MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to view the transcript of today’s chat with MLBTR’s Anthony Franco.
AL Notes: Rangers, Hosmer, Royals, Wells
The Padres and Rangers discussed first baseman Eric Hosmer in trade talks last summer, as part of broader pre-deadline negotiations that also reportedly involved Padres prospect Robert Hassell and then-Rangers slugger Joey Gallo. It isn’t any secret that San Diego has been trying to get Hosmer’s contract off the books, though The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports that Texas still wanted the Padres to cover the majority of the salary owed to Hosmer ($59MM from 2022-25). The exact numbers involved in the proposed trade isn’t known, and obviously the inclusion of Gallo (paid $6.2MM last season and projected to earn $10.2MM in 2022) was a major factor in the financial elements of any deal.
Since Gallo ended up being traded to the Yankees at the deadline, it remains to be seen if the Padres could revisit a more streamlined version of a Hosmer trade with the Rangers once the lockout is over, with Hassell perhaps included as a sweetener to convince Texas to absorb a larger chunk of Hosmer’s salary. Of course, the equation has now changed quite a bit for a Rangers team that has already added Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Jon Gray in a pre-lockout spending spree. While the Rangers still have payroll space, they might prefer to spend on a player who can more readily help them contend in 2022. Hosmer has been roughly a league-average hitter over his last four seasons, and Texas already has a left-handed hitting first baseman in Nathanial Lowe who might be a better candidate to out-perform Hosmer at the plate (and at a fraction of Hosmer’s price tag).
More from the American League…
- The Royals used a bumper crop of homegrown talent to capture the 2015 World Series, and are now trying to reload with a new wave of minor leaguers. General manager J.J. Picollo tells The Kansas City Star’s Lynn Worthy that “I feel like this group is just a tad more deep” than the core of the 2014-15 pennant-winning rosters, and in particular more depth when it comes to starting pitching. Former first-round picks Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Jackson Kowar, and Daniel Lynch have already cracked the majors, and Picollo cited even two more waves of younger arms that could be coming next. All of this depth could manifest itself as cornerstone pieces of the next K.C. rotation, or perhaps as trade chips — as Worthy notes, the Royals dealt several notable pitching prospects while building their last championship team.
- With Gary Sanchez‘s future a constant topic of discussion in the Bronx, many Yankees fans see Austin Wells as a potential Sanchez replacement behind the plate as early as the 2023 season. However, the proverbial “catcher of the future” might not necessarily remain as a catcher, according to Yankees VP of player development Kevin Reese. “Depending on where some of our other guys are, there might be an opportunity to get him some reps (at other positions)….Then we might have to get a little bit creative to keep his bat in the lineup. But none of that is a concern about his catching,” Reese told The New York Daily News’ Kristie Ackert. Wells has been seen as a potential candidate to move to first base or a corner outfield spot even before the Yankees drafted him 28th overall in 2020, and while one AL scout feels a position change will still happen, he credited Wells for improving his throwing arm and his framing. Wherever he ends up on the diamond, Wells has shown signs that his bat will play at any position — Wells batted .264/.390/.476 with 16 homers over 469 plate appearances in his first pro season (at the A-ball and high-A levels), and then turned heads with a big performance in Arizona Fall League action.
Joe Kelly Hoping To Re-Sign With Dodgers
The Dodgers declined a $12MM option on right-hander Joe Kelly in favor of a $4MM buyout after the right-hander suffered a biceps strain during the Dodgers’ NLCS showdown against the eventual World Series-champion Braves. Kelly hit the free agent market for the second time in his career and did not sign prior to the league’s implementation of a lockout on Dec. 2. He’s since been rumored to be a post-lockout target of the Cardinals, Kelly said today in a radio appearance on 570 LA Sports that he hopes to remain in Los Angeles (Twitter link, with audio).
“As with the whole lockout, once it’s over… teams are going to be signing,” Kelly said to host David Vassegh. “The signing period’s going to be like basketball. People are going to be signing at 4:00 in the morning. But obviously, I want to come back and be a Dodger — and the interest is mutual, so we’ve got to make something happen.”
Kelly’s mention of mutual interest — presumably in reference to interest shown by the Dodgers prior to the lockout — is the most concrete indicator to date of a possible reunion between the two parties. Interest on L.A.’s behalf is only natural, as the Dodgers are currently facing the potential of losing not only Kelly but also Kenley Jansen, Corey Knebel (who already signed in Philadelphia) and Jimmy Nelson to free agency. That quartet combined for 167 2/3 innings of strong relief work out of Dave Roberts’ bullpen.
