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Giants To Sign Pablo Sandoval To Non-Roster Deal

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Veteran infielder Pablo Sandoval is set to reunite with the Giants this spring, as reported by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area this afternoon. Sandoval is expected to join the club on a minor league deal with a non-roster invitation to big league Spring Training. Pavlovic makes clear that Sandoval’s situation is different from that of longtime Giants reliever Sergio Romo last year. Back in March, Romo returned to San Francisco on a non-roster deal of his own with a plan for it to be a ceremonial final stop before retirement. Pavlovic indicates that Sandoval, by contrast, is hoping to make a comeback after last appearing in the majors back in 2021.

The 37-year-old veteran began his professional career with the Giants as a 17-year-old back in 2004. He made his big league debut with the club back in 2008 and went on to win three World Series championships with the club before departing for the Red Sox via free agency ahead of the 2015 season. Sandoval’s stay in Boston would be fairly shortly-lived, however, as he struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness over parts of three seasons with the Red Sox before the club designated him for assignment in July of 2017. He re-signed with the Giants just days later and spent the next three years in a bench role with the club, slashing a league-average .253/.308/.437 in 642 trips to the plate in a Giants uniform from 2018 to 2020.

Sandoval parted ways with the Giants for a second time late in the shortened 2020 campaign, and after being released by the club latched on with the Braves. He made one appearance for Atlanta during the stretch run before returning for the 2021 season, where he contributed off the bench in 69 games before he was traded to Cleveland in exchange for Eddie Rosario just before that year’s trade deadline. Sandoval was released immediately following the trade without making an appearance for his new club. Since his last big league opportunity, Sandoval has appeared in several leagues in Latin America, including a 91-game stint in the Mexican League back in 2022. The Panda last appeared in a professional game in Dubai last fall.

Given the fact that Sandoval is just a few months shy of his 38th birthday and hasn’t played in affiliated ball since the 2021 season, he’s surely a longshot to make the club’s 40-man roster entering the season. The odds appear particularly long given the club’s plethora of options at the infield corners, including J.D. Davis, Wilmer Flores, and LaMonte Wade Jr. With that being said, the switch-hitting veteran sports a career .285/.337/.457 slash line across parts of 11 seasons in San Francisco and will surely bring his energy and veteran presence to the Giants clubhouse this spring, whether he manages to secure a role on the club’s bench for the 2024 campaign or not.

Mets Haven’t Yet Had Extension Talks With Pete Alonso

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Pete Alonso is slated to become a free agent after the 2024 season, and the first baseman told reporters (including Andrew Battifarano of the New York Post) that there hadn’t yet been any talks with the Mets about a long-term extension.  The only discussions between the two sides centered around the one-year, $20.5MM pact Alonso signed in January to avoid salary arbitration.

Alonso said that he would “welcome the idea” of remaining with the Mets for the rest of his career, saying “I definitely have envisioned myself being a lifelong Met, that’s something I’ve definitely thought about.  I love New York, it’s a really special place for my family….but I can’t predict the future.  And for me, I just want to focus on this season.”

Interestingly, Alonso said he is open to negotiating after Opening Day, which is something of a departure from most players’ stances on contract talks.  The majority of players set the opener as an unofficial deadline to complete negotiations so they can get into the season without any financial concerns weighing on their minds as they start play.  This deadline often isn’t absolute, of course, as it is common to see extensions announced a few days or even weeks into April, if the two sides are close enough to a deal by Opening Day that there’s willingness on both sides to finalize matters.

It also isn’t too unusual to see players sign extensions with their current teams with just a year remaining until free agency, though Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke about the difficulties of such deals (without naming Alonso specifically) during an interview back in January.  Alonso is also represented by Scott Boras, whose clients tend to test free agency rather than sign extensions, though Jose Altuve’s recent extension with the Astros is one of a few high-profile examples of Boras Corporation clients opting to stay put with just a season to go before the open market.

If anything, there has been a lot more trade speculation about Alonso than extension buzz, though Stearns stated even in January that he was “pretty darn confident” Alonso would still be in New York’s lineup on Opening Day.  A late deal could obviously still emerge in Spring Training if another team meets what is surely a big asking price, but if Alonso is dealt at all, a trade might be likelier closer to the trade deadline.  Or, if the Mets are in contention at the deadline, a trade might simply not come at all, and the team will retain Alonso through at least a pennant race.

