Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Angels Pursued Anthony Santander On Shorter-Term Deal
The Angels showed interest in Anthony Santander on a potential three- or four-year deal, writes Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It’s not clear precisely what they proposed, but it seems their reported interest in the outfielder was genuine enough to consider multi-year offers.
Santander ended up with the Blue Jays on a five-year pact. That was initially reported as a $92.5MM contract, though extreme deferrals dramatically cut the net present value. The MLB Players Association valued Santander’s deal with Toronto just below $68.6MM. He can opt out of that contract after three seasons, though the Jays could override that by preemptively exercising a 2030 club option.
It’s not known if Toronto was the only team willing to stretch to five years. Rosenthal reported last week that the Royals made a three-year offer that included an opt-out after the second season. That came with a $66MM guarantee on the surface, though it reportedly also included deferrals that would have dropped the NPV to some extent.
Assuming the Halos use Jorge Soler more or less as a full-time designated hitter, they’ve yet to do anything of note in the outfield. Late last season, they floated the idea of moving Mike Trout into a corner in an effort to keep him healthier. A free agent class led by Harrison Bader didn’t provide many options to step into center field. It has been similarly quiet on the trade front at the position. It looks like the Halos will stick with Trout in center for another season.
Taylor Ward was the subject of some trade speculation, but it seems he’ll return in left field. Santander would have been a major upgrade in right, where the Angels project to run it back with a Mickey Moniak/Jo Adell platoon. Neither one-time top prospect has been a consistent offensive threat in their major league careers. Angels right fielders hit .210/.287/.368 last season. Only the Royals got a lower on-base mark at the position, while their slugging percentage was fourth from the bottom.
At this stage of the offseason, the Angels are unlikely to find a significant outfield upgrade in free agency. There’d been some speculation that the Halos could make a push for Pete Alonso to play first base, allowing them to move Nolan Schanuel to the corner outfield. That’s theoretically still on the table as long as Alonso is unsigned, but it’d probably make for a very poor outfield defense. That’d also be true if the Angels signed Alonso as a designated hitter and put Soler back in right field.
If an outfield splash probably isn’t happening, the Santander pursuit suggests there could be money for a late-offseason move in another area. The Angels were the most active team within the opening weeks of the offseason. They acquired Soler, Kyle Hendricks, Travis d’Arnaud, Kevin Newman and Yusei Kikuchi before Thanksgiving. They haven’t made a single MLB free agent signing or trade of note since the Kikuchi pickup.
The Angels could still upgrade on the pitching staff. Rosenthal reported last week that the Halos were in contact with free agent relievers and could make multiple bullpen acquisitions. They could certainly accommodate someone like Nick Pivetta, Jose Quintana or Andrew Heaney in the rotation. RosterResource calculates their competitive balance tax number around $206MM, putting them about $35MM below next year’s luxury tax threshold.
Angels, Victor Gonzalez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels agreed to a minor league contract with lefty reliever Victor González last month (h/t to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy). The southpaw had been a free agent since the Yankees released him in September.
González is looking to rebound after a tough year in the Bronx. The Yankees acquired him from the Dodgers over the 2023-24 offseason. González got into 27 games and tossed 23 1/3 innings. While his 3.86 earned run average wasn’t bad, that belied an unimpressive strikeout and walk profile. The southpaw walked a career-high 13.4% of batters faced while carrying a meager 11.4% strikeout rate. González had fanned at least 22% of opponents in all three seasons with the Dodgers.
Among pitchers with 20+ innings, González was one of three — alongside Nick Nastrini and Dakota Hudson — who had more walks than strikeouts. New York ran him through outright waivers in June. While his Triple-A strikeout (20.6%) and walk (8.8%) profile was improved in the minors, the Yanks never brought him back up. That could be in part due to a velocity dip. González averaged 93.3 MPH on his sinker last season; that pitch sat in the 94-95 MPH range during his time with the Dodgers.
Before last season, González had been a solid middle innings arm for L.A. skipper Dave Roberts. The Mexican-born southpaw turned in 89 1/3 innings of 3.22 ERA ball over parts of three seasons. He posted roughly average strikeout and walk numbers while getting a ton of ground-balls. The grounders carried over to the Bronx, but the precipitous drop in strikeouts and career-worst command pushed him off the roster.
