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Giants Interested In Corbin Burnes
The Giants have already been linked to some prominent free agents this winter, and it appears as though Corbin Burnes is another name on the club’s list of targets. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes that the Giants “are believed to have significant interest in Burnes,” and thus San Francisco joins the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, and Burnes’ former team the Orioles as clubs known to be pursuing the right-hander to some degree.
MLBTR projects Burnes to land a seven-year, $200MM deal as the top pitcher on the free agent market, and signing the hurler at such a price would be a fascinating move for a Giants club that is reportedly looking to reduce payroll. The Giants’ Opening Day payroll last season was roughly $208.1MM (as per Cot’s Baseball Contracts) and they currently have around $154.8MM on the books for 2025 according to RosterResource’s calculations. Trading any of Mike Yastrzemski, Camilo Doval, LaMonte Wade Jr., Taylor Rogers or Tyler Rogers would free up some more money, but as it stands right now, there’s room for San Francisco to ink Burnes for something in the ballpark of a $28.5MM average annual value and still have space for more additions before reaching the 2024 payroll number.
The Giants also haven’t necessarily been acting like a team that is planning on limited spending. San Francisco has shown interest in two of the offseason’s bigger-name free agents in Willy Adames and now Burnes, plus the Giants had at least a check-in on Juan Soto’s market. Ha-Seong Kim and Tomoyuki Sugano are two other notables on the team’s radar, among less-pricey options. And, of course, the Giants already made a big spending splurge before free agency even opened by keeping Matt Chapman off the market with a six-year, $151MM extension.
Buster Posey was reportedly heavily involved in the Chapman negotiations even before becoming the team’s new president of baseball operations, and those efforts to retain a prominent star seemingly indicated that Posey’s front office was prepared to take a more aggressive stance in trying to land top-shelf talent. Signing a Burnes or an Adames would finally put to rest the narrative that the organization is unable to attract star free agents, though it remains to be seen if these forays into the top of the 2024-25 free agent market are anything more than due diligence, if Giants ownership does want to limit spending.
Burnes has some West Coast ties, as he hails from Bakersfield, California and he played college ball at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga (about 40 minutes away from San Francisco). From a purely on-field perspective, there’s also a natural fit — Burnes would step right into Blake Snell’s shoes as the new ace, teaming with Logan Webb to become one of the game’s better one-two rotation punches. Kyle Harrison and Robbie Ray would each move a slot down in the rotation order, and San Francisco would gain some flexibility in deciding what to do with the fifth starter’s job. Any of Landen Roupp, Hayden Birdsong, Mason Black, Keaton Winn, or top prospect Carson Whisenhunt could compete for the job in Spring Training, or Jordan Hicks could be given another shot at a starting role if the Giants don’t want to just keep him in the bullpen.
Since San Francisco exceeded the luxury tax threshold last season, they would pay an additional penalty for signing Burnes or any free agent that rejected a qualifying offer. The Giants would have to give up $1MM of funds from their international signing bonus pool, and also their second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2025 draft. The club already gave up two picks (their second- and third-rounders) in the 2024 draft to sign Snell and Chapman last winter, as both players rejected qualifying offers before entering free agency.
NPB’s Seibu Lions Sign Emmanuel Ramirez
The Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball announced (X link) that they have signed right-hander Emmanuel Ramirez for the 2025 season. Ramirez hit the open market earlier this month after he was released by the Blue Jays.
2024 marked Ramirez’s twelfth season in pro ball, and the 30-year-old’s long road to the majors finally reached its destination when he appeared in 15 games out of the Marlins’ bullpen. Ramirez posted a 6.97 ERA in his first 20 2/3 innings of big league work, but with a much more respectable 3.83 SIERA in that small sample size, as he was hampered by an unusually low 54% strand rate.