The 33-year-old Kelly, in particular, enjoyed a nice rebound campaign in 2021 after being limited to 10 innings in 2020. Although he missed the first five weeks of the 2021 season due to a shoulder injury, Kelly returned with one of the finest showings of his decade-long big league career. In 44 innings, he pitched to a 2.86 ERA (3.08 FIP, 3.o9 SIERA) with a strong 27.5% strikeout rate, an 8.2% walk rate and a huge 58.9% ground-ball rate. His average heater was down a tick from its 99.1 mph peak, but Kelly’s 98.1 average fastball velocity represented a bump from his 2019-20 levels.
Generally speaking, Kelly is one of baseball’s hardest-throwing relievers. He has, at various points throughout his career, flashed huge strikeout capabilities, strong command and high-end ground-ball tendencies — but rarely all at the same time. Those three traits coalesced in 2021 more than at any point throughout his career, after the Dodgers helped take Kelly’s grounder rate from above-average (49.9% from 2012-18) to outstanding during his time in blue (59.9%).
A pair of IL stints due to shoulder troubles kept Kelly off the mound more than he or the team would’ve liked during his three-year stint as a Dodger, but the overall body of work was sound. In 105 1/3 innings, Kelly posted a 3.59 ERA with a 121-to-44 K/BB ratio (26.9 K%, 9.8 BB%), 21 holds and three saves. Many of this offseason’s top relievers — e.g. Raisel Iglesias, Knebel, Kendall Graveman — are already off the market, so Kelly should be among the more desirable options still left in free agency whenever the lockout lifts.
As for his current health, Kelly noted that he’s already throwing multiple times per week, albeit not off a mound. He’s playing catch and long toss right now but stated that his arm is “definitely going to be ready for the season” — whenever the season begins.
D-backs Notes: Straily, Carroll, Lawlar, Barfield
Newly signed Diamondbacks righty Dan Straily chatted with The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan at length about his decision to sign with Arizona and his goals of reestablishing himself as a quality big league starter after a strong two-year run in the Korea Baseball Organization. Straily indicated that he had multiple offers but chose to sign with the D-backs for several reasons, including a good opportunity to earn a roster spot out of the gate and relative proximity (a two-hour flight) to his family’s home in Oregon. He candidly acknowledged that he went to South Korea in need of major improvement — “I didn’t end up in Korea because I was ready to be in the major leagues at the time” — and discussed changes he’s made to his repertoire, including pitch grips, pitch shapes, and an entirely new pitch.
More broadly, fans will want to check out the whole Q&A to get a sense of Straily’s experiences pitching in a foreign league (and of being in the midst of KBO Spring Training when the pandemic broke out), his relationship with incoming pitching coach Brent Strom and the finer details of the work he’s put in to rebuild his career. Notably, Straily added that he considered waiting until the lockout ended to pursue a Major League contract but ultimately chose a minor league opportunity that allowed him to get rolling as quickly as possible. “We felt like it was time for me to get to work,” said Straily.
For those who missed it, Straily also chatted with MLBTR readers back in December. Within, Straily discussed the difference between pitching in the KBO and in MLB, recalled come key early-career advice from notable teammates, and shared plenty of memories from his time in the Majors and in South Korea.
A few more notes on the D-backs…
- Buchanan also passes along a pair of updates on some of the system’s top prospects (Twitter link). Outfielder Corbin Carroll is back to 100 percent after last year’s season-ending shoulder surgery. The 21-year-old was the No. 16 overall pick in 2019 and is widely regarded as one of the sport’s top 50 overall prospects, even after his 2021 injury. Carroll sustained the injury on a swing that resulted in a home run in one of the just seven games he played with the Snakes’ High-A affiliate last season. He hasn’t had much of a look in the pros thanks to that surgery and the wiped-out 2020 minor league season, but Carroll owns a .316/.428/.542 batting line with four home runs, ten doubles, nine triples and 21 stolen bases (in 23 tries) through his first 215 professional plate appearances, dating back to 2019. He’s viewed as a possible long-term option in center field for the D-backs, though he has a good bit of development left after effectively missing two full years’ worth of reps in 2020-21.
