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Pirates Sign Tim Mayza

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The Pirates signed lefty reliever Tim Mayza to a one-year major league contract. The Ballengee Group client is reportedly guaranteed $1.15MM. Infielder Alika Williams has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Mayza, who turned 33 a few weeks ago, was a 12th round pick of the Blue Jays in 2013. He spent over a decade in the Toronto organization. The southpaw got to the big leagues in 2017 and pitched in parts of seven seasons. He had a quietly strong run between 2021-23, combining for a 2.67 earned run average while striking out nearly a quarter of opposing hitters through 155 innings. Mayza limited same-handed batters to a .203/.238/.273 slash in 270 plate appearances over that stretch. He kept the ball on the ground at a huge 58-59% clip in all three seasons.

His fortunes turned sharply last year. Mayza took the ball for the Jays 35 times. Opponents blitzed him for more than eight earned runs per nine innings. His strikeout rate plummeted to 13.2%, while the ground-balls fell to a modest 39.1% rate. There weren’t many signs of encouragement in either the results nor the underlying profile. Toronto designated him for assignment in late June, a disappointing end to his tenure.

Mayza cleared waivers and was granted his release. He signed a minor league deal with the Yankees not long thereafter. He fired 8 1/3 innings of two-run ball in Triple-A to earn a call up in the middle of August. The Yanks gave him 15 appearances, mostly in low-leverage situations, for the final six weeks of the regular season.

The results were dramatically improved from his early-season work but not back to his 2021-23 heights. He allowed 10 runs (eight earned) through 18 frames. He struck out a modest 16.4% of batters faced. Mayza added 2 1/3 scoreless frames in mop-up situations during New York’s pennant run — including a scoreless inning to wrap up their Game 4 win in the World Series. The Yankees non-tendered him in lieu of a projected $4MM salary for his final year of arbitration.

Mayza, like many situational lefties, relies on a sinker-slider combination. His sinker sat in the 93-94 MPH range during his best seasons in Toronto. The velocity was down about two ticks early last season. Mayza rediscovered it during his time in the Bronx, sitting around 93.5 MPH during his final two months. That didn’t result in a dramatic uptick in whiffs, though Mayza recaptured much of his prior ground-ball acumen. He kept the ball on the ground at a strong 55.4% clip during his time with the Yankees.

While not quite a return to form, Mayza showed enough late in the season for the Pirates to give him a roster spot. He has over five years of service time and cannot be sent to the minors without his consent. The major league deal indicates he’s very likely to be in Derek Shelton’s season-opening bullpen. He joins fellow free agent signee Caleb Ferguson (another former Yankee) in that regard. The only other lefty reliever on the 40-man roster is long man Joey Wentz. He’s out of options, so he’ll also need to stick on the MLB roster or be made available to other teams via trade or waivers. RosterResource calculates the Bucs’ payroll around $80MM. They ended last season in the $87MM range.

Alex Stumpf of MLB.com was first on the agreement and the financials. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

The Brewers’ Post-Adames Infield Options

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For the first time in three and a half years, the Brewers enter camp with a question at shortstop. Milwaukee was never going to make a realistic push to retain Willy Adames when he hit the open market. They’ll replace Adames internally, though doing so will open a camp battle at one of second or third base.

Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz manned those respective positions in 2024. They were each highly-regarded prospects whom scouts felt would stick at shortstop. They only moved off the position in deference to Adames. They each thrived at an easier spot on the defensive spectrum. Turang tied for seventh among second basemen with six Outs Above Average, according to Statcast. Defensive Runs Saved graded him at a much favorable +22 runs, earning him both the Gold Glove and Platinum Glove at the position. Ortiz’s third base work was just as highly-regarded. He tied with Matt Chapman for the league lead at the position with 11 Outs Above Average; DRS ranked him fifth with a +8 mark.

If the Brewers have a preference for one of those players at shortstop, they haven’t tipped their hand publicly. Turang played exclusively second base last season but started 10 games at shortstop in 2023. Ortiz started one game there last year, the only time Adames was not penciled into the lineup. (That came the day after Milwaukee clinched the NL Central.) Either player should be able to move back to their initial position, where there’s a good chance they’d still a plus defender.

In either case, the trickle-down impact of Adames’ departure will be felt somewhere other than shortstop. If Turang moves to the left side of the infield, the Brewers will need someone else to step up at second base. That’d be true of the hot corner if Ortiz kicks over. Someone will be in line for an uptick in at-bats. While the Brewers could theoretically still address this via free agency, the remaining infielders beyond Alex Bregman (e.g. Jose Iglesias, Paul DeJong, Yoán Moncada, Enrique Hernández) aren’t especially exciting.

Let’s run through the internal options who could earn themselves regular playing time once camp gets underway this month.

