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Red Sox Interested In Exploring Long-Term Extensions With Top Prospects

By Nick Deeds | January 12, 2025 at 10:59pm CDT

At yesterday’s Fenway Fest fan event, Red Sox top prospects Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell indicated that they have not heard from the club’s brass regarding the possibility of signing long-term extensions in Boston to this point. Today, a report from Alex Speier of the Boston Globe relays that while the Red Sox have not yet reached out to begin extension discussions, the team is nonetheless interested in exploring the possibility with its top prospects.

Namely, Speier lists Anthony, Campbell, and top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer all as youngsters the club is hoping to talk extension with. Campbell, in particular, has made clear that he would be interested in negotiating if the Red Sox approach him. Speier notes that the club’s 2023 fourth-rounder told reporters last season that he would be “100 percent” open to a long-term deal with Boston and also reports that Anthony is seen as being willing to “at least listen” if the Red Sox were to approach him about signing a long-term extension.

All three youngsters come with significant prospect pedigree. According to Baseball America, Anthony is the top prospect in all of baseball, while Mayer sits just behind him at #10 and Campbell clocks in at #24. MLB Pipeline, meanwhile, has all three youngsters within the top ten: Anthony is ranked #3 overall behind Dylan Crews of the Nationals and Walker Jenkins of the Twins, while Mayer comes in at #7 and Campbell rounds out the trio at #10. The trio’s performance on the field has generally backed up those rankings, as well. Campbell flew through three levels of the minors in 2024, slashing .330/.439/.558 along the way, while Anthony hit .291/.396/.498 at the Double- and Triple-A levels last year. Mayer was limited to just 77 games at Double-A due to injuries last year but nonetheless hit a solid .307/.370/.480 at the level in his age-21 season.

Pre-debut extensions for players with that level of prospect pedigree are somewhat rare but one did occur last winter between the Brewers and outfielder Jackson Chourio, who had been ranked as the #2 prospect in baseball by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline at the time of the deal. Chourio wound up signing an eight-year extension last offseason that guaranteed him $82MM with club options and incentives that could allow the deal to max out at $142.5MM over ten years. Chourio’s extension seems like it would be a sensible benchmark for Anthony should he wind up signing a deal before making his big league debut, given their similar prospect rankings and Anthony’s status as a similar five-tool outfielder who projects to land in a corner at the big league level.

Campbell and Mayer, on the other hand, may not be in line for paydays at quite that level. Tigers infielder Colt Keith landed at the other end of the pre-arbitration extension spectrum when he signed a six-year deal last winter. That contract guarantees Keith just $28.6425MM and maxes out at $82MM over nine years if the Tigers pick up a trio of club options they hold on the youngster’s services. Prior to the 2024 season, Keith was ranked as a consensus top-30 prospect in the game but did not crack the top 20 with any major service. That limits Keith’s usefulness as a point of comparison for Campbell and Mayer, given both are rated as top-10 prospects by at least one major prospect outlet.

Keith also falls lower on the defensive spectrum than Campbell and especially Mayer. He was limited to second and third base throughout his time in the minor leagues while both Red Sox infielders have spent much of their time in the minors at shortstop. While Campbell has mixed in work at second base and in the outfield and manager Alex Cora suggested to reporters (including Christopher Smith of MassLive) yesterday that the club plans to have Mayer start playing second and third base in addition to shortstop this year, the ability to play shortstop along with stronger prospect pedigree seems likely to allow both Red Sox infielders to set their asking prices meaningfully higher than Keith’s deal.

Of course, it’s also possible the Red Sox could wait to work out an extension with one or more of the trio until they’ve already debuted in the majors. Speier notes that the club extended utility man Ceddanne Rafaela back in April on an eight-year, $50MM deal just over 100 plate appearances into his big league career. That deal can max out at $62MM over nine years, but it’s on the low end of deals signed at that stage in a player’s career in recent years; only Aaron Ashby’s $20.5MM extension with the Brewers guaranteeing less in the past half decade. A look at MLBTR’s Contract Tracker demonstrates how quickly a player’s asking price can skyrocket once they’ve accrued big league service time. Julio Rodriguez’s $210MM guarantee with the Mariners is the most lucrative deal of the bunch, though Wander Franco, Corbin Carroll, and Ronald Acuña Jr. are among the other extensions signed with less than a year of big league service time that eclipsed the $82MM guarantee Chourio secured from the Brewers last offseason.

