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Cubs To Hire Darren Holmes As Bullpen Coach

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The Cubs are hiring Darren Holmes as bullpen coach and Mark Strittmatter to serve as catching coach, reports Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic. Those are expected to be the final two hires for Craig Counsell’s first staff in the Windy City.

Holmes joins the organization after four years in Baltimore. The Orioles initially hired him to work as bullpen coach going into the 2020 season. A winter later, he was promoted to assistant pitching coach. Holmes held that role under Chris Holt for three seasons before Baltimore changed its pitching voices this past October. Holt was moved back into an overhead role with the organization, while Holmes departed entirely.

The 57-year-old Holmes pitched parts of 13 seasons as a big league reliever. Before his time in Baltimore, he had spent five seasons as the bullpen coach in Colorado. He’ll bring plenty of experience to a relief corps led by Adbert Alzolay, Julian Merryweather and Mark Leiter Jr. Chicago relievers finished 13th in ERA (3.85) last season. They were fourth in strikeout rate (26%) but issued walks at an 11% clip that was lower only than the 12% mark posted by a rebuilding A’s club.

Strittmatter, 54, has worked with catchers in the Rockies organization for the better part of two decades. He had some experience on a big league staff before serving as minor league catching coordinator since 2013. Strittmatter briefly reached the majors as a player in 1998.

Sharma notes that the Cubs are expected to soon announce the entirety of the coaching staff. Holmes and Strittmatter will round out a group of previously-reported hirings including Ryan Flaherty as bench coach, returnee Dustin Kelly (hitting coach) and new addition John Mallee (assistant hitting coach) on the offensive side. Tommy Hottovy and Daniel Moskos are back as the lead and assistant pitching coaches, respectively. Mike Napoli and Willie Harris will return as the base coaches.

Amazon, Diamond Sports Discussing Potential Streaming Deal

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December 19: Evan Drellich of the Athletic reports that Diamond has streaming rights for five of the MLB teams whose broadcasting deals it covers: Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay. Even if an agreement between Amazon and Diamond is reached with regards to streaming, they would need to negotiate additional deals with MLB if they want to stream games for any of the other six clubs.

December 18: One of MLB’s bigger off-field stories of the past year has been the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group. The conglomerate’s struggles to meet its broadcasting deals has left teams contracted with Diamond — which operates the Bally Sports regional networks — in uncertain positions about the revenues they can expect from their local television contracts. That has been reflected in a few clubs (e.g. Padres, Rangers, Twins) cutting or plateauing spending.

As Diamond’s bankruptcy process continues, Lauren Thomas and Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal report that the corporation is engaged with Amazon about a potential multi-year streaming agreement. The discussions, which are not complete and would need to be approved by the bankruptcy court even if Diamond and Amazon reach an agreement, would see Amazon invest in Diamond with a goal of eventually acquiring streaming rights for teams on those broadcasts. Diamond would continue to operate its cable networks.

There has been a general expectation that Diamond’s reorganization will see the business abandon all of its broadcasting deals with MLB after the 2024 season. Evan Drellich of the Athletic wrote last week that Diamond and MLB were nearing agreement on a deal that would at least provide clarity on how which of its 11 contracts* it would honor for the ’24 campaign. The Athletic reported last month that the company was considering dropping its contracts with the Rangers and Guardians before next season.

Even if Diamond meets most or all of its obligations for next season, those clubs won’t have clarity on how things will play out in 2025 and beyond. The potential for Amazon to support the company in exchange for streaming opportunities offers some optimism, but it remains very early in that process.

* The Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Guardians, Marlins, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals and Tigers have existing contracts with Diamond. The company abandoned deals with the Padres and Diamondbacks during the 2023 season, while its contract with the Twins expired at the end of the year.

A’s, Trevor Gott Agree To Major League Deal

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December 19: The A’s have officially announced the signing of Gott to a one-year deal. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic relays the financials. Gott is guaranteed $1.5MM, with bonuses of $50K available for making 45 and 50 appearances. There’s a $100K bonus if he’s traded.

December 15: The A’s are in agreement with reliever Trevor Gott on a major league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (X link). Financial terms are not clear. The A’s have a full 40-man roster, meaning they’ll need to make a corresponding DFA once the contract is official. Gott is represented by Sports One Athlete Management.

