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Mariners Place Sam Haggerty On IL With Groin Strain

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The Mariners announced a series of roster moves today, with infielder Abraham Toro being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma. He will take the spot of infielder/outfielder Sam Haggerty, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left groin strain. Additionally, left-hander Justus Sheffield was appointed the club’s “29th man” for today’s doubleheader.

Haggerty, 28, left last night’s game in the ninth inning, requiring assistance to leave the playing field due to his injury. Though the Mariners have qualified for the Wild Card round, today’s IL placement will officially prevent Haggerty from being with the team until the ALDS at the earliest. Even if the club is able to push deep into October, it might not matter much in this case, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times relays that Haggerty is likely done for the year.

Despite the sour ending, it’s been a nice campaign for Haggerty, who was outrighted off of Seattle’s roster at the end of last year. At that time, he had 59 career MLB games under his belt but had hit just .207/.265/.321, wRC+ of 66. He played well in the minors to begin this year and got himself back onto the big league club by mid-May. He eventually got into 83 games at the major league level and stepped to the plate 201 times. He launched the ball over the fence on five occasions and stole 13 bases while producing a batting line of .256/.335/.403 for a wRC+ of 114.

Defensively, he made very brief appearances at second and third base but spent most of his time in the outfield. His work on the grass has been reviewed favorably by advanced metrics, with Haggerty earning five Outs Above Average out there this year, along with eight Defensive Runs Saved and a 6.2 mark from Ultimate Zone Rating. Due to his strong work in all facets of the game, he produced 1.5 wins above replacement, in the eyes of FanGraphs, despite playing a limited role.

Going forward, Haggerty will still be shy of qualifying for arbitration this winter and will have four years of club control remaining, meaning Seattle can keep him around at very affordable rates if they expect him to continue producing like he has this year. The outfield mix in Seattle has some fluidity to it, with Mitch Haniger and Adam Frazier both set to reach free agency this winter. That leaves their 2023 group consisting of Julio Rodriguez and Jesse Winker, alongside utility player Dylan Moore and guys with question marks like Jarred Kelenic, Kyle Lewis and Taylor Trammell. In the short term, that group will head into the Wild Card round and hope to survive long enough to give Haggerty a chance to return.

Outrights: Shaw, Barnes, Ogando, Liberato

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A few players on postseason teams have cleared outright waivers after recently being designated for assignment.

  • The Guardians have outrighted reliever Bryan Shaw to Triple-A Columbus, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. While the veteran has more than enough service time to elect free agency while still collecting the remainder of his guaranteed salary, Tom Withers of the Associated Press tweets that he’ll accept the assignment. Shaw remains in the organization and could technically factor into the playoff mix as a result, but it’s unlikely he’ll do so after Cleveland took him off the 40-man roster. Re-signed to a one-year deal over the winter, the veteran righty soaked up 58 1/3 innings across 60 appearances. He’s long been a durable bullpen workhorse, but his 2022 results were disappointing. Shaw posted a 5.40 ERA with a below-average 19.9% strikeout rate against an elevated 10% walk percentage. Cleveland will owe the 34-year-old a $500K buyout on a 2023 club option, and he’ll head to free agency at the start of the offseason.
  • Yankees reliever Jacob Barnes has gone unclaimed and been outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the team announced. It was a quick turnaround for the righty, who was promoted for his team debut on Saturday. He threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings but was immediately DFA as the club cycled through fresh arms at the back of the bullpen. Barnes had a tough run earlier in the season with the Tigers, allowing a 6.10 ERA across 20 2/3 frames. He’s previously been outrighted and has more than enough service time to refuse the minor league assignment, although he could choose to follow Shaw’s path and stick in the organization as a depth option. He’ll hit free agency at the end of the year regardless if not added back to the 40-man roster.
  • Rays righty Cristofer Ogando was outrighted to Triple-A Durham over the weekend, per his MLB.com transactions log. The 28-year-old reliever has garnered a pair of brief looks with Tampa Bay, his first taste of MLB action. Ogando has made three big league appearances, working 4 1/3 innings of two-run ball. He’s spent the vast majority of the season in Durham, serving as a multi-inning bullpen arm and compiling a 4.56 ERA with a 23.5% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk percentage over 53 1/3 frames. Tampa Bay has outrighted Ogando off its 40-man roster twice this season, giving him the right to refuse this assignment in favor of free agency.
  • Padres outfielder Luis Liberato also went unclaimed on waivers last week, according to the transactions tracker. He’s been assigned to Triple-A El Paso. Signed to a minor league deal last offseason after ten seasons in the Mariners system, the left-handed hitter spent most of his year in El Paso. He had an impressive .261/.354/.541 showing over 99 games there, briefly earning his first major league call last month. Liberato only tallied five hitless at-bats with the Friars before losing his 40-man roster spot, however. He’s never previously been outrighted and doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse the assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization for the time being. That’s largely immaterial, as he’ll qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season unless added back to the 40-man roster in the intervening time. Liberato’s quality work with the Chihuahuas should land him a number of minor league offers this winter.