- Also on the mend from shoulder surgery is 2021 top draft selection Jordan Lawlar. The touted young shortstop and No. 6 overall pick sustained a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder not long after signing, limiting his professional debut to just two games with the D-backs’ Rookie-level affiliate. Lawlar, 19, is about a month behind Carroll in his rehab process, per Buchanan, and has not yet been cleared for batting practice. Like Carroll, Lawlar is a consensus top prospect, albeit one who has a bit more variance in terms of scouting reports on his future (which is perhaps to be expected given his lack of pro experience). Keith Law ranked Lawlar No. 31 among MLB prospects, noting that he had the “best package of tools” in the 2021 draft and adding that with Lawlar’s athleticism, speed, arm strength and power potential, he could be in the mix for the sport’s top overall prospect next year.
- Josh Barfield spoke with Bill Ladson of MLB.com to discuss his journey from big league infielder, to scout, to his current role as Diamondbacks director of player development. Barfield “never saw [himself] getting into this side of the game” but now relishes his player development role and the challenges it presents. Citing mentors like former D-backs GM Dave Stewart, current GM Mike Hazen and his own predecessor Mike Bell, who tragically passed away last spring after a battle with kidney cancer, Barfield discussed how his love for player development and baseball operations has grown. His ultimate goal has now shifted from his early days as a scout, as he told Ladson he has his sights set on eventually becoming a general manager. While Barfield acknowledged that “there’s not too many of those jobs,” his interactions with Hazen and Stewart, as well as his “ultra-competitive” nature are now driving that ambition.
Oswaldo Arcia Signs With American Association’s Cleburne Railroaders
A pair of former major leaguers recently signed with teams in the American Association, according to the league’s transactions log. Outfielder Oswaldo Arcia has signed with the Cleburne Railroaders, while infielder Darnell Sweeney returned to the Kansas City Monarchs.
Arcia, the older brother of Braves utilityman Orlando Arcia, appeared in the big leagues between 2013-16. Included among Baseball America’s top 50 overall prospects heading into 2013, the now-30-year-old Arcia looked as though he could emerge as a middle-of-the-order power bat during his time in the Twins system. The left-handed hitter flashed some power potential over his first couple seasons, popping 34 home runs with a .201 ISO (slugging minus batting average) over 788 plate appearances between 2013-14.
Along with that power came big strikeout totals and below-average walk rates, however. That led to Arcia struggling from an on-base perspective, and his overall offensive output checked in around the league average. He’s limited to the corner outfield or designated hitter, and public metrics have pegged him as a below-average defender even in the corners. Without the high-end offensive output to compensate for that lack of value with the glove, Arcia bounced between four different clubs in 2016.
The Venezuela native spent the 2017 campaign in Triple-A with the Diamondbacks. He caught on with the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan the following year, hitting .222/.315/.405 over 324 plate appearances. Arcia spent the 2019 season in the Mexican League and will try to work his way back into the affiliated ranks with a strong showing in his first year with the Railroaders.
Sweeney, on the other hand, has suited up for the Monarchs in two of the past three seasons, with a one-year stop as a member of the Winnipeg Goldeyes (also a member of the American Association) in 2020. The switch-hitting utilityman came up in the Dodgers’ system and was traded to the Phillies in 2015 as part of the deal that sent Chase Utley to Los Angeles. He played in 37 games for the Phils down the stretch but didn’t return to the big leagues until 2018, when he made a pair of appearances with the Blue Jays. The 31-year-old is a .252/.320/.394 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons.
MLB Again States That Regular Season Games Would Be Canceled If No CBA Is In Place By February 28
The daily collective bargaining sessions between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association continued this afternoon. MLB made a core economics proposal Monday, which the union countered yesterday. Neither side was pleased with the other’s latest offer, and the league has doubled down on previous assertions that regular season games will be canceled if no new CBA is agreed upon by the end of the month.
Last week, MLB informed the union it viewed February 28 as the deadline for an agreement that wouldn’t impact the regular season. MLB unilaterally instituted the lockout and could lift it at any time, but there’s no chance it’ll do so and cede negotiating leverage to the union. After today’s negotiations, a league spokesperson told reporters (including Hannah Keyser of Yahoo! Sports) that regular season games would be canceled if no CBA is in place by Monday. The league said it has no plans to make possible missed games up at a later date and noted that players would not have the opportunity to recoup lost game checks in that event.
Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal tweets that MLB also doesn’t intend to rearrange the schedule in the event games are scrapped. If the regular season were delayed but an agreement was eventually reached, the league would simply pick up where the current schedule dictates whenever games begin.
