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Quick Hits: Nationals, Cards, Liberatore, Draft, Torkelson

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The Nationals are among the teams who released several minor leaguers within the last week, with Brittany Ghiroli and Emily Waldon of The Athletic (subscription required) reporting that the defending World Series champions cut somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 players.  As for the remaining players in Washington’s farm system, the club will be paying them $300 per week through the month of June — down from the $400 weekly stipend that has become the norm throughout baseball, as per the March agreement between the players and the league.  “The Nationals are believed to be the only Major League team paying a lower stipend amount,” Ghiroil and Waldon write, though the Athletics announced earlier this week that they would be ending the stipend entirely at the end of May.

Just as the A’s were heavily criticized for their decision, the Nats have already taken some heat for the stipend cut, considering that the total amount of money being saved is so relatively minor for a billion-dollar franchise.  As one unnamed Nationals minor league put it, even a reduced stipend is better than being released, but “For us lucky ones still getting help, it’s bittersweet. I wish the owners really weighed how much that $100 they cut us back is saving them versus how much it helps put food on the table for us and our families.”

[UPDATE: Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle tweeted that he and the rest of Washington’s Major League roster will be supporting their organization’s minor leaguers by “committing funds to make whole the lost wages from their weekly stipends.  All of us were minor leaguers at one point in our careers and we know how important the weekly stipends are for them and their families during these uncertain times.”]

More from around baseball…

  • The January swap with the Rays that saw the Cardinals acquire left-hander Matthew Liberatore “could be a monster trade” for the Redbirds, an American League scout tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  “There is a small clutch of the best pitching prospects in the minors, and I don’t think you could find 10 better than Liberatore,” the scout said, reinforcing the belief that the Cards have quickly been able to reload its young pitching depth (and its left-handed depth, specifically, as Liberatore and 2019 first-rounder Zack Thompson are both southpaws).  The full trade saw St. Louis and Tampa swap draft picks in Competitive Balance Rounds A and B — the Cards got the lower of the two selections — and exchange Liberatore and minor league catcher Edgardo Rodriguez for Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena.  Since Martinez and Arozarena were both somewhat blocked in the crowded Cardinals’ depth chart, moving them for a very promising young starter indeed looks like a shrewd move for St. Louis, as the Cards lost little from their big league roster.
  • While much of the discussion surrounding the 2020 draft has focused on its reduced length, the biggest story talent-wise has been the amount of quality college pitching available.  “It’s just remarkable how loaded this class is in terms of arms,” an area scout tells Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper, with a team scouting director also noting that “the depth and the amount of really good arms, I don’t know if I’ve seen one like this in my lifetime.”  As a result, due to the abbreviated nature of this year’s draft, there should be several good college pitchers available in free agency once the draft’s five rounds are complete.
  • The first overall pick, however, is expected to be a position player, as Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson has been increasingly thought to be the Tigers’ 1-1 choice.  Detroit scouting director Scott Pleis didn’t drop any hints to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, saying that “we continue to talk” about who the top pick might be, with “five or six guys” included in the final list of potential candidates.  Beyond Torkelson, Callis hears from sources that the Tigers are also looking at several other of the consensus top prospects of this year’s class, such as Austin Martin, Asa Lacy, Nick Gonzales, and Emerson Hancock.  “Officials with other clubs would be surprised if Detroit doesn’t take Torkelson,” Callis writes.

MLB, MLBPA Deal Not Expected By June 1

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There has been “no evidence of progress” in the discussions between MLB and the MLBPA as the two sides negotiate the economic provisions of a potential 2020 season, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network. As such, there’s no reason to believe the parties will reach an agreement ahead of the “soft” June 1 deadline.

That said, Heyman adds that there’s still hope to begin the season on the weekend of July 4 as intended, though for that to become a reality the two sides will need to come to an agreement in the next ten or so days. Heyman cites June 5-9 as the target dates for a deal.

In a later Tweet, Heyman states that despite the lack of progress in negotiations, there seems to be a prevailing sense of optimism that ultimately a deal will be reached; both players and owners recognize the steep consequences that a cancelled season could have for the sport. Frankly, there’s too much to lose if the parties can’t find common ground, and such an outcome would certainly cause considerable short- and long-term damage to MLB.