Reds Designate Robert Dugger For Assignment

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The Reds announced they’ve designated right-hander Robert Dugger, who had been on the 15-day injured list, for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to catcher Aramis Garcia, who was activated from the 60-day injured list. To clear a spot on the active roster, Cincinnati placed outfielder TJ Friedl on the 10-day IL due to a right hamstring strain.

Dugger has bounced on and off the roster a few times this season. He began the year in the Rays organization on a minor league deal. Promoted for a May spot start, he was designated for assignment thereafter and claimed off waivers by the Reds. The Reds shuttled him between Cincinnati and Triple-A Louisville for the next few months depending on their need for a depth arm capable of throwing multiple innings. Dugger is out of minor league option years, meaning Cincinnati had to DFA him each time they wanted to take him off the big league roster.

In each instance, the 27-year-old went unclaimed on waivers. He’s made three big league appearances with Cincinnati, allowing eight runs in 10 2/3 cumulative frames. Dugger has started seven of 14 outings with the Bats, pitching to a 4.65 ERA with an 18.1% strikeout percentage and a lofty 12.1% walk rate. That includes four rehab outings, as he’s worked his way back from a seemingly minor bout of shoulder soreness.

The Reds will place Dugger on waivers again in the coming days. Assuming he goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to refuse an outright assignment and test free agency. While he’s accepted each previous assignment to Louisville, he’s headed for minor league free agency at the end of the year if not on a 40-man roster. He’ll presumably find some non-roster invitations to Spring Training on the open market.

Garcia signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati last offseason. He earned the backup job behind Tyler Stephenson out of camp and was selected onto the big league roster. He’s only gotten into 46 games, though, with a sprained left middle finger costing him virtually all of the season’s second half. He’ll be active for the final two games but could find himself on the roster bubble this winter. Garcia has hit just .217/.252/.264 across 113 plate appearances during his first year in Cincinnati. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time during the offseason but is a clear non-tender candidate.

Yankees Place Ron Marinaccio On Injured List

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The Yankees announced the placement of reliever Ron Marinaccio on the 15-day injured list this afternoon, retroactive to October 3. He’s dealing with a stress reaction in his right shin. Bullpen mate Albert Abreu is back from the 15-day IL to take the vacated spot on the active roster.

The IL placement rules Marinaccio out for the American League Division Series. Manager Aaron Boone expressed optimism he could return for the AL Championship Series, should the Yankees advance (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). It doesn’t seem like an especially long-term concern, but the issue is serious enough the Yanks will have to play their ALDS without a reliever who’d have otherwise been very likely to make the playoff roster.

A former 19th-round pick, Marinaccio has overcome a lack of fanfare as a prospect to emerge as a solid bullpen option. He was added to the 40-man roster last offseason and made his big league debut this April, kicking off a successful rookie campaign. The Delaware product has appeared in 40 games and tallied 44 innings, posting a 2.05 ERA. He’s induced swinging strikes on a very strong 13.9% of his offerings and has punched out opponents at a robust 30.9% clip. A 13.3% walk rate certainly isn’t ideal, but Marinaccio has shown the ability to miss plenty of bats and limit damaging contact against left-handed and right-handed hitters alike.

Abreu steps into the vacated roster spot for the final couple days of the regular season. He’s been out since mid-August due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. The out-of-options righty has bounced between a trio of teams this year. Sent from the Yankees to the Rangers before Opening Day in the deal that landed José Trevino in the Bronx, Abreu struggled mightily in Texas. The Rangers traded him to the Royals. He didn’t stick in Kansas City either, and the Yankees eventually brought him back off waivers.