Gott was non-tendered by the Mets. He’d been projected for a modest $2MM salary, but New York apparently didn’t envision him holding a middle innings spot all season. He should have that opportunity in Oakland, where he’s one of the most experienced pitchers in a bullpen full of uncertainty.

The 31-year-old righty has appeared in parts of eight MLB seasons, although he has between five and six years of service time overall. Gott has appeared with the Angels, Nationals, Giants, Brewers, Mariners and Mets over the course of his career. He turned in serviceable middle relief results between Seattle and New York this year, pitching to a 4.19 ERA through 58 innings.

Gott struck hitters out at an average 23.8% clip while walking fewer than 8% of opponents. He didn’t miss many bats on a per-pitch basis, generating swinging strikes on only 9.2% of his offerings. That came with a slight velocity dip. After averaging north of 95 MPH on his sinker and four-seam in 2022, he sat in the 93-94 MPH range last season.

Even in the absence of overpowering stuff, Gott posted better results than most Oakland relievers. Only the Rockies and Royals had a higher bullpen ERA than the 5.20 mark turned in by the A’s. Among the team’s relievers with 20+ frames, Austin Pruitt, Trevor May and Dany Jiménez worked to a sub-4.00 ERA. Pruitt was waived and elected free agency; May retired. Jiménez found his decent results in 22 1/3 innings with mediocre strikeout and walk rates.

Gott could therefore pick up some high-leverage work for skipper Mark Kotsay. He’ll return to free agency again next winter. As a decent veteran arm on what’s surely a low-cost guarantee, he could find himself on the move for a mid-level prospect at next summer’s trade deadline.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Red Sox Hire Dillon Lawson To Hitting Coordinator Role

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The Red Sox have hired Dillon Lawson to a hitting coordinator role, with Lawson himself relaying the news to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. Lawson will be working primarily with Boston’s upper-level minor leaguers.

Lawson was hired to work in the Yankees’ organization in 2018 and made the jump to that club’s major league hitting coach prior to the 2022 season. With the club later struggling in 2023, the Yanks made the surprising decision to fire Lawson in July, the first time they fired a coach mid-season since Brian Cashman became general manager in 1998.

Sean Casey took over for that job for the second half and didn’t really have much of an obvious impact. It’s always difficult to assign blame or credit when it comes to coaches and the players they work with, but the Yanks had a wRC+ of 96 before Lawson was fired this year and a 92 after. Casey decided not to come back for 2024, with the Yankees hiring James Rowson to take on the hitting coach job next year.

Per Kuty’s report, Lawson is already familiar with some employees of the Red Sox, including Jason Ochart, Peter Fatse, Ben Rosenthal and Luis Ortiz. “I’m excited to be joining a great team that’s already moving in the right direction,” Lawson said.

Royals, Kris Bubic Avoid Arbitration

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The Royals announced today that they have avoided arbitration with left-hander Kris Bubic. The southpaw will make $2.35MM next year, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. That’s just a bit below the $2.4MM projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

Bubic, 26, was selected 40th overall in the 2018 draft, which was a notable pivot point for the franchise. The club had five picks in the first 58 selections of that draft and used all of those on pitchers: Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch IV, Bubic and Jonathan Bowlan. The fact that none of those picks has worked out exactly as hoped is a significant part of the club struggling to emerge from a lengthy rebuild.

In the case of Bubic, he had a 4.89 earned run average at the end of the 2022 season, having logged 309 innings at the major league level to that point. He came into 2023 looking to have made some improvements but required Tommy John surgery in April. He’ll surely begin the 2024 campaign on the injured list but could perhaps rejoin the club’s rotation by midseason.

How much stock to put into his strong start in 2023 is a matter of debate. On the one hand, it was just three starts and 16 innings, so small sample size caveats obviously apply. But if one wanted to put an optimistic spin on it, that wouldn’t be totally unjustified. A 3.94 ERA in three starts isn’t mind-blowing, but he had a .375 batting average on balls in play in that time. His 2.63 FIP and 3.55 SIERA suggest he may have deserved better. His 23.5% strikeout rate was solid but his 2.9% walk rate and 52.1% ground ball rate were both very strong.