Sal Frelick

The most intriguing move would be to bring Frelick into the infield. Last winter, Milwaukee considered moving the speedy outfielder to either second or third base. That was in recognition of their somewhat crowded outfield depth chart and the risk of relying on a then-unproven Ortiz at third base. Ortiz’s excellent year meant Milwaukee wouldn’t have had many infield at-bats to offer Frelick even if they wanted to commit to him at the position.

In the end, Frelick didn’t start a single game in the infield. He played four innings at third base over two late-game substitutions. Frelick played mostly right field, where he continued to demonstrate elite range. He won his first career Gold Glove while receiving plus grades from Statcast (7 Outs Above Average) and DRS (+16). Frelick has the arm for third base, but his speed would be less impactful on the infield. Skipper Pat Murphy said at the beginning of the offseason that the Brewers were open to the possibility of continuing the third base experiment. Is it worthwhile to cut his innings in right field to give him regular infield run?

Tyler Black

The 24-year-old Black probably has the highest offensive upside of anyone in this competition. He earned some Top 100 prospect buzz going into last season. That came on the heels of a huge .284/.417/.513 showing between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville in 2023. Black didn’t quite replicate those numbers over what was closer to a full season with Nashville. The lefty hitter posted a .258/.375/.429 slash with 14 homers across 462 plate appearances at the top minor league level. He struggled in his first MLB cameo, hitting .204 with only two extra-base hits (both doubles) in 18 games.

While Black’s stock is down slightly from where it stood 12 months ago, he still has clear offensive promise. He walked at an excellent 13.2% clip while keeping his strikeouts to a modest 18.8% rate in Triple-A. Baseball America ranked him the #5 prospect in the Milwaukee system this offseason, writing that he still possesses the best strike zone discipline of any of the organization’s prospects.

Black’s minor league exit velocities were middling, though, raising some questions about how much power he’ll bring to the table. The biggest issue is where he’ll land defensively. BA grades him as a below-average defender with a subpar arm. That makes him a tough fit at the hot corner. The Brewers seem to agree, as he only played 79 innings at third base in Triple-A last season after logging more than 800 innings there in 2023. He hasn’t played second base since 2022. Milwaukee seems to prefer Black at first base, but they’d need to offload the Rhys Hoskins contract to play him there regularly. He could bounce around the infield while seeing action at designated hitter, but he’s not a typical player for a Milwaukee team that strongly values infield defense.

Caleb Durbin

The Brewers landed Durbin alongside Nestor Cortes in this offseason’s Devin Williams trade. New York had added the 24-year-old (25 this month) to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. The 5’6″ infielder had a breakout season between three minor league affiliates. Durbin hit .275/.388/.451 with more walks (13.1%) than strikeouts (9.9%). He stole 31 bases while bouncing between second base, third base and shortstop. He spent more than half the season in Triple-A, where he hit .287/.396/.471 across 375 plate appearances.

Before the trade, Yankees manager Aaron Boone had at least paid lip service to the idea of Durbin being in the mix for their starting second base job. He could be in a similar position in Milwaukee. The bottom line results in Triple-A certainly suggest he’s ready for an MLB look. Still, most scouting reports feel Durbin projects as a slap-hitting utilityman rather than a true regular. Baseball America ranks him 23rd among Milwaukee prospects, praising his contact skills and speed while writing that he can play an average second or third base. He’s not expected to provide much in the way of power. While he managed 10 homers in 82 Triple-A contests, he did so with a paltry 83.8 MPH average exit velocity and 25% hard contact rate. Both marks would’ve landed in the bottom 10 qualified major league hitters.

Oliver Dunn

Milwaukee acquired Dunn from the Phillies last offseason. The Brewers were intrigued by the left-handed hitter’s massive .271/.396/.506 showing in Double-A in 2023. The 27-year-old Dunn got a chance to make his major league debut last year. He struggled in a relatively small sample, hitting .221/.282/.316 while striking out 38.5% of the time. Whiffs have been an issue throughout his career. Dunn has fanned at a 28.1% clip in parts of five minor league seasons. He has walked at a massive 15.6% rate over that stretch, but that’s a tough approach to pull off against major league pitchers who have far better command than most arms he has seen in the minors.

A back injury ended Dunn’s season in the middle of June. That cost him a chance to play regularly in Triple-A for the first time in his career. He still has only 15 games at the top minor league level. Dunn has multiple options and is probably ticketed for Nashville to start the year.

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Andruw Monasterio and Vinny Capra are the other multi-positional infielders on the 40-man roster. They’re each in their late 20s with modest offensive upside. They project more as fringe roster types than candidates for regular playing time, though Monasterio made it into 59 MLB games last season. He hit .208/.303/.272 with one home run.

