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Scott Oberg Announces Retirement From Playing

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Pitcher Scott Oberg took to Instagram today to announce that he will no longer be pursuing a comeback to the mound. “I have accepted a part-time position with the Rockies and will no longer be pursuing the game I’ve loved my whole life, as a player,” Oberg said in the post. He goes on to thank the many people in his life who helped him in his journey over the years. Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette reports that Oberg will be a special assistant to baseball operations for the Rockies.

Oberg, now 32, was selected by the Rockies in the 15th round of the 2012 draft and made it to the big leagues by 2015. His first three seasons in Colorado featured subpar strikeout rates but he did get huge amounts of ground balls. From 2015 to 2017, he posted a 5.05 ERA while striking out 18.7% of batters he faced but getting worm burners on 55.6% of balls in play.

The next two seasons saw Oberg take a huge step forward as he added punchouts to his repertoire. Over 2018 and 2019, he tossed 114 2/3 frames with a 2.35 ERA, a number that would be impressive anywhere but especially for a pitcher who calls Coors Field home. He struck out 25.5% of batters faced in that time while still getting grounders at a 52.7% clip. Based on that strong performance, the Rockies gave him a three-year, $13MM extension with a club option for 2023.

Unfortunately, Oberg then began a tumultuous period that saw him deal with multiple health issues which have prevented him from taking the mound since then. The primary issue has been blood clots in his right arm, which first sidelined him and led to surgery in 2016. They sent him to the injured list in August of 2019, leading to another surgery and an end to that strong season. That didn’t dissuade the Rockies from agreeing to that extension and Oberg seemed ready to get back on track in 2020 until the issue resurfaced, putting him on the injured list in the shortened season and putting him on the surgeon’s table yet again.

On top of the blood clots, he also required surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in September of that year. It was hoped that surgery would address the chronic blood clots in his elbow but that didn’t prove to be the case. Allentuck relayed a harrowing story from March of 2021 where the clotting symptoms reappeared and a trainer couldn’t feel a pulse in his wrist. Oberg then spent the night in the ICU and had surgery the next morning, the fourth time he had to go under the knife for the issue.

Though he would not pitch for the Rockies that year, he did serve the team in other ways, doing some scouting and coaching throughout the organization. He didn’t make it back to the mound in 2022 either and the Rockies declined his 2023 option at season’s end.

Oberg has been transitioning into post-playing roles for a while, as mentioned, but his announcement today makes it official that his playing days are done. Though the health issues prevented him from building on some strong momentum, he still managed to get into 259 major league games, racking up 234 strikeouts along the way. He finishes his career with a 3.85 ERA over 257 1/3 innings. MLBTR congratulates him on his successes and wishes him the best in his future endeavors.

Looking Through The Guardians’ Outfield Possibilities

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The Guardians surprised most onlookers by sprinting to an AL Central title last season, pulling away from the Twins and White Sox with an excellent September. Cleveland quickly dispatched the Rays in the Wild Card series before losing a closely contested Division Series against the Yankees.

There were myriad reasons for the Guardians’ success. Recurring themes were plus defense around the diamond and a general willingness to trust young position players to run with their opportunities. That was also the case in the outfield, a unit that was average overall but had a couple standout players.

Cleveland seems mostly content running things back with the same group. The Guardians have added at catcher and first base, bringing in Mike Zunino and Josh Bell via free agency. They’ve not gone outside the organization for an outfielder to this point. One could argue for adding a veteran bat considering most of the in-house candidates have limited MLB track records, and perhaps Cleveland eventually adds a lower-cost depth type like Chad Pinder or Robbie Grossman. There’s probably not an impact player coming, though, so it’s worth looking through the numerous in-house options who could vie for playing time on the Progressive Field grass.