The 27-year-old has pitched pretty well for the Yankees, posting a 3.24 ERA with a 24.2% strikeout rate over 25 innings. He’s only walked 5.7% of batters faced in pinstripes after struggling mightily with free passes in both Arlington and Kansas City. The Yankees have nevertheless mostly deployed Abreu in low-leverage situations, so he seems more of a borderline candidate to land a playoff roster spot.

Rays Select Jimmy Yacabonis, Designate Kevin Herget

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The Rays announced they’ve selected righty Jimmy Yacabonis onto the big league roster. Fellow righty Kevin Herget has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Tampa Bay has operated a revolving door with its last bullpen spot in the past few days. In rapid succession, the Rays have selected and designated each of Cristofer Ogando, Easton McGee and now Herget, whose most recent call-up came just yesterday. Yacabonis will now step into the bullpen as the Rays juggle low-leverage innings headed into the postseason.

The Rays nabbed Yacabonis off waivers from the Marlins in early August. He spent two weeks in the big leagues with Tampa Bay, appearing four times out of the bullpen. The 30-year-old allowed five runs (four earned) in 3 2/3 innings, striking out four while issuing a pair of walks. He was designated for assignment and cleared waivers before accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Durham.

Yacabonis has appeared in parts of five big league campaigns, suiting up with the Orioles, Mariners and Marlins in addition to his time in Tampa Bay. He owns a 5.92 ERA in 117 MLB innings, coming out of the bullpen for 57 of his 70 outings. He’s pitched to a 3.21 ERA in 33 2/3 Triple-A frames this year, and he’ll offer skipper Kevin Cash a potential multi-inning option for the last two games of the regular season. Yacabonis is technically postseason-eligible, although it’s unlikely the Rays will carry him on any of their playoff rosters.

Herget loses his roster spot after soaking up 4 1/3 innings in relief of Tyler Glasnow during yesterday’s loss to the Red Sox. The righty threw 77 pitches and certainly wouldn’t have been an option to appear in either of the next two games. With the Rays not planning on carrying him on the playoff roster, it’s not a surprise they promptly designated him for assignment. It nevertheless has to be a tough pill to swallow for the 31-year-old rookie, who has been DFA on three occasions dating back to mid-August.

In each of the past two instances, Herget went unclaimed on waivers and was sent back to Durham. He’ll land on the wire again in the next few days. Herget had a very impressive Triple-A campaign, working to a 2.95 ERA with a solid 24.4% strikeout percentage and a minuscule 3.9% walk rate over 97 2/3 frames. Even if he goes unclaimed on waivers and hits free agency — either via immediate rejection of an outright assignment or at the end of the year — that should draw him a fair number of minor league offers this winter.

Cardinals Sign Giovanny Gallegos To Extension

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OCTOBER 4: It’s an $11MM guarantee, the Associated Press reports. Gallegos receives a $500K signing bonus, followed by successive salaries of $4.5MM and $5.5MM for his final seasons of arbitration eligibility. There’s a $500K buyout on the 2025 option, which has a base value of $6.5MM. The option price can escalate by as much as $3.5MM depending on his games finished tally during the 2024 campaign. It’d increase $500K apiece at 20, 26 and 31 games finished and would add an extra $1MM at each of 36 and 41 games.

OCTOBER 3: The Cardinals announced that they have signed right-hander Giovanny Gallegos to a two-year extension with a club option for 2025. Gallegos had two years of arbitration eligibility remaining, with this deal buying out those years and potentially one free agent year as well.

Gallegos, 31, came over to St. Louis alongside Chasen Shreve in the July 2018 trade that sent Luke Voit to the Yankees. He got a very brief stint with the Cards in the months after that trade, throwing 1 1/3 innings over two appearances. But in the four seasons since then, he has established himself as a mainstay of the club’s relief corps.

From 2019 to 2021, he made 155 appearances and threw 169 1/3 innings. In that time, he registered a 2.76 ERA with excellent strikeout and walk rates of 32.4% and 6.2%, respectively. He earned his way into high leverage situations in that time, notching 19 saves and 44 holds in that period.