The Halos have a few left-handers ticketed for Opening Day bullpen spots. Brock Burke, José Quijada and José Suárez are each out of options. They’ve all been inconsistent in recent years, but the Angels tendered all three (relatively small) arbitration contracts. The Angels also took left-hander Garrett McDaniels out of the Dodgers system in the Rule 5 draft. If they plan to secure his long-term contractual rights, they’d need to keep him in the majors all season. González is also out of options, so if the Angels call him up at any point, they’d need to keep him in the MLB bullpen or send him back into DFA limbo.
The Opener: Brasier, Scherzer, MLBTR Chat
With spring training just days away, and one free agent deal already in the books this morning, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye out for today:
1. Will Brasier be traded?
Veteran right-hander Ryan Brasier pitched quite well for the Dodgers last year when healthy, with a 3.54 ERA and 3.31 FIP in 28 innings of work. He was squeezed off the club’s roster due to the addition of Kirby Yates, however, and as such was designated for assignment last week. Brasier’s DFA doesn’t need to be resolved for another two days, but given his solid work out of the bullpen last year and affordable contract it would hardly be surprising if a trade was worked out. Brasier would have to be placed on waivers 48 hours before the end of his DFA window, however, so if he’s going to be traded it’ll very likely have to come together today. Will a deal get done?
2. Blue Jays 40-man move incoming:
Yesterday saw three signings get finalized: Ha-Seong Kim’s two-year deal with the Rays, Jorge Polanco’s one-year pact with the Mariners, and Tim Mayza’s one-year agreement with the Pirates. All three of those moves required a 40-man roster move, and those clubs made space for their new additions by designating Osleivis Basabe, Cade Marlowe, and Alika Williams for assignment, respectively. One other as-of-yet not finalized addition that’s been reported is Max Scherzer’s one-year contract with the Blue Jays.
Toronto’s 40-man roster is full, meaning the club would need to clear a spot in order to officially add Scherzer to the mix. Perhaps that would come in the form of a DFA like the aforementioned trio of corresponding moves did, or maybe the Jays will be able to work out a trade involving a 40-man roster player in the coming days. One other alternative at the club’s disposal would be to wait out the nine days remaining until Toronto’s pitchers and catchers are set to report for spring training, at which point the 60-day IL opens. The Blue Jays are among a number of teams with likely 60-day IL candidates, and they could theoretically take advantage of that status in order to avoid losing a player from their 40-man roster to accommodate Scherzer.
3. MLBTR Chat Today:
With spring training creeping ever closer, we’re nearing the point where the baseball offseason starts to give way to preseason excitement even as major free agents remain unsigned and team needs remain unfulfilled. Whether you have questions about what’s left for your team to do before Opening Day or a trade proposal in the back of your mind, MLBTR’s Steve Adams will be here to answer your questions during a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.
Players Who Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins
Most of the clubs in the league currently have a full 40-man roster, which means that just about every transaction requires a corresponding move these days. Some extra roster flexibility is on the way, however. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series but comes back when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
Per R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, most clubs have a report date of February 12th or 13th. The Cubs and Dodgers are a bit earlier than most, on the 9th and 11th, respectively. That’s due to the fact that those clubs are heading to Tokyo, with exhibition games in mid-March, followed by regular season games against each other on March 18th and 19th. All the other teams have Opening Day scheduled for March 27th.
It’s worth pointing out that the 60 days don’t start being counted until Opening Day. Although a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL quite soon, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later. A team also must have a full 40-man roster in order to move a player to the 60-day IL.
There are still plenty of free agents still out there, including big names like Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, as well as Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson, Randal Grichuk, Kenley Jansen, Harrison Bader, Lance Lynn, Jose Quintana and many more. Perhaps the extra roster flexibility will spur some deals to come together in the next week or so. It could also increase the ability of some clubs to make waiver claims or small trades for players who have been designated for assignment.
Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon.
Angels: Robert Stephenson
Stephenson underwent a hybrid Tommy John surgery with internal brace in late April. Given the 14-plus months required to recovery from such a procedure, he’s not likely to be ready in the early parts of the 2025 season.
Astros: Cristian Javier, J.P. France, Bennett Sousa
Javier underwent Tommy John surgery in June and is targeting a return in the second half of 2025. France is recovering from shoulder surgery and hoping to return in July. Sousa’s timeline is less clear but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in April. Other possibilities include Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr., who are expected to start the season on the IL but returning in April or May still seems possible.
