the lack of punchouts, and last year saw Bieber post career-worst marks in average exit velocity (91.6 mph) and hard-hit rate (47.2%). Those marks are as rough as they sound; Bieber ranked in the second percentile of MLB pitchers in average exit velocity and the third percentile in hard-hit rate.
Be that as it may, Bieber’s broader track record surely buys him some faith from other clubs, and it’s of course eminently possible that some of those red flags are attributable to health troubles that are now hopefully behind him. It’s a deep free-agent class for pitching, but not every club is going to fill its needs via the open market. Bieber still holds clear trade value, even if teams likely all agree that the 2020 version of the one-time ace probably isn’t going to resurface.
For both the Reds and the Cubs, there’s good sense in pursuing Bieber. Cincinnati boasts an exciting crop of young position players and several talented but yet-unproven rotation candidates. Bieber would give them a veteran anchor to pair with the likes of Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson. Elsewhere in the NL Central, the Cubs have an established top three in the rotation (Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Jameson Taillon) but less certainty beyond that veteran trio, with Hayden Wesneski, Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks among their still-emerging options.
Adding a steady veteran like Bieber to stabilize things surely holds appeal for either club as they set their sights on a weak NL Central. The Reds, in particular, should have no problem absorbing Bieber’s final year of club control; whereas the Cubs already have more than $178MM in projected payroll, Cincinnati’s 2024 outlay is scarcely more than $50MM right now. Greene and backup catcher Luke Maile are the only guaranteed contracts on the books, and their arbitration class is quite small.
From a bigger-picture standpoint, a trade of Bieber — or at least the discussion of one — should come as no surprise for fans who’ve followed how Cleveland has operated over the years. The Guardians churn out high-end starting pitching arguably better than any club in baseball but never let their top arms reach free agency. Part of the process that has helped Cleveland find continued success despite perennially bottom-of-the-barrel payrolls has been selling high on established starters in exchange for controllable young talent. The team’s unrivaled success in pitching development, paired with those regular influxes of young talent, have kept them competitive in a light AL Central division.
For example, none of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer or Mike Clevinger reached the open market in a Cleveland uniform. Kluber was flipped to the Rangers in a deal netting current closer Emmanuel Clase. Carrasco went to the Mets alongside Francisco Lindor in return for Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario. Bauer brought Franmil Reyes and a Yasiel Puig rental to Cleveland. Clevinger netted several players, headlined by Josh Naylor, pitching prospect Joey Cantillo, infielder Gabriel Arias and righty Cal Quantrill — who was recently traded himself (to the Rockies) on the heels of a down season.
Despite all the star-caliber pitchers who break out in Cleveland, the Guardians have never held onto one long enough to make a qualifying offer and collect a compensatory draft pick. Bieber would be a QO candidate next winter if he stays put, but his age, track record and reasonable $12.2MM projected arbitration salary (per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) should be enough to yield greater value than a potential comp pick in what would be the 2025 MLB draft.
Even as they’ve traded away so many arms, the Guardians haven’t ever felt compelled to backfill the rotation via free agency. The last time they signed a free-agent starter to a big league deal was nearly a decade ago when taking a $4MM flier on then bounceback candidate Gavin Floyd. The last multi-year deal they gave to a free-agent starting pitcher was nearly two decades ago: Paul Byrd.
The 2024 season has a good chance to represent a continuation of those trends. Even if Bieber is traded, Cleveland already graduated three top prospects — Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen and Gavin Williams — who all hit the ground running as rookies. Triston McKenzie dealt with an ominous elbow injury but finished the season healthy. If he can avoid further issues, he’s shown the ability to be an upper-echelon starter himself (191 innings, 2.96 ERA, 25.6% strikeout rate, 5.9% walk rate in 2022). In-house names like Cantillo, Xzavion Curry and Hunter Gaddis could all vie for the fifth spot in the rotation, and it’s eminently possible that a Bieber trade (or another offseason swap) could net Cleveland a potential rotation candidate to join that group.
The Opener: Go, Cardinals, MLBTR Chat
With the Winter Meetings just five days away, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye out for today:
1. KBO asks for Go posting:
The Korea Baseball Organization requested the posting of LG Twins closer Woo Suk Go last night, per a report from Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News. The right-hander is the second KBO player to begin the posting process this winter, following Kiwoom Heroes outfielder Jung Hoo Lee, who coincidentally is Go’s brother-in-law. Lee isn’t expected to be officially posted for big league clubs until the calendar flips to December, and the timeline for Go’s official posting is unclear at this point. When Go is posted, clubs will have 30 days to negotiate a contract with the right-hander. Go, 25, sports a mid-90s fastball that at times touches 98 and routinely posts high strikeout rates in the KBO but struggled with his control last year, walking 11.6% of batters faced. He figures to join a right-handed relief class headlined by Jordan Hicks and Robert Stephenson.