He reached arbitration for the first time after last season, with he and the club agreeing to a $2.41MM salary for 2022. Since signing that deal, he’s been putting up very similar results to what he had done in the previous three campaigns. He has a 2.91 ERA in 58 2/3 innings with a 31.2% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate, earning another 14 saves and another 12 holds.

Based on his fourth straight season of strong performance, Gallegos would have been due an arbitration raise for 2023 and likely another for 2024, as long as he stayed healthy. Of course, with a pitcher, the health factor could always change the calculus in a hurry. Instead, Gallegos will have the security of knowing his earnings for the next two seasons are locked in. For giving Gallegos that guarantee, the Cards will have the ability to secure his services for an extra season.

“So excited,” Gallegos tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I feel so happy. I don’t have the word exactly for how I’m feeling. Right now, I’ve got an extension with the team. My confidence is 100%, 200%.” Goold also spoke to John Mozeliak, the club’s president of baseball operations. “He really wanted to stay and be a part of the St. Louis Cardinals moving forward,” Mozeliak says. “I think it really was a win-win for both parties. This gives him a little peace of mind as well.”

Johnny Cueto Open To Return To White Sox

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The White Sox are wrapping up a season that’ll finish right around .500, a disappointing follow-up to last year’s 93-win campaign. Among the culprits for their middle-of-the-road showing was a rotation that ranks 15th in ERA (3.82) and 14th in strikeout/walk rate differential (14.6 percentage points).

While a league average rotation probably isn’t what general manager Rick Hahn and his front office had in mind, there were a few bright spots. Dylan Cease doubled down on last year’s breakout and could be a finalist for the AL Cy Young award. Michael Kopech tailed off in the second half but flashed the ability to be a productive big league starter in his move from the bullpen. The most surprising positive performance from a White Sox starter is probably that of Johnny Cueto, though.

The 15-season MLB veteran wrapped up a six-year contract with the Giants at the end of last season. He wasn’t coming off a bad year, pitching to a 4.08 ERA over 22 outings. Nevertheless, he did so with a mediocre 20% strikeout rate, and the league clearly had skepticism about his ability to repeat those decent results. Cueto went unsigned until just before Opening Day, when he inked a minor league deal with the ChiSox. The contract came with a $4.2MM base salary for any time spent in the majors, an atypically large figure for a non-roster pact. That suggested Cueto was a high-priority minor league signee and may well have had some MLB offers with a lower base value. Nevertheless, it also indicated no team offered him both $4+MM and an Opening Day rotation spot, and he had to work his way onto Chicago’s roster after building into game shape in Triple-A.

Cueto took four starts in the minors before the White Sox selected his contract in mid-May. He’s been a fixture in the starting five from that point forward, and he’s gotten his strongest results since his 2016 campaign in San Francisco. Over 25 outings (24 of them starts), the two-time All-Star tallied 158 1/3 innings of 3.35 ERA ball. He averaged 6 1/3 frames per appearance and allowed three or fewer earned runs in 21 games. By and large, Cueto kept the White Sox in the game when he took the ball, more than making good on his contract. He also set himself up for a better trip to the open market this time around, as he’ll head back to free agency a month from now.

After his final start of the season yesterday, Cueto told reporters he’d welcome a return to Chicago (via James Fegan of the Athletic). The 36-year-old indicated he believes he can still pitch for another two or three seasons, foreclosing whatever small possibility there may have been he’d retire at year’s end.

How replicable Cueto’s 2022 production can be is an open question. Concern about his lack of swing-and-miss remains, as he punched out just 15.7% of opposing hitters. That’s the lowest rate of his career and more than six points south of the league average. His 42% ground-ball rate is right around the league mark. He did a solid job at limiting hard contact but wasn’t elite in that regard.

Where Cueto did excel is in avoiding free passes. He walked only 5.1% of batters faced, his lowest mark since 2016. He’s long had above-average control, but he was among the sport’s best strike-throwers in 2022. The veteran righty also avoided the injured list for the first time in six years, and he told Fegan and others yesterday he was pitching pain-free for the first time in years (presumably since before undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2018).