Poll: Who’s Winning The Offseason In The NL East?

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The calendar has flipped to February and the start of Spring Training is just a matter of days away. While some notable free agents (including nine of MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents for the 2024-25 offseason) remain unsigned, most clubs have already done the heavy lifting in terms of preparing their roster for the 2025 season. In the coming days, we’ll be taking a look around the league at which clubs have had the strongest offseason to this point. Today, that focus is on the NL East division. After sending three teams to the playoffs in 2024 while a fourth debuted a number of top prospects, there’s plenty of big expectations headed into 2025 all throughout the division. Which team has done the most to set themselves up for success this winter? Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies entered the offseason in need of some late-inning relief help after Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez both hit free agency at the outset of the winter. The club signed right-hander Jordan Romano to a one-year deal after he was non-tendered by the Blue Jays in November, but the club’s other pitching additions have actually been focused on the starting rotation. The addition of versatile swing man Joe Ross creates some much-needed depth and fills the role Spencer Turnbull played on the 2024 club, but the club’s biggest move this winter was swinging a deal with the Marlins for Jesus Luzardo. Luzardo will fit right into the Phillies’ powerhouse rotation alongside while also lessening the club’s reliance on right-hander Taijuan Walker after a disastrous 2024 campaign.

Things have been very quiet for the club on the positional side of things, however, with the addition of outfielder Max Kepler as their regular left fielder being the only notable addition so far. Kepler should help bolster the club’s outfield depth and push Johan Rojas into a part-time role after a difficult 2024 campaign, but it’s still somewhat surprising to see the club make so few alterations to its lineup in spite of rumors earlier this winter that the club could look to move on from third baseman Alec Bohm or right fielder Nick Castellanos in order to more drastically reshape the lineup.

New York Mets

It’s undeniable that the Mets made the single most significant addition of anyone in the division this winter when they signed Juan Soto to a record-shattering $765MM deal just before the Winter Meetings began. Soto is a transformational player with an MVP-caliber ceiling, and even without other supplemental moves landing him is a feat for the organization to be proud of. With that being said, however, the club’s approach to the rest of its offseason since signing Soto has been surprisingly modest. They reunited with veteran southpaw Sean Manaea in free agency, but opted to replace Jose Quintana and Luis Severino in the rotation by bringing in Manaea’s longtime A’s teammate Frankie Montas as he searches for a bounceback and converting Clay Holmes into a starter after several years of success as a late-inning reliever in the Bronx.

Meanwhile, they made something of a splash in the bullpen by adding lefty set-up man A.J. Minter to the mix behind closer Edwin Diaz while also bolstering the club’s depth with deals for Justin Hagenman, Dylan Covey, and Griffin Canning. Additions to the lineup beyond Soto have been fairly muted as well. The club swung a trade to acquire Jose Siri from the Rays in a move that should help the club weather the loss of Harrison Bader in free agency, while adding Nick Madrigal and Jared Young to the mix has helped improve the club’s bench depth. Noticeably absent from the club’s spending spree this winter, however, is a reunion with fan favorite slugger Pete Alonso. That’s left New York with plenty of questions about the infield corners, where Mark Vientos figures to handle one position with internal youngsters like Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio also in the conversation for playing time.

Atlanta Braves

Despite the club’s history of striking early on the free agent and trade markets, the early part of this winter was extremely quiet for the Braves outside of them moving the salary of slugger Jorge Soler to the Angels on the first day of the offseason. The club watched Max Fried and Charlie Morton depart in free agency from their rotation but have not yet done anything of note to address those departures, instead hoping the return of Spencer Strider from injury as well as depth options like Bryce Elder and Ian Anderson will be able to cover the lost innings. Where Atlanta has made a splash, however, is in the lineup. After losing Ronald Acuna Jr. for most of 2024 amid a season full of disappointing performances up and down the club’s lineup, the club added Jurickson Profar on a three-year deal. Profar supplants Jarred Kelenic as the club’s everyday left fielder, while depth additions Bryan De La Cruz and Carlos D. Rodriguez should help Kelenic cover right field until Acuna returns from injury.

Washington Nationals

The Nationals’ youth movement is in full swing with a number of top prospects having reached the majors, highlighted by an outfield that now includes both James Wood and Dylan Crews. They’ve made a number of short-term moves to supplement their young roster this winter, with the most impactful of those being the trade they worked out to bring in first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Rangers in exchange for southpaw Robert Garcia. Lowe will pair with free agent addition Josh Bell to handle first base and DH duties in D.C. while infield Amed Rosario was signed to shore up the club’s depth all around the diamond.

