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Yankees Willing To Pay Down Salary In Marcus Stroman Trade

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Marcus Stroman entered the offseason as a logical trade candidate and became an even more likely player to change hands when the Yankees signed Max Fried to an eight-year contract. Recent reports have unsurprisingly indicated that New York is indeed shopping Stroman, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds further context, writing that the Yanks are willing to pay down a portion of Stroman’s $18MM salary to help facilitate a deal.

With Gerrit Cole, Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil in the rotation, Stroman is very arguably their sixth-best rotation arm right now. That’s not optimal for a player who’s not only guaranteed $18MM this coming season but who also carries a conditional player option for the 2026 campaign. If Stroman pitches 140 innings in 2025 — he’s averaged more than 150 frames per 162-game season dating back to 2019 — he’d pick up an $18MM player option for 2026 as well. That only creates extra urgency for the Yankees to move him, as the five names ahead of Stroman on the depth chart are all signed/controlled beyond the 2025 season.

The Yankees already traded one starter after signing Fried (Nestor Cortes), and they’re in the market for either a second baseman or third baseman. They’re reportedly not working with the limitless budget some might expect from the “Evil Empire,” so shedding Stroman’s salary — or a portion of the deal — would give GM Brian Cashman some additional funds in his pursuit of infield help.

The Braves, A’s and Angels are just a few of the teams still seeking rotation help this offseason. Stroman might be New York’s fifth- or sixth-best starter right now, but that’s not the case with many other potential suitors. Stroman is coming off a decent 4.31 ERA in 154 2/3 innings in his first (and possibly only) season with the Yankees. He was hit hard by lefties, in particular, which didn’t play well with Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch; Stroman logged a 5.31 ERA at home compared to a 3.09 mark on the road. A team with a more favorable pitchers’ stadium might view him as a good bet to provide average or better innings at a low cost of acquisition. And in a market where 37-year-old Alex Cobb and 41-year-old Charlie Morton are commanding $15MM salaries on one-year deals — Cobb on the back of a season wherein he made only three starts — Stroman’s salary isn’t exactly egregious.

The Yankees’ willingness to pay down some of Stroman’s salary also inherently signals a willingness to take on a contract of some note in return. That creates a myriad potential frameworks; New York has some interest in Luis Arraez, for instance. He has more trade value than Stroman, but the comparable salaries could make the financial component easy to work out if the Yankees are willing to add the right pieces. Conversely, the Reds would probably welcome the opportunity to shed the $15MM owed to Jeimer Candelario in each of the next two seasons. The Tigers can’t love the $10MM they still owe Kenta Maeda, and he has more experience working in the ’pen than Stroman. Those are entirely speculative scenarios, to be extra clear, but they’re they type of creative situations Cashman and his team can explore when trying to find a Stroman fit.

As things stand, Stroman feels like one of the likeliest players around the league to change hands between now and Opening Day. He’s a pricey veteran without a clear role on his current club but is still relatively productive and not egregiously overpriced when looking at the rest of the market. His current club also has other obvious needs and some degree of financial parameters within which is has to operate.

The Yankees are currently at a projected $303MM worth of luxury tax obligations, per RosterResource. Any subsequent additions to the payroll will come with a 110% tax. Shedding Stroman’s deal would drop them beneath the fourth (and highest) threshold, which sits at $301MM. The third penalty tier (from $281-301MM) comes with a slightly lesser 95% tax rate. In essence, every dollar they save on Stroman’s contract will amount to about $1.95 saved. That only creates more benefit to finding a fit on the trade market.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers! Anthony took questions on the Reds' budget, Dylan Cease trade proposals, the Brewers' lineup, Nathaniel Lowe's extension candidacy, Nick Pivetta landing spots, the frequency of relievers getting rotation chances, the Braves' ceiling, and much more.

 

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Poll: Where Will Tanner Scott Sign?