For those looking for a deeper dive, both Eno Sarris of The Athletic and Jake Mailhot of FanGraphs took a look at Bubic last year and found things to like. The lefty was featuring increased velocity, a different release point and a new slider. Perhaps the changed arsenal provides an explanation for the better results, but it is still a very small sample.

The Royals have signed a couple of free agents to bolster their rotation, inking both Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. Those two should join Cole Ragans, Singer, Jordan Lyles and Daniel Lynch IV in the rotation mix. Bubic will hopefully force his way into the picture at some point, depending on how his rehab progresses in the coming months.

Bubic qualified for arbitration last year as a Super Two player, earning $2.2MM in 2023. He will be limited to a fairly similar salary in 2024, a reflection of his mostly lost season. He’ll be eligible for two more arbitration passes before he’s slated for free agency after 2026.

Dodgers Acquire Tyler Glasnow, Manuel Margot; Glasnow Signed To Contract Extension

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December 19: Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the extension is actually valued at $111,562,500 over four years, with Glasnow to make $30MM from 2025 to 2027. The player option in 2028 is valued at $21,562,500, slightly higher than previous reporting. Heyman’s framing also suggests that Glasnow will choose on his option first. If he turns it down, then the Dodgers will get to decide whether or not to trigger a $30MM club option.

December 16, 3:33pm: USAToday’s Bob Nightengale relays the full contract breakdown for Glasnow, reporting that the 2028 player option is worth $21.5MM. This accounts for the previously unexplained $1.5MM discrepancy between the reported contract breakdown and the Dodgers’ announced $136.5MM figure.

12:08pm: The Dodgers and Rays finalized the four-player trade that will sent right-hander Tyler Glasnow, outfielder Manuel Margot, and $4MM in cash considerations to Los Angeles in exchange for right-hander Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny Deluca.  News of the trade first broke a few days ago, with the final hurdle being the Dodgers’ ability to sign Glasnow to a contract extension.  That deal has now also been completed, with L.A. announcing that Glasnow has agreed to a new long-term pact worth $136.5MM.  Glasnow is represented by Wasserman.

As per the terms reported yesterday by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the new contract will see Glasnow earn $110MM in new money over the course of the 2025-28 seasons.  Glasnow was already slated to earn $25MM in 2024 according to the terms of his prior contract with the Rays, and the new deal with L.A. breaks down as $90MM in salary over the 2025-27 seasons, and then the Dodgers hold a $30MM club option on Glasnow’s services for 2028.  If the team declines that option, Glasnow can exercise a $20MM player option for 2028.  Since Passan’s numbers only add up to $135MM rather than the Dodgers’ announced figure of $136.5MM, that extra $1.5MM has yet to be accounted for, possibly a signing bonus or a bit of extra guaranteed money on one of the years.

Unlike Shohei Ohtani’s $700MM mega-deal with the Dodgers from last week, Glasnow’s extension doesn’t contain any deferred money.  As such, it will be entirely portioned out onto the Dodgers’ luxury tax bills based on a $27.3MM average annual value over the next five seasons.  According to Roster Resource’s calculations, Los Angeles has an estimated luxury tax number of roughly $253.7MM for 202 — still under the $257MM secondary CBT tier, thanks to all of Ohtani’s deferrals lowering his tax-related AAV to $46MM per season.  Still, with a number of roster needs still be addressed, the Dodgers’ tax bill could certainly still approach or exceed the next penalty tier of $277MM between now and Opening Day.

Glasnow has been seen as a possible trade candidate basically since the moment he inked his previous two-year, $30.35MM extension with Tampa Bay during the 2022 season.  Signed when Glasnow was recovering from Tommy John surgery, the deal saw $25MM of the salary backloaded into the 2024 season, making it likely that the cost-conscious Rays would try to unload the right-hander beforehand.

The 30-year-old’s availability dovetailed with the Dodgers’ need for pitching this winter, as the Los Angeles rotation is full of injury-related question marks (i.e. Walker Buehler, and possibly Dustin May at midseason), pitchers without much big league experience (Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove, Gavin Stone), and a swingman in Ryan Yarbrough who may be best suited for bullpen duty.  Pepiot was another member of that young crop of arms, but he’ll now head to Tampa Bay as he enters his third season of MLB duty.