It’s possible the league is simply trying to exert leverage in an area where it feels it has the upper hand, reasoning that missing early-season games would be more detrimental to players than it would be to owners. The MLBPA has maintained that if players lose any portion of their salaries due to game cancelations, they’d refuse to agree to expansion of the playoffs in 2022. Postseason expansion has been a key goal of the league’s throughout the process, as it’d stand to benefit substantially from the possible sale of additional rounds to television partners.
In the meantime, the parties continue to haggle over economics. MLB responded to the union’s latest offer with a marginal raise in the minimum salary today. Previously, MLB had been proposing a flat $630K minimum or a tiered minimum based on a player’s service time that ranged from $615K to $725K. The league has scrapped the idea of differing lowest salaries depending upon service time and today offered to bump the leaguewide minimum to $640K next season, as Evan Drellich of the Athletic first reported (on Twitter). That would jump by $10K per season for the rest of the CBA, as follows:
2022: $640K
2023: $650K
2024: $660K
2025: $670K
2026: $680K
It’s a very minor move in the players’ favor, but one that seems unlikely to thrill the union. The MLBPA actually increased their desired league minimum in yesterday’s proposal (to MLB’s chagrin), seeking a $775K figure next season that’d climb $30K annually to $895K by 2026. The union paired that with a slight dip in its efforts to expand arbitration, but the league has stringently refused to entertain the possibility of broader Super Two eligibility altogether.
Last season, the league minimum was set at $570.5K. As Travis Sawchik of the Score calculated last month, the minimum would need to be set at $650K in 2022 to keep pace with inflation, relative to the terms of the 2016-21 CBA. MLB’s offer today isn’t far off that mark (at least for this year), but getting players paid earlier in their careers has been an overarching goal for the union throughout this round of collective bargaining. Thus, it seems unlikely the MLBPA will respond favorably to the proposal.
There’s obviously plenty of ground that’ll need to be made in the coming days — on issues ranging from the minimum salary and competitive balance tax to the players’ push for broader arbitration and the league’s desired playoff expansion — if the regular season is to begin on time. It remains to be seen whether either side would budge off their stated positions if any sort of progress is made later this week, but given the glacial pace in talks thus far, the possibility of losing regular season games seems greater on a daily basis. They’ll meet again tomorrow and are expected to talk every day through the end of the month.
Josh Reddick Signs With Mexican League’s Acereros De Monclova
Longtime big league outfielder Josh Reddick signed with the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League earlier this month, according to a club announcement. It’s the first stint in Mexico for the left-handed hitter, who has spent the past thirteen years at the MLB level.
Reddick, who turned 35 over the weekend, is coming off a 2021 campaign split between the Diamondbacks and Mets. He tallied 158 plate appearances over 54 games with Arizona but struggled to a career-worst .258/.285/.371 line. The Snakes let Reddick go in early August. He signed a minor league deal with the Mets not long after but only spent about two weeks with their Triple-A affiliate before being released.
It wasn’t a great 2021 showing for the Georgia native, but he hit at a near league average level each season from 2018-20. Reddick has been a solid offensive player for the bulk of his MLB career, compiling a .262/.321/.426 line in a bit more than 1300 games split between the Red Sox, A’s, Dodgers, Astros and D-Backs. He has three seasons with a wRC+ above 115 (at least fifteen percentage points above the league average), including a .314/.363/.484 line over 540 plate appearances with the Astros in 2017.
Early in his career, Reddick also rated as one of the game’s preeminent defensive corner outfielders. He took home a Gold Glove award in 2012 and was typically rated favorably by public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating through 2019. His defensive numbers have dipped below average over the past two seasons, though, and both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference have pegged his overall work below replacement level in that time.
Reddick joins an Acereros roster that features a handful of former big leaguers. Monclova also signed Pablo Sandoval a few weeks back, and they added former Brewers outfielder Keon Broxton at the end of January. Broxton, who compiled a .209/.297/.388 MLB line between 2015-19, has spent the past couple seasons in the minors. The righty-hitting center fielder split last season between the Twins’ and Brewers’ top affiliates and hit .173/.283/.297 across 311 plate appearances.
Lance McCullers Jr. “Behind” In Rehab, Uncertain About Readiness For Opening Day
Lance McCullers Jr. saw his 2021 season end in the American League Division Series. He left his Game 4 start after four innings with forearm tightness, and while he and the Astros initially left open the possibility he could return later in the postseason, he wasn’t included on Houston’s rosters for either the ALCS or World Series.