Given how quickly the price of an extension can rapidly escalate once a young star begins to establish themselves at the big league level, it’s easy to imagine the Red Sox being particularly motivated to see if a deal between the sides can be reached in the coming months. With that being said, the club has shown a willingness to extend players later into their career as well. Boston brass are already known to have begun discussions with left-hander Garrett Crochet about a possible extension with two years left before free agency, and the club has previously extended Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers on nine-figure deals ahead of their final seasons before free agency.

Rockies Sign Jake Woodford To Minor League Deal

By Nick Deeds | January 12, 2025 at 9:53pm CDT

The Rockies have agreed with right-hander Jake Woodford on a minor league deal, according to a report from Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The deal presumably includes an invite to big league Spring Training, as Harding says he’ll be able to compete for a spot in the rotation or bullpen when camp opens next month.

Woodford, 28, was a first-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2015. The right-hander worked his way up the minor league ladder with the club to make his big league debut during the shortened 2020 season. That debut wasn’t much to write home about, as he posted a lackluster 5.57 ERA in 21 innings of work. Woodford continued to pitch for St. Louis in an up-and-down role over the next few seasons, and actually enjoyed generally solid results in 2021 and ’22 with a 3.26 ERA (121 ERA+) and a 3.93 FIP in a combined 116 innings of work spread between nine starts and 42 relief appearances. Even during those years, however, his 15.4% strikeout rate was well below-average and a clear cause for concern.

Woodford’s lack of strikeouts came back to bite him during the 2023 season, when he pitched to a 6.23 ERA over 47 2/3 innings of work with the Cardinals. He not only continued to struggle with striking opponents out (13.1%) but also began having problems with his control to the point where his walk rate (9.1%) started to approach his strikeout rate. That’s nearly always a recipe for disaster, and while Woodford’s 51.2% groundball rate was solid, opposing hitters were crushing the ball when they did manage to elevate as evidenced by an 11.3% barrel rate. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Woodford’s brutal results led the Cardinals to non-tender him that November.

Ahead of the 2024 season, Woodford signed with the White Sox on a minor league deal. He ultimately was added to the roster in late May to replace injured right-hander Mike Clevinger and made two starts for Chicago. Neither of those starts went well, and he wound up surrendering ten runs on 15 hits (two homers) and five walks while striking out seven in 8 1/3 innings of work for the White Sox before he was designated for assignment in early June. He elected free agency and was signed to a minor league deal by the Pirates shortly thereafter.

Pittsburgh selected him to the roster shortly after the trade deadline last July, but his tenure with the Pirates only went slightly better than his time on the south side of Chicago had. In all, Woodford made seven appearances for the club: five starts and two relief outings. He surrendered an ugly 7.09 ERA during that time, and while a 4.07 FIP suggests that the righty may have been the victim of bad luck during his stint with the Pirates, his strikeout woes continued as he punched out just 15.7% of opponents during his time with the club.

Woodford was eventually outrighted off the Pirates’ roster near the end of last season and headed back into minor league free agency once the regular season came to a close. Now, the right-hander will get his latest opportunity with the Rockies. Colorado has famously struggled to field an effective pitching staff over the years due in large part to the difficulties associated with pitching at elevation. That’s led the Rockies to prioritize adding groundballers to their pitching staff, so it’s hardly a surprise that they would have interest in adding Woodford given that his career groundball rate at the big league level is a robust 45.1%.

Of course, Woodford’s lackluster results weren’t enough to earn him a major league deal, and he’ll need to earn a roster spot during Spring Training or wait for an opportunity to present itself later in the year as a non-roster depth option. As things stand, the Rockies appear to be more or less set in the rotation with Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner, and Antonio Senzatela all seemingly ticketed for the Opening Day roster. There’s a bit more room for flexibility in the bullpen, however, and it’s not impossible to imagine Woodford beating a player like Angel Chivilli or Tanner Gordon out for a roster spot with a strong showing in Spring Training.

Padres Have “Entertained” Interest In Robert Suarez

By Nick Deeds | January 12, 2025 at 8:37pm CDT

As the Padres look to retool their roster ahead of the 2025 season, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports that the club has entertained trade interest in both players that could reach free agency next winter and players under longer-term team control. In particular, Lin notes that the club has received interest in right-handers Dylan Cease and Robert Suarez as well as infielders Luis Arráez and Jake Cronenworth. It’s unclear whether or not the club is engaged in active negotiations regarding any of those players as things stand.