Alonso drew interest back at last year’s trade deadline, when the Mets responded to their subpar season by moving a lot of veteran players in an effort to cut some salary and (more importantly) add some younger talent to the organization.  Alonso stayed put despite reported interest from teams such as the Cubs and Brewers, and Chicago has also reportedly inquired about Alonso’s services in trade talks this winter.  The Cubs have since addressed first base by acquiring Michael Busch from the Dodgers, though that doesn’t necessarily close on the door on an Alonso deal, considering the DH slot or the possibility that Busch could be flipped to the Mets or perhaps to another team to create room.

Owner Steve Cohen would ultimately be calling the shots when it entails the type of mega-contract it would take to retain a top-tier slugger like Alonso.  However, given how Cohen has finally landed Stearns to run the front office, it stands to reason that Cohen might not immediately overrule his PBO if Stearns doesn’t feel it would prudent to extend Alonso at the kind of price tag that Boras will naturally demand.  Such contracts are also somewhat uncharted territory for Stearns, since apart from Christian Yelich’s extension, Stearns didn’t have the financial resources in his past job with the Brewers to consider locking up star players as they approached free agency.

Diamondbacks Sign Randal Grichuk

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2:03PM: The Diamondbacks have officially announced Grichuk’s signing, and created 40-man roster space by moving right-hander Drey Jameson to the 60-day injured list.  Jameson underwent Tommy John surgery in September and is expected to miss the entire 2024 season.

10:45AM: The Diamondbacks have signed outfielder Randal Grichuk to a one-year deal worth $2MM in guaranteed money, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (X link).  Grichuk will earn $1.5MM in base salary in 2024, and there is a $500K buyout on a mutual option for the 2025 season.  If the mutual option is exercised by both sides, Grichuk will earn $6MM in 2025.  Grichuk is represented by Excel Sports Management.

Grichuk hit .267/.321/.459 with 16 homers over 471 plate appearance for the Rockies and Angels last season, translating to a perfectly average 100 wRC+ for the 32-year-old.  This matches the 100 wRC+ Grichuk has posted over his entire 10-year career in the Show, with a .249/.296/.465 slash line and 191 home runs over 4261 plate appearances.  Within those overall numbers sits a decidedly superior set of numbers against left-handed pitching, as the right-handed hitting Grichuk has an .822 career OPS against southpaws as compared to a .735 OPS against righties.

Since the start of the 2020 season, Grichuk’s splits have grown wider, as he has All-Star level numbers against lefties and sub-replacement level production against righties.  With the door quite possibly closing on Grichuk’s viability as an everyday player, this perhaps makes him an ideal fit for a Diamondbacks team looking for some right-handed balance within a lefty-heavy outfield mix.

Reports surfaced last week that Grichuk was one of the players the Snakes were eyeing as a veteran complement to outfielders Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas, as well as the newly-signed Joc Pederson.  All three of those players are left-handed bats and only Carroll is a lock for everyday duty, so Grichuk should be able to find plenty of at-bats filling in for Pederson or Thomas when a lefty is on the mound.  Grichuk can play all three outfield positions and is at least passable defensively in center, adding to his value as a part-timer.

Coming off a surprise NL pennant, the Diamondbacks have been aggressive in bolstering their roster this offseason.  Eduardo Rodriguez was signed to a four-year, $80MM contract, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was brought back for a three-year, $42MM commitment, and Pederson will earn $12.5MM in guaranteed money for his one-year deal (with a mutual option for 2025).  Between these signings, Grichuk, and the trade that brought Eugenio Suarez from the Mariners, Arizona has both upgraded the rotation and added a lot of balance, power, and veteran experience to the position player mix.

The D’Backs are projected to have a payroll slightly lower than $143MM next season, as per Roster Resource.  While still a pretty modest payroll by league-wide standards, it stands as the larger payroll in Arizona’s franchise history, and a sizeable bump over the club’s $116.1MM Opening Day payroll from 2023.  Between these expenditures and new extensions for both GM Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo, the Diamondbacks clearly feel 2023 was just the beginning of a new contention window, and have used their extra playoff revenue to reinvest in the roster.