Cueto certainly has locked in a big league contract during his upcoming trip to free agency. His 2022 season isn’t too dissimilar from Zack Greinke’s 2021 platform, which agent Bryce Dixon could point to as an optimistic comp. During his final year with the Astros, Greinke pitched to a 4.16 ERA with a 17.2% strikeout rate, a 5.2% walk rate and a 44.4% grounder percentage. Greinke tallied a few more innings since he was on the big league roster from start to finish, but Cueto soaked up a bigger workload on a per-start basis.

Greinke went on to secure a one-year, $13MM pact from the Royals heading into his age-38 season. A likely future Hall of Famer and a former Cy Young winner, Greinke has had a more accomplished career than Cueto, and he’d been far more consistently durable before his platform year. It seems unlikely Cueto will quite reach a $13MM base salary for those reasons, but their respective seasons before free agency are alike.

Wade Miley, another veteran control artist coming off an excellent year from a run prevention perspective, pitched to a 3.37 ERA with an 18.1% strikeout rate through 163 innings with the Reds last season. The Cubs claimed him off waivers at the end of the year and exercised a $10MM option on his services for 2022. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, as Miley didn’t have the benefit of an open market bidding the way Cueto will this winter. Yet it affirms that a team valued Miley, who was entering his age-35 campaign, as at least a $10MM player, setting that as the seeming floor for what his market value would have been had he gotten to free agency.

Precisely where Cueto’s 2023 salary lands will obviously be determined in the coming months, but there’s no question he proved a valuable contributor for the White Sox. It stands to reason Chicago will at least maintain contact with his reps this winter, as they’re facing a fair bit of uncertainty in the starting staff. Cease will be back at the front of the rotation, and Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn will get chances to bounce back from disappointing 2022 campaigns.

Kopech figures to be in the season-opening starting five, but he’s never topped 140 2/3 innings in any professional season and will be coming off surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee (albeit with an expectation he’ll be full-go for Spring Training). Davis Martin seems the in-house favorite for the #5 spot after eight decent starts to begin his MLB career, but he’s never been a top prospect and was quite homer-prone in the minors. Pushing Martin down a peg or two on the rotation depth chart with an outside addition seems likely, particularly since Chicago’s thin farm system doesn’t offer much in the way of obvious upper minors rotation pieces.

Previewing The 2022-23 Free Agent Class: Third Basemen

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With the offseason drawing nearer, MLBTR will be breaking down the free-agent class on a position-by-position basis. We’ve already run through this winter’s crop of catchers, first basemen and second basemen. You can check out the full list of this offseason’s free agents here, but today we’ll take a deeper look at the options for teams in need of help at third base next.

As was the case when running through the second-base market, I’ll note that there are some star shortstops (e.g.  Xander Bogaerts) who could technically be pursued as a third base option for a team that already has an entrenched shortstop, but we’ll save that group for the shortstop preview. There’s plenty of overlap with the second base market, as many of the free-agent options this winter are utility types who can capably handle either spot.

His Own Tier

Whether Arenado actually becomes a free agent is entirely up to him. He has five years and $144MM remaining on his contract but also has an opt-out clause at season’s end that would allow him to enter into the free-agent market for the first time in his career. Arenado chose not to exercise an opt-out after the 2021 season, but he’s now owed less money and is coming off perhaps the greatest season of his brilliant career. (Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote in September that Arenado was not planning to opt out, citing “friends” of Arenado, but Arenado himself has not made any declarations one way or another.)

Even if Arenado’s goal is to remain in St. Louis, there’s a good case for him to leverage that opt-out and a huge 2022 showing into an extension or larger deal with the Cards. Through 618 plate appearances, Arenado is hitting .292/.358/.533 with 30 home runs, 42 doubles, a triple and five steals (in eight tries). Arenado’s 11.5% strikeout rate is the second-lowest of his career (and lowest over a full 162-game season). He’s second among all Major League third basemen in both Defensive Runs Saved (19) and Outs Above Average (14), trailing only Pittsburgh’s Ke’Bryan Hayes in both categories.

The five years and $144MM remaining on Arenado’s contract average out to $28.8MM annually — a number that, at this point, is a ways shy of where the game’s top position players are paid on an annual basis. Because next year will be his age-32 season, it’s hard to imagine him securing anything longer than a six-year deal in free agency, but as Freddie Freeman illustrated last year, it’s possible for a free agent to secure six years at that age. Arenado, of course, is coming off an even better season this year than Freeman was last winter. He’s been worth 7.2 fWAR and 7.8 rWAR — both of which are personal bests in what increasingly looks to be a Hall of Fame-caliber career.