Kwan is the most established of the Cleveland outfielders after a stellar rookie season. He hadn’t been a top-tier prospect early in his professional career but continued excellence as a minor leaguer garnered him a spot on FanGraphs’ top 100 going into last season. Kwan even exceeded those expectations, hitting .298/.373/.400 with more walks than strikeouts over his first 638 MLB plate appearances. He paired that with elite defensive marks in left field, earning a Gold Glove and a third-place finish in Rookie of the Year balloting in the process. Kwan has below-average power but does everything else so well he looks like a perfect top-of-the-lineup option for manager Terry Francona. So long as he’s healthy, the Oregon State product is the Guardians left fielder.

Straw seems likely to get another crack in center field, at least initially. Acquired from the Astros at the 2021 trade deadline, Straw stepped in as Cleveland’s primary center fielder from there forward. He’s an elite defender and baserunner and looked to have taken a step forward offensively that season, combining for a .271/.349/.348 slash between the two teams. The Guardians rewarded him last spring with a $25MM contract extension that runs at least through the 2026 campaign.

The 28-year-old’s first full season in Cleveland was mixed. He continued to play excellent defense, with Statcast crediting him for 13 outs above average for his work in center field. Like Kwan, Straw secured his first Gold Glove. The offensive output plummeted though. He hit only .221/.273/.291 across 596 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+, only Jonathan Schoop and Geraldo Perdomo were less effective hitters (minimum 500 PA’s).

Straw posted some of the league’s worst batted ball metrics and didn’t connect on a single home run. His defense and baserunning means he doesn’t need to hit much to be a worthwhile everyday player, but the Cleveland front office is surely hoping for a little more output at the plate. Straw doesn’t seem in imminent danger of losing his job, but posting another sub-.600 OPS through the All-Star Break could lead the front office to consider deadline possibilities to add a little more offensive firepower in center field.

Gonzalez, who turns 25 today, was yet another success story in a loaded Cleveland rookie class. The right-handed hitter posted a .282/.308/.506 line through 41 games at Triple-A Columbus to earn his first MLB call in late May. He stuck in the majors from then on and immediately hit the ground running. Over 382 trips to the plate, Gonzalez hit .296/.327/.461 with 11 home runs and 27 doubles. He had a couple heroic moments in the playoffs as well, connecting on the walk-off home run to eliminate Tampa Bay and a game-winning two-run single against the Yankees. Those clutch hits overshadowed a mediocre .226/.250/.323 overall batting line in 32 postseason plate appearances.

It was a strong enough season to put himself on the map as a potential long-term piece in the Cleveland outfield, and he’s the likeliest player to open the year in right. Yet there’s a fair bit less certainty in Gonzalez sustaining his excellent rookie form than there’ll be in Kwan’s case. Gonzalez has never been a favorite of most prospect evaluators thanks to questions about his aggressive approach and below-average corner outfield defense. Cleveland left him unprotected in advance of the Rule 5 draft as recently as the 2021-22 offseason as a result.

Gonzalez’s great year quiets those concerns to some extent, but they’re not completely answered. He swung at nearly half the pitches outside the strike zone he saw as a rookie, placing him near the top of the league in that regard. His 3.9% walk percentage was among the lowest in the game. Perhaps Gonzalez has special enough hand-eye coordination and power that it won’t matter. He’ll need to prove it in a second extended run against MLB arms.

If Kwan, Straw and Gonzalez is Cleveland’s Opening Day outfield, Brennan seems the player most likely to break into the mix off the bench. The left-handed hitter fits the Guardians’ mold of high-contact bats, having never struck out at even a 17% clip at any minor league stop. He went down on strikes just 12.2% of the time at Triple-A last season, hitting .316/.367/.471 with nine home runs and 15 steals across 433 plate appearances. He earned a late-season MLB look and played well in his first 11 games.

Baseball America ranked Brennan the #10 prospect in a deep Cleveland farm system this offseason. The outlet praises his contact skills, athleticism and arm strength but questions his power potential. Brennan can play center field but BA suggests he’s probably a stronger defensive fit in the corner outfield. It’s easy to point to some similarities between him and Kwan, although the latter’s minor league track record was a little better. Brennan’s likely a better hitter than Straw right now and could be a candidate to take increased center field reps if Straw continues to struggle offensively — particularly since Straw can come off the bench later in games when the Guardians are looking for their best defensive unit to protect a lead.