The righty did allow three homers during his brief time in the majors, and keeping the ball in the park has been a consistent issue for Ramirez since the 2019 season when he was still a member of the Padres farm system. Ramirez played in San Diego’s organization from 2013-19, and after the pandemic canceled the 2020 minor league season, he has since bounced around for some minor league work with the Braves, Yankees, Marlins, and Blue Jays. The 2023 campaign saw Ramirez out of affiliated baseball altogether, as he pitched in the Mexican League.
Over 101 career Triple-A innings, Ramirez has a garish 7.22 ERA due in large part to 28 home runs allowed. He did improve on his career record with the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate last season, as Ramirez limited the damage to five home runs in 40 2/3 innings while posting a 3.76 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate, and 9.6% walk rate. This was enough for Ramirez to earn his MLB debut, but as part of the Marlins’ ever-churning roster mix, he found himself designated for assignment in September. Toronto claimed the right-hander on waivers but Ramirez didn’t see any big league action during his brief time with the Jays.
The 30-year-old Ramirez now heads overseas for a new opportunity with the Lions, and potentially a return to starting pitching. Ramirez has mostly worked as a reliever or swingman throughout his career, but did start 16 of his 17 games in the Mexican League, so he does have some recent rotation experience.
NPB’s Chunichi Dragons Sign Jason Vosler
The Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball have agreed to a deal with infielder Jason Vosler for the 2025 season, according to multiple reports out of Japan. Vosler elected minor league free agency at the end of the 2024 Major League campaign, which he spent as a member of the Mariners organization.
The majority of Vosler’s time with Seattle was spent at Triple-A Tacoma, where he hit .303/.371/.573 and 31 homers over 524 plate appearances for the Rainiers. Despite these impressive numbers, Vosler didn’t receive much playing time at the MLB level, as he only appeared in 10 games with the Mariners (hitting a much more modest .179/.233/.286 in 30 PA) in late July and early August. Seattle designated Vosler for assignment in September and then outrighted him off the 40-man roster.
Originally a 16th-round pick for the Cubs in the 2014 draft, Vosler broke into the big leagues with San Francisco in 2021, and his MLB resume consists of 107 total games with the Giants, Reds, and Mariners over the last four seasons. He had a strong .265/.342/.469 slash line in 111 PA with the Giants in 2022, as the platoon-heavy team gave the left-handed hitting Vosler a lot of looks against right-handed pitching. That burst of productivity was relatively short-lived, however, and Vosler has hit .207/.274/.395 in 288 PA against Major League pitching on the whole.
Vosler played mostly third base in his two seasons with the Giants and was largely a first baseman in his one year in Cincinnati. He has also made a handful of appearances at both corner outfield positions and both middle infield positions, and the 2024 season saw Vosler primarily work as a first baseman and right fielder in Tacoma.
It remains to be seen where Vosler will line up for the Dragons, but his versatility gives the NPB team some flexibility in deciding how they’ll utilize the 31-year-old. Since Vosler would’ve had to settle for another minor league contract with a North American team, the move to Japan will land him more guaranteed money and a new chapter in his 11-year pro career.
Dodgers Extend Tommy Edman
The Dodgers and superutility man Tommy Edman have agreed to a five-year $74MM extension that runs from 2025 to 2029 and contains a club option for the 2030 season, the team has announced. The option for 2030 is worth $13MM and comes with a $3MM buyout. Edman will receive a $17MM signing bonus, and $25MM of the extension’s total value will be deferred and paid out over a span of ten years, starting five years after the deal is complete. Since Edman was already under contract for $9.5MM in 2025, the new deal is effectively a four-year extension worth $64.5MM in new money. Edman is represented by agent Jonathan Weiss.
Los Angeles was reportedly in the midst of “preliminary” discussions regarding an extension with Edman’s camp last week, and those talks have now come to fruition. It took the Dodgers only 53 regular-season games and 16 postseason games to decide that Edman was a player they wanted on the field over the long term, as the 29-year-old has already made a big impact since being acquired at the trade deadline.