In moving Glasnow and Margot and factoring in the $4MM in cash considerations, the Rays unloaded $33MM worth of salary for two players making the Major League minimum, in a move reminiscent of many budget-trimming, sell-high types of trades Tampa has become known for over the years.  The Rays’ success rate in these deals is almost a cliche by this point, and even if Tampa Bay fans have become weary of the team’s continual roster churn and perpetually low-spending ways, the Rays’ ability to field competitive teams speaks for itself.  Pepiot figures to step right into the rotation spot left open by Glasnow, while Deluca may not be guaranteed a spot in the Opening Day outfield, but he’ll at least be part of the shuttle heading back and forth between Triple-A since the outfielder has two minor league option years remaining.

The right-handed hitting Margot figures to move into a part-time role in the Dodgers’ outfield picture, acting as a complement to the left-handed James Outman and Jason Heyward.  Margot has played primarily as a center fielder and right fielder, thus lining up well with Outman and Heyward’s projected positions.  Mookie Betts will be taking over as the Dodgers’ new everyday second baseman in 2024, so it’s safe to guess that L.A. will aim to add more outfield depth if Betts will be spending most of his time on the dirt.

MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams broke down the Glasnow extension in larger detail yesterday, while Darragh McDonald outlined the news of the four-player trade agreement for MLBTR on Thursday.  Jack Azoulay-Haron of MLB Nerds and Bruce Kuntz of Dodgers Digest first reported the four principal players in the trade.  Jon Heyman of The New York Post first relayed that a Glasnow extension was a possibility. Jeff Passan of ESPN relayed that the deal was agreed to, contingent on the extension.  Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first relayed the Rays’ inclusion of the $4MM in salary offset.

Yankees Claim Jeter Downs From Nationals

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The Yankees announced that they have claimed infielder Jeter Downs off waivers from the Nationals. The infielder was designated for assignment a week ago when the Nats signed right-hander Dylan Floro.

Downs, 25, was once a prospect of note, having been selected 32nd overall by the Reds in 2017 and later appearing on top 100 lists. His time as a minor leaguer saw him change organizations twice as part of a major trade, first going to the Dodgers in a seven-player swap and then to the Red Sox in the deal for Mookie Betts and David Price. The Yankees now have two of the three players that went to Boston in that deal, having acquired Alex Verdugo earlier this month and leaving the Sox with just Connor Wong.

But as for Downs, he hasn’t yet delivered on that prospect hype. In 963 minor league plate appearances over the past three years, he has hit just .200/.309/.365 for a wRC+ of 80. Due to that performance, he’s been allowed to make just 50 trips to the plate at the major league level, with a slash of just .182/.260/.273 in those. The Sox put him on waivers prior to 2023, with the Nats putting in a claim but now letting him go via the same door he came in.

Despite that tepid offensive production, there’s little harm in the Yankees putting in a claim. They had three open roster spots to work with, as this claim brings their 40-man count to 38. Downs still has an option, meaning he can be stashed in the minors as depth for the upcoming season, if he sticks on the 40-man for that long. It’s also worth pointing out that he’s still young and could perhaps turn the narrative of his career around.

The Yanks are currently slated to have an infield of DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo with Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera in the mix for bench/utility roles. Downs has played all three infield spots to the left of first base and even had a brief stint in center field this year, allowing him to provide some depth at various spots.

Royals Designate Max Castillo For Assignment

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The Royals announced today their previously-reported deal with outfielder Hunter Renfroe, signing him to a one-year contract with a player option for 2025. In a corresponding move, right-hander Max Castillo has been designated for assignment.

Castillo, 24, was one of two prospects acquired in the 2022 trade that sent Whit Merrifield from Kansas City to Toronto. (Infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor was the other.) Castillo has logged big league time in each of the past two seasons, pitching to a combined 5.43 ERA in 59 2/3 frames.

Castillo has punched out a below-average 18.1% of his opponents against a higher-than average 9.3% walk rate. Castillo was quite homer-prone in 2022 but yielded just two long balls in 20 1/3 innings this past season (0.89 HR/9). However, his strikeout rate plummeted from 21.8% in ’22 to just 11.2% this past season as he greatly upped the usage of his slider at the expense of his four-seamer and changeup.