2. What’s next in St. Louis?
The Cardinals completed the primary goal of the offseason of adding three starters to their rotation yesterday by signing veteran right-hander Sonny Gray to a three-year deal. Gray joins fellow offseason signings Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson as well as incumbent veterans Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz in the projected St. Louis rotation. The trio of signings push the club’s projected payroll in 2024 up to just over $193MM, per RosterResource. That payroll figure would be an all-time high for the club, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
While the club reportedly intends to pursue at least two bullpen additions this offseason, it’s unclear if the club how much, if any, payroll space the club has available for those additions. Of course, St. Louis has a deep positional mix from which they could deal to both improve their bullpen and clear space on the payroll for another addition if they so chose, particularly in the outfield where Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson are both widely regarded as likely trade candidates.
3. MLBTR Chat Today
With the Winter Meetings just days away and the hot stove beginning to sizzle, do you have any burning questions in your mind about your favorite team or one of the offseason’s many free agents? If so, tune in at 1pm CT today for a live chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams. You can click here to ask a question in advance, and that same link will let you participate live or read the transcript once the chat has concluded.
Cardinals Sign Sonny Gray To Three-Year Deal
The Cardinals have added their desired top-of-the-rotation starter. St. Louis announced the signing of right-hander Sonny Gray to a three-year guarantee with a club option for the 2027 season. It’s a reported $75MM deal, while the option is valued at $30MM and comes with a $5MM buyout (which is included in the overall guarantee).
Gray, who celebrated his 34th birthday earlier this month, hit free agency on the heels of a dominant 2023 campaign with the Twins that saw him earn his third career All Star appearance and finish as the runner-up in AL Cy Young award voting behind Yankees righty Gerrit Cole. The veteran hurler posted a sterling 2.79 ERA (54% better than league average by measure of ERA+) along with an MLB-best 2.83 FIP in 184 innings of work across 32 starts. His 24.3% strikeout rate was a top-25 figure among qualified starters this season, while his 47.3% groundball rate ranked ninth among that same group. Only Framber Valdez, Zach Eflin, Justin Steele, and Kyle Bradish posted better figures in both stats this year.
The deal will be the first free agent contract of Gray’s 11-year major league career, as the 18th overall pick of the 2011 draft signed an extension with the Reds upon being traded to Cincinnati in early 2019 that covered the 2020-22 seasons, with a team option for 2023. At the time of the three-year, $30.5MM deal, Gray was coming off a brutal 2018 campaign with the Yankees that saw him post a 4.90 ERA (86 ERA+) with a 4.17 FIP. Fortunately for both the Reds and Gray, the righty quickly turned things around with a 2.87 ERA, 175 1/3 inning performance during the 2019 season. Altogether, Gray posted a 3.22 ERA (138 ERA+) and 3.34 FIP over the life of his extension, though the final two seasons of the deal were spent with the Twins after the righty was shipped to Minnesota in exchange for right-hander Chase Petty just before the 2022 season.
Strong as Gray’s platform season in 2023 was, there were some potential red flags in his performance. Most notably, Gray allowed a microscopic 5.2% of his fly balls to leave the yard for home runs, by far a career low that flies in the face of his career-high 6.9% barrel rate. That disparity leaves Gray with expected stats that are significantly less impressive than his actual production last season, including a 3.64 xFIP and a 3.95 SIERA. While those are both still top-20 figures among qualified starters this season, it’s reasonable to be concerned that Gray’s elite home run prevention figures may not hold up over time, particularly as he enters his mid-thirties. Of course, a move from the Twins’ home ballpark of Target Field (which has played slightly homer-friendly in recent years) to the Cardinals’ home field of Busch Stadium could help alleviate those concerns to some extent. While Busch played as an essentially neutral ballpark in terms of home runs in 2023, the stadium has been among the best for suppressing the long ball in recent years.