A bat-first utility option, Palacios also made his MLB debut in 2022. He didn’t break in as well as most of the other Cleveland rookies, hitting .232/.293/.286 without a longball in his first 123 trips to the dish. It wasn’t a great first look but Palacios had a quality .279/.371/.458 line with better than average strikeout and walk marks through 45 games at Triple-A. He can play the corner outfield spots and offer some depth on the right side of the infield.

Valera, 22, is more likely a midseason possibility than a candidate to break camp. He’s on the 40-man roster but only has 42 games of Triple-A experience. After a strong Double-A showing, he hit .221/.324/.448 with nine homers in 179 plate appearances at the top minor league level, walking at a quality 12.3% clip against a 25.1% strikeout rate. Valera is the #4 prospect in the organization at BA and regarded as a potential high-OBP corner outfielder at his peak; whether he’ll be ready to contribute to a win-now Cleveland club at any point in 2023 depends on how well he shows in his first full season at Triple-A.

A former first-round draftee, Benson is a high-risk upside play at the back of the 40-man roster. His minor league track record has been wildly inconsistent. He’s coming off a great 2022 showing in Triple-A, where he mashed at a .278/.426/.522 clip with 17 homers and 16 steals through 401 plate appearances. He earned a brief MLB look but sputtered to a .168/.252/.200 line over 28 games. The left-handed hitter has always intrigued with massive power potential in a 6’5″ frame and a very discerning eye at the plate. That’s been paired with huge strikeout tallies at times throughout his minor league career, although he only fanned in a roughly average 22.7% of his trips in Columbus last year.

That’s seven players, all of whom are on the 40-man roster and controllable for a long while. Cleveland’s particularly deep in left-handed options (only Straw and Gonzalez hit from the right side). There was enough depth in that regard the Guardians felt comfortable sending Nolan Jones — another lefty bat who profiled as a corner outfielder with José Ramírez entrenched at third base in Cleveland — to Colorado for infield prospect Juan Brito.

While there’s an abundance of interesting controllable outfield options in Cleveland, none has a lengthy track record of big league productivity. Kwan looks like the safest bet after his fantastic rookie year. Everyone else comes with question marks of varying degrees.

Straw and Gonzalez seem likely to get the first crack at jobs alongside Kwan again, though they’ll have some intriguing young players on hand as contingency plans. Supplementing the group with a veteran righty bat could be a nice luxury addition for president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and his staff before the season gets underway. Any pickup would figure to be a low-cost complement to Cleveland’s various in-house young players, who’ll again be entrusted with significant roles as they look to repeat as division champs.

Mariners Add Stephen Vogt To Coaching Staff

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The Mariners have announced their coaching staff for 2023, with only a couple of changes compared to 2022. Trent Blank will move from his role as bullpen coach to a new title of major league coach and director of pitching strategy. Stephen Vogt, who just retired from playing a few months ago, will join the staff as quality control coach and take over Blank’s bullpen coach duties.

Vogt, 38, makes a quick transition to coaching after a lengthy playing career. Originally selected by the Rays in the 12th round of the 2007 draft, he went on to play 794 games in the majors for the Rays, A’s, Brewers, Giants, Diamondbacks and Braves. In September of 2022, while playing with Oakland, he announced that he would retire from playing once that season was completed.

The fact that he has now made a quick leap into coaching just a few months later shouldn’t come as a shock. Vogt has been open about his future managerial aspirations for some time, discussing the matter back in 2020. Vogt has also drawn praise about his managerial potential from current skippers. “Definitely has a future in managing,” were the words used by Bob Melvin, current Padres manager and formerly with the A’s, when speaking to Janie McAuley of the Associated Press last year. Current A’s manager Mark Kotsay also had praise for Vogt, speaking to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle in October. “I do think he’d be a good manager,” Kotsay said. “Big personality. Gamer. Intense. Driven. You could see all those traits. Catchers seem to make great managers. They see the game from a different perspective. One of my best friends, who’s manager of the Brewers, Craig Counsell, said Stephen is probably going to be the next manager of the Brewers.”