The three-team, eight-player trade that brought Edman from the Cardinals and Michael Kopech from the White Sox proved to be critical to the Dodgers’ World Series title. At the time of the deal, Edman hadn’t appeared in a big league game following setbacks related to wrist surgery he underwent during the 2023 offseason. While he ultimately didn’t make his Dodgers debut until August 19, the switch-hitter made an immediate impression with the club as he seamlessly shifted between center field and shortstop down the stretch and into the postseason, all while hitting a respectable .237/.294/.417 (98 wRC+) in the regular season. In the playoffs, Edman went a level higher and hit .328/.354/.508 over 67 postseason plate appearances, and was named MVP of the NLCS.
By keeping Edman in the fold long-term, the Dodgers will retain a flexible player who can play all over the diamond and shift between the infield and outfield with minimal issues based on the needs of the club. That’s an archetype of player the club has coveted in recent years, as evidenced by their commitment to Chris Taylor and frequent deals with Enrique Hernandez. While Hernandez is currently a free agent and Taylor does not figure to be a regular fixture in the club’s lineup for 2025, Edman is joined by Mookie Betts as a player who offers the Dodgers plenty of flexibility in their lineup construction. A six-time Gold Glove winner in right field, Betts has in recent seasons begun to play an increasing amount of second base and even shortstop, and the club seemingly plans to play him on the infield dirt again in 2025.
With Betts, Gavin Lux, and Miguel Rojas poised to handle the middle infield for the Dodgers next year, that could leave Edman to patrol center field for the Dodgers on a regular basis next year. It’s a position he only picked up on a regular basis in 2023, but he’s been undeniably effective since moving there: he posted +1 Outs Above Average at the position in just 188 innings with the Dodgers this year after reaching an excellent +5 mark in 330 innings in center for the Cardinals in 2023. If he can maintain that level of defensive prowess at the position over a full season, Edman’s league average bat should make him a well above average regular overall for the Dodgers in 2025.
It’s already been a busy offseason for the Dodgers, as today’s Edman extension pairs with their blockbuster five-year deal with lefty Blake Snell earlier this week. With room to improve in the outfielder corners, holes to fill in the bullpen, and longtime franchise face Clayton Kershaw as of yet unsigned, there figures to be plenty more on president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman’s to-do list this winter. Having Edman’s plus defensive ability locked into center field for the foreseeable future could make the club even more comfortable pursuing offensive upgrades in the outfield corners. They’ve already been linked to corner bats without much defensive prowess such as Teoscar Hernandez and even Juan Soto, both of whom are rumored targets for L.A. this winter and would surely appreciate being flanked by a center fielder of Edman’s caliber.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the extension and the contract terms. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (X link) had the specifics on the deferred money.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Free Agent Profile: Max Kepler
At the start of the offseason, MLBTR took a look at the Top 50 Free Agents for this offseason. There were a handful of players that we considered for the list but who just missed, getting relegated to the Honorable Mentions section. One of those was Max Kepler.
Kepler, 32 in February, is a guy who does a lot of things well but doesn’t really stand out in any one particular area. On offense, he has a bit of pop but not too much. He did hit 36 home runs in 2019, but in hindsight, he may have been one of the beneficiaries of the juiced ball season. His career high apart from that is 24. His strikeout rate usually finishes somewhere in the vicinity of 20%, with a career rate of 18.6%. League average is usually in the 22-23% range in this era of baseball. His 9.7% walk rate is also a bit better than par, which is often 8-9%.
Put that all together and Kepler has a .237/.318/.429 career batting line and 102 wRC+, indicating he’s been 2% better than league average overall. He’s been a bit better over the past six seasons, with a .240/.320/.436 line and 107 wRC+. He could perhaps get those numbers up if shielded from lefties more often, as he has hit .243/.326/.452 against righties in his career for a 111 wRC+, compared to a .221/.292/.363 line and 78 wRC+ against lefties.
Defensively, his contributions have been quite strong. In over 7,000 right field innings, he has accrued 48 Defensive Runs Saved and 57 Outs Above Average. From 2016 to the present, he’s actually the MLB leader in Outs Above Average in right field with 57, just ahead of Mookie Betts and his 54. DRS likes Betts far more, giving him 129 for that same time frame, but Kepler is fourth behind Betts, Aaron Judge and Jason Heyward.