In parts of two Triple-A seasons, Castillo has posted a 4.43 ERA in 164 2/3 innings, showing solid command but below-average strikeout abilities in that time. As a prospect, he was viewed as a potential fifth starter or reliever. It’s possible that another club could yet help him reach that level, but the Royals’ aggressive offseason on the free agent market is clear proof that they’re ready to turn the page on some of the in-house options in whom they’d previously been holding out hope.

Castillo still has a minor league option remaining and won’t turn 25 until May, so he could hold some appeal to another club looking for pitching depth — one that hasn’t overhauled its roster by signing six free agents to big league deals and acquiring a seventh (Nick Anderson) via trade. Presumably, the Royals explored potential trades of Castillo before today’s DFA, as they’d previously moved Jonathan Heasley, Edward Olivares and Taylor Clarke in DFA-motivated trades. But another club could still be interested in a waiver claim or perhaps a cash swap if that hadn’t been on the table before.

Padres Reportedly Close To Signing Yuki Matsui

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The Padres are close to signing a deal with free agent left-hander Yuki Matsui, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Earlier, Jon Morosi of MLB.com (X links) reported that the Friars had offered Matsui a contract and also relayed a Japanese-language report from Sankei Sports. The Google translation of that report says that the southpaw has already undergone a medical check, though it seems nothing is official quite yet. Morosi relays that it will be a multi-year deal, though the financial are not yet known at this time.

Matsui, 28, is a left-handed reliever that has 10 years of experience in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, having debuted back in 2014. He has an earned run average of 2.40 in his 501 career games, tossing 659 2/3 innings. He has 236 saves in that time, including at least 24 in each of the past three campaigns. He’s coming off a strong 2023 season as well, with a tiny ERA of 1.57 while recording 39 saves. He struck out 32.4% of batters faced this year while walking just 5.9%.

In addition to his excellent results, Matsui is notable for his size, listed at just 5’8″ and 167 pounds. That unusual frame didn’t stop MLB clubs from having interest, with the Cardinals having recently hosted Matsui in St. Louis, though the Padres will apparently be the one to seal the deal.

Beyond his skills, Matsui surely intrigued clubs due to the fact that he reached proper free agency by reaching nine years of service time. Unlike some other pitchers coming over from Japan, such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Matsui isn’t currently connected to any NPB club. That means the MLB club that signs him won’t be subject to a posting fee on top of the contract itself.

Matsui has consistently featured on MLBTR’s NPB Players to Watch series this year, with Dai Takegami Podziewski reporting on Matsui’s four-pitch mix, featuring a fastball, splitter, slider and curveball. The southpaw reportedly had some trouble adapting to the ball in the World Baseball Classic, which is closer to the one used in MLB. There’s always some uncertainty with foreign players since they are unproven in North America, and while Matsui’s size and issues with the WBC ball perhaps add to that, clubs are often intrigued by the possibility of unearthing a hidden gem.

That’s especially true of the Padres, for whom the budget has been a focus all year. Due to the ongoing bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, the club’s broadcast rights reverted to MLB during the year. It was later reported that the Friars took out a loan to cover expenses and all recent reporting has pointed to a drop in payroll relative to recent years, likely resulting in them staying under the competitive balance tax in 2024.

Their offseason moves to this point have mostly been about clearing out payroll space. The Padres sent outfielders Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Yankees for five players, then sent lefty Ray Kerr to Atlanta as a means to get some of Matt Carpenter’s contract off the books.

Roster Resource currently pegs the club CBT number at $205MM for next year, with the base threshold to be $237MM. That gives the club a bit of room to work with but they still have some things to do. They likely want to find two outfielders to replace Soto and Grisham while also perhaps looking for a designated hitter and some more starting pitching.

But the bullpen is also an issue, with Josh Hader, Nick Martinez, Luis García and Tim Hill now free agents. That means the club will have work to do just to get back to 2023 levels, when their relievers posted a collective ERA of 3.80, the tenth-best mark in the league.

No one is going to expect Matsui to replace Hader as one of the best relievers in the league, but he can certainly bolster the club’s southpaw relief mix, which currently consists of Tom Cosgrove and Adrián Morejón. The former had a solid season in 2023 but still has less than a year of major league experience, while the latter has had ongoing injury issues and is coming off a poor showing this year. Perhaps this is the first of many moves as the Padres pivot from subtracting salary to adding it, looking to fill out the roster for 2024.

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