After the owners submitted their economic proposal on Tuesday, the players came away thoroughly dissatisfied with their side of the deal, namely taking issue with the sliding scale pay cuts that would further reduce player salaries. It’s also been reported that players are also in favor of a season with 100 games or more, up from the 82 proposed by MLB. However, given the league’s insistence on wrapping up the regular season by October 1 for various reasons—as reported by Heyman—that scenario seems far-fetched.

While it’s encouraging to hear that there’s optimism that the two sides can iron out their differences and arrive at a compromise, the fact remains that time is running out; if Independence Day is to remain a realistic target date, there’s just about a week to reach an agreement. After that point, the feasibility of a substantial season begins to decline.

Needless to say, both sides will need to make concessions in order to ensure a 2020 season is played. And with the negotiating parties still far apart, it might be a big ask to close that gap in short order. For the time being, we’ll wait with bated breath to see if the players and owners can find common ground.

Quick Hits: Return To Play Negotiations, Minor League Releases

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Let’s check on the latest notes from around baseball following a week of disappointment as MLB and the MLBPA attempt to agree upon the economics of a potential return to play in 2020.

  • Some portion of the league’s owners are “perfectly willing to shut down the season,” hears Buster Olney of ESPN. Doing so would obviously reduce teams’ payroll expenditures and their immediate potential operating losses associated with playing games without fans in attendance, but the optics of such a decision during a nationwide economic crisis could certainly diminish the league’s popularity in the longer-term. With that in mind, Olney hears there’s some division among owners about the proper way to move forward with negotiations. Of course, individuals broadly bucketed on the players’ side haven’t been immune to conflict themselves, most publicly one involving Trevor Bauer and Scott Boras.
  • Last week, Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of the Athletic floated June 1 as an informal deadline for the parties to reach an agreement if they were to have the regular season underway by Fourth of July weekend. With no agreement imminent, tomorrow’s target date for a deal will surely go unmet. Nevertheless, Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears that a mid-June spring training 2.0 and July 3 Opening Day could still be in the cards- if the sides can agree upon a deal by “next weekend, maybe a day or two (after).” Given the current state of negotiations, having a deal completed or extremely close to completion a mere week from now seems unlikely, but it’s possible the sides can pick up momentum on talks in the coming days.
  • The Indians became the latest team to make an assortment of minor-league cuts. Cleveland released eleven players, reports Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com, including 2014 supplemental first-rounder Mike Papi. Hoynes runs down the complete list of players cut loose, none of whom have MLB experience. Those players will continue to receive health benefits through August, he adds.

The Rays’ Huge Win In Free Agency

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The Rays have crafted a reputation as one of the sport’s best organizations at finding undervalued talent. That typically manifests in frequent roster churn via trades and waiver claims. Given their budgetary limitations, the franchise has been decidedly less active in free agency. Last offseason, Tampa surprisingly stepped up to ink one of the better players available on the open market: right-hander Charlie Morton. The early returns couldn’t have been better.

In December 2018, the Rays added Morton on a two-year, $30MM guarantee. That’s hardly overwhelming money for most teams, but it no doubt accounted as a major splash by Rays’ standards. Morton’s $15MM salary counted for about a quarter of the club’s $60MM season-opening payroll last season, according to Cot’s Contracts. It was a major gamble for a front office lacking the resources of most of its rivals across the league. Nor was this a situation of a low-payroll team stepping in only after a free agent’s market fell way below expectations. Entering the offseason, the MLBTR staff projected a two-year, $32MM deal for Morton that almost perfectly aligned with the guarantee he actually received.

Morton’s age (he’d just turned 35) was the impetus for the contract’s short term. His performance over the prior two years had been fantastic. With the Astros from 2017-18, he spun 313.2 innings of 3.36 ERA/3.53 FIP ball with strong strikeout and ground ball numbers. His days as an unexciting back-end starter in Pittsburgh were long behind him. Morton had reinvented himself in Houston, sitting in the mid-90’s with a hammer curveball.

Nevertheless, even the Astros were reluctant to completely buy Morton’s late-career renaissance. They declined to offer him a $17.9MM qualifying offer. It was a bizarre move at the time that only looks worse in hindsight. That decision proved beneficial for Morton as a free agent, since his suitors needn’t worry about losing a draft pick to sign him. It proved equally beneficial for the Rays.

Would Tampa have still ponied up for Morton if doing so would’ve cost them their third-highest pick in the 2019 draft? Unclear. (They ended up selecting Campbell University right-hander Seth Johnson with that selection, if you’re curious). Fortunately, they didn’t have to make that decision.

