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Dodgers Could Be Looking To Upgrade At Shortstop

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While the Dodgers went 100-62 last season en route to their tenth division title in the past 11 years, even they weren’t without their weak spots. One such weakness was at shortstop, where the Dodgers finished among the bottom five NL teams in OPS, wRC+, and FanGraphs WAR.

Gavin Lux, the presumptive starter at the position, suffered a season-ending injury in spring training, and his primary replacement, the veteran Miguel Rojas, had his worst offensive season since 2016. Versatile defenders Mookie Betts and Chris Taylor filled in capably from time to time, but neither is a full-time shortstop and ultimately, for lack of better options, the Dodgers were left counting on an aging Rojas far too often.

Rojas is under contract through 2024, but the Dodgers will ask him to play a backup role going forward – the role he was supposed to play last season before Lux tore his ACL. For his part, Lux expects to be back on the field next year, and the Dodgers expect him to be their everyday shortstop.

During the General Managers Meetings in early November, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) the team was optimistic Lux would be ready to resume his role as the primary shortstop in 2024. The exec repeated the message just before the Winter Meetings, telling members of the media, “Our thought is that he’s going to be our shortstop” (as relayed by Cary Osborne of Dodger Insider).

Lux was once a top-100 prospect, and he finally started to live up to his top-prospect billing in 2022, when he posted a 114 wRC+ and 3.0 fWAR in 129 games. If he can hit like that and play a serviceable shortstop in 2024, the Dodgers will be thrilled. However, that’s a lot to ask for from a largely unproven player entering his age-26 season and coming off a major injury. What’s more, Lux has only started 50 games at shortstop in his major league career, and he hasn’t been a primary shortstop since his 2019 season in the minor leagues. Even if he is fully healthy in 2024, he’s far from a sure thing.

As for the team’s other internal options? They’ve already tried them all. Betts and Taylor can cover shortstop on occasion, but they aren’t the answer, and besides, they’re needed at other positions. Then there’s Rojas, who just can’t hit enough anymore to hold down an everyday role.

With all that in mind, it’s not too surprising the Dodgers are considering an external fix. Per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, the Dodgers “could upgrade” at shortstop, according to “a person familiar with the situation.”

Ardaya mentions Brewers shortstop Willy Adames, who the Dodgers were interested in last offseason, as a potential trade candidate. Indeed, the 28-year-old would certainly be an upgrade. Even in a down year last season, he was close to league average at the plate and elite in the field, hitting for a 94 wRC+ and recording 16 Outs Above Average. Over the past three years, Adames ranks ninth among primary shortstops with 11.3 fWAR.

However, after Adames, it’s hard to identify other shortstops who would count as an upgrade. Free agent Tim Anderson is a former All-Star, but he’s coming off a dreadful season in which he hit .245/.286/.296 with just one home run. He also made 14 errors and posted negative numbers by nearly every defensive metric. Fellow free agent Amed Rosario is coming off a disappointing season of his own, and although he played better after a midseason trade to the Dodgers, a big part of that was because the Dodgers decided to use him primarily at second base. Meanwhile, the next best trade candidate might be Jorge Mateo, who has become the odd man out in a crowded Orioles infield. However, while he boasts a slick glove, he had even worse offensive numbers than Rojas last season.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto To Meet With Teams Within The Next Week

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Japanese superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto is getting closer to Major League Baseball, both literally and figuratively. According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the 25-year-old right-hander is coming to the United States “within the next week” to begin in-person meetings with his MLB suitors.

As previously reported by Andy Martino of SNY, Yamamoto planned to hold initial meetings with all interested teams over the phone or Zoom before traveling to North America to meet with the finalists for his services. Presumably, the phone call stage of the process is wrapping up, which suggests the star pitcher has already begun to narrow down his options. It remains unclear how many teams Yamamoto will be speaking with, although Puma reports that the Mets are one of the clubs to secure a meeting with the five-time NPB All-Star.

Martino’s initial report indicated that Yamamoto would not sign until after the Winter Meetings, and Puma’s update seems to confirm that timeline. While the righty must sign before his posting window closes on January 4 (if he is going to sign with an MLB team at all), that still gives him just over a month to make his choice.