There’s no guarantee that Arenado reaches free agency, but if he does, it’s an easy call to project a larger guarantee over five years — and perhaps over an even lengthier term than that.

A Distant Second Place

Drury had a rough patch to begin his tenure with the Padres following a deadline swap, but he’s been swinging it just fine over the past month. Dating back to Aug. 29, Drury owns a .288/.338/.575 batting line in 80 plate appearances, and he’s logged a collective .263/.320/.497 batting line on the season. His minor league deal with the Reds was one of the best of the season by any team.

Suitors in free agency may view Drury’s 2022 campaign with some skepticism, given his disastrous 2018-20 run between the Yankees and Blue Jays (.205/.254/.346 in 582 plate appearances). However, Drury hit in a small sample with the Mets last year and has been generally productive in 2022, save for an ugly first three weeks or so in San Diego. Since Opening Day 2021, he’s at .265/.318/.494 with 32 home runs, 36 doubles and two triples in 645 plate appearances. One would think that playing a big slate of games at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park has padded his stats, but only 12 of his 28 homers came in Cincinnati.

Defensively, third base has been Drury’s most frequent position both in 2022 and, more narrowly, in his broader career. He’s been a scratch defender there, per Statcast’s Outs Above Average, and Ultimate Zone Rating generally agrees. Defensive Runs Saved (-3) has him a bit below average, and that’s generally been the case throughout his career. Still, Drury isn’t any kind of glaring liability at the hot corner, and he has 1436 MLB innings at second base, 965 between the outfield corners and  361 at first base. At the very least, he looks like a super-utility player, but Drury has hit enough to be considered a potential starter at second or third, as well.

Utility Players

Diaz has played at least 45 innings at five different positions this season: all four infield spots and left field. He was primarily a shortstop early in his career and still has more total innings there than at any position. He never graded well there, and as he enters his mid-30s, he’ll be viewed as more of a utility player. Diaz’s .248/.294/.415 line in 2022 is a bit down from the .259/.318/.433 slash he’s posted over four total seasons with the ’Stros. He’s a right-handed bat who’s shown a pretty noticeable platoon split over the past couple seasons, though early in his career he hit fellow righties better than lefties. Third base isn’t Diaz’s primary position, but he’s still tallied 758 innings there in his career.

Primarily a second baseman until the current campaign, Peterson has played mostly third base in Milwaukee this season and posted sensational defensive marks there, including 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 6 Outs Above Average in just 605 innings. The lefty-swinging Peterson has revived his career with a solid three-year run in Milwaukee, hitting .241/.339/.377 (100 wRC+) with a hefty 12.4% walk rate, 16 homers and 23 steals in 684 plate appearances. He’s even handled lefties well in a small sample over the past two seasons, although a career .217/.289/.282 output against them still suggests he’s best deployed against righties only.

A hamstring strain cost Solano more than two months, but since being activated, he’s batted .284/.338/.384 with four homers and 15 doubles in 293 trips to the plate. Solano has been quite good at home, in Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, and below-average on the road, but this is the fourth consecutive season he’s headed for at least league-average offense overall. Dating back to his 2019 resurgence with the Giants, “Donnie Barrels” is hitting .301/.350/421 in 1068 plate appearances. He’ll turn 35 in December, though, and his defensive grades at second, third and shortstop in recent years are all lacking. He’s posted excellent numbers in 190 innings as a first baseman this year, however (5 DRS, 3 OAA).