Mariners Claim Levi Stoudt, Designate Canaan Smith-Njigba

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The Mariners announced that right-hander Levi Stoudt has been claimed off waivers from the Reds.  To create 40-man roster space, Seattle designated outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba for assignment.

The move is a bit of a homecoming for Stoudt, who returns to the organization that made him a third-round pick in the 2019 draft.  Stoudt was one of the four prospects the Mariners dealt to the Reds at the 2022 trade deadline as part of the Luis Castillo blockbuster, and Stoudt’s time in Cincinnati saw the 26-year-old make his Major League debut.  Appearing in four games last season, Stoudt posted a 9.58 ERA in his first 10 1/3 innings of big league work.

Despite the achievement of making it to the Show, 2023 was a difficult season overall for Stoudt, who had a 6.23 ERA in 82 1/3 innings with Triple-A Louisville.  The righty was rocked for 20 homers over those 82 1/3 frames, and his 58 strikeouts only slightly exceeded his 50 walks.  Stoudt has a decent fastball that averaged 94.4mph in his abbreviated MLB tenure but his strikeout rates have been decreasing over his three pro seasons while his control has always been somewhat inconsistent.

This was enough to make the Reds feel Stoudt was an expendable piece, as Cincinnati designated the righty earlier this week.  A return to the Mariners might help Stoudt get on track, and the M’s will get a chance to more closely evaluate him during Spring Training.  If Stoudt can stabilize his performance, he can act as a big league-ready depth arm to be called upon at Triple-A, should the Mariners be in need of a spot starter or long reliever to eat some innings.

Smith-Njigba’s time in Seattle might not last long, as the Mariners only claimed him off waivers from the Pirates 10 days ago.  Like Stoudt, the 24-year-outfielder also has a pretty brief MLB resume, posting a .493 OPS over 44 plate appearances with Pittsburgh over the last two seasons.  His numbers at the Triple-A level have been a lot more impressive, as Smith-Njigba has hit .273/.366/.439 in 686 PA with the Pirates’ top affiliate since the start of the 2021 campaign.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Smith-Njigba change teams again via waiver claim, if another club is intrigued by this Triple-A protection and the outfielder’s set of tools, even if Smith-Njigba has yet to really manifest his potential.  Baseball America ranked him as the 28th-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system, with concerns about a “lack of speed or defensive value,” but Smith-Njigba has power potential and an “above-average approach and a good balance of aggression and patience.”

Pirates Sign Chase Anderson To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates have signed Chase Anderson to a minors contract, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray (X link).  The veteran right-hander will receive an invitation to Pittsburgh’s big league Spring Training camp.

Anderson pitched for three different organizations in 2023, beginning when he signed a minor league deal with the Reds last offseason.  Cincinnati traded Anderson to Tampa in May before he could enact an out clause in his contract (since hadn’t yet been placed on the active roster), and Anderson made two relief appearances for the Rays before he was designated for assignment and then claimed off waivers by the pitching-needy Rockies.

The result was a 5.42 ERA over 86 1/3 innings in 2023, with all but five of those frames coming in a Rox uniform for the right-hander.  Anderson didn’t provide much in the way of results for Colorado and he missed around six weeks due to shoulder inflammation, but he at least ate some innings for a Rockies team desperate to find any healthy starters for any period of time.

The Pirates’ pitching situation isn’t as dire as Colorado’s, yet the Bucs are heading into 2024 with a lot of questions in their rotation.  Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales were acquired as bounce-back candidates, joining Mitch Keller and a host of younger and more unproven rotation candidates.  Rumors continue to swirl that Pittsburgh might yet bolster its rotation with a more higher-profile starter, but adding a veteran depth starter like Anderson is standard operation procedure for any team heading into Spring Training.

As he enters his age-36 season, Anderson is getting further and further away from his prime years with the Diamondbacks and Brewers.  Anderson posted a solid 3.94 ERA over 857 innings (starting 160 of 166 games) from 2014-19, but the last four years have been a major struggle.  Since the start of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Anderson has only a 6.19 ERA in 192 innings for five different teams at the Major League level.  Should he appear in a big league game with his new team, the Pirates will be the eighth different club of Anderson’s 11 MLB seasons.

