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Michael Conforto To Reject Qualifying Offer

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Free agent outfielder Michael Conforto will reject the Mets’ $18.4MM qualifying offer and explore the free agent market, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). Should he sign elsewhere, the Mets would be entitled to draft pick compensation.

Conforto is coming off a down platform year, leading some fans to suggest he could accept the QO in hopes of re-testing free agency next winter off a better showing. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported in mid-September that the Mets expected Conforto to reject the offer even in spite of his atypically poor numbers, though, so today’s development comes as little surprise.

Heading into the 2021 season, Conforto looked to be one of the top position players in this year’s class. From 2019-20, he’d hit .274/.376/.499, numbers that were 35 percentage points above the league average by measure of wRC+. That placed him in the top twenty qualified hitters, seemingly making Conforto a candidate to exceed nine figures with a typical platform year.

2021 was anything but typical, though, as Conforto slumped to a .232/.344/.384 line with just 14 home runs across 479 plate appearances. Those were his worst results since 2016, but they came with a career-low 21.7% strikeout rate and batted ball numbers not too dissimilar from his marks of years past. Entering his age-29 season, Conforto looks to be a prime bounceback target for suitors, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports his representatives at the Boras Corporation have already heard from upwards of twelve teams during the early stages of free agency. Depending on his priority, Conforto could still look to land a solid multi-year deal and lock in some long-term security or try to top the qualifying offer value on a one-year deal with designs on hitting the market again after 2022.

Teams who sign a qualified free agent will have to surrender at least one draft pick, and potentially some international bonus pool money depending on their status as revenue-sharing recipients or whether or not they exceeded the luxury tax threshold. Last month, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes broke down which picks each team would forfeit in so doing. As a team who neither exceeded the luxury tax threshold nor received revenue sharing in 2021, New York will receive a compensatory pick after Competitive Balance Round B (typically around 70-75 overall) in next year’s amateur draft were Conforto to sign elsewhere.

Pedro Feliciano Passes Away

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Former major league reliever Pedro Feliciano passed away last night, according to Eduardo Pérez of ESPN. He was 45 years old. The Mets, with whom Feliciano spent his entire major league career, released the following statement:

“The Mets are so saddened to hear of the loss to their family today. Pedro Feliciano will be remembered as a beloved member of the Mets organization for his impact as a great teammate as well as his reputation as one of the most competitive, durable and reliable relievers during his time in Queens. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Feliciano family. Rest in peace, Pedro.”

Feliciano appeared in parts of nine big league seasons from 2002-13. He led the major leagues in pitching appearances each season between 2008-10, serving as a situational option who was particularly effective against same-handed hitters. Over 383 2/3 career innings, he pitched to a 3.33 ERA, including four separate seasons of sub-3.40 ball. Feliciano also spent time in the Dodgers, Reds, Yankees and Cardinals organizations and pitched for a season in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

MLBTR joins countless others around the game in sending our condolences to Feliciano’s family, friends and loved ones.

Cardinals Re-Sign T.J. McFarland

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3:49 pm: McFarland’s deal guarantees him $2.5MM, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). The deal contains an additional $500K in incentives, per Heyman, meaning the veteran southpaw could max out at $3MM.

10:30 am: The Cardinals have announced that they have re-signed left-handed pitcher T.J. McFarland to a one-year contract, the financials of which are not yet known.

McFarland’s stay in free agency this year is much shorter than last year, when he signed a minor league deal with the Nationals in mid-February. He never got into a game with the Nats, however, being released in June to sign a minor league deal with the Cards and selected to their big league club a few weeks later. McFarland proved to be very effective down the stretch for St. Louis, logging 38 2/3 innings with an ERA of 2.56. His strikeout rate of 14.6% was well below average, but he’s always gotten his outs on the ground, as evidence by his 63.7% grounder rate, which is right around where he’s been throughout his career.

The Cardinals were evidently quite pleased with his performance, as they have quickly pounced and brought him back, less than 24 hours into free agency. With McFarland, Andrew Miller, Kwang Hyun Kim, Jon Lester, Wade LeBlanc and J.A. Happ all becoming free agents this week, that left Genesis Cabrera and Brandon Waddell as the only left-handed pitchers on the club’s 40-man roster. But the team didn’t hesitate to address a clear area of need and have brought McFarland back to shore up the southpaw side of their bullpen.

Over nine different seasons, the 32-year-old McFarland has thrown 439 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.95, 13.7% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 62.9% groundball rate.

Orioles Claim Bryan Baker From Blue Jays

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The Orioles announced they’ve claimed reliever Bryan Baker off waivers from the Blue Jays. The 26-year-old made his big league debut in September, tossing a scoreless inning during a win over the A’s.

Baker’s big league outing was the briefest cup of coffee, but he showed a live arm, averaging just shy of 95 MPH on his fastball. Even more appealing is his Triple-A track record, as he earned that late-season look with a stellar year for the Jays’ top affiliate. The righty tossed 41 1/3 innings across 39 appearances with the Bisons, pitching to a 1.31 ERA while striking out a strong 28.9% of batters faced.