Depth Options and Rebound Hopefuls

  • Ehire Adrianza (33): A switch-hitter with considerable experience all over the infield and in both outfield corners, Adrianza doesn’t hit particularly well from either side of the dish and doesn’t have great defensive marks anywhere. He’s batted .215/.302/.320 in 415 plate appearances since Opening Day 2020.
  • Charlie Culberson (34): Culberson torments lefties, is generally regarded as a strong clubhouse presence and has played every big league position except center field and catcher. Since a career-high 12 homers in 2018, however, he’s slashed just .248/.291/.384 in 542 plate appearances.
  • Matt Duffy (32): A regular at third base with the Giants and Rays earlier in his career, Duffy has long been touted as a strong defensive player. Injuries have hampered him extensively in recent years, limiting him to 730 plate appearances over the past four seasons. He’s hit reasonably well in that time: .267/.338/.346.
  • Maikel Franco (30): Once one of the game’s top prospects, Franco never developed into the slugger the Phillies hoped. With just a .233/.278/.384 slash since 2019 (including .229/.255/.342 with the Nats this year) and woeful defensive grades, the 30-year-old Franco is likely looking at another minor league deal this winter.
  • Marwin Gonzalez (34): The veteran switch-hitter has survived on the Yankees’ roster all season despite hitting just .180/.255/.308 in 195 plate appearances. Gonzalez’s career year in 2017 helped him land a two-year deal with the Minnesota, and since the second season of that contract he’s since cratered with a .197/.273/.310 slash across 701 plate appearances.
  • Phil Gosselin (34): The journeyman utility player has experience at every infield spot and in the outfield corners. He hit .149/.182/.176 in 77 plate appearances this year but did record a respectable .259/.316/.371 slash in 475 plate appearances from 2020-21.
  • Jonathan Villar (32): Villar hit 24 homers and swiped 40 bags with the O’s in 2019, struggled through a dismal showing between Miami and Toronto in 2020, and rebounded nicely with the 2021 Mets. The pendulum swung back in the other direction this year, as he’s been released by both the Cubs and Angels while hitting a combined .208/.260/.302. At his best, Villar is a switch-hitter with some power and difference-making speed, but he’s been wildly inconsistent throughout his career.

Veterans with Club Options

  • Hanser Alberto (30): Alberto’s one-year deal with the Dodgers contained a $2MM club option and a $250K buyout. Los Angeles will all likely opt for the buyout after Alberto has batted .234/.248/.357 in 157 trips to the plate. Alberto has solid defensive ratings around the infield and hits lefties well — career .322/.340/.448 hitter in 581 plate appearances — giving him some bench appeal. His recent poor showings will be hard to overlook, though.
  • Josh Harrison (35): Pretty much everything I wrote about Harrison last week in the second base preview still holds up. He’s had a tough week at the plate, so his offense has now fallen to slightly below average, by measure of wRC+ (96). Still, a .256/.317/.361 output with six homers, 18 doubles and a pair of triples is decent production for an affordable veteran who’s turned in plus defensive marks at both second base and third base this season. Harrison is also plenty experienced in the outfield corners, and after a rough showing in 2018-19 has been a slightly above-average hitter over the life of three seasons. He has a $5.625MM option with a $1.5MM buyout, and a net $4.125MM price seems plenty reasonable. The White Sox, though, are already facing a potential record payroll next year and might want more offense than Harrison can provide, even though his overall price tag is eminently reasonable.
  • Evan Longoria (37): Given the Giants’ overall results this year and the amount of time Longoria has spent on the injured list, it feels safe to say he’s likely having a better season than many realize. He’s not the Longo of old, but even at age 36, he’s turned in a .244/.315/.451 batting line with 14 homers and 13 doubles in just 298 plate appearances. Longoria is striking out more than ever (27.9%) and is no longer the elite defender he was in his 20s. He’s still making tons of hard contact and hitting for power, though. The Giants hold a $13MM option with a $5MM buyout, and the Giants may prefer that buyout as they look to get younger. Longoria discussed the possibility of retirement in an interview with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this summer. It’ll be a family decision on whether he’ll continue playing at age 37, but given his huge output against lefties and his overall batted-ball profile, there ought to be interest in the veteran slugger even if it’s in a more reduced role.
  • Justin Turner (38): A Dodgers fixture who hasn’t stopped hitting even as his 38th birthday approaches (November), Turner has a $16MM club option with a $2MM buyout. That could’ve vested automatically based on MVP voting, but that’s not going to happen — solid as Turner’s season has been. In 525 trips to the plate, he’s hit .280/.352/.443 with 13 long balls — good for a 125 wRC+. The Dodgers have recently picked up the options of a few players and tacked on a new club option for 2024, and given Turner’s consistency perhaps they’ll look at doing the same here. Turner is still a very good hitter, but his defensive ratings at third base have dipped and he’s spent nearly half his time at designated hitter in 2022.

