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Pirates Designate Miguel Andujar For Assignment

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The Pirates have designated infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar for assignment in order to make space on the roster for Andrew McCutchen, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Andujar, 27, came to the Pirates late in the 2022 season after being designated for assignment by the Yankees and turned in a .250/.279/.389 batting line in 40 plate appearances down the stretch. It wasn’t a particularly robust showing from the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year runner-up, but it was enough for Pittsburgh to tender a contract to the arbitration-eligible Andujar and eventually agree to a $1.525MM salary for the upcoming season.

As the offseason has progressed, however, the Bucs have continued to add players who’ll cut into Andujar’s would-be playing time. First came the acquisition of first baseman Ji-Man Choi in a trade with the Rays — a move that was quickly followed by the signing of Carlos Santana. That pair of pickups pushed Andujar out of the first base/designated hitter mix and, with Ke’Bryan Hayes locked in at third base, left Andujar as either an outfielder or a bench option. Both those roles were further muddied by this week’s reunion with McCutchen, however.

It’s been a long road for Andujar, who hit .297/.328/.527 and blasted 27 home runs when he finished second to Shohei Ohtani in that previously mentioned Rookie of the Year voting. Since that time, he’s undergone shoulder surgery, seen his role with the Yankees filled by free-agent and trade acquisitions, and bounced to the Pirates when the Yankees finally ran out of chances for him.

Andujar has managed only a .230/.257/.324 batting line in 416 big league plate appearances since that brilliant debut campaign, due in part to both injuries and infrequent playing time. He’s remained a productive hitter in Triple-A, however, evidenced by a career .303/.351/.507 batting line at that level — including a .285/.330/.487 output this past season in Scranton. He’s also become a more versatile player in an effort to get back to the big leagues, adding first base and left field to his defensive skill set.

That said, Andujar will soon turn 28, is out of minor league options, and now comes with that $1.525MM salary for any team that wishes to claim him. All of that gives the Pirates a decent chance of passing him through waivers. Andujar has enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he does indeed clear, but doing so would mean forfeiting that $1.525MM guarantee, which seems unlikely. There’s a good chance the Buccos will be able to retain him in Triple-A Indianapolis and bring him back to the Majors whenever injuries necessitate such a move. For now, however, they’ll have several days to survey the trade market before deciding whether to place him on waivers. We’ll know a resolution to his DFA status within a week’s time.

Pirates Sign Andrew McCutchen

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Andrew McCutchen’s career has come full circle. The Pirates on Friday formally announced that they’ve re-signed the franchise icon to a one-year contract for the 2023 season. McCutchen will reportedly earn a $5MM salary on the deal.

“We are thrilled to be able to reunite with Andrew,” Pirates owner Bob Nutting said in a statement within today’s press release. “His return just feels right. It is right for our team, for Andrew and his family, for our fans and for the game of baseball. Andrew is a special player and person. It is going to be exciting to again see him take the field wearing 22 in the black and gold.”

It’s a feel-good story for Bucs fans, who’ll surely give the five-time All-Star and 2013 National League MVP a hero’s welcome in his return to PNC Park. The Pirates selected McCutchen, now 36 years old, with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2005 draft. He immediately ranked among the sport’s top overall prospects after a strong post-draft showing in the minors in ’05, and by 2009 he’d reached the Majors and played his way into a fourth-place Rookie of the Year finish in the National League, hitting .286/.365/.471.

That served as a stepping stone into stardom for McCutchen, who’d spend the first nine seasons of his career in black and gold, hitting a combined .291/.379/.487 with 203 home runs, 292 doubles, 44 triples and 171 stolen bases. A true cornerstone player, McCutchen led the Pirates to their three most recent postseason appearances, in 2013, 2014 and 2015 — each a Wild Card berth. Pittsburgh only advanced in one of those three seasons, topping the Reds in a one-game Wild Card showdown in 2013 before falling to the Cardinals in that year’s NLDS.