Cease and Arraez have both seen their names in the rumor mill frequently this winter, but Suarez and Cronenworth have been far less frequently discussed to this point. In fact, Lin himself suggested in early December that the Padres were inclined to keep Suarez at that point in the offseason. That the club has subsequently begun to entertain interest in the closer’s services is certainly worth noting. At the time, Lin relayed that Suarez’s trade value was complicated by the presence of an opt-out clause in his contract that would allow him to head to free agency after the 2025 season rather than receive $8MM salaries in 2026 and ’27.

Perhaps as the relief market has begun to develop, rival clubs have changed their evaluation of Suarez. With righty Jeff Hoffman landing a $33MM deal with the Blue Jays, veteran set-up man Andrew Kittredge securing a $10MM guarantee from the Orioles, and some reports suggesting closer Tanner Scott could land an AAV in the $20MM range this winter, it’s certainly feasible that the possibility of being on the hook for $26MM over three years if Suarez opts in has become more palatable. After all, Suarez’s 2.77 ERA in 65 innings as the Padres closer positions him as one of the better relief arms in the game and compares quite well with Kittredge in particular. With that being said, it’s also possible that the Padres have become more motivated to clear salary as the offseason has continued and are open to dealing Suarez even if the return is lighter than they would have accepted a month ago.

As for Cronenworth, it’s somewhat difficult to imagine the club getting a meaningful return for his services beyond salary relief. He was a perfectly serviceable infield option for San Diego in 2024, hitting a roughly league average .241/.324/.390 in 656 trips to the plate while splitting time between first and second base. That was enough to make Cronenworth roughly a two-win player according to both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference last year, a notable step up from 2023 but still well below the numbers he posted during his back-to-back All-Star campaigns in 2021 and 2022. With just over $72.7MM left on Cronenworth’s contract to be paid out over his age 31 to 36 seasons, the versatile infielder seems unlikely to be moved without the Padres eating significant salary or taking on another bad contract in return.

Interestingly, Lin suggests that the Padres would prefer to keep “at least” Arraez in the fold for 2025 out of those four names. That’s something of a surprise given Arraez’s hefty $14MM salary in his final year under team control and the fact that replacing him at first base could surely be done for much cheaper, thereby opening up payroll space to upgrade other areas. Even Lin acknowledges that Arraez’s pricey final year under contract could be an obstacle for San Diego as they look to retool their roster. With that being said, it’s possible that the market for Arraez hasn’t been especially robust. Few teams have been directly connected to the infielder this winter, and one rumored suitor was seemingly taken off the table when reports pushed back on the idea that the Yankees could have interest in acquiring Arraez to play second base for them in 2025.

However the club ultimately decides to go about moving salary, it seems all but certain they’ll need to make a trade or two before the season begins. RosterResource projects the club for a luxury tax payroll of just under $243MM in 2025, putting them about $2MM over the first threshold, with an actual payroll of just over $208MM. The club surely wants to duck under that first luxury tax threshold this winter, and previous reports have indicated that they want their final payroll to clock in below its current level while not necessarily dropping all the way back down to last year’s $169MM payroll. With clear needs in the outfield and rotation, it’s hard to imagine the Padres achieving all of their offseason objectives without moving at least one player due a significant salary in 2025, if not more.

Red Sox Hope To Use Masataka Yoshida In Outfield For 2025

By Nick Deeds | January 12, 2025 at 7:01pm CDT

Masataka Yoshida had a difficult year in 2024, as he was limited to just 108 games by a thumb injury that wound up causing tension between him and the Red Sox front office. On top of that, Yoshida played just one inning in the outfield last year and was utilized as a platoon player with few opportunities against southpaws. He hit just .280/.349/.415 in 421 trips to the plate during the 2024 campaign before going under the knife to repair the labrum in his right shoulder back in October.

As noted by Chris Cotillo of MassLive, manager Alex Cora told reporters when asked throughout the season about Yoshida’s limited use in the outfield that using him nearly exclusively as a DH was not due to a health issue and instead was a vote of confidence in the defense of the club’s numerous other outfield options. That seems as though it wasn’t entirely the case, however, as Cora acknowledged at yesterday’s Fenway Fest fan event that the shoulder issue Yoshida played through last year limited his ability to play the field by causing problems with his throwing.