Athletics: Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk
Medina underwent Tommy John surgery in August and Waldichuk in May. Medina might miss the entire season while Waldichuk is likely to miss a few months at least.
Blue Jays: Angel Bastardo, Alek Manoah
The Jays grabbed Bastardo from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft in December, even though he had Tommy John surgery in June. Manoah also had Tommy John around that time and is hoping to be back by August.
Braves: Joe Jiménez
Jimenez had knee surgery in November with a timeline of eight to twelve months, so he might miss the entire season. Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. are also possibilities, though those will be more borderline. Strider had internal brace surgery in April, so returning in May is somewhat possible. Acuña is recovering from a torn ACL last year and it’s possible he’ll miss the first month or so of the season. Given how important both of those players are, Atlanta probably won’t put them on the 60-day IL unless it’s 100% certain that they can’t come back in the first 60 days of the season.
Brewers: Robert Gasser
Gasser had Tommy John surgery in June and will be looking at a late 2025 return even in a best-case scenario.
Diamondbacks: Kyle Nelson
Nelson’s timeline is unclear, but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in May and missed the remainder of the 2024 season.
Dodgers: Gavin Stone, Brusdar Graterol, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan
Stone underwent shoulder surgery in October that will cause him to miss the entire year. Graterol also underwent shoulder surgery and isn’t expected back until the second half of 2025. Each of Ryan, Hurt and Sheehan required Tommy John surgery in 2024: Ryan in August, Hurt in July and Sheehan in May.
Guardians: Sam Hentges, David Fry, Shane Bieber, Trevor Stephan
Hentges required shoulder surgery in September, with an expected recovery timeline of 12 to 14 months. Fry underwent UCL surgery in November with a more fluid timeline. He won’t be able to throw at all in 2025 but could be cleared for designated hitter action six to eight months from that surgery. Bieber is perhaps a borderline case, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in April. Given his importance, the Guards may not transfer him to the 60-day IL until it’s assured that he won’t be back in the first 60 days of the season. Stephan underwent Tommy John surgery in March and perhaps has a chance to avoid the 60-day IL, depending on his progression.
Mariners: Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar
Brash underwent Tommy John surgery in May. Given the typical 14-month recovery timeline from that procedure, he would be looking at a midsummer return. However, it was reported in November that he’s ahead of schedule and could be back by the end of April. That’s an optimistic timeline but the Mariners will probably hold off moving him to the 60-day IL until the door is closed to an early return. Kowar underwent Tommy John in March, so an early return in 2025 is possible for him, depending on how his recovery is going.
Marlins: Braxton Garrett, Eury Pérez
Garrett just underwent UCL surgery last month and is going to miss the entire 2025 season. Pérez underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year and will miss at least part of the beginning of the 2025 campaign.
Mets: Christian Scott
Scott required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in September and will likely miss the entire 2025 season.
Nationals: Josiah Gray, Mason Thompson
Gray required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in July, meaning he’ll miss most or perhaps all of the 2025 season. Thompson required Tommy John surgery in March, so he has a better chance to make an early-season return if his recovery is going well.
Orioles: Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells
Bradish and Wells each required UCL surgery in June, so they’re both slated to miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.
Padres: Joe Musgrove
Musgrove had Tommy John surgery in October and will therefore miss the entire 2025 season. However, the Padres only have 36 guys on their 40-man roster at the moment, so they’ll need to fill those spots before moving Musgrove to the 60-day IL.
Pirates: Dauri Moreta
Moreta required UCL surgery in March, so an early-season return is possible if his rehab is going well, though he could end up on the 60-day if the club goes easy with his ramp-up or he suffers any kind of setback.
Rangers: Josh Sborz
Sborz underwent shoulder surgery in November and is expected to miss the first two to three months of the upcoming season.
Rays: Nate Lavender, Ha-Seong Kim
The Rays took Lavender from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft, even though he had Tommy John in May and will miss the start of the season. Kim’s status is more up in the air after he had shoulder surgery in October. Various reports have suggested he could return anywhere from April to July. The Rays made a sizable investment in Kim, their largest ever for a position player, so they probably won’t shelve him until they get more clarity on his status.
Red Sox: Patrick Sandoval, Garrett Whitlock, Chris Murphy
Sandoval had internal brace surgery in June of last year and should miss the first half of the season. Whitlock had the same surgery in May, so he could have a bit of a better chance to return in the first 60 days of the season. Murphy underwent a fully Tommy John surgery in April and will certainly miss the beginning of the upcoming season. Another possibility is Lucas Giolito, who had internal brace surgery in March, though he expects to be ready by Opening Day.