Turning to the pitching staff, the Nationals have reunited with Trevor Williams while adding both Michael Soroka and Shinnosuke Ogasawara to the rotation mix in order to support a group of young arms led by MacKenzie Gore. The club’s surplus of viable starting options should also help keep things steady in a bullpen that saw more subtractions and additions this winter. In addition to Garcia being shipped out in the Lowe trade, the Nats non-tendered longtime closer Kyle Finnegan back in November. More recently, the club added veteran right-hander Jorge Lopez on a one-year deal to fill Finnegan’s role as a veteran presence in the late innings.

Miami Marlins

As one of the few clubs in the majors committed to rebuilding at the moment, the Marlins’ offseason looks very different than the rest of the division. Infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman is the club’s only major league free agent signing, and he has just 18 games of big league experience under his belt to this point. The club also added Matt Mervis to the first base mix alongside Jonah Bride in a swap with the Cubs for Vidal Brujan. Other moves to this point have been more focused on shipping out major league talent than bringing it in, with Jake Burger heading to the Rangers and Luzardo moving to the club’s division rivals in Philadelphia. Those deals have brought in a number of prospects, however: Miami’s farm system added Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd in the Luzardo deal while Max Acosta, Brayan Mendoza, and Echedry Vargas all came over in the exchange for Burger.

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The additions of Soto, Luzardo, and Profar in New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta respectively all figure to provide major impact, but all three top clubs in the East have been a bit more measured than expected, outside of those moves. Meanwhile, the Nationals have made a flurry of short-term deals and signings to augment their club but haven’t made the sort of high-impact addition many expected with veteran Patrick Corbin coming off the books this winter. Miami’s approach is different than the other five as a rebuilding club, with a weakened major league roster being the price the Marlins have paid to replenish their farm system. Of the five NL East clubs, which one has had the strongest offseason so far? Have your say in the poll below:

MLB Fires Umpire Pat Hoberg For Violation Of Gambling Policy

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MLB issued a statement today regarding Pat Hoberg. The umpire has been fired for violating the league’s gambling policy. Per MLB’s statement, there’s no evidence that Hoberg himself bet on games or that the outcomes of any games were compromised. However, the statement says that Hobert shared a gambling account with a professional poker player, with this friend using that account to bet on baseball. The statement also says Hoberg deleted messages related to the investigation.

News of the Hoberg situation first came out in June, as covered by MLBTR at the time. MLB released a statement at that time saying that the league had started investigating Hoberg during spring training and that discipline was warranted. Hoberg decided to appeal.

Per today’s statement, commissioner Rob Manfred has upheld the decision, “following an appeal process in accordance with its Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the Major League Baseball Umpires Association (MLBUA).”

“MLB immediately opened an investigation in February 2024,” the statement reads, “upon receiving information from a licensed sports betting operator that Hoberg had opened a sports betting account in his own name and that the personal electronic device associated with this account was also associated with the legal sports betting account of an individual not covered by MLB’s policies (Individual A) who had bet on baseball. Hoberg was subsequently removed from Spring Training and made inactive for the 2024 Championship Season pending completion of the investigatory process.”

Per the statement, Hoberg has “adamantly denied betting on baseball directly or indirectly (i.e., through his friend), and the data provided by the sportsbooks does not show any baseball bets from his own electronic devices.” It goes on to state that the league “found no evidence that Hoberg or anyone else took any action to manipulate the outcomes of any games, and an analysis of the betting data did not show any discernible patterns indicative of an integrity risk.”

Per Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com, none of the bets placed from Hoberg’s devices were on baseball. However, the friend’s device bet on baseball 141 times, including eight games that Hoberg worked. “The investigation found no pattern to indicate Hoberg’s calls were influenced by the bets, none of which were profitable,” per Castrovince.

Jesse Rogers of ESPN provides some more details on the arrangement between Hoberg and his friend, who met at a poker tournament in 2014 and became friends. In 2019, online sports betting became legal in Iowa, where Hoberg lives. The friend opened legal accounts with two sportsbooks and Hoberg “asked his friend to place non-baseball sports bets for him using the accounts to do so.” Later, “the friend gave Hoberg the username and password to his accounts so that Hoberg could place bets directly by logging into the accounts using Hoberg’s own devices on occasions when his friend was not in Iowa and, therefore, not able to place the bets for Hoberg.” The two friends communicated via the app Telegram and kept logs of their gambling activity in there, later settling debts in cash when they saw each other in person. After being contacted by MLB, the friend deleted Telegram threads with Hoberg, and Hoberg deleted his own Telegram account. MLB was not able to retrieve those messages.