“Yeah, our outfield defense was great last year, but in a perfect world, if he was healthy, he was going to play the outfield,” Cora said, as relayed by Cotillo. “The throwing part of it wasn’t there so that’s the reason he actually didn’t play. Hopefully, we can get him there and we can use him in the outfield, too.”

At the time of Yoshida’s surgery, the Red Sox expressed optimism that he’d be ready for Opening Day, and he appears to remain on pace for that goal. Cotillo noted that the 31-year-old is about two weeks away from taking dry swings and could begin a throwing program in March, which might lead him to be ready in a DH-only capacity for the start of the season before later returning to the outfield grass as needed. Having Yoshida limited to DH duties early in the season shouldn’t be a massive obstacle for the Red Sox, who have no established everyday DH at the moment and are deep in outfield options with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Rob Refsnyder, and perhaps even top prospect Roman Anthony all in the mix for playing time at the moment.

Of course, this all assumes that Yoshida is still in the organization by the time Opening Day rolls around. The Red Sox have made getting more offense from the right side a clear priority this offseason, but the club’s roster is filled with quality regulars who bat from the left side. Duran, Rafael Devers, and Triston Casas all bat lefty and are ticketed for everyday roles as things stand. They’re joined by Abreu and Yoshida as likely platoon options from the left side, and Anthony also figures to get regular at-bats from the left side once he’s promoted to the majors.

Between previous reports of tension between Yoshida and the Red Sox as well as his questionable fit on the club’s roster, it’s hardly a surprise that Yoshida has found his name at the center of trade rumors this winter. Yoshida himself acknowledged the buzz surrounding him yesterday, telling Cotillo that he has heard the rumors but that a hypothetical trade is “out of [his] control.” To this point, it doesn’t seem as though the Red Sox have gotten much interest in Yoshida from rival clubs and have similarly had little success convincing a club to take on the final three years and $55.8MM remaining on his contract as part of a larger deal.

It’s a hefty price to pay for a player who might profile best as a platoon DH. After all, Joc Pederson is a cut above Yoshida as a hitter in a similar role and settled for a two-year, $37MM guarantee with the Rangers earlier this winter. That contract suggests that the Red Sox may only find a taker on Yoshida if they’re willing to pay his salary down to something below Pederson’s guarantee or take on another inflated contract in return. Given that, it could make sense for the club to hold onto Yoshida for at least the start of the 2025 season in hopes he can build up his value and a more favorable deal can be worked out down the line. That plan would require committing significant playing time to Yoshida for at least the first few months of 2025, potentially blocking Anthony from impacting the big league club early in the year and creating a bit of a logjam in the outfield.

Twins Sign Armando Alvarez To Minor League Deal

By Nick Deeds | January 12, 2025 at 5:32pm CDT

The Twins have signed infielder Armando Alvarez to a minor league deal, according to the transaction log on Alvarez’s MLB.com profile page. The deal presumably includes an invite to big league Spring Training next month.

Alvarez, 30, was a 17th-round pick by the Yankees back in 2016. He climbed the minor league ladder with the club and eventually reached the Triple-A level in 2019. Unfortunately for Alvarez, however, the cancelled minor league season in 2020 and a down season in 2021 led to him not making his big league debut in a Yankees uniform. Instead, he elected minor league free agency following the 2022 season and signed on with the Giants for the 2023 season. Playing for the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, Alvarez took to the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League quite well as he slashed .308/.379/.581 with a wRC+ of 125 in 74 games. He once again failed to crack the club’s big league roster, however, and moved across the bay to Oakland ahead of the 2024 season.

With the Athletics, Alvarez raked at the Triple-A level to the tune of a .315/.407/.560 slash line in 75 games. That performance finally earned Alvarez his first taste of big league action at the age of 29, and he ultimately appeared in 16 games with the A’s throughout the season. The infielder struggled during his lone cup of coffee in the majors, hitting just .243/.282/.270 in 39 plate appearances while playing the infield corners, left field, and second base. That lackluster performance led the A’s to outright Alvarez off their roster back in October, allowing him to elect minor league free agency for a third consecutive offseason.