Though many are predicting that Vogt will wind up a bench boss eventually, it seems he’ll start by getting his feet wet in the Mariners’ bullpen in 2023.

Trevor Story Underwent Internal Brace Surgery On Right Elbow

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3:10pm: Bloom didn’t provide a specific timeline on Story for the upcoming season, noting that a return is possible “but it’s not something at this stage we want to bank on,” per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Bloom also said Story was preparing to play shortstop before aggravating his elbow, per Speier.

2:50: Red Sox infielder Trevor Story had internal brace surgery on his right elbow yesterday, per a release from the team. “Boston Red Sox infielder Trevor Story yesterday underwent a successful internal bracing procedure of the right ulnar collateral ligament (elbow),” the statement reads. “Dr. Keith Meister performed the surgery at Texas Metroplex Institute in Arlington, Texas.” Chris Cotillo of MassLive. reported the surgery shortly before the official announcement and adds that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom will speak at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central.

The club has not provided a timeline on Story’s expected recovery, with that information perhaps to come when Bloom speaks. Until that information comes out, we can only speculate on the timeline, but it’s worth pointing out that the UCL is the same ligament that is replaced in Tommy John surgery. The internal brace procedure is generally considered to be less invasive and allow players to return quicker, but the recovery period still usually takes months. For one recent example, outfielder Eli White underwent the procedure while a member of the Rangers last year, with the club announcing at that time that White was expected to miss six months. Each player is unique and will have their own responses to different injuries, but it seems fair to assume that Story is slated for a significant absence of some kind.

For Story, there have been concerns swirling around his throwing arm for some time now. He made 11 throwing errors while with the Rockies in 2021, with some scouts expressing trepidation about this throws after that season. Statcast’s new arm strength leaderboard ranked Story as averaging 79.1 mph on his throws from short, a mark that placed him 52nd out of 58 shortstops to make at least 100 throws that year. That was a noticeable drop from 2020, when Story was at 82.3 mph and ranked 22nd out of 34 shortstops who made 100 throws.

Despite those concerns, the Sox signed Story to a six-year, $140MM deal going into 2022. At the time of the signing, Story was expected to play second base in deference to shortstop Xander Bogaerts, but it was also seen as a possible safety net for a Bogaerts departure. Since Bogaerts had the ability to opt out of his deal after 2022, the Sox would then have the option of sliding Story to the other side of the bag to replace him.

The position change gave Story and the Sox a year to evaluate things, with Story making shorter throws from second. He averaged 76.1 mph on his throws last year, which was another drop from the year before and placed him 61st among 70 second basemen to make 100 throws on the year. On top of that, the Sox indeed saw Bogaerts opt out of his contract and sign with the Padres this winter.

Though Story’s timeline is still to be determined, it seems like the Sox will now have to figure out how to navigate their middle infield without Bogaerts or Story, at least for a few months. If the club decides to stick with internal options, they could go with Enrique Hernández and Christian Arroyo, though Hernandez seemed ticketed to be the everyday center fielder, so they would have to figure out a solution there. Jarren Duran would be an option to take over in center, though he struggled in 2022 by hitting just .221/.283/.363. There are some other infielders on the roster such as David Hamilton and Enmanuel Valdez, though they’ve only recently been added and have no major league experience.

It’s also possible the club could look for external upgrades. The top free agent options are all off the board, assuming today’s Carlos Correa deal with the Twins is the one that finally gets across the finish line. Elvis Andrus, Josh Harrison and Andrelton Simmons are some of the middle infield options still on the board, if the Sox decide to go that route. On the trade market, there are some players who could be available, such as Isiah Kiner-Falefa of the Yankees, though an inter-division trade might be tricky. Amed Rosario of the Guardians has been mentioned as a speculative candidate, as has Nick Madrigal of the Cubs. The Sox and Marlins have reportedly discussed Joey Wendle and Miguel Rojas in trade talks, so perhaps those discussions could be revisited in light of today’s news.