There might not be much news about Yamamoto during the Winter Meetings, but still, it will be interesting to see how his timeline affects the rest of the starting pitching market. Plenty of teams are pursuing the righty, and they might prefer to wait until he signs elsewhere before turning to Plan B. Similarly, frontline starters like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery might be waiting for Yamamoto to set the market, which could make this a quiet week on the starting pitching front. Then again, perhaps teams with starters to trade will take advantage of such a lull; Tyler Glasnow of the Rays and Dylan Cease of the White Sox are already generating interest as the Winter Meetings get underway.

Trade Notes: Cease, Glasnow, Braves

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The free agent market for pitchers has been much more active than for position players so far this winter. Seven of MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents have signed new deals, and six have been pitchers: Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda, Reynaldo López, Nick Martinez, and Luis Severino. Moreover, 11 different pitchers have already signed for $10MM or more; no position player has crossed the eight-figure threshold.

Still, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto unlikely to sign during the Winter Meetings, it’s possible the market for starting pitching could slow down, as suitors wait for Yamamoto to make his decision and other frontline starters (namely Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery) wait for Yamamoto to set the going rate. With that in mind, perhaps the various starting pitchers on the trade block will draw even more attention during the next four days.

Indeed, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the market for 2022 Cy Young runner-up Dylan Cease is “robust,” noting that the Dodgers, Braves, and Orioles – among other teams – are involved in trade talks with the White Sox. Further clubs that have been linked to Cease in recent days include the Mets and Cardinals.

Last week, Morosi reported that discussions around Cease had “intensified” and suggested a deal before the Winter Meetings was “increasingly possible.” However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic threw cold water on that rumor, reporting that White Sox general manager Chris Getz would most likely wait to trade Cease until more of the top free agent starters were off the board. While no further frontline starters have signed in the last few days, Morosi’s report about the robust market for Cease at the Winter Meetings is enough to rekindle speculation about a potential trade in the coming days. After all, if the White Sox have their eye on any particular trade chips, they’d be smart to strike before those chips are spent on Tyler Glasnow or Shane Bieber instead.

Some more trade-related news from around baseball…

  • Speaking of Glasnow, the Rays starter is generating a great deal of interest, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. While it shouldn’t come as any surprise that plenty of teams would love the right-hander in their rotation – he had a 3.53 ERA and 3.08 SIERA in 21 starts last season – it is noteworthy that he’s drawing so much interest so soon. His $25MM salary for the 2024 season is much more than Cease or Bieber will earn in arbitration, and there are plenty of free agent pitchers available who will only cost money, rather than money and prospects. Evidently, however, his talent is enough to outweigh his price tag.
  • Speaking on a Zoom call with members of the media, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos emphasized that the team is not planning to trade any of its young players signed to long-term extensions (as relayed by Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). While Anthopoulos qualified his statement with the caveat of “special circumstances,” the executive stressed with “absolute, fierce confidence” that he is “extremely unlikely” to trade anyone from his cost-controlled young core. That group includes Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, Spencer Strider, and 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., all of whom are under team control through at least the 2027 season.

Braves Acquire Jarred Kelenic, Marco Gonzales, Evan White From Mariners

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The Braves have acquired outfielder Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, left-hander Marco Gonzales and first baseman Evan White are also headed to Atlanta in the deal. In return, the Mariners will receive right-handers Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips. The Braves have since announced the deal, which includes cash considerations headed from Seattle to Atlanta.

Kelenic, the sixth-overall pick in the 2018 draft and a former consensus top-5 prospect in the sport, struggled to a .168/.251/.338 slash line in 558 trips to the plate across his first two seasons in the majors. Despite the brutal start to Kelenic’s big league career, he managed to put together a solid campaign in 2023 as Seattle’s regular left fielder. In 416 trips to the plate across 105 games, the youngster slashed a solid .253/.327/.419. Now Kelenic, who is not yet eligible for arbitration, heads to Atlanta with five seasons of team control remaining coming off a career-best season in the majors where he posted a wRC+ of 108.