McCullers was later diagnosed with a flexor strain, and it seems the injury was more serious than the club let on at the time. Speaking with Maanav Gupta of Maanav’s Sports Talk (YouTube link) this week, McCullers stated the issue “was much worse than we were putting off. … I had a pretty good strain in my flexor tendon in my forearm. It was off the bone quite a bit.”
The 28-year-old told reporters in early December he was “about a month” from beginning a throwing program. He has indeed begun to throw, but McCullers implied this week he’s not yet started to work off a mound. McCullers told Gupta he’s “behind” where he expected to be at this point in his rehab process and admitted he “(doesn’t) know if (he’ll) be ready Opening Day.” The season is currently slated to begin on March 31, which would give McCullers around five weeks to progress to game readiness from his current state.
Of course, whether the season will start on time is in question. MLB has suggested a new collective bargaining agreement would need to be in place by next Monday if the regular campaign is to be without any delay. Even as the league and Players Association have begun to meet more frequently, progress toward a mutually agreeable midpoint has been almost nonexistent. A delay to the season would afford McCullers and other injured players more time to rehab without missing game action, although it’d also prolong the ongoing ban on communication between union members and team staff.
That includes a prohibition on club medical personnel speaking with players on 40-man rosters, a provision MLB mandated when first instituting the lockout on December 2. Various people on the players’ side have expressed displeasure with that decision over the past few months, arguing that the league hadn’t been legally compelled to implement the communications ban. McCullers joined that chorus, saying the lockout has proved detrimental to his rehab.
“The lockout has made it tough because the people I would usually rely on for the rehab, I haven’t been able to speak to or communicate with,” the right-hander told Gupta. “It’s been a little bit difficult, I’m not going to lie. The rehab has been a little choppy. I was hoping to be a little bit further along than I am right now, but we have the unfortunate circumstance of being locked out. … It’s frustrating for me, because ultimately I’m the one who suffers and the fans are the ones who suffer while we argue away.”
Astros personnel are no doubt anxious to be allowed to touch base with McCullers, who is a key piece of the organization’s future. Houston inked him to a five-year, $85MM contract extension last spring that’ll go into effect this season. That was something of a bold bet by the organization, as a November 2018 Tommy John surgery and the pandemic had conspired to limit him to 55 regular season innings over the prior two seasons.
McCullers looked on his way to a bounceback before the flexor injury arose during the playoffs. He worked a career-high 162 1/3 frames across 28 starts in the regular season, posting a 3.16 ERA/4.02 SIERA. As he had throughout his career, McCullers generated an enviable combination of whiffs and ground balls. He fanned 27% of batters faced while inducing grounders on upwards of 56% of balls in play. No other pitcher with 100+ innings reached both those heights, helping McCullers overcome an elevated 11.1% walk rate to find plenty of success.
While the Astros are hopeful he’ll replicate that form in 2022, they are arguably as well-positioned as any team around the league to withstand a possible delayed start to the year from one of their top arms. Houston already brought back Justin Verlander this winter, and the club has a handful of promising younger options (José Urquidy, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier) capable of shouldering key rotation roles. Whether McCullers is able to join them in the season-opening mix may depend on how long the lockout continues to drag on.
Rangers Top Prospect Josh Jung Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
Rangers top prospect Josh Jung underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder this morning, the team told reporters (Twitter link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). It’s expected to be about six months before he’s cleared to even begin serving as a designated hitter in games. Jung sustained the injury recently while lifting weights as part of his offseason training regimen. Texas had already shut him down, but the hope was that he could avoid surgery. After receiving additional medical opinions this week, however, surgery was deemed the necessary course of treatment.
It’s a brutal blow for the Rangers, who hoped last year could serve as the final full year of development for Jung. A big league debut at some point in 2022 was widely expected after the 2019 No. 8 overall pick laid waste to Double-A and Triple-A pitching in 2021. In 342 plate appearances between those two levels, Jung slashed a combined .326/.398/.592 with 19 home runs, 22 doubles, a triple, a 22.2% strikeout rate and a 9.1% walk rate.