However the Sox approach it, it seems fair to say that they have been dealt a blow for 2023. Despite being hurt in 2022, Story still hit 16 home runs in 94 games and slashed .238/.303/.434. One silver lining of the surgery is that there’s at least an explanation for his diminished arm strength. If the surgery is successful in repairing his ligament and he’s able to get back into form, perhaps he can take over the shortstop position later in the year. Story’s contract runs through 2027 but he has the ability to opt out after 2025, with the Sox then able to negate the opt-out by tacking on another year and keeping him through 2028.

Blue Jays Sign Brandon Belt

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January 10: The Jays have officially announced Belt’s signing.

January 9: After 12 seasons with the Giants, Brandon Belt is headed to Toronto. He’s in agreement with the Blue Jays on a one-year, $9.3MM contract for the 2023 season. The Excel Sports Management client has reportedly already passed his physical. The Jays are expected to formally announce the signing Tuesday, at which point they’ll need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move.

A fifth-round pick by San Francisco in 2009, Belt reached the majors two seasons later. He played in 63 games as a rookie and took hold of the primary first base job by his second season. Belt was a key contributor on San Francisco’s 2012 World Series team, hitting .275/.360/.421 over 145 games. Injuries limited him to 61 regular season contests during the 2014 season but he was healthy enough to contribute to San Francisco’s third title in five years during the playoffs.

Belt battled intermittent injury issues throughout the coming years. When healthy, he was a consistently productive offensive player. While San Francisco’s pitcher-friendly home ballpark depressed his over-the-fence power, he was an annual threat for 30+ doubles and posted huge on-base numbers thanks to massive walk rates. At the start of the 2016 season, the Giants inked Belt to a $72.8MM extension that kept him off the open market through the 2021 campaign. He followed up with a .275/.394/.474 showing through 655 trips to the plate, earning his only career All-Star nod in the process.

The Texas product saw his production tail off a bit over the next few seasons, hitting at a slightly above-average level through 2019. He rebounded in a huge way in 2020, mashing at a .309/.425/.591 clip to secure some down-ballot MVP support during the shortened season. He continued to rake the following season but saw that year frequently interrupted by injury. Belt lost time to a left oblique strain and soreness in his right knee but managed a .274/.378/.597 showing while shattering his previous career mark with 29 home runs in just 97 games. Unfortunately, an errant pitch fractured his left thumb late in the season and he wasn’t able to participate in San Francisco’s playoff run.

In advance of what was set to be Belt’s first trip to free agency, the Giants tagged him with an $18.9MM qualifying offer. He accepted and returned to the Bay Area for another season. Injuries again proved problematic, this time seemingly have a deleterious effect on his performance even when he did manage to take the field. Belt had a trio of IL stints last season and while the first was a very brief absence related to COVID-19, the latter two were more worrisome. He lost around three weeks between May and June due to inflammation in his balky right knee and that again arose in mid-August.

After his second knee-related IL placement, the veteran elected to shut things down and undergo season-ending surgery. It was the third surgical procedure he’d undergone on that knee. Belt acknowledged he might contemplate retirement if recovery didn’t go well, but he told reporters a few weeks later he felt revitalized by the operation.

The injuries sent him to the open market in advance of his age-35 campaign coming off arguably his worst season. He hit .213/.326/.350 through 298 trips to the plate. Belt still walked at an excellent 12.4% clip but saw his power production drop. He managed eight home runs and posted a career-low .138 ISO (slugging minus batting average). Belt’s 38.5% hard contact rate, while still a bit better than average, was markedly down from his 2020-21 levels.