Morton was brilliant in year one in Tampa. He tossed a career-high 194.2 innings with career-best marks in ERA (3.05), FIP (2.81), strikeout rate (30.4%), and both fWAR (6.1) and bWAR (4.9). He finished third in AL Cy Young voting, behind only a pair of former Astros’ teammates, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. Morton was no doubt one of the biggest reasons the Rays advanced to an ALDS.

What does the future hold for Morton in Tampa? Hopefully, he’ll be able to play out his final guaranteed year under contract in 2020. If MLB doesn’t come to an agreement on a return to play this season, his situation will be more in flux. Morton’s contract calls for a club option of up to $15MM in 2021, one the Rays would almost certainly exercise given his 2019 dominance.

In February, though, Morton indicated he wasn’t sure he’d want to continue playing beyond 2020. How a potentially cancelled season could impact his thought process isn’t yet clear. Whatever the future holds, it’s apparent the Rays have already gotten a return well above and beyond the cost to bring Morton aboard.

Amateur Draft Notes: Torkelson, Wilcox, Mock Drafts

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The first round of the 2020 amateur draft begins on June 10, and the growing feeling is that the Tigers will take Spencer Torkelson with the first overall pick.  Torkelson comes into the draft on the heels of an outstanding college career, which Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill notes could have reached historic proportions had Torkelson’s 2020 campaign not been cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The young slugger had a shot at breaking the NCAA record for walks in a season, and Torkelson sat just two home runs away from setting a new Arizona State school record for career homers (a record held by longtime Braves third baseman Bob Horner).  Though Torkelson will miss out on these individual accomplishments and a shot at being part of a potential national championship contender, his Arizona State tenure has already been the stuff of legend, especially considering that Torkelson came to the program on a relatively low profile after not being drafted by a Major League team when coming out of high school.

Some more on the draft…

  • The NCAA’s decision to give an extra year of eligibility to spring sports will give at least some players extra signing leverage in this abbreviated five-round draft.  As The Athletic’s David O’Brien (subscription required) writes, right-hander Cole Wilcox has the option of returning to the University of Georgia for a do-over of his sophomore year if doesn’t receive a signing bonus to his liking, which “some in the industry believe” is a “top-half-of-first-round” asking price.  (So, in the neighborhood of $4MM, based on the recommended slot prices.)  It isn’t out of the question that the hard-throwing Wilcox is selected within the top 15 anyway based on his strong track record at Georgia, though many prognosticators have the righty in the bottom half of the first round.
  • Speaking of prognostication, let’s give into some mock draft action!  The latest projections are up from The Athletic’s Keith Law (subscription required), Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo, and MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, and all have identical top threes: Torkelson to the Tigers, Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin to the Orioles with the second overall pick, and Texas A&M southpaw Asa Lacy to the Marlins third overall.  Assuming Detroit does take Torkelson, the O’s are favored to select Martin or at least another position player — Collazo and Callis note that Baltimore could opt to take New Mexico State infielder Nick Gonzales, while Law has heard “rumblings” that Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad could be the pick if the Orioles wanted to spread around their draft pool money.
  • All three mock drafts are well worth a read, as Law, Collazo, and Callis share some reports and rumors about which prospects could be on various teams’ radars, and what particular teams may or may not be targeting on their draft boards.  For instance, the Royals (who pick fourth overall) seem to be leaning towards picking a position player this after focusing on adding pitchers in recent drafts, which could lead them to Gonzales or Florida high school outfielder Zac Veen.  Callis has K.C. taking Gonzales while Collazo and Law have the Royals taking Veen, with Law adding that he has “heard they’re cool on Gonzales.”  Then again, a pitcher might not be out of the question either for Kansas City, as Collazo writes “lately, we’ve also heard Minnesota right-hander Max Meyer linked to this pick.”  As for Wilcox’s placement, Callis projects the Mets (19th overall), Law projects the Nationals (22nd), and Collazo projects the Yankees (28th).

AL East Notes: Severino, Red Sox, Snell, Boras

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After undergoing Tommy John surgery during Spring Training, Yankees right-hander Luis Severino tells George A. King III of the New York Post that “things have been progressing well” in the initial stages of the rehabilitation process.  Severino has been working with team trainers at the Yankees’ Spring Training facility in Tampa “since the day after I had my surgery,” and said he has “been making steady progress — lifting, doing exercises.  Since three months ago…I feel way better.  I’m doing everything I need to do right now so that I can start throwing this summer.”