Even that performance came with some red flags, however. While Kelenic walked at an above average 9.9% clip, his 31.7% strikeout rate ranked in just the seventh percentile among qualified hitters and his overall slash line surely benefited from a .359 BABIP. He also struggled considerably after a hot April, slashing just .235/.314/.356 the rest of the way. That said, it’s worth noting that Kelenic, who will play the 2024 season at just age-24, posted a .321 wOBA in 2023 that was actually 12 points lower than his expected number of .333. Additionally, his .359 BABIP in 2023 may not be as outlandish as his career .268 mark in the majors may suggest, as he’s never posted a BABIP lower than .323 at the Triple-A level in a season during his career. In addition, it’s possible his late-season numbers are skewed by the fact that the 24-year-old missed more than two months after he suffered a fractured foot from kicking a water cooler back in July.

Looking ahead to 2024, The Athletic’s David O’Brien relays that the Braves plan to have Kelenic and Vaughn Grissom compete for the everyday role in left field during the spring, with a platoon situation between the two possible as Grissom looks to split time between the left field and the infield dirt. That said, it certainly seems possible that Kelenic could earn an everyday role in Atlanta if he shows his step forward in 2023 wasn’t a fluke. Even if Kelenic simply repeats his 2023 campaign he would represent a notable upgrade over Eddie Rosario, who drew 122 starts in left field for the Braves last year while slashing just .255/.305/.450 (100 wRC+) in 516 trips to the plate.

To acquire Kelenic, the Braves take on the salaries of both Gonzales and White. Gonzales is owed $12.25MM in 2024, while White is owed $7MM in 2024, $8MM in 2025, and a $2MM buyout on a $10MM club option for 2026. While it’s not currently known how much cash Atlanta received in the deal, it’s fair to assume the Braves are taking on the majority of that nearly $30MM in guaranteed money, including $19.25MM in dollars owed this next season. Before accounting for the cash received from Seattle, the deal pushes Atlanta’s 2024 payroll to just over $224MM and just under $261MM for luxury tax purposes, per RosterResource. If that projection holds going forward, it would put the Braves just over the second luxury tax threshold, which sits at $257MM for the 2024 campaign.

Gonzales, 32 in February, struggled to a 5.22 ERA in 50 innings across ten starts this season before undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a nerve issue in his forearm. Gonzales is expected to be ready for Spring Training in 2024 and, if healthy, could provide the Braves with a serviceable back-end rotation option who could give competition to Reynaldo Lopez and Bryce Elder in Spring Training. Prior to his injury-marred 2023 season, Gonzales had been a reliable source of innings for the Mariners in recent years, averaging 174 innings of work across four 162-game seasons between 2018 and 2022. Gonzales’s contract includes a $15MM club option for the 2025 season that does not include a buyout, though Gonzales would likely have to take a significant step forward in 2024 for the Braves to consider exercising that option.

White, 27, does not figure to be a contributor to the Braves over the life of his contract. The former top prospect owns a career .165/.235/.308 slash line in the majors and has not appeared in the big leagues since May 2021. Over the past two seasons, White has appeared in just 30 professional games with a slash line of just .200/.310/.397 at the Triple-A level during that time. White spent almost the entire 2023 campaign on the 60-day IL, first due to a left adductor strain and then thanks to hip surgery, though he too is expected to be ready for Spring Training.

In addition to taking on the salaries of White and Gonzales, the Braves parted with a pair of interesting young arms in Kowar and Phillips. Kowar’s stay in the Braves organization was a short one, as the righty had just been acquired from the Royals last month as the return in the Kyle Wright trade. As a former top-100 prospect and Kansas City’s first-round pick in the 2018 draft, Kowar is an intriguing piece despite his struggles in the majors to this point in his career. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted at the time of his trade to Atlanta, Kowar averaged 97 mph on his fastball in 2023 after converting to full-time relief duties and thanks to his eligibility for a fourth option year in 2024 figures to provide the Mariners with a fireballing, optionable relief arm headed into next season. Phillips, meanwhile, was Atlanta’s second-round pick in the 2022 draft. The 20-year-old has not yet made his professional debut after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but ranked as the Braves’ #7 prospect per MLB Pipeline prior to the swap.

As for the Mariners, the club is clearly in the midst of retooling their lineup. The club has traded both Kelenic and third baseman Eugenio Suarez and non-tendered DH Mike Ford since the offseason began while watching Teoscar Hernandez depart via free agency, leaving four major holes in the club’s lineup. That being said, the departures of those four players figure to help Seattle in their quest to improve their lineup’s contact skills next season; each of the aforementioned hitters struck out more than 30% of the time in 2024. Parting ways with four of the league’s most punchout prone bats is an excellent start toward that goal, even as the club faces an uphill battle in replacing the quartet’s production.