Toronto clearly believes that diminished production was a symptom of the injuries, which the club can hope won’t be as concerning after last summer’s surgery. If Belt can recapture any of his previous form, he’d add a quality left-handed bat to a predominantly right-handed lineup. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be the everyday first baseman. Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk figure to get a decent number of designated hitter at-bats when the other is in the lineup at catcher. Everyone in that group hits from the right side, so Belt adds some balance to the mix. None of those players will be strictly relegated to the short side of a platoon by Belt but he adds another high-upside offensive option for skipper John Schneider.

It’s a short-term deal but isn’t an insignificant commitment for the club. Tacking on Belt’s $9.3MM salary brings Toronto’s projected 2023 payroll a bit above $212MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. That shatters last year’s approximate $171MM commitment, which had been a franchise record. More notably, it firmly positions the Jays as likely luxury tax payors for the first time in franchise history. The organization is up around $242MM in tax obligations, according to Roster Resource. After entering the night within a rounding error of the base threshold of $233MM, they’re pushing well past it to bring in more offensive help.

A team’s CBT number is officially tabulated at the end of the season, so the front office could theoretically look for ways to dip back under the line. That seems unlikely as the Jays battle for what they hope will be their first AL East title in eight years. Toronto boasts one of the league’s best lineups but could still look for help at the back of the rotation or in the bullpen over the next couple months.

The Blue Jays will pay a 20% tax on their first $20MM in CBT overages. They’re set to take on around $1.84MM in fees as a result of this signing, meaning their actual commitment to bring in Belt is closer to $11MM. If they surpass the $253MM mark, they’d be taxed at a 30% rate on any additional overages. Going past $273MM would come with further penalties.

San Francisco will move forward without one of the last remaining players from their excellent run in the first half of the last decade. Brandon Crawford is the only player from the 2014 team who’s still a Giant. It had long looked as if the club were going in that direction this offseason, with LaMonte Wade Jr. and J.D. Davis looking likely to share first base reps.

Belt had been one of the top first basemen still available on the open market. The free agent class at the position is now led by Trey Mancini and Yuli Gurriel, while Luke Voit and Miguel Sanó are around as bounceback targets for clubs looking to roll the dice on a power bat.

 Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was first to report Belt and the Blue Jays were in agreement on a one-year contract that’d be announced Tuesday and that Belt had already passed his physical. Kaitlyn McGrath of the Athletic was first with the $9.3MM guarantee.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Blue Jays Designate Julian Merryweather For Assignment

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The Blue Jays have made their signing of Brandon Belt official, announcing the move today. To open a spot for him on the 40-man roster, right-hander Julian Merryweather has been designated for assignment.

Merryweather, 31, has spent the past three seasons in the Blue Jays’ bullpen after being acquired in the trade that sent Josh Donaldson from Toronto to Cleveland in 2018. He’s shown flashes of potential as a hard-thrower with near top-of-the-line velocity and above-average spin on his heater. However, even though Merryweather has averaged better than 97 mph on that fastball, he’s posted a below-average 21.8% strikeout rate in his career while logging a 5.64 ERA in 52 2/3 frames.

Merryweather’s 7.4% walk rate has been sharp, but he’s also been quite homer-prone in his big league career, yielding eight long balls in those 52 2/3 Major League innings. It’s tempting to assume that’s due to the hitter-friendly nature of his home park, but Merryweather has allowed more long balls on the road (five) than in Toronto (three) in a nearly equal number of plate appearances. Opponents have regularly made hard contact against the 6’4″ righty, evidenced by average exit velocities of 90.3 mph in each of the past two seasons and hard-hit rates of 47.4% and 44.8% in 2021 and 2022.

Because he’s out of minor league options, Merryweather will need to either stick on a team’s Opening Day roster or else be passed through waivers in order to be sent to Triple-A. The Blue Jays themselves will have the opportunity to attempt to pass him through waivers, though they can also take the next few days to gauge interest in a trade before taking that step.

Nationals Designate Andrés Machado For Assignment

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The Nationals have officially announced their deal with outfielder Corey Dickerson. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, reliever Andrés Machado was designated for assignment.