Now, Alvarez is headed to Minnesota to try and work his way into the Twins’ infield mix. Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, and Brooks Lee appear likely to get the lion’s share of playing time at shortstop, third base, and second base respectively when the roster is fully healthy. In theory, that should leave first base available for some combination of Jose Miranda and Edouard Julien, but the Twins have expressed interest in help at the position throughout the winter and as such appear to be open to other options. Alvarez is the second infielder the club has brought in on a minor league deal who could try to work his way into the big league first base mix, joining lefty slugger Mike Ford.

With less than 40 trips to the plate in the majors on his resume headed into his age-30 campaign, Alvarez may wind up outmatched by the Twins’ more established options in a camp battle for the first base job. Even if that comes to pass, however, he’ll still be a solid depth piece for the club given his ability to play multiple positions and his status as a career .280/.345/.492 hitter at the Triple-A level. The majority of Alvarez’s playing time in the minors has come at the hot corner, though he has plenty of first base experience as well and has made cameos at the keystone, the outfield corners, and even shortstop throughout his career. That versatility should come in handy for a Twins club that has a number of players who have struggled to remain healthy in recent years.

Alek Manoah Targeting August Return To Blue Jays

By Nick Deeds | January 12, 2025 at 4:24pm CDT

After a brutal 2023 season, right-hander Alek Manoah returned to the Blue Jays’ rotation in early May with the hope of reestablishing himself as one of the game’s top young arms. Unfortunately, that goal didn’t even last a month as Manoah was sidelined after just five starts and wound up undergoing Tommy John surgery in early June. The righty’s timetable for return to the mound has been unclear since then, but recently Manoah himself provided an update to Mike Wilner of the Toronto Star as part of an interview for the Star’s “Deep Left Field” baseball podcast. During the interview, Manoah identified August as his target for a return to action.

“…to go be a deadline acquisition for the Toronto Blue Jays and just help as much as I can over the final two months of the season, that’s what I’m striving for,” Manoah said on the podcast. “I’m striving to get bullpens in March, to get to live BPs in June, and then get some rehabs going and hopefully be in a position to help this team down the stretch.”

That timeline would have Manoah returning to the mound in Toronto roughly fourteen months after first going under the knife. That’s hardly an atypical timeline for a pitcher in the right-hander’s situation given that rehabbing Tommy John surgery usually takes between 12 and 18 months, though Manoah acknowledged that “bumps in the road” down the line could complicate or delay the ideal timetable he laid out.

Of course, even a healthy return to the mound in early August would come with questions. The right-hander was last healthy and effective back in 2022, when he posted a sterling 2.24 ERA in 196 2/3 innings of work for the Jays en route to a third-place finish in AL Cy Young award voting and the first All-Star appearance of his career. That fantastic performance seemed to indicate that Manoah was ticketed for long-term success at the front of Toronto’s rotation, but the 2023 season threw that plan off the rails as he struggled to a 5.87 ERA with a 6.01 FIP in 19 starts and spent time in the minor leagues due to his poor performance.

Manoah’s return to the Jays’ rotation last May was something of a mixed bag. His 3.70 ERA across five starts was solid enough, while his 25.2% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate were essentially in line with his numbers from 2021 and ’22. With that being said, Manoah was getting crushed when batters did make contact with his pitches. He surrendered five homers in just 24 1/3 innings of work last year and posted a ghastly 10.8% barrel rate. That came in a sample size of just 65 batted balls, of course, and given the fact that Manoah underwent UCL surgery shortly thereafter it’s fair to question how indicative that performance will be of his abilities when he returns to the mound. It’s certainly far from impossible to imagine Manoah, still just 27, re-establishing himself as a quality rotation piece once he’s put rehab behind him and resumed pitching.

In the meantime, however, the Jays are constructing their 2025 rotation without expecting him to be a major part of the equation. As things stand, veterans Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, and Chris Bassitt stand as a trio of proven arms while Bowden Francis flashed high-end results late in the 2024 season. Yariel Rodríguez currently figures to round out the group with Jake Bloss available as a depth option at Triple-A. Right-hander Jeff Hoffman signed with the club on a three-year deal that guarantees him $33MM late last week, but despite speculation throughout the winter he could look to pitch out of the rotation with his next club the Jays have indicated they’ll be using him in the bullpen.