Reds: Julian Aguiar, Brandon Williamson
Aguiar underwent Tommy John surgery in October and Williamson in September, so both are likely slated to miss the entire 2025 season.
Tigers: Sawyer Gipson-Long
Gipson-Long underwent internal brace surgery in April. On top of that, he underwent left hip labral repair surgery in July, with the club hoping to address both issues at the same time. It seems likely that he’ll miss some of the early 2025 schedule, but his IL placement will depend on how he’s been progressing.
White Sox: Jesse Scholtens
Scholtens underwent Tommy John surgery in early March. Whether he goes on the 60-day IL or not will depend on how he’s progressed since then and when the White Sox expect him back.
Yankees: Jonathan Loáisiga
Loáisiga underwent internal brace surgery in April, so he could potentially be back on the mound early in the 2025 season. It was reported in December that the Yankees are expecting him to be in the bullpen by late April or early May, so he’ll only end up on the 60-day IL if he suffers a bit of a setback.
Braves, Dany Jimenez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Braves agreed to minor league deals with reliever Dany Jiménez and catcher Chandler Seagle last month (h/t to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy). Mike Rodriguez first reported the Jiménez deal.
Jiménez, 31, has pitched in parts of four big league seasons. The past three have come with the A’s, with whom he made at least 25 appearances in each year. Jiménez managed decent results between 2022-23 despite scattershot command. He combined for a 3.43 ERA over 57 2/3 frames during that two-year stretch. He punched out a league average 23% of opponents but walked more than 13% of batters faced.
The walks caught up to him last season. Jiménez struggled to a 4.91 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate ticked down (21.4%) while the walks climbed to a massive 16.2% rate. His fastball speed has trended in the wrong direction. Jiménez averaged around 94 MPH on the heater in 2022. That dropped slightly to 93.3 MPH the next year and sat at a career-low 92.5 MPH last season. He leans more heavily on his low-80s slider, a pitch that generated big swinging strike numbers in 2022 but hasn’t been as effective over the last two years.
At the end of the season, the A’s opted not to tender Jiménez an arbitration contract projected at $1MM. He’ll need to earn his way back onto the 40-man roster with a strong showing in camp and/or at Triple-A Gwinnett. Jiménez still has a couple option seasons, so if he does crack the 40-man, the Braves can move him between Atlanta and Gwinnett without putting him on waivers.
Seagle, 29, is an organizational depth catcher. He spent seven seasons in the Padres’ system. Seagle is a career .201/.272/.286 hitter in the minors. The Padres called him up for the final game of the 2023 season and got him an at-bat. While they outrighted him off their 40-man roster early in the offseason, they re-signed him to a minor league contract last year. He appeared in 38 games with their Triple-A team, hitting .180/.219/.280 in 107 plate appearances.
Cubs Outright Matt Festa
The Cubs outrighted reliever Matt Festa off the 40-man roster, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. Chicago designated him for assignment last week as the corresponding move when they finalized the Ryan Pressly trade. Festa has been outrighted before in his career, so he can choose to decline the minor league assignment in favor of free agency.
If he does elect free agency, Festa’s time with the Cubs will have lasted less than a month. They acquired him from the Rangers for cash in the second week of January. Texas had also squeezed him off the roster as the corresponding move when they added a veteran reliever — in their case, Chris Martin on a one-year free agent deal.
Festa, 32 next month, has spent the bulk of his career with the Mariners. He posted a 4.32 earned run average across 89 appearances over four seasons with Seattle. Festa has bounced around the league in recent months. He made a lone MLB appearance with the Mets early last season and pitched 18 times for Texas after catching on there via minor league deal. He allowed a 4.37 ERA through 22 2/3 innings in Arlington. He punched out a quarter of opponents against a solid 7.6% walk rate.
While Festa has shown decent swing-and-miss stuff during his MLB career, his command has been inconsistent. He has issued free passes to 10.3% of batters faced overall. Festa is out of options, limiting the roster flexibility for teams. If he elects free agency, he’ll likely be limited to minor league offers with Spring Training invites.
Jerry Dipoto Discusses Castillo, Lineup, Polanco
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto met with reporters this afternoon after the team finalized the one-year deal to retain Jorge Polanco. Seattle’s longtime front office leader addressed the team’s atypically quiet offseason while providing a couple injury updates.