Though a deal for Gray comes with its fair share of risk, it’s hard to imagine a team better situated to enjoy the benefits of his services than the Cardinals. St. Louis starters posted a collective ERA of 5.02 in 2023, the fifth-worst figure in the majors. The club’s struggles with starting pitching this season led president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to announce the club’s desire to add three starting pitchers this winter to a rotation that included little certainty beyond veteran righty Miles Mikolas headed into 2024. Between deals for Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and now Gray, St. Louis has accomplished that goal before the calendar flips to December.
Lynn and Gibson both pitched to the results of a back-end starter in 2023 with ERAs of 5.73 and 4.73, respectively. Adding Gray to the mix gives the Cardinals a bonafide, front-of-the-rotation arm to whom they could confidently assign a playoff start to as they look to turn things around on the heels of a 91-loss season that saw them finish dead last in the NL Central this year. Gray was among the top free agent starters this winter, coming in at the #9 spot of MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB free agents list with a projected four-year, $90MM contract. That projection ended up a year and $15MM above the contract Gray received, though our $22.5MM projected average annual value was actually slightly below the $25MM figure Gray ultimately received.
It’s possible the deal completes the club’s 2024 rotation with a projected starting five of Gray, Mikolas, Gibson, Lynn, and left-hander Steven Matz. That would make for a rotation entirely comprised of veteran arms well past their 30th birthdays; Matz, 33 in May, would be the youngest of the group. That being said, it’s at least feasible the club could look to add a younger arm to the rotation later in the offseason. Matz has seen considerable use out of the bullpen during his two years in St. Louis, leaving a plausible path to a fourth rotation addition should the club to make one. In addition to Gray, the Cardinals have been connected to both NPB ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto and a potential reunion with southpaw Jordan Montgomery this offseason.
That being said, it’s unclear whether the signing of Gray will preclude the club from adding either of those arms from a payroll perspective. It’s worth noting that Mozeliak has indicated payroll could stay relatively stagnant compared to last year’s expected figure prior to their sell-side moves at the trade deadline. That would likely leave the Cardinals with around $40-50MM of payroll space to work with this offseason, $22MM of which has already been dedicated to the signings of Gibson and Lynn. Between the $25MM reported cost for Gray and the Cardinals’ reported desire to add multiple arms to the bullpen this offseason, the club seemingly has minimal financial wiggle room for other moves of significance going forward.
In addition to the $75MM the Cardinals are committed to Gray, the club stands to lose their second-highest pick in the 2024 draft and $500K in international bonus pool space from the signing of a qualified free agent. The Twins, who extended Gray a qualifying offer earlier this month, are in line to receive a compensatory draft pick after the first round in next year’s draft, as Gray signed for more than $50MM. It’s the second consecutive offseason during which St. Louis has signed a qualified free agent after the Cardinals signed catcher Willson Contreras away from the Cubs last winter.
The Cardinals weren’t the only known suitor for Gray’s services this winter, as the Braves have frequently been connected to the right-hander in recent weeks. It’s unclear whether the Braves ultimately made an offer to Gray, but the veteran righty represents the second front-of-the-rotation arm Atlanta has shown interest in who ultimately signed elsewhere this offseason. The club reportedly offered right-hander Aaron Nola a deal worth $162MM over six years prior to him landing with the Phillies on a seven-year, $172MM deal. While there’s still plenty of front-of-the-rotation caliber arms available this offseason, it’s worth noting that Atlanta’s financial outlook is somewhat murky and the club has already signed Reynaldo Lopez to a three-year deal with an eye toward stretching him out as a starter.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the Cardinals and Gray were likely to finalize a contract. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported it would be a three-year, $75MM guarantee. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the option value.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Latest On Red Sox’s Pitching Targets
The Red Sox are known to be seeking top-of-the-rotation starting pitching. A pair of high-end starters, Aaron Nola and Sonny Gray, have come off the board. There wasn’t any indication the Sox were deeply involved in the bidding for either right-hander. Sean McAdam of MassLive writes that the Sox have been seeking to add a starter via trade before turning to free agency.
At the same time, one notable trade candidate doesn’t appear to be strongly on their radar. McAdam reports that the Red Sox have not been actively involved in discussions with the White Sox regarding Dylan Cease. The right-hander has been mentioned as a target for the Dodgers and Braves and has surely drawn unreported interest from other teams seeking rotation help.
That Boston doesn’t seem as involved in Cease discussions is a bit of a surprise. He still has two seasons of arbitration control; MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for an $8.8MM salary, a bargain price for a pitcher with his upside. Alongside Corbin Burnes, Shane Bieber and Tyler Glasnow (the latter of whom seems unlikely to land within the AL East if the Rays trade him), Cease has been the subject of plenty of trade speculation.