Given the normal 12-15 month timeline attached to TJ recovery, it would be a boon for both Severino and the Yankees if he is able to return by Opening Day 2021 (assuming next season begins as usual in late March), and it’s probably more realistic to assume he’ll miss at least a month of a regularly-scheduled 2021 campaign.  Severino already missed almost all of the 2019 season due to lat and shoulder injuries, tossing only 20 1/3 total innings over the regular season and postseason.

More from around the AL East…

  • Had the season begun as expected, the Red Sox “would have had some tough decisions to get down to 26” players on the Opening Day roster, manager Ron Roenicke tells Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.  Now, since Major League rosters are expected to be expanded by anywhere from two to four extra players, it “will give us a chance to keep some players we like,” Roenicke said.  This is one small silver lining amidst a wholly unique season that will present many difficulties for all teams, as Abraham outlines how Roenicke is trying to keep his team prepared both in the short term and in preparation of whatever shape the 2020 season (if it happens at all) could take.  Providing updates on a few players, Roenicke said starters Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Martin Perez, and Ryan Weber have been throwing two simulated innings per week in order to stay fresh, with the idea being that the quartet can quickly ramp up to being able to toss five innings by the end of an abbreviated second Spring Training.
  • Rays left-hander Blake Snell recently became the Boras Corporation’s newest client, which agent Scott Boras calls “a great opportunity for us,” the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin writes.  “We consider him an elite performer who is still at the beginning of his career,” Boras said, noting that his agency’s “resources” in both on-field preparation and off-the-field endeavors make for “a great combination” with Snell.  The southpaw’s contract runs through the 2023 season, and while there isn’t any immediate opening for the Boras Corporation to receive a commission on a future deal, Boras repeatedly dismissed the suggestion that his change in representation could be a step towards finding a new team.  “The main idea right now is that we’re going to work with the team to provide every resource and to make [Snell] a better Ray,” Boras said.

Brooks Pounders, Deck McGuire Among Rays’ Minor League Releases

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The Rays have released “20 or so” minor league players from their system, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  The full list of names has yet to be announced, though two non-roster invitees to Tampa’s Spring Training camp have been cut.  Topkin reports that right-hander Brooks Pounders was one of the releases, and righty Deck McGuire tweeted earlier this week that he had also been released.  Pounders and McGuire both inked minors contracts with the Rays back in February.

Pounders has the more recent experience on a Major League diamond, tossing 7 1/3 relief innings for the Mets in 2019 but spending much of the season at the Triple-A level (for the Mets’ and Indians’ affiliates).  Originally a second-round pick for the Pirates in the 2009 draft, Pounders has bounced around to seven different organizations over his pro career, accumulating 45 2/3 frames at the MLB level with the Mets, Rockies, Angels, and Royals over the last four seasons.  While he owns an impressive 9.3 K/9 and 3.92 K/BB rate against big league hitters, Pounders has a career 8.47 ERA, largely due to an ungainly 2.8 HR/9.

McGuire also has a journeyman’s resume, being part of eight different MLB organizations over his career as well as pitching with the Korean Baseball Organization’s Samsung Lions in 2019.  McGuire posted a 5.05 ERA over 112 1/3 innings with the Lions, which is close to his 5.23 ERA over career 51 2/3 Major League innings (with the Reds, Blue Jays, and Angels in 2017-18).  McGuire was selected 11th overall by Toronto in the 2010 draft, though he has yet to find much consistency even at the minor league level, with a 4.31 ERA, 2.33 K/BB rate, and 7.7 K/9 over 1079 2/3 IP.

The two pitchers were competing for jobs in Tampa Bay’s 2020 bullpen, and for what it’s worth, Pounders had tossed four scoreless innings of spring action prior to the coronavirus shutdown.  While the Rays join several other teams in making mass releases to clear room on minor league rosters, Tampa is also one of the teams who has publicly committed to paying its remaining minor leaguers their $400 weekly stipend at least through the end of June.  At that point, Topkin writes that “Rays officials will re-evaluate the plan…based on several factors, such as whether big-leaguers are playing and the potential to stage some form of late-summer minor-league camp or development program.”