MLB’s statement goes on to state that Michael Hill, senior vice president of on-field operations, determined that Hoberg demonstrated poor judgement and could not be trusted to “maintain the integrity of the international game of baseball.” Hoberg was notified on May 31, 2024 that he would be fired. He appealed the decision to Manfred, though the CBA with the umpires calls for the involvement of a mutually agreed upon “Neutral Factfinder” who would look into the events in question. Per the statement, Manfred is to give “due regard” to the findings of this factfinder but “is not bound by them and can make an independent judgment that is final, binding and not subject to the grievance procedure or challenge in any other forum.”

A statement from Manfred was included in the release from the league: “The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules governing sports betting conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans. An extensive investigation revealed no evidence that Mr. Hoberg placed bets on baseball directly or that he or anyone else manipulated games in any way. However, his extremely poor judgment in sharing betting accounts with a professional poker player he had reason to believe bet on baseball and who did, in fact, bet on baseball from the shared accounts, combined with his deletion of messages, creates at minimum the appearance of impropriety that warrants imposing the most severe discipline. Therefore, there is just cause to uphold Mr. Hoberg’s termination for failing to conform to high standards of personal conduct and to maintain the integrity of the game of baseball.”

Hoberg also released a statement today, with Evan Drellich of The Athletic among those to relay it to the public. “I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s statement,” Hoberg says. “Those errors will always be a source of shame and embarrassment to me. Major League Baseball umpires are held to a high standard of personal conduct, and my own conduct fell short of that standard. That said, to be clear, I have never and would never bet on baseball in any way, shape, or form. I have never provided, and would never provide, information to anyone for the purpose of betting on baseball. Upholding the integrity of the game has always been of the utmost importance to me. I apologize to Major League Baseball and the entire baseball community for my mistakes. I vow to learn from them and to be a better version of myself moving forward.”

Hoberg can apply for reinstatement but not until the start of 2026 spring training.

Mariners Acquire Casey Legumina, Designate Jhonathan Díaz

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The Mariners announced that they have acquired right-hander Casey Legumina from the Reds. Cincinnati, who designated Legumina for assignment last week when they signed Austin Hays, receives cash considerations in return. The M’s have designated left-hander Jhonathan Díaz for assignment in a corresponding move.

Legumina, 28 in June, has a limited major league track record to this point. He threw a combined 22 innings for the Reds over the past two seasons, allowing 17 earned runs for an unpleasant 6.75 ERA. His 16.7% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate in that time have both been below average, though his 56.4% ground ball rate has been strong.

The M’s are probably more interested in his larger sample of minor league work. Over the past four years, he has logged 226 2/3 innings on the farm with a 4.05 ERA, 26% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. He did a decent amount of starting earlier in his career but has primarily been working in relief over the past two seasons.

He still has one option year remaining and less than a full season of service time. That means he can be shuttled between the majors and the minors pretty freely for one more year and can also be cheaply retained well into the future if he continues to hang onto a roster spot. The M’s apparently had enough interest in Legumina as a depth arm that they sent some cash to the Reds in order to skip the waiver line.

Díaz, 28, also has a small big league résumé. He has thrown 45 innings in the majors, scattered across four different seasons. He has a 4.80 ERA, 15% strikeout rate, 12.6% walk rate and 45.7% ground ball rate.

Naturally, the minor league numbers are better, and in a larger sample. Over the past four years, he has thrown 328 innings on the farm, most of that coming in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has a 4.42 ERA in that time, along with a 23.6% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and grounders on about half of the balls in play he allowed.

Díaz still has a couple of options and could perhaps appeal to a club looking for some affordable rotation depth. The M’s will have a maximum of one week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next for the lefty, though the waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would need to happen in the next five days.

Mariners Designate Cade Marlowe For Assignment

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The Mariners announced that outfielder Cade Marlowe has been designated for assignment. That is the corresponding move to open a roster spot for infielder Jorge Polanco, whose one-year deal to return to the club is now official.

Marlowe, 28 in June, was a 20th-round pick of the Mariners back in 2019. He continually posted good numbers as he was climbing the minor league ladder, so the Mariners gave him a roster spot in November of 2022 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He has spent the past two years as a depth outfielder, getting only limited looks in the majors. To this point, he has received 109 big league plate appearances with a .240/.330/.406 line. His 11.9% walk rate in that time is strong but he’s also been punched out at a 31.2% rate.

His minor league numbers have tailed off in that time. He had a combined slash line of .281/.373/.523 over 2021 and 2022, which translated to a 129 wRC+. His 27% strikeout rate was on the high side but he offset it with an 11.5% walk rate and 49 home runs. But over 2023 and 2024, that line has been down to .246/.340/.419, translating to an 85 wRC+. His 11.9% walk rate was still good but the punchouts jumped even higher to 29.4%.

That diminished offense on the farm has seemingly nudged him off the edge of Seattle’s roster. They will now have at most a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next for him, whether that’s a trade or some fate on waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.