Tanner Scott Wins Arbitration Hearing Against Marlins

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Left-hander Tanner Scott won his arbitration hearing with the Marlins, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (X link).  The Marlins were looking to pay Scott $5.15MM in 2023, but the reliever will instead earn his desired figure of $5.7MM.

The salary checks in just slightly under the $5.8MM that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected for Scott, but it’s still a very nice raise for the southpaw in his final year of arbitration eligibility.  Scott avoided arbitration in his first two winters of eligibility, and his $5.7MM salary is more than double the $2.825MM he earned in 2023.

The payday comes in the wake of the best season of Scott’s seven-year MLB career.  The lefty posted a 2.31 ERA over 78 innings for Miami, and only four pitchers topped Scott’s total of 74 appearances.  Beyond the durability, Scott’s Statcast page is a veritable sea of red, as he ranked in at least the 90th percentile of almost every major statistical category.  The eye-popping numbers included a 33.9% strikeout rate, 26.3% hard-hit ball rate, and 35.3% chase rate that all ranked among the league’s elite.

Scott’s 7.8% walk rate was modest in comparison, sitting at “only” the 60th percentile of all pitchers.  Yet this stat was perhaps the key element to Scott’s success, given how control problems have plagued his career — Scott had a career 14.2% walk rate prior to his greatly improved 7.8BB% last season.  Pundits and scouts have long felt that Scott had elite potential if he could ever harness his stuff, and 2023 is a very promising sign that Scott has now turned the corner at age 29.

Scott moved into the closer’s job down the stretch for Miami and looks to assume that same role heading into the coming season.  Since he is set to hit free agency next winter, Scott stands out as a potential trade chip if the Marlins aren’t in contention by the deadline.  There was even some speculative trade buzz around Scott this winter given the Marlins’ surplus of left-handed relievers, though the Fish already moved another southpaw last week when Steven Okert was dealt to the Twins for Nick Gordon.

Scott’s case was the final pending arbitration hearing of the 2023-24 offseason, and the players emerged with a winning record from this year’s slate of hearings.  Players won nine of the 15 cases that went to arbitration.

Rangers Notes: Jung, Duffy, Rotation

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TODAY: The MRI revealed a minor strain for Jung, according to RangersToday.com’s Jeff Wilson and other reporters.  Both Jung and manager Bruce Bochy feel Jung will be recovered for Opening Day, with some slight disagreement on the timeline — Jung said he’ll miss two weeks, while Bochy feels Jung will be sidelined for three weeks.

FEB. 16: Camp only just opened this week, but the Rangers are already facing one potentially worrisome injury situation. Third baseman Josh Jung experienced discomfort in his calf while fielding grounders today and is headed for an MRI, tweets Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com. The club will provide further details once the imaging has been performed and evaluated by medical personnel.

Jung just turned 26 years old this week and was the fourth-place finisher in American League Rookie of the Year voting this past season. The former No. 8 overall draft pick belted 23 home runs and slashed .266/.315/.467 with sharp defense at the hot corner. Were it not for a fractured left thumb that kept him out of action for six weeks, he’d very likely have been a top-three finisher and could’ve potentially even given eventual winner Gunnar Henderson a run for his money.

At this point, there’s no indication the team believes the injury to be serious, though the pending MRI exam suggests there’s at least some degree of concern. The Rangers are relatively deep in infield talent, so in the event that Jung needs to miss any time, they’ll have options. Ezequiel Duran stepped up in Duran’s absence last season, and Josh H. Smith has ample experience at the corner as well. Veteran Matt Duffy is in camp as a non-roster player this spring and would give the Rangers a solid glove and contact-oriented bat at the position if he makes the team.

On the topic of non-roster Duffys, Matt isn’t the only one in camp. Veteran left-hander Danny Duffy also inked a minor league pact with Texas this season and could be an important depth piece for a club that will open the season with Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle on the injured list and all likely out into the summer. The 35-year-old southpaw hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since the 2021 season due to injuries but has been with the Dodgers (2022) and Rangers (2023) for the past two seasons while working toward a return. Texas used him as a reliever in the minors in ’23, but Kennedi Landry of MLB.com tweets that Duffy is building up as a starter in camp this time around.