It’s a decent rotation mix even without Hoffman involved, but there’s clearly room for improvement. Gausman endured the worst season he’s had since breaking out during the 2020 campaign last year; he pitched to a 3.82 ERA (105 ERA+) with 21.4% strikeout rate that was down nearly ten points from the year prior. Berrios pitched to mid-rotation results last year but also had troubling peripherals, including a 19.5% strikeout rate and a 4.72 FIP. Both of those numbers suggest Berrios may profile more as a back-of-the-rotation arm if he can’t bounce back going forward, and that’s likely where Bassitt fits best as well after he posted a below-average 4.16 ERA in his age-35 season last year.

Given all the questions surrounding a rotation that is poised to enter 2025 hoping for Gausman to rebound and Francis to prove he’s capable of pitching at an above-average level over the course of a full season as a starter, it’s hardly a surprise that the club has been connected to a number of starters in free agency this winter. Both Corbin Burnes and Max Fried already landed elsewhere despite involvement from Toronto in both markets, but Jack Flaherty and Nick Pivetta remain available as potential upgrades the club has reported interest in.

AL East Notes: Morton, Rays, Neander, Yankees

By Mark Polishuk | January 12, 2025 at 2:57pm CDT

As has been the custom over his last few seasons, veteran right-hander Charlie Morton talked things over with his wife after the 2024 campaign to figure out whether or not he would again try to ramp up for another run. This time, however, Morton might’ve on some level made his decision even before his 2024 season was over. Morton told MLB.com’s Jake Rill and other reporters that in his final start of the regular season with the Braves, “I remember walking off the field and just this like sinking feeling in my stomach — it just didn’t feel right. I’m sure a lot of guys toward the end of their careers, they think about retiring, shutting it down, and you really want to walk off the field the last time and feel good about it. And a lot of guys don’t get that opportunity. I just didn’t feel good about it. I felt like I could have done better. I felt like I still had the tools to be a good pitcher in the big leagues.”

Now set to begin his 18th big league season, the 41-year-old Morton signed a one-year, $15MM deal with the Orioles. It was an ideal fit for Morton both because the O’s are a contender, and for important off-the-field reasons. Morton and his wife Cindy each have family relatively near the Baltimore area, and the Orioles’ Spring Training camp in Sarasota is near the Mortons’ home in Bradenton, Florida.

Orioles “Haven’t Closed The Door On” Re-Signing John Means

By Mark Polishuk | January 12, 2025 at 1:23pm CDT

John Means is a free agent for the first time in his career, though the southpaw entered the open market under a cloud of uncertainty following Tommy John surgery last June. It was the second TJ procedure in a little over two years’ time for Means, which has limited him to 52 1/3 Major League innings over the 2022-24 seasons.

Despite this checkered health situation, a reunion with the Orioles still seems like a possibility. MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes that the O’s “haven’t closed the door on” Means, and “it would be a mistake to downplay their interest. Re-signing him is a possibility.” This interest might not translate into a contract in the immediate future, as Means is expected to only reach a deal later in the offseason given that he’ll be sidelined for most or all of the 2025 campaign.

In all likelihood, Means and his reps at the Wasserman Agency are looking for the type of backloaded, two-year contract that has become the norm for pitchers recovering from a long-term injury. Such deals commonly see the pitcher receive a small guaranteed salary in the first year with the understanding that most or all of the season will be spent rehabbing, and more guaranteed money is backloaded into the second year when the pitcher is hopefully healthy and ready to go.

An 11th-round pick for Baltimore in the 2014 draft, Means has spent his entire pro career in an Orioles uniform, posting a 3.68 ERA over 401 innings in the orange-and-black. Means’ tenure has been highlighted by a second-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2019, an All-Star selection in that same season, and a no-hitter in 2021. This early success came while the Orioles were in their deep rebuild, and Means was one of the few bright spots on an otherwise dismal roster.

Unfortunately for Means, his injury problems have kept him from playing much of a role in the Orioles’ emergence from that rebuild. He underwent his first Tommy John surgery in May 2022 and returned in time to make four starts in September 2023, but elbow soreness kept him off Baltimore’s playoff roster. He didn’t make his 2024 season debut until May 4, and Means made another four starts before UCL damage again led to another long layoff.