He does still have one option remaining, so he could perhaps appeal to a club in search of some extra outfield depth. Though the offense has dipped, he has continued to be a threat on the basepaths. He has stolen between 24 and 43 bases in each of the past four minor league seasons. The strikeouts have been an issue even when at his best but he has some wheels, some pop, can take a walk and can be sent to the minors regularly for one more season, all of which adds up to an intriguing package overall.

White Sox Claim Jacob Amaya, Designate Zach DeLoach

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The White Sox announced Monday that they’ve (re)claimed infielder Jacob Amaya off waivers from the Orioles. Chicago designated outfielder Zach DeLoach for assignment in a corresponding move.

The ChiSox designated Amaya for assignment less than a month ago and lost him on waivers to Baltimore. The O’s subsequently designated Amaya for assignment themselves not long after and unsuccessfully tried to pass him through waivers. The Sox now effectively get a mulligan on the DFA that cost them Amaya in the first place, and they’ll instead jettison the 26-year-old DeLoach from the 40-man roster.

Amaya, 26, originally landed with the South Siders by way of an August waiver claim. In the past year, he’s gone from the Marlins, to the Astros, to the White Sox, to the Orioles, back to the White Sox via waivers. He played 23 games with the Sox last season but hit just .179/.255/.194 in a small sample. In a total of 81 MLB plate appearances between Miami, Houston and Chicago, Amaya is a .182/.222/.195 hitter. However, he’s touted as a high-end defender at shortstop and also has the ability to handle either second base or third base.

The Dodgers originally selected Amaya in the 11th round of the 2017 draft. He was traded to the Marlins in the Jan. 2023 deal shipping Miguel Rojas from Miami to Los Angeles. Amaya has played in parts of three Triple-A seasons and is a .246/.342/.380 hitter in 1219 plate appearances there. He’s shown a strong eye to go along with his defensive skills, drawing a walk in 12.4% of his plate appearances at the top minor league level.

Amaya is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to break camp with the White Sox or else go through the DFA process yet again. There’s no clear starter at shortstop for Chicago, so Amaya will join a competition including Brooks Baldwin, non-roster invitee Nick Maton and prospects Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth. Montgomery is widely regarded as one of the top infield prospects in the game, though he’s coming off a down season at the Triple-A level.

Amaya’s return to the organization comes at the expense of DeLoach, whom the Sox acquired from the Mariners last winter in the trade sending reliever Gregory Santos to Seattle. Righty Prelander Berroa and a competitive balance draft pick also went to the Sox in that swap.

DeLoach’s first and now possibly only season in the White Sox organization didn’t go especially well. On the one hand, he did make his big league debut. On the other, he only posted a .209/.293/.328 batting line in 75 turns at the dish. His Triple-A output (.287/.375/.410) was solid but didn’t include any real gains from a 2023 campaign wherein he batted .286/.378/.481 in Triple-A Tacoma. If anything, the 2024 season was a step backward, as DeLoach fell from a career-high 23 homers in 2023 to a career-low six homers this past season.

As a prospect in the Mariners and White Sox systems, DeLoach was well-regarded not because of any standout individual tool but because he possessed average — or close to it — tools across the board. He’s an above-average runner who swiped 20 bags in 2024 and popped 23 homers in 2023. He walks in well over 10% of his plate appearances but has also fanned in more than a quarter of his plate appearances the past two seasons. DeLoach has experience at all three outfield spots. He can handle center in a pinch but is best suited in left field.

The White Sox have five days to trade DeLoach, and after that they’ll have to put him on waivers (a 48-hour process). He has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so a team looking for some lefty-hitting outfield depth could have interest either on a waiver claim or a small trade.

Rays Acquire Alex Faedo

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The Rays have acquired right-hander Alex Faedo from the Tigers, per announcements from both clubs.  Faedo had been designated for assignment by the Tigers last week when they signed Tommy Kahnle. The Rays are sending minor league catcher Enderson Delgado and cash to Detroit. Infielder Osleivis Basabe has been designated for assignment by the Rays in a corresponding move, which MLBTR covered here.

Getting Faedo, 29, is a buy-low move for the Rays. The Tigers grabbed him with the 18th overall pick in 2017 and Baseball America ranked the righty as the #50 prospect in the entire league going into 2018.

But the big league results haven’t matched up to that prospect billing just yet. Faedo has thrown 175 2/3 innings for the Tigers over the past three seasons, allowing 4.51 earned runs per nine. His 20.9% strikeout rate and 9.7% have both been a bit below league average. He is now out of options and would have had a hard time holding a roster spot in Detroit all year, so he got bumped off.