The knock on Baker throughout his time in the minors has been spotty control. His 10.2% walk percentage in Triple-A this past season wasn’t much higher than the major league average for relievers, but Baker’s walk totals from 2018-19 were significantly more alarming. The O’s will take a no-cost flier to see if he can sustain this year’s control improvements and settle in as a useful option in a wide open bullpen.

Baker still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so the front office can freely move him between Baltimore and Triple-A Norfolk for the next couple seasons so long as he sticks on the 40-man roster. The claim brings the Orioles’ 40-man tally up to 32, while the Jays’ roster now sits at 33.

Robert Murray of FanSided reported the move shortly before the team announcement.

Alex Bregman Undergoes Wrist Surgery

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The Astros announced that third baseman Alex Bregman underwent surgery on his right wrist today, though the procedure isn’t expected to impact his readiness for the 2022 season.  The team’s projected timeline sees Bregman as restarting baseball activities in 6-10 weeks, which should mean he’s set for the start of Spring Training camp in February.

Bregman has been battling wrist problems since September, as Astros teammate Carlos Correa revealed to Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein during the World Series.  Bregman downplayed any physical issues but something clearly seemed amiss with his performance at the plate in October.  While Bregman had a few big moments during Houston’s playoff run, Bregman hit only .217/.304/.300 with one home run over 69 plate appearances this postseason.

The wrist surgery underscores what has been an injury-plagued year in general for the third baseman.  Bregman played in only 91 games after missing over two months rehabbing a left quad strain, and he also spent a week on the COVID-related injury list in April.  Though it all, Bregman still provided above-average (113 OPS+, 115 wRC+) offense and hit .270/.355/.422 with 12 home runs over 400 PA, though it was a decided step backwards from his All-Star numbers in 2018-19.  Getting Bregman healthy and fully back on track would be a needed boost to an Astros lineup that might lose Correa to free agency this winter.

John Gant Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander John Gant has opted to become a free agent after clearing outright waivers, according to MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park (Twitter link).  Because Gant has over three years of MLB service time, he had the right to choose free agency rather than accept the outright assignment off the Twins’ 40-man roster.

The outright essentially serves as an early non-tender for the Twins, as Gant was projected to earn $3.7MM in his third and final trip through the arbitration process.  While not a huge sum for a useful swingman, the Twins didn’t see a role (at least at that price point) for Gant on their 2022 squad, despite Minnesota’s needs in the rotation and bullpen.

Acquired from the Cardinals as part of the J.A. Happ deadline trade, Gant posted a 5.61 ERA over his 33 2/3 innings in Minnesota, starting seven of his 14 appearances.  Compared to his 76 1/3 frames with St. Louis earlier in the season, Gant improved his strikeout and walk rates while with the Twins, but his homer rate and strand rate both shot upward.

The result was a 4.09 ERA over 110 total innings in 2021 and a pretty dismal set of Statcast metrics for the 29-year-old Gant.  Walks continued to be a major problem for the righty, and the increase in missed bats he exhibited over 15 innings in 2020 didn’t carry over to more consistent work last season.

It should be noted that the Cardinals used Gant exclusively as a reliever in 2019-20, and the results were impressive.  Gant’s control didn’t get much better, though his strikeout numbers improved and his fastball gained some velocity (up to a 95.9mph average) with the more limited usage, as Gant posted a 3.43 ERA over his 81 1/3 relief innings.  While other teams might still take advantage of Gant’s durability by using him as a swingman, he might ultimately be best served working out of a bullpen.

Reds Willing To Discuss Luis Castillo In Trade Talks

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For the second straight offseason, Luis Castillo is figuring into some chatter on the rumor mill, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link) reports that the Reds are open to discussing the right-hander in trade talks.  This represents a slight change from last year, when Reds GM Nick Krall firmly denied that Castillo was available, even though other clubs inevitably asked about Castillo.

There isn’t any guarantee that Castillo will be dealt, since another team would have to be willing to meet what is sure to be a very high asking price from Cincinnati.  However, dealing Castillo would be the clearest sign yet that the Reds are not just cutting payroll, but seemingly stepping back into some sort of a rebuild phase.  With the offseason less than a week old, the Reds have already dealt Tucker Barnhart to the Tigers and put Wade Miley on waivers, where he was claimed by the division-rival Cubs.

Those two players weren’t guaranteed to return to Cincinnati anyway in 2022 due to club options (Miley for $10MM, Barnhart for $7.5MM), and yet quickly parting ways with two productive veterans led to some dismay amongst Reds fans.  The mood didn’t improve after Krall stated that “going into 2022, we must align our payroll to our resources and continue focusing on scouting and developing young talent from within our system.”  The Reds have roughly $131.4MM on their books for next season’s payroll, yet at this point, it certainly seems like more cuts are coming.  Castillo is relatively inexpensive (projected for a $7.6MM salary in arbitration), entering his age-29 season, and is controlled through the next two seasons, so he is far more of a cornerstone piece than Barnhart or Miley.