Machado, 30 in April, has spent the past two years with the Nats as a depth reliever, getting frequently optioned and recalled as needed. He’s thrown 95 innings over those two seasons with a solid 3.41 ERA. His 9.9% walk rate and 43.6% ground ball rate in that time were both roughly average, but his 18.3% strikeout rate was a few ticks below par.

Machado’s opponents have registered a .264 batting average on balls in play against him, which is on the low side. For example, the league average in 2022 was .289, a 25-point difference. A pitcher can sometimes earn a lower BABIP than average by minimizing hard contact, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Machado. Statcast only places him in the 23rd percentile among qualified pitchers in terms of average exit velocity, 15th in hard hit rate and 27th in barrel rate.

It’s possible that good luck was helping Machado keep earned runs off the board. Whether that’s true or not, he’s now out of options, giving the club less versatility in using him on the roster. They will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. If another team were to acquire him, he has between one and two years of service time and has yet to reach arbitration. Though he hasn’t racked up huge strikeout numbers in the big leagues, he did average over 95 mph on his fastball in 2022. He also struck out 26.6% of Triple-A batters faced in the past two years.

Twins Acquire A.J. Alexy From Nationals

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The Twins have acquired right-hander A.J. Alexy from the Nationals, according to announcements from both clubs. Alexy had been designated for assignment by the Nats last week. In exchange, right-hander Cristian Jimenez will be going to the Nats. In order to open a spot on their 40-man roster, the Twins have designated righty Oliver Ortega for assignment.

Alexy, 25 in April, was a Dodgers draftee who went to the Rangers in the 2017 Yu Darvish trade. Since then, he’s posted some strong results in the minors but struggled to be as successful in the majors. He missed much of 2019 due to injury and then the minor leagues were canceled in 2020, but he showed promise in 2021. He tossed 65 minor league innings between Double-A and Triple-A, posting a 1.66 ERA along with a 29.8% strikeout rate. The 10.6% walk rate was certainly high but it was still a solid enough showing to get him into the majors.

Alexy posted a 4.70 ERA in 23 MLB innings that year, despite matching strikeout and walk rates of 17.5%, with both of those numbers being worse than league average. In 2022, he was limited to just seven innings in the show, getting tattooed for an 11.57 ERA in that short time. He tossed 96 innings in Triple-A with a 5.91 ERA, getting strikeouts at a healthy 23.6% clip but with the walks still high at 12.8%.

The Rangers overhauled their rotation this winter and designated Alexy for assignment in the process. Despite his struggles in the majors so far, he’s still young and has some solid results in the minors to build from. He also still has an option year remaining, allowing a team to keep him in the minors as starting depth. The Nats grabbed him off waivers from the Rangers but he got bumped from their roster when they signed Dominic Smith. He’ll now head to the Twins and enter their rotation mix.

The Twins have a solid group of starters with Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Kenta Maeda, Tyler Mahle and Bailey Ober the likely front five. However, there are injury concerns scattered throughout that crew. Maeda didn’t pitch at all in 2022 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, whereas the other four all made at least one trip to the IL in 2022 for various ailments. Alexy can now join Josh Winder, Simeon Woods Richardson and others as depth options on Minnesota’s roster.

By claiming Alexy and hanging onto him for a few weeks, the Nats will receive Jimenez for their troubles. He’s still quite young, not turning 19 years old until May. He spent 2022 in the Dominican Summer League, posting a 3.38 ERA over 37 1/3 innings with a 30.2% strikeout rate, 4.3% walk rate and 57.9% ground ball rate.

Ortega, 26, was just claimed off waivers from the Angels last week. He split his time between the majors and Triple-A in 2022, posting matching 22.3% strikeout rates at each level. His 6.6% walk rate in the minors was almost doubled in the majors at 12.2%, yet his major league ERA of 3.71 was somehow a couple runs better than his 5.96 mark in Triple-A. That was probably just bad luck, since his minor league BABIP was almost 100 points higher on the farm and his strand rate was 8% lower. He’s still young and has a couple of option years, making him appealing for any club looking for extra pitching depth. The Nats will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

Nationals Sign Corey Dickerson

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1:14pm: The Nationals have officially announced their signing of Dickerson.