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After staying cold for the majority of the offseason, the free agent market has finally begun to heat up for relievers this week with veteran right-handers Chris Martin and Andrew Kittredge both agreeing to one-year deals. They join previous deals for Aroldis Chapman, Blake Treinen, and Yimi Garcia among the major signings of the winter among late-inning relief arms, but a number of the top arms on the market remain available at this point. Chief among those options is left-hander Tanner Scott, who enjoyed a breakout season in 2023 with the Marlins and built on that last year to deliver a dominant platform campaign in Miami and San Diego.

Scott’s fantastic work over the past two seasons, when he’s pitched to a combined 2.04 ERA (224 ERA+) with a 2.53 ERA with a 31.3% strikeout rate in 150 innings of work, has catapulted him to the pinnacle of the market for relief arms in his first trip through free agency this winter. At the outset of the offseason, MLBTR predicted that Scott would land a four-year, $56MM deal. Even that hefty price tag may have been light, as reporting has indicated that Scott could receive a multi-year deal in the realm of $20MM annually.

That would seemingly put him in line with the other top closers on the market in recent years, Josh Hader and Edwin Diaz, at least in terms of average annual value. The largest guarantee for a reliever in MLB history went to Diaz, who signed a five-year, $102MM deal ($20.4MM AAV). That contract contained considerable deferrals, however, and by measure of net present value was valued closer to $93MM. Hader signed a five-year deal worth $95MM without deferred money ($19MM AAV). It would be a surprise if Scott managed to surpass the guarantees Hader and Diaz landed, but the AAV is more feasible (especially on a three-year deal).

Scott is a few months older than Hader was at the time of his deal and more than a year older than Diaz was. He also simply lacks the track record of the other two. Hader and Diaz were multi-time All-Stars with top-10 Cy Young finishes who’d spent virtually their entire careers as late-inning arms. Scott was a middle reliever for the first several seasons of his career, with a 4.61 ERA (95 ERA+) and a 3.91 FIP entering his breakout 2023 campaign.

Rumblings on Scott haven’t been particularly prolific this winter, but a few teams have been connected to the southpaw. The Yankees were reportedly in the mix earlier this winter, though their addition of closer Devin Williams, current need for an infielder, and reportedly limited budget space going forward could take them out of the running. On the other hand, if they can trade Marcus Stroman, that might make them more amenable to another splash in the ’pen. The Dodgers have been the team most frequently connected to Scott, while the Mets reportedly held a meeting with him recently. The Braves and Red Sox have been at least loosely connected to Scott as well.

The Dodgers make plenty of sense after a season where they struggled to find consistency in the ninth inning. Their late-inning mix is currently headlined by a combination of Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips, and Treinen. That trio all throw from the right side, making Scott a nice addition as a dominant southpaw to pair with fellow lefty Alex Vesia.

The Mets surely find the idea of pairing Scott with Diaz tantalizing. It’d be understandable if Diaz’s lost 2023 season and struggles in the first half of 2024 led the club to be a bit cautious when it comes to lengthy deals for relievers, but those factors may also reinforce the value of adding another shutdown arm who can help keep the bullpen afloat if Diaz is injured or struggling.

The Red Sox entered the winter in need of high-leverage relief help after losing Martin and Kenley Jansen to free agency, and expressed a clear preference for adding a lefty to the mix. That made Scott a seemingly ideal fit for the club, but they struck quickly in free agency by adding Chapman. They remain involved in the relief market, but it’s unclear whether they’re still pursuing Scott specifically.

Perhaps the most interesting sleeper is Atlanta. It’s been an extremely quiet winter for the Braves. By this time last year, they’d already swung trades for Aaron Bummer, Jarred Kelenic, and Chris Sale, extended both Sale and Pierce Johnson, and signed Joe Jimenez and Reynaldo Lopez in free agency. This winter has been quiet outside of trading Jorge Soler in a salary dump deal and restructuring the contracts of Lopez and Bummer. Atlanta’s most significant addition is a split contract for outfielder Bryan De La Cruz. The Braves generally aren’t shy about paying heavy per-year salaries in the bullpen, and with Raisel Iglesias ticketed for free agency next winter and Jimenez likely out for the season, perhaps the club could look to Scott to fortify the bullpen in the short-term before taking over as the closer in future seasons.