It’s a familiar role for Duffy, the longtime Royals hurler who’s made 204 of his 234 career appearances out of the rotation. Aside from a brief dalliance in the bullpen in 2015-16, Duffy was a fixture on Kansas City’s starting staff from 2014-21, during which time he logged a 3.82 ERA in 1015 innings while punching out 21.3% of his opponents against an 8.2% walk rate. Duffy is now 35 years old and hasn’t pitched in the bigs since undergoing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in Dec. 2021. He’s pitched a total of 42 1/3 innings in the minors across the past two seasons. Expecting a full bounceback to his peak Royals form isn’t realistic, but if he’s healthy he should be a legitimate option to help the staff.

Getting any contributions from Duffy or fellow non-roster invitees José Ureña and Adrian Sampson would be a boon for the Rangers. Texas is set to enter the season with a rotation including Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning and likely Cody Bradford. It’s a much weaker group than the World Series-winning outfit that finished out the 2023 season with Scherzer and current free agent Jordan Montgomery atop the staff. But general manager Chris Young has indicated he doesn’t anticipate any more additions to the big league roster at this point, strongly suggesting that the current group is the one the Rangers will carry into the season.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News takes a look at the in-house depth options that stalled out last season. Former top prospects Jack Leiter, Cole Winn, Owen White and Zak Kent all struggled in various ways in ’23. Righty Kumar Rocker, the No. 3 pick back in 2022, underwent Tommy John surgery last May.

That group was expected to produce some pivotal long-term rotation pieces, but each prospect has seen his stock drop amid poor performance and/or injury. Grant notes that Leiter, who was shut down for nearly two months last year to work on his mechanics, spent the offseason working out with American League Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray and veteran catcher Curt Casali. The trio all attended Vanderbilt (at different times, obviously). Gray worked with Leiter on simplifying his approach and his plan on the mound. Grant chatted not only with Leiter but also White and Kent about some of the changes they’ve made as they look to get back on track and contribute at a time when the Rangers will be leaning more heavily on internal pitching depth than at any point in 2023.

White Sox Sign Bryan Shaw To Minors Deal

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The White Sox announced that right-hander Bryan Shaw has been re-signed to a minor league contract.  The deal contains an invitation for Shaw to attend Chicago’s big league spring camp.

This is Shaw’s third minor league deal with the Pale Hose in a little under a year’s time, as he initially signed with the team last spring and then inked a new contract in April after not making the Opening Day roster.  Shaw was eventually selected twice to Chicago’s active roster during the season, with a DFA and an outright assignment in between.

On the field, Shaw delivered a 4.14 ERA over 45 2/3 innings out of the White Sox bullpen.  It was a nice bounceback from the 5.40 ERA that Shaw posted with the Guardians in 2022, as Shaw allowed a lot less hard contact and drastically cut back on his home run rate.  The righty’s 40.2% grounder rate was the lowest of his 13 MLB seasons, which was a bit of a concern since Shaw doesn’t miss many bats (only a 20.9% strikeout rate).  Shaw enjoyed a big finish to his year, as he had an 0.92 ERA over his last 18 appearances and 19 2/3 innings.

Shaw was a quality bullpen workhorse during his prime 2013-17 years with Cleveland, though his results have been much more inconsistent over the last six seasons.  Since Opening Day 2018, Shaw has a 5.07 ERA over 314 innings with the Rockies, Mariners, Guardians, and White Sox, with his 2021 and 2023 seasons standing out as the only successful campaigns within that six-year run.

Now entering his age-36 season, the White Sox can see what Shaw still has left in the tank, and there’s no risk for the club on just a minor league deal.  Depending on how things play out in camp, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Shaw perhaps again end up as a late cut, only to rejoin the Sox again on another minors contract once their roster situation is a little more settled.

Shaw’s return does provide one familiar face within a relief corps that has undergone a big overhaul both this winter and even dating back to last season’s trade deadline.  The five pitchers who made the most appearances for the White Sox last season (Aaron Bummer, Gregory Santos, Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo Lopez, Keynan Middleton) are no longer on the roster, while Shaw’s 45 2/3 frames ranked sixth on Chicago’s list.  While the Sox seem to be leaning towards a rebuild, however, they have also added some veteran arms to fill those gaps in the bullpen, such as John Brebbia, Tim Hill, and minor league signings like Shaw, Jesse Chavez, Dominic Leone, Corey Knebel, and several others.