While replacing four members of the club’s starting lineup is no easy task, Seattle at least figures to have plenty of payroll space with which to accomplish that goal. RosterResource projects the club for a payroll of just $115MM in 2024 pending the addition of cash considerations sent to Atlanta, while Adam Judge of The Seattle Times notes that president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto indicated today that the club’s payroll will “very likely” rise in 2024 relative to its 2023 total. The Mariners posted a payroll of $140MM in 2023, meaning the club should have more than $25MM worth of room to make additions to their lineup, though it’s unclear how much Seattle is willing to surpass that $140MM figure.

Even with that amount of money available for additions, it’s worth noting that the club would need to significantly increase payroll over its 2023 levels to be able to make even one impact addition on the level of, for example, Cody Bellinger or Juan Soto. Given the number of holes the Mariners will need to fill in their lineup, it seems more likely that the club will be limited to adding mid-level salaries to its payroll. The free agent market is unlikely to offer many solutions, with the best mid-level bats such as Hernandez and Matt Chapman being among the more strikeout-prone players available this winter.

That said, the club has reportedly discussed deals for both outfielder Randy Arozarena and third baseman Isaac Paredes with the Rays recently. Adding even one of those players would surely require significant capital in terms of prospects and young players, though it’s worth noting that the Rays appear to be on the hunt for controllable starting pitching, which the Mariners have an excess of. Speculatively speaking, swinging a deal for Paredes and/or Arozarena would allow Seattle to shore up its lineup without breaking the bank, allowing the club to pursue contact-oriented bats like Lourdes Gurriel Jr. or Whit Merrifield in free agency.

Astros, Diamondbacks Interested In Tucker Barnhart

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Veteran catcher Tucker Barnhart is drawing interest from teams in need of catching depth, per Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. Alexander adds that the Astros and Diamondbacks are among the teams with interest in Barnhart’s services.

Barnhart, 33 in January, was selected in the tenth round of the 2009 draft by the Reds and made his big league debut with the club back in 2014. A veteran of ten major league seasons, Barnhart has fashioned a lengthy major league career as a glove-first option behind the plate. Though he has never posted a wRC+ higher than 90 in his career and sports a career slash line of just .217/.289/.312, Barnhart emerged as one of the better defensive catchers in the league over his time in the majors. His +8 Fielding Run Value (per Statcast) in 2021 was tied for the third-best figure among all catchers that season, behind only Sean Murphy and Buster Posey. Combined with an 81 wRC+ in 2021 that was roughly average for a catcher that season, Barnhart had the look of a decent regular behind the plate when he was swapped from the Reds to the Tigers that offseason.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse for the veteran from there. Barnhart’s 2022 season was the worst offensive campaign he had delivered since his 21-game cup of coffee in the majors during the 2014 season. That said, Barnhart’s reputation as a quality defender behind the plate earned the veteran a two-year deal with the Cubs in free agency following the 2022 campaign despite his weak .221/.287/.267 slash line in 94 games with the Tigers.

That two-year pact proved to be a blunder on Chicago’s part, as Barnhart’s offense collapsed even further with a wRC+ of just 53 in 2023. Among players with at least as many major league plate appearances as Barnhart (123) in 2023, just 23 hitters posted a worse offensive season by that metric. Barnhart’s struggles and the emergence of youngster Miguel Amaya behind the plate in Chicago led the Cubs to designate Barnhart for assignment in mid-August. He caught on with the Dodgers on a minor league deal shortly thereafter but did not crack the club’s 40-man roster down the stretch, leaving him to return to free agency this winter.

While Barnhart appears to be a fringe option for even a backup role at this stage of his career, his decade of experience at the major league level and solid defensive reputation behind the plate could make him a worthwhile depth option for a club short on big league caliber catchers. Both Arizona and Houston fit that description, as each club has just two catchers on their 40-man roster with minimal depth in the upper minors. Barnhart is still owed $3.25MM from the Cubs in 2024 thanks to his aforementioned two-year pact with the club. That means that he could be a particularly valuable depth option for clubs as he would only need to be paid the pro-rated big league minimum for any time spent on the 40-man roster next year, allowing a payroll-conscious organization to cover for an injury to their primary catching tandem on the cheap.