There are, of course, other speculative fits to consider — even if they’ve yet to be specifically linked to Scott. The D-backs still want a closer and already made one surprising free-agent grab when they inked Corbin Burnes. The Blue Jays keep finishing runner-up on all their pursuits; could they eventually pivot to a big bullpen splash? The Giants have been tied to Pete Alonso recently and were in on Burnes before he signed in Arizona; they clearly still have some money to spend, even after signing Justin Verlander.

So, where will Scott end up? And will he approach or even exceed the deals landed by Hader and Diaz in free agency, or hew more closely to MLBTR’s $56MM prediction at the outset of free agency? Have your say in the polls below:

Where Will Tanner Scott End Up?
Mets 29.01% (2,913 votes)
Dodgers 20.06% (2,015 votes)
Red Sox 16.04% (1,611 votes)
Other (specify in comments) 14.62% (1,468 votes)
Braves 13.25% (1,331 votes)
Yankees 7.02% (705 votes)
Total Votes: 10,043
How Much Will Tanner Scott Sign For?
Between $40MM and $60MM 52.38% (3,372 votes)
Between $61MM and $94MM 28.35% (1,825 votes)
Under $40MM 16.30% (1,049 votes)
$95MM or more 2.97% (191 votes)
Total Votes: 6,437

Pirates Sign Caleb Ferguson

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The Pirates added to their pitching staff Friday, announcing a one-year deal with free agent left-hander Caleb Ferguson that will reportedly pay the Excel Sports client $3MM. The Bucs have open roster spots and thus do not need to make a corresponding move.

Ferguson, 28, has been a solid southpaw reliever in the big leagues for a few years now. He missed the 2021 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery but put up good numbers in the three seasons before that, followed by the three seasons after the procedure. Overall, he has logged 261 2/3 innings, allowing 3.68 earned runs per nine. His 9.4% walk rate is a bit higher than average but barely so, while his 27.5% strikeout rate is a few ticks better than par and his 45.6% ground ball rate above average as well.

His ERA ticked up a bit in 2024, though a deep dive on the numbers suggests he was as effective as before, with bad luck contributing to the extra runs allowed. Between the Yankees and Astros, he tossed 54 1/3 innings with a 4.64 ERA. But his 26.9% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 46.7% ground ball rate were all pretty close to his career norms. His .340 batting average on balls in play and 66.6% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side of average, which is why metrics like his 3.74 FIP and 3.43 SIERA were closer to his career ERA.

He’s a sensible pickup for the Pirates, who lost each of Aroldis Chapman, Jalen Beeks and Ryan Borucki to free agency at season’s end. The departure of those three southpaws left them with Joey Wentz, a September waiver claim with a 5.56 career ERA, as the only lefty reliever on the roster. Ferguson immediately becomes the top southpaw in Pittsburgh’s bullpen.

That doesn’t mean he’ll be limited to a specialty role, as his splits aren’t too drastic. He has naturally been better against left-handed hitters, holding them to a line of .231/.333/.375 in his career, but righties have been only marginally more effective against him with a .245/.321/.381 line. He has earned six saves and 49 holds in his career, so perhaps he will step into a setup role, depending on what other moves the Pirates make for their bullpen this winter.

There also seems to be some possibility of Ferguson ending up in the rotation, as MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf reports that the Bucs will stretch him out in spring training. That would be an interesting pivot for Ferguson, as he has almost exclusively been in the bullpen in his big league career. He does have 14 starts on his ledger, but most of those were of the “opener” variety for just an inning or two.

He did come up as a starter in the minor leagues, however, so it wouldn’t be totally foreign to him. As mentioned, he has fairly neutral splits, perhaps allowing him to pitch through a full lineup. He also has a fairly diverse pitch mix for a reliever. Per Statcast, he threw four different pitches at least 9.8% of the time last year: a four-seamer, sinker, cutter and slurve. He didn’t lean on any one pitch too much, topping out at 43.3% usage with the four-seamer. Statcast also categorized 0.2% of his pitches as a sweeper.