Red Sox Place Rob Refsnyder On Injured List

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The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves today, reinstating first baseman Eric Hosmer from the injured list while recalling left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez. In corresponding moves, right-hander Josh Winckowski was optioned and outfielder Rob Refsnyder was placed on the injured list due to back spasms.

Refsnyder, 31, has somewhat quietly been having the best season of his career. Signed by Boston to a minor league deal in the offseason, he eventually got into 57 games for the Sox and hit .307/.384/.497 for a wRC+ of 146, indicating his production has been 46% better than league average. That’s likely buoyed by some good luck, as his .394 batting average on balls in play is well above his career rate and the league-wide average, but it’s still a nice result for a minor league signing.

Refsnyder can be retained for next year via arbitration, which is the path it seems like the team is leaning towards. Manager Alex Cora spoke to Christopher Smith of MassLive about Refsnyder and had plenty of positive things to say. “He was really, really good offensively. Versatility. The quality of the at-bats were awesome,” Cora said. “The ability to impact the baseball was there and the projections. Defensively solid. It’s a matter of staying healthy. That’s the most important thing with him. We’ll set up a good program for him in the offseason and this is a guy we really like. We really like. And he can contribute at this level.”

Refsnyder has played some infield in previous seasons but the Red Sox kept him on the grass this year, getting a bit of time at all three outfield positions. Going forward, there’s some uncertainty in the team’s outfield picture. Tommy Pham is likely to reach free agency as he has a mutual option for 2023, with those pacts rarely being exercised by both sides. Enrique Hernández and the club recently agreed to sign an extension, though he’s a candidate to spend some time in the infield with Xander Bogaerts likely to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this winter. That leaves Alex Verdugo as the only guy locked into next year’s outfield, with Refsnyder, Abraham Almonte and Franchy Cordero potential candidates to be there as well. The Sox could certainly reinforce that group with external additions, but it sounds like Refsnyder has earned his way into their plans for next year.

Giants Place Evan Longoria On IL With Thumb Fracture

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The Giants announced a series of roster moves prior to tonight’s game, with third baseman Evan Longoria being placed on the injured list due to a thumb fracture. Left-hander Thomas Szapucki was also placed on the injured list, with a hip strain being the culprit in his case. To take their spots on the active roster, outfielder Bryce Johnson was recalled while left-hander Andrew Vasquez had his contract selected. To make room on the 40-man roster for Vasquez, lefty Alex Wood was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Longoria suffered his injury yesterday when attempting to field a ground ball. X-rays revealed a fracture, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, which will finish Longoria’s season. The veteran had another strong year at the plate, hitting .244/.315/.451, production that was 15% above league average by measure of wRC+. However, various injuries limited him to just 89 games on the year, as he previously went on the IL due to hand surgery, an oblique strain and a hamstring strain.

Going forward, it remains to be seen what the future holds for Longoria. He is in the final guaranteed year of the huge extension he signed with the Rays back in 2012. There is a club option for 2023, though Longoria has at least considered retirement, discussing the matter with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle back in June.

After the IL placement was announced today, Longoria spoke to the media about his future, with Slusser and Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic among those to relay the information on Twitter. He says that his wife and kids want him to continue playing in 2023 and that his first choice would be to return to the Giants. The option for next year comes with a $13MM base salary and $5MM buyout, though Longoria says he’s open to renegotiating the terms if the team wants him back. The club’s president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has already publicly spoken about a desire to run out a younger roster next year, which would seemingly be a point against bringing back Longoria, who turns 37 in a few days. However, if Longoria is willing to accept a lower salary, perhaps there is a price point where it makes sense for both sides to reunite. The surgery comes with a recovery time of about 4-6 weeks, per Slusser, meaning Longoria should have plenty of time to recover before Spring Training.

As for Vasquez, 29, he began the year with the Blue Jays but subsequently joined the Phillies and Giants on waiver claims before being outrighted about a month ago. He threw 6 2/3 innings with the Jays earlier this year but has otherwise been relegated to the minor leagues, pitching very well on the whole. In 32 1/3 innings in the minors on the year, he has a 2.23 ERA, 34.9% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate. He has less than a year of MLB service time and could be retained for next year if he holds onto his roster spot through the winter.

As for Wood, this today’s transfer is a mere formality as it had already been reported that he wouldn’t be returning this season.

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