Rounding Up The Latest Minor League Cuts

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Yesterday brought a slew of news regarding minor league ballplayers. Players like T.J. Rivera, Carlos Asuaje and Juremi Profar were returned to the free-agent pool after rounds of cuts from their minor league teams. There was also a smattering of good news, including a report of David Price giving $1K to each minor leaguer on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.

Today brings a new round of news about how teams are deciding to treat their minor league players during this trying time. While these cuts seem gaudy, it’s important to note that most teams waited on their spring training cuts, actually extending the pay for many of the players now being cut loose. Every year a round of these cuts occur, and it’s not solely an effect of the coronavirus shutdown. That said, Baseball America’s JJ Cooper is compiling a running list of the number of players released by each organization and comparing those numbers to their releases in 2019 and 2018. As news continues to filter out little by little about each organization’s cuts, let’s try to round up some of that info here…

National League

  • The Giants cut 20 players from their minor league system on Thursday, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • The Diamondbacks have been the most egregious offenders in this department with 62 players released, as noted by Cooper, while MLB Network’s Jon Heyman had the number of Dback releases at 64.
  • It’s not clear if we have the entire list of minor league players released by the Rockies, but The Athletic’s Nick Groke has a list of 15 players with confirmed releases. Groke notes that the Rockies refused comment or confirmation.
  • Cooper also listed the 30 players released by the Braves this week. He notes 31 released last year at this time and 24 the year before.
  • The Mets released 39 players, including right-hander Nick Rumbelow, formerly of the Yankees and Mariners. The Mets, of course, are weighing options in terms of selling the franchise after reporting losses of up to $150MM even if an 82-game season eventually gets underway.
  • The Phillies released T.J. Rivera, but a comprehensive list of players released by the Phillies isn’t yet known.
  • Jim Goulart of Brewerfan.net tweets a list of 30 minor leaguers released by the Brewers thus far, though the list may be incomplete. Goulart compiled the list from milb.com. Veteran Andres Blanco was among those released.
  • The Cubs’ total list of releases reached 28 by the end of the day yesterday, with Brock Stewart and Asuaje two of the better-known names.
  • The Nationals have released more than 30 minor leaguers, per Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic, a number that includes many of their minor league free agents. The club has committed to pay minor league players $300 weekly through June.
  • The Reds and Cardinals are said to have released payers, but the number of players released isn’t clear at this time. Big picture, the Reds have committed to paying their remaining minor leaguers through the end of the minor league season in early September.
  • The Pirates have yet to release any minor league players, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic, though he adds that the club is still deliberating on roster moves so such a decision can’t be ruled out. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has committed to paying players through at least June.

American League

  • The Rays released “20 or so” players, as per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
  • The Mariners released more than 50 minor leaguers.
  • The Astros released 17 players, all listed here in a tweet from Baseball America’s JJ Cooper. Cooper recalls the Astros number of player cuts from past years, comparing this year’s 18 released players in March through May to 10 players released in 2019 and 24 in 2018.
  • The Orioles cuts came out early, with 37 players listed.
  • The White Sox let go of 25 players, including Josue Guerrero.
  • The Red Sox released 22 players, with Nick Lovullo and Profar two players with some name recognition who are among those released.
  • The Twins and Royals are bringing the best bit of news, as neither organization has made cuts to their minor leaguer systems. Given the number of releases league-wide, it’s a notable decision from these clubs.
  • The Athletics, meanwhile, have informed their minor leaguers that their pay will be suspended as of May 31.
  • The Blue Jays have released 29 minor league players, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. On the bright side, retained players will be paid through the end of June.

On the plus side, teams like the Marlins, Padres, and Mariners will pay their minor leaguers through the end of the season, though releases are still considered a normal course of business. Many clubs have committed to paying their minor leaguers either through the end of June or the end of August.

The Athletic’s Alec Lewis shed some light on the Royals’ mindset, providing a quote from Royals GM Dayton Moore (via Twitter). Among other insights, Moore said, “…we felt it was really, really important not to release one minor league player during this time, a time we needed to stand behind them.”

Which Glove-First Shortstop Would You Rather Have?

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In a piece from MASN last week, Roch Kubatko said this of the Orioles’ search for a veteran shortstop: “The Orioles chose [Jose] Iglesias over Adeiny Hechavarría in their winter search for a glove-first shortstop.” Kubatko linked the Orioles to Hechavarria back in December, but La Pantera ultimately re-upped with the Braves on a one-year, $1MM deal. The Orioles, meanwhile, splurged on Iglesias, signing the 30-year-old gloveman for a one-year, $3MM guarantee (with a $3.5MM team option for 2021). 