Converting relievers into starters has been a popular trend in recent years, with guys like Seth Lugo, Michael King, Garrett Crochet and Reynaldo López some of the better success stories. On the other hand, the results with Jordan Hicks were mixed and the A.J. Puk conversion was quickly abandoned.

It’s an understandable gambit, given the high prices of starting pitchers, as even fliers on high-risk guys have been getting into eight-figure territory this winter. Walker Buehler got $21.05MM coming off a bad year. Guys like Alex Cobb and Justin Verlander got $15MM despite being fairly old by big league standards and coming off injury-marred seasons.

Making a $3MM investment in Ferguson and turning him into a passable backend starter could be a nice bit of business, but there are reasons to think it might not come to pass. As mentioned, the Bucs have an obvious need for a lefty reliever, whereas the rotation is the strongest part of the roster. They are going into the season with a strong starting core of Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller, with guys like Bailey Falter, Johan Oviedo, Mike Burrows, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington all candidates for the back end.

The simplest and perhaps most likely outcome is that the Bucs simply use those guys in the rotation and move Ferguson to the bullpen, but there’s little harm in stretching him out in the spring to see what it looks like. It’s far easier to go from long outings to short ones early in the year, as opposed to getting stretched out midseason. The spring is the right time to do a little experimenting, as Ferguson can easily slide to the bullpen if it doesn’t work out or if the Pirates ultimately prefer other arms in that role.

At the very least, stretching Ferguson as a starter in spring training could open the door for him to function as a true multi-inning bullpen piece. He worked more than one inning on 11 occasions last year — more with Houston post-trade than with the Yankees prior — but topped out at two innings. Given his pitch mix and neutral splits, it’s not out of the question that he could have success working in slightly longer relief outings while also keeping the door cracked for the occasional spot start or opener assignment in the event of a bullpen game.

Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the agreement. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com first reported the terms of the deal.

The Opener: Orioles, Extensions, Red Sox

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With the deadline for players and teams to exchange figures to file for arbitration now behind us, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on this weekend:

1. Orioles 40-man roster move incoming:

The Orioles made a move on the relief market last night, agreeing to terms with right-hander Andrew Kittredge on a one-year, $10MM deal that includes a club option for 2026. The move adds a veteran reliever with late-inning experience who can help set up for Félix Bautista alongside Yennier Cano, Seranthony Domínguez, and Gregory Soto. In order for the signing to be made official, however, the Orioles will have to first clear a 40-man roster spot that can then be given to Kittredge. Typically, that will involve a club designating a player for assignment, though occasionally clubs will work out a trade to create the necessary vacancy.

Speaking of Orioles 40-man moves, they’ll get clarity on their recent DFA of catcher René Pinto at some point today. Baltimore signed right-hander Charlie Morton to a one-year deal seven days ago and designated the 28-year-old Pinto for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Pinto appeared in each of the last three seasons with the Rays but was claimed off waivers by the Orioles in early November. Now that a full week has passed he’ll either be claimed by another club or outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk, where the Orioles would be able to stash him as non-roster depth for the 2025 campaign.

2. Multi-year talks for players who exchanged figures?

Seventeen players exchanged salary arbitration figures with their teams yesterday after failing to come to terms on a deal prior to yesterday’s filing deadline. Those teams and players can continue to negotiate, as the figures exchanged merely set the potential price outcomes to be determined in an arbitration hearing. A deal can still be hammered out for any and all of those 17 players before hearings begin next month. Most clubs, however, employ a file-and-trial approach, meaning they no longer discuss straight one-year agreements once figures are exchanged.