The 27-year-old (28 next month) isn’t coming off a great season. Cease allowed 4.58 earned runs per nine, more than two runs above the 2.20 ERA he posted in 2022. A spike in hard contact and a slight dip in strikeout rate surely contributed to that less inspiring run prevention. Yet even with that downturn in whiffs, Cease still fanned an above-average 27.2% of batters faced behind an excellent 13.6% swinging strike percentage. His fastball averaged just under 96 MPH, while his slider remained a swing-and-miss offering.
While the Sox may be focused on trade targets aside from Cease, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and his front office are surely keeping an eye on the top hurlers on the open market. They’ve been tied to NPB star Yoshinobu Yamamoto and left-hander Jordan Montgomery. McAdam indicates the Sox also expressed some interest in Blake Snell when they met with the defending NL Cy Young winner’s representatives at the Boras Corporation during the GM Meetings.
Snell rode a laughably dominant second half to the second Cy Young of his career. He finished the year with an MLB-best 2.25 ERA across 180 innings. Snell led the majors with 99 walks but allowed only 5.8 hits per nine innings, the lowest mark for any qualified starter. That’s in large part thanks to a stellar 31.5% strikeout rate. MLBTR predicted Snell to land $200MM over seven seasons. He has also been linked to the Dodgers, Giants and incumbent Padres. McAdam suggests that Snell, a Seattle-area native, may prefer to sign with a West Coast team.
If that is indeed the case, that wouldn’t bode especially well for the Red Sox’s chances. The market’s other top southpaw, Montgomery, has a tie to the Northeast. While Montgomery is a South Carolina native, McAdam and Chris Cotillo of MassLive note that he is spending the winter in Boston while his wife McKenzie begins a medical residency at a hospital in the area. It’s not clear if that’ll have any impact on his free agent preferences.
White Sox, Mark Payton Agree To Minor League Contract
The White Sox have signed outfielder Mark Payton to a minor league contract, according to the transaction tracker at MLB.com. It’s the second such stint for the Illinois native.
Payton also spent the 2022 campaign with the Sox. He appeared in eight big league contests, spending the remainder of the year at Triple-A Charlotte. The University of Texas product had a strong year with the Knights, hitting .293/.369/.539 with 25 home runs over 119 games. While Payton initially re-signed with the Sox for the 2023 season, he was granted his release to pursue a contract with the Seibu Lions in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball in December.
The left-handed hitter struggled in his crack at Japanese ball. Payton hit only .215/.266/.327 with five longballs in 225 trips to the plate. He spent some time in the minors and was not retained for 2024. That set the stage for a return to the White Sox.
Payton has 40 games of major league experience split between 2020-22. He’s a .296/.370/.515 hitter over six seasons at the Triple-A level. Payton can handle all three outfield positions but is probably best suited for left field. He’s likely to open next year, his age-32 campaign, back in Charlotte.
Orioles Notes: Rotation, Nola, Stadium
For the past year, the big question for the Orioles is whether they’ll add a high-end starting pitcher. While Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez took steps forward in 2023 (during the second half of the season in the latter’s case), there’s clearly still room for another pitcher who can slot into the upper half of the rotation.
O’s general manager Mike Elias acknowledged as much during the GM Meetings a few weeks ago. Baltimore has done virtually nothing in free agency during Elias’ five-year tenure. They’re still yet to sign a free agent to a multi-year contract. Much of that has been amidst a rebuild, so there’s a possibility for Elias and his front office to be more aggressive.
To that end, Jeff Passan of ESPN reported this morning that the O’s had shown interest in Aaron Nola during his free agency. There’s no indication that Baltimore ever put forth a formal offer before Nola returned to the Phillies on a seven-year, $172MM contract. The right-hander was obviously going to require a commitment well into nine figures, so the O’s being involved at all hints at some willingness to pursue a notable free agent strike.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell should land more significant contracts than the one that Nola received. Jordan Montgomery, Eduardo Rodriguez and NPB star Shota Imanaga are among the next tier of free agent starters. Rich Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball wrote yesterday that Yamamoto — whom MLBTR predicts for a nine-year, $225MM contract — is likely to be out of Baltimore’s comfort zone financially.
Free agency is only one means of bringing in pitching talent. There are a few notable names who could be available on the trade market. It’s hard to envision the Rays moving Tyler Glasnow within the AL East, but each of Dylan Cease and Corbin Burnes have also been floated as candidates. Dubroff suggests the O’s have interest in both hurlers — no surprise given their talent and the team’s desire for a rotation upgrade.