Dipoto said the front office entered the winter believing they could be in for a slow offseason. “One of our points going into this offseason, and I know I made it sitting in the dugout in the final series, was that we didn’t anticipate a great deal of movement around the team,” he told the beat (including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). “As we are now about a week away from heading to Spring Training, I’d say that probably played out to be spot on, much to, I think, the dismay of a few. But we have a good team.”
Seattle has made two major league free agent signings. They brought Polanco back on a $7.75MM guarantee and added Donovan Solano as a part-time righty bat for $3.5MM. Reporting from both The Seattle Times and MLB.com throughout the offseason has suggested that ownership was only allowing the front office to allocate between $15MM-20MM to the MLB payroll. While the lack of free agent activity has certainly been a source of frustration for much of the fanbase, it’s not especially surprising.
The more interesting development has been the M’s willingness to sit out the trade market. They’ve made four trades this offseason, all of which have been depth acquisitions for players who were in DFA limbo: Austin Shenton, Miles Mastrobuoni, Blake Hunt and Will Klein. Those are akin to waiver claims. The Mariners essentially haven’t made a single notable move on the trade market, a stark contrast to Dipoto’s reputation as one of the game’s most prolific traders. The “Trader Jerry” nickname has been well earned in prior offseasons.
Most trade speculation concerned the possibility of the Mariners moving a starting pitcher to add a hitter. As Dipoto noted today, he did indeed downplay that notion before last season even ended. He famously called dealing from the rotation the M’s “Plan Z” for the offseason in the referenced media scrum. That didn’t stop other teams from inquiring on Seattle’s young rotation nucleus of George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo, but there’s nothing to suggest the Mariners gave strong consideration to moving any of them.
The one starter who was available was Luis Castillo. The veteran righty is under contract for another three seasons and $68.25MM (plus a 2028 vesting option). Trading Castillo could have created spending room while netting the M’s immediate lineup help. It wasn’t going to be a straight salary dump, though, and Seattle hasn’t found an offer it finds compelling. The Seattle Times’ Adam Jude reported last week that Castillo was unlikely to move at this point.
Dipoto implied as much in today’s comments. He told Jude and other reporters that the front office received some proposals that warranted real consideration, but those obviously did not result in a deal. “Not shockingly, we had inquiries on all five of our starting pitchers and dozens of prospects along the way,” he added. “But obviously we opted not to go that route.” While he left open the possibility of making another move, he noted that the front office would be happy with the roster “if this is our team going into Spring Training or Opening Day” (via Divish and Jude).
The Mariners will go into Spring Training with arguably MLB’s best 1-5 in the rotation. Their depth behind that is lacking, though perhaps quick-moving prospect Logan Evans can soon be a factor. Seattle benefited from excellent rotation health last year. Woo was the only member of their front five who made fewer than 30 starts. That’ll be difficult to replicate, but when the rotation is at full strength, they’re giving the ball to an above-average starter every night.
As has long been the case, the question is whether they’ll score enough runs. Dipoto expressed confidence in the lineup, pointing to their success later in the season after the managerial and hitting coach changes. Seattle hitters had a .216/.301/.365 batting line through August 21. After dismissing Scott Servais and Jarret DeHart in favor of Dan Wilson and Edgar Martinez, respectively, they hit .255/.347/.417 in their final 34 games.
Attributing that entirely to the coaching changes is overly simplistic. They improved the lineup at the deadline with the Justin Turner and Randy Arozarena pickups and league-wide offense tends to peak later in the summer with warmer weather. Still, the change in voice probably played some part in the much improved finish. The Mariners play in the sport’s toughest home park for hitters. Only the White Sox had a lower team OPS in home games. Seattle ranked 13th in OPS on the road. Mike Petriello of MLB.com examined some reasons behind T-Mobile Park’s extreme pitcher-friendly environment last week in a column that’s well worth a full read.
Dipoto also addressed a few injury situations. He expressed confidence in Polanco’s health after the veteran infielder played through a left knee injury that eventually required a meniscus repair. The Mariners believe the move from his longtime second base position to third base will take less of a toll on him physically. Meanwhile, reliever Troy Taylor suffered a lat strain during his offseason workouts and will not be ready for the start of camp. It’s not clear if he’ll need to begin the regular season on the injured list. The righty turned in a 3.72 ERA while striking out nearly 31% of opposing hitters across 21 appearances as a rookie.