Kepler also has over 1,000 innings in center field with positive ratings there as well. No club is going to sign him as a primary center fielder now, given his age and that he hasn’t played there since 2022, but perhaps some teams would consider him an emergency option there.
These various factors combine to make a guy who doesn’t overwhelm but also rarely disappoints. FanGraphs has never given him more than 3.9 wins above replacement in a season, which was his aforementioned 36-homer season. Otherwise, his career high is 2.8 fWAR. But he has nine straight seasons of being worth at least 1.0 fWAR, with seven of those 1.5 or higher, six worth at least 1.8 and five worth at least 2 wins.
What’s working against Kepler is that he just wrapped up a poor walk year. His missed time due to issues in both of his knees, getting into just 105 games and hitting only eight home runs. His 5.5% walk rate was a career worst by a few percentage points. His still racked up four OAA but DRS had him at exactly league average. Due to that rough platform, the MLBTR staff felt Kepler would be limited to a one-year deal in the $6-10MM range.
What could work for Kepler is that the market isn’t overflowing with his combination of skills. Looking at the lefty-swinging free agents, Juan Soto is obviously miles above the field. Switch-hitters Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar are both coming off good years at the plate but both are considered poor defenders. Joc Pederson is a lefty who crushes the ball but he is also bad in the field and was limited strictly to designated hitter duties in 2024. Hyeseong Kim is expected to be a light-hitting utility guy at the MLB level. Michael Conforto is perhaps the closest free agent to Kepler on the market, though slightly inverted. Conforto’s offense and defense have both been close to league average in recent years, but with his bat slightly more attractive than his glove.
For clubs looking for a lefty-swinger who can play the field without destroying the lineup, there aren’t too many options. On top of that, Kepler shouldn’t cost too much. His 2024 was rough but the year prior saw him hit 24 home runs and slash .260/.332/.484 for a 123 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR. He could perhaps appeal to contenders or rebuilding clubs that would hope for him to bounce back and turn himself into a trade candidate. Teams like the Mets, Mariners, Blue Jays, Padres, Pirates, Rockies, Marlins and others are possible landing spots.
Braves Sign Connor Gillispie To Major League Deal
The Braves announced that they have signed right-hander Connor Gillispie to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. They have multiple openings on their 40-man roster and won’t need to make a corresponding move. Bob Nightengale of USA Today (X link) reported the deal prior to the official announcement.
Gillispie, 27, just made his major league debut in 2024. Though he was drafted by the Orioles in 2019 and was with them through the 2023 season, the Guardians nabbed him in the minor league phase of last year’s Rule 5 draft. Cleveland selected him to the big league roster in August and he tossed eight innings for them down the stretch, allowing two earned runs. Last week, the Guardians added four players to their roster to protect them from this year’s Rule 5, with Gillispie designated for assignment to open a spot.
He was later non-tendered and became a free agent without being exposed to waivers, with Atlanta quickly offering him a roster spot to get him off the market. The brief major league debut wasn’t much to go on, so Atlanta has presumably been enticed by his minor league work. Gillispie tossed 113 1/3 Triple-A innings in a swing role this year, making 15 starts and 12 relief appearances. He allowed 4.05 earned runs per nine innings, striking out 25% of opponents against a 10.1% walk rate while surrendering 22 home runs.
That’s roughly similar to the work he did in the Orioles’ system. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 292 2/3 innings in the minors, starting 50 of his 73 appearances. He had a 4.15 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in that time while allowing 48 long balls.
Perhaps Atlanta will try to move Gillispie to the bullpen on a more permanent basis, as he posted a 4.68 ERA as a starter this year but a 2.63 mark in relief. However it plays out, Gillispie still has options and just a few days of service time, meaning he can theoretically be cheaply retained well into the future if he continues to hang on to his roster spot. Atlanta’s pitching staff just lost Max Fried, Charlie Morton, A.J. Minter, Jesse Chavez and John Brebbia to free agency, while Joe Jiménez recently underwent knee surgery and could miss the entire 2025 season.