That leaves open the possibility of negotiating a multi-year deal (or a one-year deal with an option, as the option year effectively renders it a multi-year deal and makes that agreement irrelevant as a data point/comp for arbitration negotiations in future offseasons). In all likelihood, at least a few of the players who exchanged figures will come to terms either on a true multi-year deal or on a one-year deal with an option — eliminating the need for a hearing. The Cardinals at least discussed multi-year deals with Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar this week, for instance. Just logically speaking, a two-year deal for someone like Washington’s Nathaniel Lowe — locking in his final two arbitration seasons — could make sense for both the team and player.

High-profile impending free agents like Kyle Tucker and Michael King seem quite unlikely to sign extensions (Tucker in particular) and seem destined for a hearing. However, talks for the majority of the players in this group of 17 figure to continue as clubs and players look to avoid a hearing.

3. Red Sox to host Fenway Fest this weekend:

The Red Sox are hosting Fenway Fest, the club’s winter fan event, tomorrow from 9am to 5pm local time at Fenway Park. Tomorrow will mark the first installment of Fenway Fest, which was announced last month as a replacement for the club’s previous two-day Winter Weekend event that began in 2015. Notably, chief baseball office Craig Breslow, team president Sam Kennedy, and team owner John Henry are not scheduled to appear at tomorrow’s event after appearing at previous Winter Weekend events (perhaps unsurprisingly so; Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic notes that ownership was roundly booed at each of the past two winter fan fest events).

This year’s event includes appearances by manager Alex Cora and a number of coaches as well as a long list of players and prospects that includes recently-acquired starter Garrett Crochet. Aside from player and personnel appearances, the event also includes a preview of the upcoming Netflix documentary covering the 2024 Red Sox. More details regarding the event, including ticket pricing, can be found here via MLB.com.

17 Players Exchange Filing Figures

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This evening’s deadline to exchange filing figures has come and gone. The majority of arbitration-eligible players agreed to contracts to avoid going to a hearing. There were 17 instances where the player and team did not come to terms.

Technically, nothing prevents players and teams from continuing to negotiate. However, virtually every team takes a “file-and-trial” approach to the process. Clubs will mostly refuse to continue talks about one-year deals after this date. They’ll often make exceptions for discussions involving multi-year contracts or one-year deals with a club/mutual option. It’s unlikely that all of these players will end up getting to a hearing, but the majority probably will.

If the sides go to a hearing, a three-person arbitration panel will either choose the player’s or the team’s filing figure. They cannot pick a midpoint. That’s designed to prevent the parties from anchoring by filing at extremely high or low figures. Teams’ preferences for the file-and-trial approach follows a similar logic. The idea is to deter players from submitting a higher number from which they could continue to negotiate until the hearing begins.

The list of players who could go to a hearing this winter (service time in parentheses):

Angels

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Dodgers

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Pirates

Rays

Red Sox

Yankees

—————————————

Tucker and the Cubs have the biggest gap in filing figures at $2.5MM. He’s one of the top two free agents in next year’s class and is unlikely to sign an extension, so they’re almost certainly headed to a hearing. King, who will be one of the best pitchers on the open market next winter, is the only other player with more than $1MM at stake depending on the results of the hearing. The smallest divide is the paltry $150K gap between Rengifo’s and the Angels’ respective filing figures. Hearings are scheduled to begin on January 27 and could run through February 14.

2025 Arbitration Tracker

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Today is the deadline for players and teams to exchange figures in arbitration — an annual deadline that leads to a slew of one-year deals and, typically, a handful of multi-year deals. Today should see upwards of 100 players agree to salaries for the 2025 season, although the majority of clubs and players now wait until the very last minute to agree. The deadline for agreements is noon CT, and we’ll see terms on plenty of last-minute/buzzer-beating deals filter in shortly thereafter. Players and teams that do not reach an agreement will exchange salary figures at 7pm CT tonight.

Each player’s service time is in parentheses, and you can of course check back to see each player’s projected salary from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. We’ll keep this updated as deals come in — refresh for updates — and break off some of the larger, more prominent agreements in separate entries. All agreements are for one year unless otherwise noted.