McCutchen signed an early extension with Pittsburgh — a six-year, $51.5MM contract with a club option for a seventh season. That gave the Bucs some extra club control and cost certainty over a player who was then the face of the franchise, but as is so often the case with the Pirates and other low-payroll clubs, McCutchen surfaced as a trade candidate in the late stages of that contract. Nearly six years after that extension was signed, McCutchen was traded to the Giants in what was an unpopular move at the time but now looks like perhaps the best swap in former GM Neal Huntington’s tenure. In order to acquire the final year of McCutchen’s contract, the Giants parted with right-hander Kyle Crick and the man who eventually replaced McCutchen in the outfield: current center fielder Bryan Reynolds.

Since leaving the Pirates and entering his mid-30s, McCutchen’s production has begun to wane. He proved plenty productive in a 2018 season split between the Giants and Yankees — enough to land a three-year, $50MM contract with the Phillies. The first season of that deal saw continued production early on, but McCutchen suffered a torn ACL that June, missed the remainder of the season, and has since settled in closer to league-average in terms of offensive output. Over the past three seasons, he’s a .234/.325/.417 hitter — about three percent better than league average, by measure of wRC+.

McCutchen spent the 2022 campaign with Milwaukee and scuffled to a career-low .237/.316/.384 batting line in 580 trips to the plate. Even as McCutchen’s bat began to slow down in his post-Pirates days, he remained a potent threat against left-handed pitching, hitting southpaws at a .291/.407/.567 slash from 2019-21. However, that trend also dipped with the Brewers in 2022, as McCutchen turned in a tepid .221/.303/.434 line even when holding the platoon advantage. The Pirates will hope that was more of a BABIP-driven anomaly (.248) than the beginning of a true decline.

McCutchen served as the Brewers’ primary option at designated hitter last season (82 games) but also logged 50 games in the outfield. He hasn’t topped 93 innings of center field work since 2017, his last year with the Pirates, though, and at 36 years old it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll return to logging meaningful time at his former position.

There will naturally be some speculation about the signing of McCutchen and whether it serves as a portent for a subsequent trade of Reynolds, who requested one earlier this offseason due to a sizable gap in extension negotiations with the team. However, logic dictates that there’s no real connection here; McCutchen can’t play center field regularly at this point in his career, and even if Reynolds were traded, the Bucs would surely reallocate much of that playing time to younger outfield options they hope can be part of the team’s core moving forward.

Rather, McCutchen will likely get occasional looks at designated hitter, though with Pittsburgh already acquiring first basemen Ji-Man Choi and Carlos Santana this offseason, one of those two figures to be the main option at DH. McCutchen gives the Pirates’ outfield mix a complementary right-handed bat to pair with lefty-swinging corner options like Jack Suwinski, Cal Mitchell and Canaan Smith-Njigba, but his impact on the decision of whether to trade or retain Reynolds ranges between minimal to nonexistent.

Beyond the contributions he’ll make on the field and the mentorship he’ll provide to several up-and-coming young Pirates, McCutchen will give fans plenty to cheer for in 2023 as he chases down multiple career milestones. He’s just 52 hits shy of reaching 2000 in his career, and he’s only 13 home runs shy of 300. McCutchen slugged 17 home runs last year and hasn’t hit fewer than 13 in a full season’s worth of games in his career to this point, so he’s a good bet to reach both round numbers this year.

The Pirates don’t project as contenders this season, and McCutchen isn’t likely to push them over that edge, but the team has spent more this winter than in recent years. Pittsburgh has acquired Choi (projected $4.35MM salary) and signed free agents Santana ($6.725MM), Rich Hill ($8MM), Austin Hedges ($5MM), Vince Velasquez ($3.15MM) and Jarlin Garcia ($2.5MM). It’s still a modest slate of expenditures by MLB standards, but McCutchen will take them north of $30MM in added payroll this winter. Contrast that with last offseason’s $16.225MM in spending and the $2.5MM total they spent in free agency during the 2020-21 offseason, and the Bucs are at least on an upward trajectory as they look to buttress their young roster with some steady veterans who can raise the team’s floor.