Rich Dauer Passes Away
The Orioles announced this afternoon that longtime infielder and coach Rich Dauer has passed away. He was 72.
A native of San Bernardino, Dauer attended the University of Southern California. He starred on the Trojans’ back-to-back College World Series teams in 1973 and ’74. The Orioles drafted him with the 24th overall pick in 1974. The righty-swinging infielder hit .336 in Triple-A during the ’76 season to earn a cup of coffee in the big leagues. He opened the following season as Baltimore’s second baseman, hitting .243 over 96 games as a rookie.
That was the first of nine straight seasons in which Dauer was in Baltimore’s Opening Day lineup (eight of them at second base). While he was never a huge power threat, he carved out a lengthy career behind his sure-handed defense and elite contact skills. After his rookie year, Dauer never struck out in more than 7% of his plate appearances in a season. He ranked among the American League’s top four second basemen in fielding percentage each year between 1980-83.
Dauer set his career high with nine home runs in 1979. Baltimore won the pennant that season. Dauer hit .294 over six games in that year’s Fall Classic, but the O’s dropped the series to the Pirates. They made it back to the World Series four years later. Baltimore knocked off the Phillies in five games. Dauer appeared in all five contests to earn his first ring.
Over a playing career that spanned parts of 10 seasons, Dauer hit .257/.310/.343. He hit 43 homers and connected on 193 doubles, including a career-high 32 doubles in a 1980 campaign in which he hit .284. He spent his entire playing career with the Orioles, who honored him with induction into the franchise’s Hall of Fame in 2012.
Dauer’s involvement in the sport extended well beyond his playing days. He spent more than three decades in the coaching ranks. He was on major league staffs for the Cleveland, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Colorado and Houston organizations and spent some time as a manager in the San Diego farm system. He earned a second World Series ring with the 2017 Astros, for whom he coached first base.
Dauer slipped and injured his head the night before Houston’s championship parade that year. While the severity of the injury initially wasn’t clear, his condition worsened during the parade. Dauer was taken to the emergency room, where doctors identified a significant brain bleed. He required emergency surgery that came with a grim prognosis but overcame what doctors eventually revealed was around a 3% survival chance. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic covered the story at the time. Dauer had already decided to retire from coaching before the head injury, but he returned to Minute Maid Park the following April for an emotional first pitch. MLBTR joins others throughout the game in sending our condolences to Dauer’s family, loved ones, friends and former teammates/players.
Guardians Sign Kolby Allard To Minor League Deal
The Guardians announced that they have signed left-hander Kolby Allard to a minor league deal. The Excel Sports Management client also receives an invite to big league spring training and will be in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Allard, 27, has appeared in the past seven major league seasons. He has spent most of that time as a swingman/depth starter, which was the case last year as well. He signed a one-year, $1MM deal with the Phillies, with the club frequently shuttling him between the majors and Triple-A. He made four starts and three relief appearances for the big league club, logging 27 innings. He allowed 15 earned runs for a flat ERA of 5.00.
The Phils could have retained Allard via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a modest raise to a $1.1MM salary. But the Phils outrighted him off the roster instead, perhaps due to the fact that Allard exhausted his final option year in 2024. He elected free agency after being outrighted, which allowed him to sign this deal with Cleveland. Including his stint with the Phils, Allard has now thrown 272 big league innings in his career. He has a 5.99 ERA, 18.9% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 38.3% ground ball rate.
The Guardians had the best bullpen in baseball last year but their rotation was uncharacteristically weak. They currently project to go into 2025 with a starting mix including Tanner Bibee, Ben Lively, Gavin Williams, Luis Ortiz, Triston McKenzie and Slade Cecconi.
Bibee is a strong option but there are question marks with the rest. Lively posted a 3.81 ERA last year but with a tepid 18.7% strikeout rate. Cecconi, Ortiz and McKenzie have shown good flashes at times but with inconsistent results overall. Williams battled injuries in 2024 and had a 4.86 ERA over the 16 starts he was able to make. They will eventually have Shane Bieber in the mix, though he’ll surely start the season on the injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April.
Given the uncertainty in that group, adding some non-roster depth is a sensible add. As mentioned, Allard is now out of options, meaning he’ll have a tough time hanging onto a roster spot if he gets one, but there’s a possible path back to the majors with the lack of fully established starters currently penciled in.