The usual 13-15 month recovery period for Tommy John procedures would put July 2025 as the best-case scenario for Means’ return date. Of course, the fact that this is his second TJ surgery (and in such a short span of time) could very well push Means to the longer end of that projected timeline, and even one setback could keep him off a Major League mound entirely in 2025.

This is purely speculative given the lack of details on Means’ recovery process, but a quicker return to the majors might be possible if he aimed to return as a reliever for the 2025 season. Rather than rebuild the arm strength needed for a starters’ workload, Means could focus on just working one or two innings at most, in order to perhaps make him ready for July or August. Means has started 73 of his 78 career games, and would well return to starting down the road, once he has knocked off some rust with a few relief outings in 2025. Or, since Means is turning 32 in April and has such a lengthy injury history, he could even consider a full-time move to the bullpen as a way of keeping him healthy and extending his career.

Re-signing with the O’s might also make relief pitching more of a direct short-term option for Means, since cracking Baltimore’s bullpen could be easier than working his way into what is a pretty crowded rotation depth chart. Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano have been signed this season to join Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, and Dean Kremer as the top starting options, with Albert Suarez likely operating as a swingman, and several depth arms (Trevor Rogers, Cade Povich, Chayce McDermott, Brandon young) at Triple-A. Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells also aiming to return from UCL surgeries of their own — Bradish a TJ procedure and Wells an internal brace procedure — at some point in 2025.

The Orioles obviously know Means’ medicals better than any other team, and their continued interest in the left-hander indicates some confidence that Means will be able to recover in some form. Bringing Means back on a two-year deal also lines up a starting option for 2026, which is noteworthy since Morton, Sugano, and Eflin are all slated to become free agents next winter.

MLBTR Chat Transcript

By Mark Polishuk | January 12, 2025 at 12:30pm CDT

Click here to read the transcript of today’s live baseball chat

Braves Sign Garrett Cooper To Minor League Deal

By Mark Polishuk | January 12, 2025 at 8:56am CDT

The Braves have signed first baseman Garrett Cooper to a minor league contract, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray. The deal includes an invitation for Cooper to attend Atlanta’s big league Spring Training camp.

After spending the majority of his eight MLB seasons with the Marlins, Cooper now heads back to the NL East in the hopes of achieving some stability in what has become a journeyman-esque couple of years. Miami dealt Cooper to the Padres at the 2023 trade deadline, and upon entering free agency last winter, Cooper landed with the Cubs on a minor league contract. He was then designated for assignment and subsequently traded to the Red Sox at the end of April, but was then DFA’ed again by Boston in June and then released.

Cooper signed another minors deal with the Orioles but didn’t make any appearances with Baltimore at the MLB level, as injuries hampered his time at Triple-A Norfolk. Cooper had a .914 OPS over 84 plate appearances with Norfolk, which might hint that he has something left in the tank as he enters his age-34 season, even if his MLB numbers with Chicago and Boston left a lot to be desired.

Cooper hit well in 41 PA with the Cubs before struggling badly over 75 PA with the Red Sox. It added up to an overall .206/.267/.299 slash line over 116 plate appearances, and the second straight season of declining numbers for Cooper after his Marlins heyday. Cooper hit .274/.350/.444 over 1273 PA for Miami from 2019-22, and was the team’s All-Star representative in 2022 even though injuries and the Marlins’ overall lower profile made him something of an underrated hitter.

While there has always been a good deal of swing-and-miss in Cooper’s game even in his prime years, his strikeout rates have increased over the last two seasons and his hard-contact numbers have dropped. Defensively, Cooper played a good deal of right field earlier in his career but has been almost exclusively a first baseman since the start of the 2021 season, apart from two appearances in left field for the Cubs this year.

Since Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna have the first base and DH positions locked down in Atlanta, the outfield is likely Cooper’s best path to winning a job on the Braves’ Opening Day roster. Jarred Kelenic is penciled in for the bulk of work in left field, but since he’ll need a platoon partner, a right-handed bat like Cooper might be an ideal fit.

A return to right field also might not be out of the question, as Ronald Acuna Jr. is expected to miss some time at the start of the season as he returns from a torn ACL. The Braves have added Bryan De La Cruz (a former teammate of Cooper’s in Miami) and Conner Capel to an outfield depth chart that also includes Luke Williams and Eli White, as the team will try to make do in the corner outfield slots until Acuna is back in action.

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