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays 

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks 

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

Yankees Considering Paul DeJong

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As the Yankees search for infield help after losing second baseman Gleyber Torres in free agency last month, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that Paul DeJong is among the names the club is currently considering.

DeJong, 31, has spent the vast majority of his career with the Cardinals to this point. After being selected in the fourth-round of the 2015 draft by St. Louis, he rose through the ranks of the minor leagues quickly and made his debut during the 2017 season. The first few years of his career went quite well, as he hit a solid .251/.318/.467 (108 wRC+) in his first three years with the club while working his way into the Cardinals lineup as their everyday shortstop. He enjoyed a particularly strong season in 2019, when he slugged 30 home runs and put up fantastic numbers on defense en route to an All-Star appearance.

Things started to take a turn for the worse starting with the shortened 2020 season, however, and his offense took a major step back until he ultimately lost his starting job with the Cardinals. Eventually, he was traded midway through the 2023 season having slashed just .207/.285/.368 (80 wRC+) over his final four years with the club. He bounced around the Blue Jays and Giants down the stretch and hit just .129/.128/.183 over the season’s final two months before reaching free agency, where he eventually signed with the White Sox.

While 2024 was a season to forget on the south side of Chicago, that had nothing to do with DeJong’s performance. Taking over for Tim Anderson as the club’s starting shortstop in the first half, DeJong enjoyed the best season he’s had since his aforementioned 2019 All-Star campaign. That strong performance earned him a trade to the Royals, and he shifted to third base in deference to Bobby Witt Jr. down the stretch as the Royals made their first playoff appearance since winning the World Series in 2015. Overall, he slashed a decent .227/.276/.427 (95 wRC+) in 482 plate appearances that brought his offensive contributions within spitting distance of league average. That combined with strong glovework at both shortstop and third base made DeJong a 1.7 fWAR player in 2024, or a roughly average regular.

A player whose best season in half a decade saw him become more or less average is sure to come with warts, and DeJong is no exception. His .276 on-base percentage last year was the eighth-lowest figure among all hitters with at least 450 trips to the plate, and his 32.4% strikeout rate was third-highest among that same group. DeJong’s excessive whiffs and difficulty getting on-base are somewhat made up for by his considerable pop; he clubbed 24 homers last year, good for eighth among shortstops and ninth among third baseman despite him not getting enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. With his combination of power and defense, DeJong seems like a good bet to earn at least semi-regular playing time in 2025.

Whether that playing time will ultimately come with the Yankees is unclear. DeJong is unlikely to cost much even after a solid enough platform season, and that’s sure to be appreciated by a Yankees club that seems to be stretched thin financially as things stand. Heyman suggests that offloading some of right-hander Marcus Stroman’s salary could allow the Yankees to spend a bit more in their search for infield help, though even if they’re successful in their efforts to shop the veteran hurler it stands to reason they’ll remain out on top-of-the-market options like Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado.

While the Yankees apparently don’t have much desire to pay a premium in free agency or trade to add infield help, there’s a clear need for another option at either second or third base. Jazz Chisholm Jr. can be a solid regular at either position and appears to be ticketed for the keystone as things stand, but that would leave third base to some combination of DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Oswald Peraza. LeMahieu turns 37 in July and is coming off a 2024 season where he was among the worst hitters in baseball (52 wRC+), while Peraza has just 74 games of experience at the big league level. That leaves Cabrera as the club’s best option at present, but his .247/.296/.365 (88 wRC+) leaves much to be desired as an everyday player despite his value on the bench.

Reds Have Interest In Carlos Estevez

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The Reds are among the teams with interest in free agent reliever Carlos Estévez, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Blue Jays and Yankees have also been tied to the All-Star righty this offseason.

Estévez is one of the better unsigned relievers. The 32-year-old has been a reliable back-end option for the Angels and Phillies over the last two years. Estévez turned in a 3.90 ERA with 31 saves and a plus 27.8% strikeout rate for the Halos in 2023. He was off to an even stronger start last year, working to a 2.38 ERA while fanning 25.8% of batters faced through the trade deadline.