Even with those additions, Pittsburgh’s payroll won’t reach $80MM, so they only deserve so much praise for taking more earnest strides to put a winning product on the field. That said, that low number still creates the possibility for further veteran additions, be it via the free-agent or trade markets.

Regardless, the Pirates should be an improved team in 2023 — due both to contributions from those new acquisitions and to larger, more productive roles from prospects acquired over the course of the rebuild. There’s surely hope that hopeful cornerstone infielders Ke’Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz will take steps forward, and the Pirates could plausibly welcome names like Endy Rodriguez, Liover Peguero, Quinn Priester and others to the big leagues for lengthy auditions. The allure of young talent alone gave Pittsburgh fans something to look forward to in 2023, but the return of a beloved franchise figure and one of the best players in recent Pirates adds an extra layer of sentimentality and, hopefully, another productive bat.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the agreement and the terms of the contract.

Frank Thomas, MLB Outfielder From 1951-66, Passes Away

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Three-time All-Star Frank Thomas has passed away, according to announcements from the Mets and Pirates. Thomas, not to be confused with the Hall of Fame designated hitter who played 16 seasons with the White Sox, played for seven teams between 1951-66.

A Pittsburgh native, Thomas signed with his hometown Pirates out of high school in 1947. He spent three-plus seasons in the minors before making his MLB debut at the tail end of the 1951 campaign. Thomas saw sporadic playing time for his first couple years before getting his first extended action during his age-24 season in 1953.

Listed at 6’3″ and 200 pounds, the right-handed hitting outfielder quickly cemented himself as an excellent power hitter. He connected on 30 home runs with a .255/.331/.505 line during his first full season, earning some down-ballot MVP votes as a result. He’d remain a staple on MVP ballots throughout his run in Pittsburgh. Thomas secured at least some support in five of the six seasons from 1953-58, earning All-Star nods in ’54, ’55 and ’58. He peaked at fourth in the voting in 1958, finishing behind Ernie Banks, Willie Mays and Henry Aaron.

Thomas topped 20 longballs every year from 1953-58. His 161 homers over that time ranked 10th in the majors, with seven Hall of Famers in the group of nine players with more. Thomas had a cumulative .277/.335/.480 line in a little less than 3700 plate appearances for the Bucs in that time. He twice finished among the National League’s top ten in slugging and runs batted in, including a second-place finish with 109 RBI in 1958.

Over the 1958-59 offseason, Pittsburgh traded Thomas to the Reds as part of a seven-player deal that landed catcher Smoky Burgess and starter Harvey Haddix in the Steel City. He played one year in Cincinnati but struggled. The Reds dealt him to the Cubs for a three-player package headlined by reliever Bill Henry the next offseason. Thomas spent a bit more than a year with Chicago but continued to scuffle, with the Cubs dealing him to the Braves in May 1961. He righted the ship with 25 homers in 124 games for the then Milwaukee-based franchise.

The next winter, the Braves traded Thomas to the Mets. He joined the expansion club for their inaugural campaign in 1962 and connected on a team-leading 34 homers that season. Thomas would spent around two and a half seasons in Queens before being traded to the Phillies. He firmly settled into journeyman status to wrap up his career, playing with Philadelphia, Houston and second stints as a Brave and Cub before his playing career concluded in 1966.

All told, Thomas appeared in parts of 16 big league campaigns. He hit .266/.320/.454 across 1766 games. Thomas connected on 286 home runs, tying him for 177th on the all-time leaderboard. He doubled 262 times, drove in 962 runs and scored 792 times. His most productive seasons came with his hometown Pirates, though he played multiple seasons for five different clubs.

MLBTR sends our condolences to Thomas’ family, friends, former teammates and loved ones.