Phillies Sign David Dahl To Minors Contract

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The Phillies have agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder David Dahl, according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman (via X).  The contract will become official when Dahl passes a physical.

Dahl didn’t see any big league action during the 2022 season, but he returned for a cup of coffee in the form of four games with the Padres at the start of the 2023 campaign.  A quad strain then sidelined Dahl for the better part of two months, and after San Diego released him in June, Dahl didn’t get another MLB call-up after signing another minors deal with the Dodgers.

The outfielder will now look for another fresh start in Philly, in what has become something of a journeyman career for the former top prospect.  Dahl was selected by the Rockies with the 10th overall pick of the 2012 draft, but his career has been marked by injuries, most notably a lacerated spleen suffered during an on-field collision while playing in the minors in 2015.  Debuting in the majors in 2016, Dahl hit .297/.346/.521 over 921 plate appearances with Colorado from 2016-19, and was named to the 2019 NL All-Star roster.

Dahl’s performance dropped off badly in 2020, to the point that the Rockies (surprisingly, at the time) non-tendered him that offseason.  Dahl signed with the Rangers but couldn’t regain his form, hitting .210/.247/.322 over 220 PA for Texas before being released in August 2021.  The Phillies are now the fifth team Dahl has joined on a minor league contract since he was cut loose by Texas.

Brandon Marsh underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last week and won’t get into any Spring Training games until early March, though the Phillies believe Marsh will be ready to go for Opening Day.  President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski didn’t think his team would look for outfield help in the wake of Marsh’s surgery, though between Dahl and yesterday’s deal with Whit Merrifield, the Phils have now signed two outfield-capable players in as many days.

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily indicate any concern over Marsh’s timeline, since Merrifield can also play second base and Dahl’s deal isn’t even guaranteed.  Dahl (like Marsh) is a left-handed hitter, so Philadelphia has a number of other lefty-swinging outfield candidates on the depth chart in Jake Cave, Simon Muzziotti, and Cal Stevenson.

Blue Jays, Daniel Vogelbach Agree To Minor League Deal

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TODAY: Vogelbach will earn $2MM if he makes the Jays’ active roster, as per Jon Heyman (via X).

FEB. 16: The Blue Jays are in agreement with designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach on a free agent deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). The ISE Baseball client inks a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (on X).

Vogelbach has spent the past year and a half in Queens. The Mets acquired the left-handed hitter from the Pirates in a swap for reliever Colin Holderman at the 2022 deadline. Vogelbach had a strong finish to the ’22 campaign, hitting .255/.393/.436 in 55 contests. He didn’t maintain that production last season.

In 319 plate appearances, Vogelbach hit .233/.339/.404 with 13 home runs. He walked at a strong 13.2% clip while striking out a little more than a quarter of the time. The overall offensive production was marginally above average, but it wasn’t the kind of performance needed to compensate for his limited role. Vogelbach didn’t log a single defensive inning and hasn’t started a game in the field since 2021. The Mets also shielded him almost completely from left-handed pitching. Vogelbach faced an opposing southpaw just 16 times all year.

There’s limited roster utility for a platoon DH. That puts a lot of pressure on Vogelbach to hit very well against right-handed pitching. He did that two seasons ago when he turned in a .261/.382/.497 line in pitcher-friendly home parks with Pittsburgh and New York. After last year’s diminished output, the Mets opted not to tender him an arbitration contract that would likely have landed in the $2-3MM range.

Vogelbach will battle in camp for the role that Brandon Belt played a year ago. The Jays deployed the longtime Giant as a lefty-hitting platoon DH. Belt had a strong season but now looks likely to sign elsewhere in free agency. The Jays brought in righty-swinging Justin Turner to serve as their primary DH and occasional option at the corner infield spots. Vogelbach isn’t going to take the larger half of a platoon from Turner, but he could vie for a spot as a lefty bench bat who picks up some starts at DH if Turner needs a day off or gets the nod in the infield.

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