Granted, the Jose Iglesias versus Adeiny Hechavarria showdown wasn’t the most compelling positional matchup of free agency. And while the Orioles may have shown interest in Hechavarria, these situations are dynamic, and the decision to sign one or the other was likely never quite so binary. Let’s use it as a jumping-off point for this player comparison anyway.

First, let’s cover the similarities, as both Cuban-born veterans are glove-first shortstops viewed generally as second-division starters. Hechavarria is a year older, and his deal comes at one-third the cost of Iglesias’, though the Orioles picked up the second year of control on Iglesias. Both players entered the league fairly young and both saw their first significant action in 2012 (Iglesias at 22 with the Red Sox, Hechavarria at 23 with the Blue Jays). And both have since gone on to play for multiple franchises (Iglesias for Boston, Detroit, Cincinnati and Baltimore, Hechavarria for Toronto, Miami, Tampa, Pittsburgh, both New Yorks, and Atlanta).

Since Iglesias has a more stable resume, my guess is his name carries a little more weight, so let’s start there. Iglesias, 30, has produced a total of 11.1 rWAR/11.6 fWAR thus far over his eight years in the bigs (he appeared in 10 games as a 21-year-old in 2011, but missed all of the 2014 season). The right-handed batter has traded off between ~2.5 fWAR and ~1.5 fWAR seasons going all the way back to his rookie campaign, but either way he presents as an above-average option at short. He produced 9 OAA at short last year, putting him among the elite options defensively at short.

The batting line is the question with Iglesias after posting a career line of .273/.315/.371. Included therein, however, is a fair amount of year-to-year variance. Early in his career, Iglesias was a .300 hitter, but over his final three seasons in Detroit (2016 to 2018) he managed a batting average of just .259 BA. The walk rate has been steadily below average, so when he can’t hit his way on base, his whole offensive profile suffers. He’s a difficult guy to strike out, and as a guy who puts the ball in play without much oomph, his offensive value is tied directly to his BABIP. When his BABIP falls below .300, his overall line underwhelms. When the ball bounces his way, such as in 2013, 2015, and 2019, Iglesias turns into an asset with the bat: combined .296 BA in those seasons.

Iglesias has also gained a modicum of power over the years. His isolated power was consistently below .100 for the early part of his career, but over the last three seasons, Iglesias has enjoyed a small bump to .114 ISO, .120 ISO, and .119 ISO. That’s still nothing to write home about, but put together with the rest of his profile, and it’s enough to make Iglesias a viable starter.

Thanks to his every-down status as the Marlins starting shortstop from 2013 to 2016, Hechavarria has appeared in more games and seen more plate appearances over his career than Iglesias. The past three seasons have been a whirlwind, however, as Hechavarria became a part-time player while playing for seven teams in the last three seasons. By WAR, he only comes about halfway to matching Iglesias’ career totals (5.6 rWAR, 4.6 fWAR). Iglesias edges out Hechavarria in most statistical categories, including career stolen bases (52 to 35).

Though their profiles are very similar, the real difference between the two is that Hechavarria hasn’t matched the offensive ceiling of Iglesias. They walk at similar rates, and though Hechavarria strikes out a little more, he still boasts an above-average ability to put the bat on the ball. Unfortunately, he’s never quite put it all together. He hasn’t posted a batting average higher than .261 or an on-base percentage over .300 since 2015.

If there’s something in Hechavarria’s favor, it’s this: his power ticked upwards last season, to a robust .202 ISO. The added power came in only half a season of play, so it’s hard to know if the gains in Hechavarria’s game could/would be sustained over the course of a full slate of games. Back in Atlanta, we won’t likely find out, as he’s in line to back up Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies in the middle infield.

For that matter, it’s difficult to compare the contracts signed by Hechavarria and Iglesias because their expected roles are so different – and the expectations of their clubs are so very divergent. The Orioles might see triple the production from Iglesias that the Braves will from Hechavarria (to match the salary difference), but that’s at least in part because Iglesias could receive triple the playing time. Both the Orioles and Braves probably got the guy that better suits their needs – but in a vacuum – the choice is yours (link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users).

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