East Notes: Red Sox, Mets, Taylor, Arozarena

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The Red Sox are known to be interested in adding to the front of their rotation this winter, though Alex Speier of the Boston Globe suggests that desire could come with a major caveat. Speier relays that the club prefers to avoid signing a player attached to a Qualifying Offer. President of baseball operations Craig Breslow neither confirmed nor denied that preference when asked about it by reporters, acknowledging that while there are instances where a player being attached to draft pick compensation “shouldn’t be an impediment or deterrent,” there are also other situations where a QO could be an obstacle.

Of course, such a preference wouldn’t completely shut the door on a top-of-the-market arm for the Red Sox. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery isn’t attached to draft pick compensation after being dealt from the Cardinals to the Rangers midseason, while posted NPB stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga are both free of a qualifying offer as well. With both Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola already having signed long-term deals this offseason, a preference to avoid signing qualified free agents for their rotation would really only take Boston out of the running for left-hander Blake Snell, who rejected a QO from the Padres earlier this offseason. While the Red Sox have also reportedly been connected to two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani this offseason, previous reporting indicates that the club is no longer pursuing the offseason’s top free agent.

More from around MLB’s East divisions…

  • On the heels of a report earlier today that the Mariners are among the teams interested in Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes this offseason, Jon Morosi of MLB Network indicates that outfielder Randy Arozarena is also believed to have come up in discussions between the two clubs. There’s no indication that a deal between the sides is particularly close, as is the case with Paredes. That said, it’s noteworthy that the sides have discussed a deal around Arozarena, who Morosi described as “available” in trade. Earlier this week, reporting indicated that while teams have inquired after Arozarena, the Rays weren’t shopping the outfielder. Arozarena, 28, would be a particularly good fit for a Mariners club that lacks a surefire starting outfielder to pair with Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic. The 28-year-old slashed a strong .254/.364/.425 with 23 home runs and 22 stolen bases for the Rays this year en route to his first career All Star appearance.
  • The Mets appear focused on improving their run prevention as they enter the winter meetings, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. Sammon notes that in addition to pitching additions, the club is hoping to improve their outfield defense this winter. KBO star Jung Hoo Lee is one player the club has interest in who could do just that, and Sammon suggests that free agent center fielder Michael A. Taylor could be another fit, though the 32-year-old is garnering plenty of interest around the league, per Sammon. Taylor had the strongest offensive season of his career since 2017 with the Twins in 2023, slashing .220/.278/.442 (96 wRC+) while clubbing a career-best 21 home runs in just 388 trips to the plate this year. Sammon goes on to suggest that adding a player who could contribute in center field is the easiest way for the club to improve its defense, as it would allow Brandon Nimmo to slide over to left field more often.

Latest On Juan Soto

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Recent reporting on the trade talks between the Padres and Yankees regarding superstar outfielder Juan Soto have indicated that the sides have hit an impasse in their trade discussions. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported this morning that the sides haven’t talked since San Diego requested the previously-reported multi-player package centered round right-handers Drew Thorpe and Michael King, though The Athletic’s Brandon Kuty suggests that discussions between the sides are expected to reignite during the Winter Meetings this week.

Kuty goes on to discuss the current state of discussions between the sides, with a few noteworthy updates to past reporting. While San Diego’s proposal was previously believed to be a six- or seven-player package centered around King and Thorpe plus salary relief in exchange for Soto and Trent Grisham, Kuty suggests that the Padres proposed an eight-for-two swap with right-handers Clarke Schmidt, Jhony Brito, and Randy Vasquez all included in addition to King and Thorpe. The other three players in San Diego’s proposal are not known, though Kuty suggests that top prospects Oswald Peraza and Everson Pereira both are “figured to be on the table” in discussions.

The mention of Pereira as a potential piece in a Soto is especially noteworthy as past reporting has indicated that the 22-year-old has not been part of discussions between the sides. The young outfielder has emerged as a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport after slashing .300/.373/.548 in 81 games split between Double-A and Triple-A this season, though he struggled in a 27-game cup of coffee with an anemic .151/.233/.194 slash line in 103 big league plate appearances down the stretch. The inclusion of Pereira as a big-league ready outfield option could make plenty of sense for San Diego, particularly if the club parts with both Soto and Grisham in a deal.