NL Central Notes: Cards’ Rotation, McCutchen, Cubs

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While the Cardinals are again shaping up nicely to compete for top honors in the National League Central, they’ll be faced with some important decisions a year or so from now. Among their starting rotation, only Steven Matz is signed beyond the 2023 season, with Jordan Montgomery, Adam Wainwright (who will retire), Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty all slated for free agency in November.

Replacing four starters in free agency is no easy feat, particularly given the way starting pitchers were priced this winter, and while they do have Dakota Hudson and prospect Matthew Liberatore as options, it should come as little surprise that Derrick Goold of the St Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the team is planning to open discussions over an extension with two starters this spring.

As Goold notes, Mikolas and Montgomery would appear to be the obvious candidates, with Flaherty a possibility as well – although he has dealt with injuries over the past few years. Montgomery, 30 last month, worked to a 3.11 ERA over 11 starts for the Cards after coming over from the Yankees at the deadline last year. He’s been a steady mid-rotation arm for a few years now and agreed to a $10MM salary in his final year before free agency. Mid-rotation arms such as Taijuan Walker and Jameson Taillon were sought-after commodities in free agency this year, and Montgomery would likely fit into that bracket next winter.

Mikolas, 34, worked to a 3.29 ERA over 202 1/3 innings last season. Another year like that in 2023 would set him up for a nice payday late in his career, so perhaps the the Cardinals could try and get ahead of that and lock up Mikolas for another few seasons.

Here’s some more notes from around the NL Central:

  • The Pirates move to bring back franchise icon Andrew McCutchen has been met with positivity around baseball, and Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sheds some more light on the matter. As it turns out, a return to Pittsburgh seemed unlikely until as recently as New Year’s Day when McCutchen sent a text message to Pirates owner Bob Nutting laying out his desire to return to Pittsburgh to finish his career. As Mackey relays, Nutting then approached general manager Ben Cherington, who then met McCutchen for coffee in Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs to see if a deal could be made.While veteran signings on rebuilding clubs are often done with an eye towards the trade deadline, Mackey reports that it’s more likely McCutchen returns to the Pirates in 2024 than is flipped at the deadline. That’s not to say there’s no chance of a trade, but it does seem like McCutchen is motivated by helping Pittsburgh’s young core return to relevance, and Mackey adds that the 2013 MVP sees similarities in Pittsburgh’s 2009-12 rebuild that wound up in the team going to the playoffs three straight years between 2013-15. The Pirates don’t seem quite ready to return to playoff baseball just yet, but it would make for quite the fairytale if McCutchen were to be part of the next playoff team in Pittsburgh.
  • The Cubs have been aggressive in free agency this winter as they look to return to the top of the Central. The team has inked long-term deals with Dansby Swanson, Jameson Taillon and Drew Smyly, while also adding the likes of Cody Bellinger on significant deals. The team currently has a bit of wiggle room under the first luxury tax marker, but they’ll surely be approaching it over the next few years as they make more free agent additions and deal with Nico Hoerner’s arbitration raises. Per a report from Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, owner Tom Ricketts spoke of a strategic approach to the luxury tax as the team moves forward.“There will be times I’m sure in the near future where we’ll go over. But we’ll always keep in mind that there’s a balance there you have to always look to manage. Just like we did a few years ago, we’ll go over, but we have to be careful of how long and by how much,” Ricketts said.The Cubs’ luxury tax payroll currently sits at $215MM (according to Fangraphs’ calculation), with the first threshold coming at $233MM.

Josh Lindblom Announces Retirement

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Right-hander Josh Lindblom took to Twitter today to announce his retirement as a player. “For 30 years of my life, I played a game that taught me about more than balls and strikes, hits and runs, and wins and losses,” he wrote. “It taught me about life and made me the person writing this letter.” He then goes on to thank everyone with whom he’s interacted over that time, before concluding “I might be done, but I’m not finished.”