The righty has been one of the more solid pitchers in baseball over the last five seasons, with a 3.72 ERA, 30.4% strikeout rate, 53.9% grounder rate, and 14.4 fWAR over 707 1/3 career innings.  He was an All-Star in 2019, and has looked like an ace at best and “merely” as a durable front-of-the-rotation type at worst, as Castillo has never spent any time on a Major League injured list.

It is worth noting that 2021 was something of a step back for Castillo, as he got off to a terrible start to the season and had a 7.22 ERA at the end of May.  While he righted the ship over the rest of the year, Castillo finished with only a 3.98 ERA, as well as a barely-average 23.9% strikeout rate (after a 29.4 K% in 2019-20) and only a 9.3% walk rate.  Castillo has posted subpar walk rates in three of his five years, though while control has been an issue, it hasn’t kept him from otherwise posting strong numbers.

While the Reds could explore attaching Castillo to a larger and possibly undesirable salary on the payroll (i.e. Eugenio Suarez, Mike Moustakas), moving Castillo as a part of a salary dump would seem like something of a waste, considering that trading Castillo alone would net the Reds quite a bit of younger talent.  Reporter Sung Min Kim observed that the Twins’ trade of Jose Berrios to the Blue Jays for top-100 prospects Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson could be a comp for a potential Castillo deal, except the Reds would be in a position to ask for even more — a new team would have Castillo for two full seasons, whereas Toronto just acquired Berrios for the 2022 season and the final two-plus months of the 2021 campaign.

It is probably safe to assume that lots of teams have routinely checked in on Castillo’s availability, though the Yankees were one team specifically cited as being involved in some talks last winter.  New York turned down the Reds’ demand of Gleyber Torres and more in exchange for Castillo, to present an idea of just how high a price tag Cincinnati rightfully put on Castillo’s services.  It figures that the Yankees would be keen to inquire about Castillo again, except this time Torres might not be on the Reds’ radar, considering how Jonathan India now has second base locked down and Torres no longer looks like a viable shortstop.

If a Castillo trade is completed, it stands to reason that it could be the first major domino to fall in a Reds fire sale, if the team is planning to take a big step back from competing.  The likes of Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle, Jesse Winker and others could all be on the trade block, not to mention the larger-salary players like Suarez or Moustakas.  For what it’s worth, Joey Votto has a full no-trade clause and has consistently said that he would use that clause to remain in Cincinnati for the rest of his career.

Twins Hire Jayce Tingler As Bench Coach

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The Twins have announced a pair of coaching hires, bringing on former Padres’ manager Jayce Tingler as their new bench coach and officially announcing the previously-reported hiring of David Popkins as hitting coach.

Tingler is coming off a tumultuous season in San Diego, his second campaign as the bench boss for the Padres. Things seemed to be going well after the first year, as 2020 saw the Padres go 37-23 and then qualify for the expanded 2020 playoffs, eventually falling to the rival Dodgers in the NLDS. The subsequent months only heightened enthusiasm for 2021, as the club made various high-profile additions, including Blake Snell, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. The beginning of 2021 seemed to be going according to plan, as they hovered in the divisional race with the Dodgers and Giants through the first few months of the season. However, the second half saw the team undergo a precipitous slide, falling out of the playoff race and even below .500, along with reports that Tingler had lost the respect of the players and control of the clubhouse. Shortly after the season ended, Tingler was fired and eventually replaced by Bob Melvin, whom the Padres lured away from the Athletics.

It had been previously reported that the Padres offered him an opportunity to stay in some capacity, but he will instead head to the Twin Cities for 2022. It was announced in September that the previous bench coach, Bill Evers, would be retiring after the 2021 season, creating the vacancy that Tingler will now be filling.

Reds Outright Alex Blandino

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Nov. 8: Blandino is now a free agent, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Nov. 4: The Reds announced Thursday that infielder Alex Blandino went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Louisville. He’s no longer on the 40-man roster. Cincinnati also reinstated infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel and righties Tejay Antone and Brandon Bailey from the 60-day injured list. Their 40-man roster is now at 36 players.

Blandino, 28, was Cincinnati’s first-round pick back in 2014 but has yet to produce in 279 trips to the plate as a big leaguer (.226/.339/.291). He missed a sizable chunk of the 2021 campaign with a broken hand, which surely couldn’t have helped his production in Triple-A Louisville, where he batted just .102/.289/.153 in 18 games this season. That said, Blandino did turn in a much heartier .247/.386/.379 slash in 70 Triple-A contests back in 2019.

Senzel, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2016 and one of the top all-around prospects in the game prior to his debut, has yet to find much consistency in the big leagues. Arthroscopic knee surgery performed back in May didn’t help matters in 2021, as Senzel was limited to just 124 plate appearances and batted only .252/.323/.315 when healthy (72 wRC+). He didn’t play in a big league game after May 17 on account of a left knee injury, and the 26-year-old has just 616 cumulative plate appearances over parts of three MLB seasons.

Bailey missed the entire season recovering from February Tommy John surgery. Since Tommy John rehab processes often around fourteen months, it seems likely he’ll start next season on the IL as well. Antone underwent the same procedure in August. He’s likely to miss all of 2022 recovering.

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