Los Angeles dealt Estévez to the Phillies for a pair of well-regarded pitching prospects. His finish in Philadelphia was more solid than great. While he turned in a 2.57 ERA across 21 frames for the Phils, Estévez’s strikeout percentage dropped to a mediocre 20.5% clip. Despite the middling finish, Estévez still has a solid case for a three-year deal in the $30MM range.

The relief market has yet to get going in earnest. Tanner Scott and Jeff Hoffman are at the top of the class. Estévez is arguably the #3 free agent reliever, while Kirby Yates and David Robertson will be available on short-term deals at a lofty salary.

Cincinnati had a decent relief group in 2024. They ranked 18th in earned run average despite the difficulty of pitching at Great American Ball Park. Reds relievers ranked ninth with a 24.3% strikeout rate. They subtracted one of their top setup arms when they dealt Fernando Cruz to the Yankees for backup catcher Jose Trevino.

A full season from breakout candidate Tony Santillan could be a major boost in front of closer Alexis Díaz. Veterans Emilio Pagán and Brent Suter are back, as is lefty Sam Moll. The Reds have a few openings in the middle relief group, though. Adding another reliever is sensible, though it’s not clear if there’s room in the budget to make a legitimate push for Estévez. RosterResource calculates Cincinnati’s payroll around $106MM, about $6MM above where they finished last season. After acquiring Gavin Lux from the Dodgers this week, general manager Nick Krall said the front office has “a little bit (of flexibility), not a ton” from a payroll perspective (via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer).

Kirk McCarty Re-Signs With CPBL’s CTBC Brothers

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Left-hander Kirk McCarty is re-signing with the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan (h/t to CPBL Stats). McCarty first signed with the club prior to the 2024 season but will be returning to pitch for them again in 2025.

McCarty, 29, was a seventh-round pick by Cleveland back in 2017 and made his big league debut in 2022. That remains his only season of big league action. He spent 13 games as a swingman in the Guardians’ bullpen, starting two games and finishing six as he cobbled together 37 2/3 innings of work. The results left something to be desired, however, as he posted a 4.54 ERA (84 ERA+) with a 6.64 FIP.

Somewhat unusually, McCarty’s time in Cleveland was actually broken up by a brief sojourn to the Orioles organization in 2022, in the middle of his time as an up-and-down hurler for the Guardians. The club actually designated him for assignment after his third appearance of the year on July 2, at which point he had a 9.00 ERA in 12 innings of work. He played just one game in the Baltimore organization (a four-inning start at the Triple-A level) before he was once again designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Guardians on July 14, ending his week away from the organization.

McCarty’s ten appearances with the Guardians after being re-acquired went far better, as he pitched to a strong 2.45 ERA in 25 2/3 frames across ten appearances. With that being said, there were still some red flags in the peripherals; while McCarty’s 6.9% walk rate was excellent, his 17.8% strikeout rate left much to be desired and he surrendered a whopping five home runs during that time. That left him with a 5.18 in even during his best stretch of play in the majors, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when the Guardians released McCarty early in the 2022-23 offseason.

It wasn’t long after that when McCarty signed a deal with the Korea Baseball Organization’s SSG Landers, and he pitched as a starter for the club in 2023. Things went quite well for the southpaw during his first year overseas, as he pitched to a strong 3.39 ERA in 24 starts and struck out 21.4% of opponents in 130 innings of work. That solid performance wasn’t enough to keep McCarty in the KBO for 2024, however, and he instead headed to Taiwan to pitch for the Brothers. The southpaw was utterly dominant in the CPBL, making the most out of his 81 2/3 innings over 13 starts. McCarty posted a sterling 2.76 ERA despite striking out just 18.5% of opponents faced during the season.

Those lackluster strikeout numbers may have held McCarty’s prospects back somewhat in free agency, but the Brothers were evidently happy to have him back in the fold, where he’ll look to further establish himself as a strong rotation option in hopes of potentially making it back to the majors at some point in the future.

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