While the specifics of reports on the Padres’ requested return package have conflicted, it’s clear that San Diego is hoping to receive a hefty return with a focus on MLB-ready pitching. What’s more, there’s a clear consensus between reports that the Yankees are particularly hesitant to include King and Thorpe in a package for Soto. Despite the gap between the sides in trade discussions, Kuty notes that restarting talks makes plenty of sense for both sides. The impetus behind a Soto deal for San Diego is the club’s desire to cut payroll, and Soto’s projected $33MM salary (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) limits the number of teams that could realistically fit a deal for Soto into their budget. Meanwhile, Kuty notes that the Yankees are facing considerable pressure to improve after missing the playoffs with an 82-80 2023 campaign.

While Kuty notes that Cody Bellinger is another star-caliber lefty outfielder who the Yankees have interest in, no outfield addition is appealing to the club as Soto. Likewise, Kuty suggests that the Blue Jays represent a potential suitor for Soto if the Padres can’t get a deal done with New York. It’s a suggestion further backed up by SNY’s Andy Martino, who describes Toronto as a “real contender” for Soto, with Heyman adding that right-hander Alek Manoah has come up in discussions between San Diego and Toronto. That said, Martino suggests that the Jays are believed to prefer to wait on a Soto deal until they know whether or not they’ll be successful in their bid for superstar slugger Shohei Ohtani.

Kuty suggests that waiting for Ohtani to make a decision could be a double-edged sword for the Padres. While another superstar-caliber left-handed slugger coming off the board could raise the pressure on interested clubs to acquire Soto, the Padres are likely to attempt to use the savings from a Soto deal to explore the free agent starting pitching market, and waiting to move Soto could leave San Diego with less options on that front. While the free agent market has largely moved slowly to this point in the offseason, the top end of the rotation market has been something of an exception to that rule with Aaron Nola and Sonny Gray having already signed on in Philadelphia and St. Louis, respectively.

Jim Leyland Elected To Baseball Hall Of Fame

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Former Pirates, Marlins, Rockies, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the only person elected out of the eight nominees under consideration by the 16-person Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.  Leyland received 15 of 16 votes, surpassing the 12-vote threshold with room to spare.

Of the other seven nominees, Lou Piniella came closest with 11 votes, representing another tough near miss for Piniella after previously falling one vote shy on his previous appearance on the ballot in 2019.  Former National League president Bill White received 10 votes, and the other five nominees (Cito Gaston, Davey Johnson, Ed Montague, Hank Peters, and Joe West) all received fewer than five votes.

Leyland managed 22 seasons in the majors, beginning his Cooperstown-worthy run with the Pirates in 1986.  His 11 seasons in Pittsburgh was highlighted by three straight AL East titles for the Bucs from 1990-92, as well as the personal achievements of Manager Of The Year awards for Leyland in 1990 and 1992.  Unfortunately for the Pirates, they couldn’t get over the hump and into the World Series, falling to the Reds in six games in the 1990 NLCS and then losing a pair of seven-game nailbiters to the Braves in both 1991 and 1992.

After Francisco Cabrera broke the Pirates’ hearts in Game 7, Pittsburgh didn’t have a winning record again until 2013.  Leyland had long departed the team by that point, as he moved on following the 1996 season to become the Marlins’ new skipper.

This new job finally brought Leyland his long-desired World Series ring.  The Marlins were the team delivering some October heartbreak this time, as the Fish triumphed over the Indians in seven games to bring the organization its first championship in only its fifth year of existence.  Unfortunately for Leyland and the Marlins players and fans, the club went into fire sale mode immediately afterwards, resulting in Leyland’s resignation after a 108-loss season in 1998.

Leyland quickly caught on as Colorado’s manager for the 1999 season, but his frustration at working and trying to manage pitchers in the thin-air environment led to his resignation after just a single year.  Leyland became a scout for the Cardinals, and it appeared as though his managerial career might’ve come to an end.