Braves, José Devers Agree To Minor League Deal
The Braves and infielder José Devers have agreed to a minor league deal, per Aram Leighton of Just Baseball (X link) and confirmed by MLBTR. The Rep 1 Baseball client will receive an invite to major league spring training.
Devers, 25 next week, was once a notable prospect but hasn’t been able to live up to that hype just yet. An international signing of the Yankees, he was traded to the Marlins as part of the December 2017 trade that brought Giancarlo Stanton to the Bronx. The cousin of Rafael Devers, José went on to garner attention to due his athletic defense and strong contact abilities. Baseball America ranked him as one of the top 15 prospects in Miami’s system in four straight years from 2019 to 2022.
He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in December of 2020 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft, but a significant shoulder issue detailed much of his next two seasons. He only played 33 games between the majors and minors in 2021 and underwent surgery in August of that year to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. The recovery lingered into the next season as he only played 60 minor league games in 2022. He cleared waivers and was outrighted off Miami’s roster at the end of the 2022 season.
He was stuck in Triple-A in 2023 but had a decent campaign there, striking out in just 14.8% of his plate appearances while slashing .276/.352/.421 for a 108 wRC+. But in 2024, he spent a bit of time on the minor league injured list and only got into 54 Triple-A games, hitting .239/.304/.362 for a 74 wRC+. He was briefly added to the club’s major league roster as they were playing out a lost season. He has a line of .244/.300/.311 in just 50 major league plate appearances thus far. He wasn’t on the 40-man at season’s end and was able to elect free agency.
For Atlanta, there’s little risk in a minor league deal. Devers has played all four infield positions, primarily up the middle. The club has Ozzie Albies cemented at second base but Orlando Arcia is on shakier ground at shortstop. Nick Allen, Luke Williams and Nacho Alvarez Jr. are on the roster but Devers gives them a bit of non-roster depth.
Devers’ prospect stock has faded of late but he’s still relatively young and has been hurt for many of his recent challenges. If he can stay healthy and get back on track, he still has an option year and barely a year of service time, meaning he can theoretically be cheaply retained well into the future if he can nab a roster spot.
Cardinals Expect To Field Interest In Steven Matz This Offseason
As the Cardinals look to trim payroll and shift towards focusing on young players in 2025, they’ve widely been expected to look to trade a number of their more expensive, veteran players. It seems as though that won’t come to pass with Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray, both of whom seem unlikely to waive their no-trade clauses to facilitate a move elsewhere. Third baseman Nolan Arenado is seemingly open to a move, however, though his own no-trade protection means that he would need to approve of any deal as well. One veteran player who lacks no-trade protection, however, is southpaw Steven Matz. That could leave the Cardinals motivated to part with him this winter, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests that the club plans to “field interest” on both Matz and closer Ryan Helsley this winter.
MLBTR’s Anthony Franco discussed Helsley’s trade candidacy earlier this month, and previous reporting from Goold suggested that the Cardinals figure to set a high asking price for their closer. By contrast, Matz figures to be a more affordable player for teams to acquire who the Cardinals figure to be more motivated to move. The 33-year-old is entering the final year of his contract in 2025 and is due $12.5MM for next season. By offloading Matz’s contract, St. Louis’s payroll projection for next year (courtesy of RosterResource) would drop from just under $147MM to just $134MM. After the club spent $183MM on payroll in 2024, that type of drop off should be more than enough to accomplish their goal of reallocating funds away from payroll into their player development apparatus, and could even open the door to the club making some modest upgrades in free agency, whether that be a reunion with veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson or bringing a new arm into the organization.