The Rays are seemingly more willing to carry Faedo on the roster, since they are giving up a prospect and cash to get him. Perhaps the hope is that Faedo is in the process of finding a home in the bullpen. He has worked as a starter and a reliever in his big league career, but with a 5.00 ERA out of the rotation and 3.44 ERA from the bullpen. His 22.6% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate as a reliever aren’t outstanding numbers, but better than his 20.2% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate as a starter.

Though he hasn’t had huge punchout stuff, he’s had some intriguing numbers in terms of limiting damage. His 34.4% hard hit rate allowed last year was in the 82nd percentile of qualified pitchers, according to Statcast. His barrel rate was in the 76th percentile and his average exit velocity 65th. His 2023 numbers in those categories were fairly similar.

His out-of-options status will make things a bit challenging for the Rays, a club that normally likes to rotate pitchers on and off the roster with regularity. RosterResource projects the club to run a six-man rotation of Shane McClanahan, Taj Bradley, Ryan Pepiot, Zack Littell, Shane Baz and Drew Rasmussen. That leaves a seven-man bullpen consisting of Pete Fairbanks, Edwin Uceta, Garrett Cleavinger, Manuel Rodríguez, Mason Montgomery, Mike Vasil and Faedo. Montgomery is the only one of that relief group that can be optioned and RR has the out-of-options Cole Sulser listed in Triple-A as of this writing.

The roster might not shake out exactly like that, as spring performance and health can certainly change things, but there’s not a ton of flexibility in the relief group at the moment. But if the Rays manage to keep Faedo in the mix, there will be a long-term payoff. He has just under two years of service time at the moment, meaning he can be controlled for five seasons if he continues to hang onto his roster spot and hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration.

For the Tigers, losing Faedo probably stings a little bit, but at least they were able to recoup some potential future value out of a guy who got squeezed off the fringes of the roster. Delgado, 20, was an international signing of the Rays out of Venezuela. Back in July, Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice of FanGraphs ranked Delgado as the #37 prospect in the Rays’ system. That report suggests Delgado could carve out a future backup catching role based mostly on his defense, particularly his throwing arm.

The FanGraphs report gives less praise for his offense. He has slashed .215/.337/.322 over three minor league seasons, though he showed some improvement last year with a line of .259/.382/.400. Given his age and that he still hasn’t climbed higher than Single-A, he’ll be a long-term play for the Tigers.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that Faedo was going to the Rays for Delgado and cash, prior to the official announcements.

Mariners Re-Sign Jorge Polanco

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The Mariners are bringing back Jorge Polanco. They announced Monday that they’ve re-signed the veteran infielder to a one-year deal with a vesting/player option for the 2026 season. Polanco, an Octagon client, will reportedly be guaranteed $7.75MM. That comes in the form of a $7MM base salary in 2025 plus a $750K buyout on a mutual option. That mutual option can become a $6MM player option if Polanco reaches 450 plate appearances, and the option price would climb further, to $8MM, if he gets to 550 plate appearances. Polanco, who’ll move across the diamond and play third base for Seattle in 2025, can earn an additional $3.5MM worth of incentives. If he hits all of those incentives and picks up the player option, the contract would top out at $18.5MM over two seasons.

Polanco’s first season with the Mariners was a disappointment. Seattle acquired the switch-hitter from the Twins late last offseason. They expected him to provide a significant offensive boost in the infield. That didn’t pan out, as Polanco struggled through arguably the worst year of his career. He hit .213/.296/.355 with 16 home runs through 469 plate appearances. The batting average and on-base percentage were personal lows. The slugging percentage was only marginally above his career-worst .354 mark from the shortened 2020 season.

Before last season, Polanco had been one of the league’s more productive middle infielders. He combined for a .255/.333/.462 slash with a strong 10.1% walk rate in more than 1400 plate appearances over his final three seasons in Minnesota. Polanco had hit 33 homers back in 2021 and was an annual threat for 20 longballs and 30+ doubles. Polanco managed just 11 doubles during his first year in Seattle. He continued to draw walks at a solid 9.8% clip, but he struck out in more than 29% of his plate appearances.

Some of the offensive downturn is attributable to T-Mobile Park. Seattle plays in MLB’s most pitcher-friendly home stadium. Polanco had an especially difficult time at home. He hit .193/.284/.322 while striking out at a 31.9% clip in Seattle. His road production (.233/.308/.386 with a 26.7% strikeout rate) was better but still well below his previous standards.

Health may have been a bigger issue than the ballpark. Polanco underwent surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee within weeks of the season’s conclusion. He had reportedly played through discomfort for a good portion of the season. Polanco is expected to be ready for the start of Spring Training. The Mariners are as familiar as any team with his health history. They evidently believe that last year’s struggles were something of an aberration.