7:30am: The Nationals and free-agent outfielder Corey Dickerson are in agreement on a one-year deal worth $2.25MM, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The Excel Sports Management client can earn another $750K via performance incentives. The Nats Report first reported that Dickerson and the Nationals were in agreement on a deal.

Dickerson, 33, will join his eighth big league team with this agreement — and his third in the National League East, having played prior stints with both the Phillies (2019) and Marlins (2020-21). His 2022 season was spent with the Cardinals, where he logged a .267/.300/.399 slash with six homers, 17 doubles and a triple in 297 plate appearances. That slash is at least somewhat skewed by an awful start to the season which saw him bat .180/.237/.213 through his first 97 plate appearances; from June 1 through the end of the 2022 campaign, Dickerson recorded 200 trips to the plate and posted a hefty .307/.330/.484 batting line.

In reality, Dickerson’s true talent level likely lies somewhere between the two extremes. The 2017 All-Star and 2018 Gold Glove winner is a lifetime .281/.324/.481 hitter but has settled in closer to a league-average bat since the 2020  season, slashing .266/.313/.403 in 872 turns at the plate.

The left-handed-hitting Dickerson carries a fairly sharp platoon split, with the majority of his power coming versus right-handed pitching. Dickerson’s 25.8% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate against lefties are also demonstrably worse than his respective 18.9% and 6.1% marks when holding the platoon advantage. Overall, Dickerson has held his own in terms of batting average against lefties (.259) but has paired that with a bleak .299 on-base percentage and just a .394 slugging percentage. Against righties, however, he’s slashed .287/.331/.505.

For a rebuilding Nationals squad with an all-right-handed-hitting outfield of Alex Call, Victor Robles and Lane Thomas, adding Dickerson on an affordable one-year deal is eminently sensible. His days as a center fielder should be behind him, but Dickerson can take plate appearances against right-handed pitching off the plates of each of his new fellow outfielders. Robles, in particular, was anemic against righties in 2022, slashing just .188/.238/.258 in 240 plate appearances. It’s also worth noting that Call was a 27-year-old rookie in 2022, and while his production in the upper minors (and in his 47-game MLB debut) certainly merited the promotion, he’s not exactly locked in as an established, everyday big leaguer just yet.

Dickerson could also see some time at designated hitter, and the Nationals will surely mix in 2022 breakout slugger Joey Menseses — another right-handed hitter.  Meneses could log time at first base, spelling recent signee Dominic Smith against lefties, and he’s an option in the outfield corners and at designated hitter.

There should be plenty of at-bats to go around, and given the short big league track records of Call, Thomas and Meneses — to say nothing of Robles’ continued offensive struggles that now span the past three seasons — Dickerson should fit in nicely and raise the floor for a lineup that’s light on proven hitters. He’ll also give the Nationals a potential trade chip at the deadline. Dickerson alone isn’t going to fetch a prominent, top-tier prospect, but he can still net the Nats some minor league talent if he’s healthy and performing well.

With Dickerson in the fold, the Nationals’ payroll will inch beyond the $104MM mark. It’s a far cry from the $197MM Opening Day payroll the team trotted out in 2019, when they went on to win the World Series. However, this iteration of the Nationals is more focused on building up the farm and setting the stage for future seasons, and the front office’s rebuilding effort is taking place in conjunction with ownership’s exploration of a potential sale of the team.

Be that as it may, the generally slashed payroll leaves the Nats with plenty of latitude for additional spending, should further deals to their liking present themselves. Beyond Dickerson, Washington has thus far agreed to Major League deals with the aforementioned Smith (one year, $2MM), third baseman Jeimer Candelario (one year, $5MM), swingman Erasmo Ramirez (one year, $1MM) and right-hander Trevor Williams (two years, $13MM) in free agency. There’s still room for another veteran starter, and the bullpen has plenty of uncertainty that could be offset by the addition of a more reliable name.

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