While the Cardinals would surely like to offload the final year of Matz’s contract, that may be easier said than done. The lefty has had an up-and-down tenure with St. Louis since signing with the club prior to the 2022 season. He’s struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness throughout his time there, totaling just 197 1/3 innings of work during that time. Of his 52 appearances with the Cardinals, he’s started 34 while pitching out of the bullpen for 18.
His results have been roughly league average overall when he’s been healthy enough to take the mound, with a 4.47 ERA (95 ERA+), a 4.01 FIP, and a 21.9% strikeout rate. That production has been somewhat unsteady, however, with most of it coming during his mostly-healthy 2023 season. That year, Matz posted a 3.84 ERA (114 ERA+) with a 3.75 FIP in 105 innings of work. That solid work is sandwiched between two campaigns that saw him post an ERA north of 5.00. That includes this past season, where Matz struggled to a 5.08 ERA with a similar 4.88 FIP in 44 1/3 innings. He struck out just 17.4% of opponents this past year while posting a 7.9% walk rate that was his worst since 2018.
That’s not a particularly enticing body of work for potential trade partners, though that doesn’t mean Matz is impossible to trade. Notably, Matz has pitched substantially better in his relief outings with the Cardinals than he has during his time in the rotation. In 163 frames for the club as a starter, Matz has posted a 4.91 ERA. Meanwhile, his 33 1/3 innings as a member of the bullpen saw him post a much more intriguing 2.43 ERA. While the lefty’s overall results and durability as a member of the rotation leave his contract with little if any surplus value, it wouldn’t be a shock to see a club intrigued by his work out of the bullpen acquire him to act as a versatile reliever capable of stepping into the rotation if necessary. It’s a role some pitchers such as Nick Martinez, Jakob Junis, Spencer Turnbull, and Michael Lorenzen have found success with in recent years, and a team that values that sort of flexibility on their pitching staff like the Giants or Rangers could be a good fit for the lefty’s services.
Tigers Sign Ricky Vanasco To Minor League Deal
TODAY: Per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Vanasco’s minor league deal comes with an invite to big league spring training as well as a $925K salary when in the majors.
11/28: The Tigers have signed right-hander Ricky Vanasco to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Full Circle Sports Management client has been assigned to Triple-A Toledo for now but will presumably receive an invite to major league spring training.
Vanasco, 26, finished the 2024 season with the Tigers. They acquired him from the Dodgers in a July cash deal and largely kept him in the minors on optional assignment, only giving him two major league appearances. Detroit then non-tendered him last week, sending him to free agency without exposing him to waivers, which allowed them to bring him back via this deal.
The righty now has just four major league appearances under his belt, two of those coming with the Dodgers prior to the two he made with the Tigers. That’s obviously not a large enough sample to draw any conclusions from, but there are other reasons why the Tigers are interested.
Vanasco was drafted by the Rangers back in 2017 and put up some good numbers in the lower levels of the minors. Baseball America ranked him that club’s #12 prospect going into 2020. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in September of that year and missed the entire 2021 season. Still, the Rangers didn’t want him to be left exposed in the Rule 5 draft, so they added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2021.
Recovered from his surgery, he was back on the mound in 2022. He made 23 starts that year between High-A and Double-A, throwing 92 1/3 innings with a 4.68 earned run average. His 28.9% strikeout rate was strong but he also gave out walks at a 12.7% clip. In 2023, knee surgery forced him to miss a few months but he had some encouraging results while switching to a relief role. He tossed 32 1/3 innings that year with a 2.78 ERA, 31.9% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate, getting acquired by the Dodgers midway through that year.
In 2024, as mentioned, he made four major league appearances between the Dodgers and Tigers. Most of his time was spent in Triple-A, where he logged 40 1/3 innings with a 2.45 ERA. His 26.4% strikeout rate was good but the 16.5% walk rate very much on the high side.
The lack of control could make Vanasco a bit of a project for the Tigers, but there’s no real risk on a minor league deal and there could be long-term benefits if it works out. Vanasco is out of options but has less than a year of service time and is still relatively young. That means he could be cheaply retained for years into the future if things click for him and he gets a roster spot.