While he’s entering his 10th full season, Polanco is only 31. His relative youth provides some optimism that last year was mostly a health-related anomaly. That said, the whiffs have been a multiyear concern. Polanco’s strikeout rate has climbed by multiple percentage points in five straight seasons. In 2020, he fanned in just 15.5% of his plate appearances. That jumped successively to a 25.7% clip in his final season with the Twins, which climbed nearly four points more with the Mariners.

Polanco’s previous contract included a $12MM team option that came with a $750K buyout. Seattle declined that relatively easily. Four months later, they bring him back at a slightly lesser salary. It’s probably not a coincidence that the performance bonuses theoretically allow him to max out next year’s guarantee at $11.25MM — the differential below the option price and the buyout.

They’re not quite running things back, as Polanco’s return comes with a position change. He has been a middle infielder throughout his career. Polanco played shortstop until moving to second base in 2021. He didn’t play anywhere other than second base last season. His major league third base experience consists of 20 starts and 180 innings. Polanco has never been a great defensive second baseman. His range could be less of an issue at third, though that’ll put some pressure on his arm. Polanco didn’t show great arm strength at second base, though that’s not a direct comparison to throwing across the diamond — which he did during his time as a shortstop.

Seattle feels more comfortable with their internal options at second base than they do at the hot corner. That bodes well for 25-year-old Ryan Bliss, who is likely to get first crack at the second base job. Bliss debuted late last season and hit .222/.290/.397 in 33 games. A former second-round pick by the Diamondbacks, he had a quality .269/.377/.456 showing over 433 plate appearances with Triple-A Tacoma last year.

The M’s will likely give Bliss the bulk of the playing time while working utilityman Dylan Moore through the position. Seattle’s lone additional MLB free agent signing, Donovan Solano, can also play some second base (though he’ll get more work as a platoon partner for Luke Raley at first). Seattle didn’t have anyone established at third base after non-tendering Josh Rojas.

Seattle wasn’t the only team interested in expanding Polanco’s versatility. He reportedly drew interest from the Astros as a possibility at either third base or in left field. Polanco has seemingly been Houston’s primary fallback if they don’t re-sign Alex Bregman. They no longer need a third baseman after landing Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker deal, but they’re still hunting for a left fielder and would like to re-sign Bregman. That’d push Paredes to second and Jose Altuve to left field.

Seattle has reportedly had around $15-20MM in payroll space this winter. Solano and Polanco have accounted for just over $11MM, leaving a few million for a potential bench bat or middle relief pickup. RosterResource calculates their 2025 player payroll around $152MM.

Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic first reported that Polanco and the Mariners had an agreement. Rosenthal was first to report the $7.75MM guarantee and the move to third base. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reported that it was a one-year deal with a vesting/player option. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reported the $3.5MM in incentives. Jon Heyman of the New York Post provided the more detailed financial breakdown. Image courtesy of Imagn.

Rays Designate Osleivis Basabe For Assignment

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The Rays announced Monday that they’ve designated infielder Osleivis Basabe for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to newly acquired righty Alex Faedo, whose previously reported trade from Detroit to Tampa Bay has now been formally announced by the clubs.

Basabe, 24, made his big league debut with Tampa Bay in 2023, which now stands as his lone season with MLB work. He appeared in 31 games and tallied 94 plate appearances, hitting .218/.277/.310 during that span. It certainly wasn’t a great debut effort, but the .296/.351/.426 slash (95 wRC+) Basabe had posted in Triple-A Durham was a good bit more encouraging — particularly for someone whom scouting reports praise as a solid defender at either position on the left side of the infield.

The 2024 campaign, however, saw Basabe take a step back in virtually every meaningful category. Those offensive rate stats plummeted to .248/.293/.336 in Triple-A — a drop that left him about 36% worse than league-average at the plate, by measure of wRC+. His walk rate fell from 7.3% to 4.9% as his strikeout rate climbed from 15.5% to 18%. Basabe averaged 89 mph with a 39.7% hard-hit rate with Durham in 2023 but was only at 86.3 mph and 31.3%, respectively, in 2024.

Though Basabe’s 2024 season was nightmarish, he’s only a year removed from ranking as a top-10 prospect in a strong Rays system. He also has a minor league option remaining, so any team that acquires him would be able to send him to the minors without first needing to pass him through waivers. He’s capable of playing any of shortstop, third base or second base, which should add to his appeal. Basabe hits from the right side but has traditionally had more consistent offensive production in right-on-right matchups than he has versus lefties.

The Rays will have five days to trade Basabe. At that point, he’d need to be placed on waivers, as outright waivers are 48-hour process themselves and the maximum window for a DFA to be resolved is one week.

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