Baltimore still has a top-tier farm system despite the prospect graduations of Rodriguez and Rookie of the Year winner Gunnar Henderson. It’s safe to assume that duo and top shortstop prospect Jackson Holliday are off the table in talks. Players like Jordan Westburg, Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo are among numerous younger talents whom Elias and his staff could make available if they pursued a trade for a high-end starter (particularly one like Cease, who has two seasons of remaining arbitration control).
Also on the docket for the Orioles this winter: finding clarity on their lease agreement with the Maryland Stadium Authority. The franchise announced in late September that they had agreed to a 30-year lease extension at Camden Yards. One day later, the Baltimore Sun reported that it was instead a non-binding memorandum of understanding. That agreement would provide the Orioles long-term development rights around the stadium but did not represent an official extension of the lease.
With the current lease expiring on December 31, the Sun’s Jeff Barker reports that the state and the team are considering decoupling the lease from the development rights to facilitate getting a binding lease in place within the next five weeks. As Barker points out, the legislative hurdles to be cleared are lower for the lease agreement itself than for the accompanying development plans. Tabling those discussions (even temporarily) could get an official lease extension in place to firmly put to rest any questions about the O’s future in Baltimore. In 2019, owner John Angelos pledged the organization will remain in the city “as long as Fort McHenry is watching over the harbor.”
A’s, Hoy Park Agree To Minor League Deal
The A’s have agreed to a minor league contract with utility player Hoy Park, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. He’d reached minor league free agency at season’s end.
Park spent the entire 2023 campaign with the Braves’ Triple-A team in Gwinnett. Atlanta had run him through outright waivers last offseason. The 27-year-old had a decent season, hitting .262/.385/.379 through 389 plate appearances. Park drew walks in a huge 15.4% of his trips against an average 22.1% strikeout rate. He stole 16 bases in 18 attempts while hitting six home runs.
The lefty-hitting Park has a solid minor league track record. He has ridden a patient plate approach to a .258/.385/.402 batting line in just over 1000 Triple-A plate appearances. Park hasn’t carried that over against big league pitching, hitting .201/.291/.346 in 68 games between 2021-22. Virtually all of that playing time came with the Pirates, but Park has also spent time in the Yankees, Red Sox and Braves organizations.
Park has played mostly second or third base during his limited big league action. He has experience at shortstop and spent the bulk of his time in Gwinnett in right field. While Park doesn’t have a ton of power, his plate discipline and defensive versatility give him a shot to compete for a bench role in Spring Training.
Tigers Sign Ryan Vilade To Minor League Deal
The Tigers have signed infielder/outfielder Ryan Vilade to a minor league contract, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He will receive an invitation to major league Spring Training, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.
Vilade, 25 in February, spent 2023 with the Pirates mostly in a non-roster capacity. He was claimed off waivers from the Rockies in the offseason but was designated for assignment on Opening Day, passing through waivers and sticking with the Bucs at Triple-A. He played 122 games at that level, striking out in 24.9% of his plate appearances but also walking at a 12.5% clip. He only hit six home runs on the year, leading to a batting line of .270/.370/.382 and wRC+ of 96.
He brings plenty of defensive versatility to the table, as he spent some time at first base, third base and all three outfield positions this year. He’s played some shortstop in the past, though not since 2019. He was limited to seven stolen bases in 2023, but he was in double digits in each previous year in which minor league games were played going back to 2018. He has three games of MLB experience, which came with the Rockies in 2021.
The Tigers already have plenty of outfielders, with Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Mark Canha and Akil Baddoo looking to split the playing time on the grass and perhaps in the designated hitter spot. Spencer Torkelson seems entrenched at first base but the hot corner is a bit more open. Matt Vierling is likely the favorite at that spot for now, though he hasn’t really done anything to lock the job down as he was around league average offensively and defensively in 2023. Andy Ibañez, Tyler Nevin, Nick Maton and Andre Lipcius are also on the roster and in the mix. Prospect Colt Keith could be the third baseman of the future but he’s also been getting some second base work lately. Justyn-Henry Malloy is also an attractive third base prospect, though he plays the outfield corners as well.
Vilade will give the club a bit more depth at that spot in a non-roster capacity, with the ability to pivot to other spots if injuries open up holes elsewhere. He is still quite young, has a couple of options and less than a year of service time, meaning he could be a long-term depth option for the club if he earns his way onto the roster.