However, a major final act then developed in Detroit.  Leyland was hired as the Tigers’ new manager prior to the 2006 season, just as the team was emerging from a rough rebuilding period.  Undoubtedly hiring Leyland was itself a major reason why the Tigers finally got on track, and the results were immediately impressive — the 2006 Tigers reached the playoffs as a wild card team and then reached the World Series before falling to the Cardinals.

That was the first of seven .500 or better seasons Leyland would enjoy over his eight years managing in Motown.  The Tigers made the postseason three more times, including a World Series appearance in 2012 that saw Detroit swept by the Giants.  After another narrow six-game loss to the Red Sox in the 2013 ALCS, Leyland decided to retire from managing at the MLB level, though he did return to the dugout to guide the United States to victory in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Leyland’s career resume consists of a 1769-1728 record, eight playoff appearances, three league pennants, and that 1997 World Series championship.  He ranks 18th on the all-time managerial wins list, and 17th on the all-time list of total games managed.  He was also a three-time winner of the Manager Of The Year Award, as Leyland added the 2006 trophy to his two awards from his Pittsburgh days.

While the numbers paved Leyland’s path into the Hall of Fame, he is also a beloved figure around the sport, highly respected by peers, coaches, and the many players he managed over the years.  Just about everyone who encountered Leyland seemed to immediately have an anecdote about the quick wit and big heart of the longtime baseball man, which was somewhat obscured by his hard-nosed reputation.  “What others saw as a gruff, chain-smoking caricature of an old-school manager, those in baseball considered brilliant for how he connected with everyone from the superstar to the last man on the roster to the least-tenured coach on his staff,” the Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt and Cody Stavenhagen wrote in a chronicle of Leyland stories published today.  (Stavenhagen and Rob Biertempfel had another collection of Leyland anecdotes three years ago, well worth a read for some more chuckles.)

The “veterans committee” is the catch-all name for an annual panel of rotating membership, organized by the Hall Of Fame every year to gauge the cases of players who weren’t elected or considered by the writers, or non-playing personnel who aren’t a part of the writers’ ballot.  Candidates are considered from the “Contemporary Baseball” (1980-present) and “Classic Baseball” (1980 and earlier) time periods, and broken down into a three-year rotation…

  • Classic Baseball, all candidates: 2024, 2027, 2030, etc.
  • Contemporary Baseball, players: 2025, 2028, 2031, etc.
  • Contemporary Baseball, managers/executives/umpires: 2026, 2029, 2032, etc.

Leyland will be inducted into Cooperstown on July 13.  He’ll be joined by any players elected via the writers’ ballot, and those results will be announced on January 23.

This year’s 16-person Contemporary Baseball committee was comprised of HOF members Jeff Bagwell, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Bud Selig, Ted Simmons, Jim Thome, and Joe Torre; MLB owners and executives Sandy Alderson, Bill DeWitt, Michael Hill, Ken Kendrick, Andy MacPhail, and Phyllis Merhige; media members/historians Sean Forman, Jack O’Connell and Jesus Ortiz.

Brewers “Moving Closer” To Deal With Wade Miley

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5:27 PM: Jon Heyman of the New York Post indicates this evening that the Brewers and Miley are “moving closer” to a deal, while noting that an agreement between the sides would be a one-year arrangement.

9:57 AM: It would appear as though the Brewers and Wade Miley are making progress on a reunion, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal predicts that a deal between the two sides will “materialize in the coming days.”  Miley pitched for Milwaukee during the 2018 season and then returned to the Brew City last season on a one-year, $4.5MM deal with a $10MM mutual option for 2024.  Like with virtually all mutual options, it wasn’t exercised, as Miley declined his end of the option and took a $1MM buyout to re-enter free agency.

Some elbow soreness and a lat strain limited Miley to 120 1/3 innings last season, but that was still a vast improvement over his injury-riddled 2022 campaign as a member of the Cubs roster.  Miley’s comeback year included a very solid 3.14 ERA over his 120 1/3 frames, though advanced metrics (like a 5.04 SIERA) were much less impressed by the veteran’s performance.  Miley benefited from a .234 BABIP and an 81.6% strand rate, and his 16.1% strikeout rate ranked in only the eighth percentile of all pitchers.