There was some thought that with a big enough spring showing, Jung could even position himself as a candidate to break camp with the Rangers. Texas is clearly shifting from its prior rebuilding mode into a win-now mindset, as evidenced by their offseason signings of Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray. Jung is the overwhelming favorite to eventually slot in as the team’s everyday third baseman, and most scouting reports on the promising former Texas Tech star expect him to do just that. He ranked as the No. 26 prospect in MLB at Baseball America this winter, No. 31 at Baseball Prospectus and No. 19 at ESPN. The team at FanGraphs was most bullish on Jung, placing a 60 grade on him overall (on the 20-80 scale) and ranking him inside the sport’s 15 best farmhands.
Any coronation of Jung as the team’s everyday third baseman is now on hold for the majority of the 2022 season — if not until the 2023 campaign. With Jung now out of the picture for the foreseeable future, versatile defensive star Isiah Kiner-Falefa finds himself shifting from a super-utility role (and interesting trade candidate) to the team’s primary option at the hot corner.
The 26-year-old Kiner-Falefa is well equipped to handle such a role, as he proved in 2020 when he won a Gold Glove Award at third base. He moved to shortstop for the 2021 campaign and turned in another strong defensive showing, although the potential drop-off from Jung to Kiner-Falefa from an offensive standpoint is likely to be steep. Talented as he is with the glove, Kiner-Falefa is primarily a singles hitter who rarely walks. He’s posted a .273/.316/.361 batting line over the past two seasons, which is productive enough to provide value when combined with his defensive prowess, but Jung has quite a bit more power and is widely expected to be an impact performer on offense.
Offensive gap between the two notwithstanding, Kiner-Falefa is a solid option to have on hand. He had reportedly been of interest to the Yankees as a possible trade candidate prior to the lockout, but Jung’s injury surely dampens the possibility that the Rangers would consider parting with Kiner-Falefa. While they could, speculatively speaking, still move Kiner-Falefa if a compelling enough offer presents itself and follow that trade with a short-term free agent signing, the likelier scenario is that Kiner-Falefa will be manning the hot corner at Globe Life Field for the vast majority of the 2022 season. Should Seager or Semien find themselves out of the lineup, Kiner-Falefa could step in for either player, with 28-year-old Andy Ibanez providing some additional cover at second base and third base.
Nationals Sign Reed Garrett To Minor League Deal
The Nationals have signed right-hander Reed Garrett to a minor league contract, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link). He’s already at the team’s spring facility in West Palm Beach.
Garrett, 29, was the Tigers’ selection in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft. Coming over from the Rangers organization, he made Detroit’s Opening Day roster and held a spot through mid-May before ultimately clearing waivers and being returned to Texas. Garrett started the 2019 season with 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball out of the bullpen, but the eight hits and seven walks he yielded during that gave reason for skepticism. Indeed, he regressed quickly as those command struggles continued and the hits piled up; Garrett yielded runs in each of his next six appearances — a total of 13 in just 6 2/3 frames.
Although his struggles continued with the Rangers’ Triple-A club that season, Garrett’s raw stuff drew some attention overseas. He’s spent the past two seasons with the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he’s worked to a 3.46 ERA with a 21.8% strikeout rate and an 11.1% walk rate through 106 2/3 innings of relief.
Garrett carries just a 4.48 ERA in 64 1/3 Triple-A frames and a similar 4.65 mark throughout his minor league career as a whole. However, as Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs noted following that Rule 5 selection back in 2018, Garrett’s velocity spiked following a move from the rotation to the bullpen in 2017, and he has a pair of above-average breaking pitchers. Time will tell whether he earns a second big league look with the Nationals, but he’ll give them some depth with plenty of experience, at the very least.
At present, there appears to be plenty of opportunity in the Washington bullpen. There’s no set closer in place, although 30-year-old Kyle Finnegan notched 11 saves last year following Daniel Hudson‘s trade to San Diego. Hard-throwing righty Tanner Rainey was one of manager Dave Martinez‘s go-to options in 2019-20, but he was clobbered for a 7.39 ERA in 31 2/3 innings last year. Veteran Will Harris missed nearly all of the 2021 season after a pair of operations — the first to remove a blood clot in Spring Training, and the second to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome in late May. Right-handers Erick Fedde, Austin Voth and Patrick Murphy could all have the inside track on bullpen spots by virtue of the fact that they’re out of minor league options, but none pitched particularly well in 2021.
Suffice it to say, Garrett should have his chances to impact the big league roster if he can find some early success — be it in Spring Training (whenever games start) or early in the Triple-A season. The lack of established relievers in the Nats’ bullpen also likely portends some future acquisitions when the lockout lifts, whether they’re guaranteed big league deals, trade/waiver claims, or some additional non-roster invitees.