These numbers notwithstanding, secondary metrics have often been down on Miley over the course of his 13-year career, as the left-hander has never been much of a strikeout pitcher and he has relied on grounders (49% career groundball rate) and soft contact to achieve success.  Miley’s efforts at limiting hard contact have been particularly successful over the last few years, and his 31.3% hard-hit ball rate was one of the better marks in baseball in 2023.

This skillset has led to some pretty varied results over Miley’s long career, as the BABIP gods haven’t always been on his side.  Nonetheless, the Brewers still seem interested in what Miley can bring to the table as he enters his age-37 season, and Rosenthal notes that the team also values his off-the-field contributions as a clubhouse leader.  It is probably safe to assume that Miley will sign another relatively inexpensive one-year contract, perhaps with another option of some sort covering the 2025 season.  That is surely appealing to a Brewers team with a limited budget, and a need for some extra depth in the rotation.

Should Miley return, he’ll join Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Adrian Houser, and (another re-signed pitcher in) Colin Rea as the projected starting five, with depth options that include Janson Junk, top prospect Robert Gasser, and Aaron Ashby returning from an injury-marred 2023 season.  There is plenty of fluidity within this group, however, as rumors persist that Milwaukee could trade Burnes prior to his final year of team control.

West Notes: Giants, Yamamoto, Angels, Leiter

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The Giants have long been expected to be one of the winter’s more aggressive teams after missing out on megadeals for stars Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa last offseason. While the club was still active on last year’s free agent market, deals for lower-profile players like Taylor Rogers, Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger didn’t save San Francisco from a 79-83 campaign that ended with a fourth place finish in the NL West this year. As president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and his front office looks to turn things around ahead of the 2024 season, the club has been connected to plenty of top players this offseason, ranging from star outfielders Cody Bellinger and Juan Soto to reigning NL Cy Young award winner Blake Snell to even two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

One such star the Giants are known to have interest in is NPB right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who Zaidi himself noted the club has scouted extensively in the run-up to his posting late last month. Today, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle provided an update on the club’s interest in Yamamoto, who ranked as the #3 free agent in this year’s edition of MLBTR’s annual top 50 free agents list. Per Slusser, other teams interested in Yamamoto believe that the Giants “have an edge” in the sweepstakes for his services. Yamamoto figures to be among the most sought-after free agents this winter, with reports indicating that nearly half the league has interest in the 25-year-old righty. The Mets and Yankees, in particular, have been connected to Yamamoto heavily to this point in the offseason.

Even if San Francisco does have a leg up in the Yamamoto sweepstakes, a signing would surely require a major financial outlay. The righty is widely expected to secure the largest deal of any starting pitcher on the market this winter besides Ohtani; MLBTR has projected him for a nine-year, $225MM deal that would only be surpassed by the guarantees secured by Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg among free agent starters. That shouldn’t be a problem for San Francisco, which reportedly offered Judge a deal in the $360MM range last offseason before 2022’s AL MVP ultimately returned to the Yankees.

More from MLB’s West divisions…

  • The Angels have made significant headway in assembling their 2024 coaching staff under new manager Ron Washington in recent weeks, though USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggests the club previously offered both former Pirates and Rockies manager Clint Hurdle as well as 21-year MLB veteran LaTroy Hawkins roles on Washington’s staff; Hurdle was offered a job as Washington’s bench coach while Hawkins was offered the bullpen coach role. Nightengale goes on to note both men are expected to retain their current roles as special assistants to the front offices in Colorado and Minnesota, respectively. That’s hardly a surprise, as the club has reportedly hired Steve Karsay as the new bullpen coach in Anaheim while bench coach Ray Montgomery will remain in that role for a third season in 2024.
  • The Rangers were open to moving right-handed prospect Jack Leiter at the trade deadline this summer in the right deal for pitching, according to Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. The second-overall pick of the 2021 draft was initially expected to be a fast-rising arm who could impact the big league club shortly after being drafted, but the righty has struggled to this point in his professional career. While Grant notes that Leiter made some strides last season, he’s not yet ready to contribute in the majors and could be part of the return for a front-of-the-rotation arm, should Texas look to the trade market in their search for rotation upgrades this winter. While Leiter has a career 5.37 ERA across two minor league seasons, the 23-year-old ended the 2023 campaign on a relative high note with a 3.31 ERA and a 39.7% strikeout rate in his final four starts at the Double-A level.

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