Lindblom, now 35, was first drafted by the Astros, who selected him out of high school with a third-round pick in 2005. Lindblom instead went to the University of Tennessee, later transferring to Purdue University. The Dodgers then selected him in the second round of the 2008 draft.

He was considered one of the club’s better prospects and would make it to the major leagues with the Dodgers in 2011. He did some solid work out of their bullpen that year, making 27 appearances with a 2.73 ERA. He made another 48 appearances for them through July of 2012, posting a 3.02 ERA in that time. He was then flipped to the Phillies at the deadline as part of the trade that sent Shane Victorino to Los Angeles.

His results took a downturn at that point, as his ERA after the trade was 4.63. Another trade sent him to the Rangers for the 2013 season, which he spent working primarily as a starter in Triple-A but struggling in brief MLB appearances. Yet another trade sent him to the A’s for 2014, where he was only able to make a single appearance in the majors, spending the rest of his time in Triple-A.

Lindblom then signed with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization. His first stint overseas was a successful one, as he threw 210 innings over 32 starts there with a 3.56 ERA. He couldn’t quite repeat that performance in 2016, as his ERA ticked up to 5.28 over 30 starts. A brief MLB comeback didn’t lead to much, with Lindblom signing a minor league deal with the Pirates. He was selected to the club’s roster and made four appearances but was eventually outrighted and returned to the Lotte Giants for the final months of the 2017 campaign.

2018 would prove to be a pivotal turning point for Lindblom. He signed with the Doosan Bears of the KBO and posted a 2.88 ERA over 26 starts and 168 2/3 innings. He returned to the club for 2019 and was even better. He made 30 starts in his second year as a Bear and registered a 2.50 ERA over 194 2/3 frames. He was voted the MVP of the league that year and the Bears won the Korean Series title.

He was able to parlay that strong stretch in the KBO into a three-year deal with the Brewers, which came with a $9.125MM guarantee and incentives that could have allowed him to earn $18MM. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite replicate that production in North America, at least not at the big league level. He posted a 5.16 ERA in the shortened 2020 season and then a 9.72 mark over eight relief appearances the year after. He was outrighted in May of 2021 and has been pitching in Triple-A since then. Though he’s had some decent results at that level, the Brewers never selected him back to the roster.

It’s certainly been a circuitous journey for Lindblom, as his career path took him to six different MLB teams and a couple of KBO squads. He hangs up his spikes having played in 134 major league games and 130 in Korea. We at MLBTR congratulate him on a unique and interesting time as a professional athlete and wish him the best in whatever he gets up to next.

Pirates Trade Zach Thompson To Blue Jays

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The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Zach Thompson from the Pirates in exchange for minor league outfielder Chavez Young, per a team announcement. Toronto has designated right-hander Junior Fernández for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Thompson, who’ll provide the Jays with some further rotation depth. Thompson was designated for assignment by the Pirates last week.

Thompson, 29, was drafted by the White Sox back in 2014 but was never added to their roster and reached minor league free agency after 2020. He then signed a minor league deal with the Marlins just in time for his breakout campaign. He cracked Miami’s roster that year and ended up making 26 appearances, 14 of them starts. He tossed 75 innings with a 3.24 ERA, 21% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate and 43.4% ground ball rate.

After that nice surprise campaign, the Marlins sold high and flipped Thompson to the Pirates as part of the Jacob Stallings deal. Unfortunately, the move to Pittsburgh didn’t go well for Thompson, who was deployed in a swing role. He made 22 starts and seven relief appearances, posting a 5.18 ERA over 121 2/3 innings. He still got grounders at a solid 45.3% rate but his strikeout rate dipped to 16.6%. The Bucs designated him for assignment last week when they made their signing of Rich Hill official.

Despite that poor season, there’s little harm for the Jays in taking a flier on him. Thompson still has a full slate of options and can be kept in the minors until he’s needed. The Jays have four rotation spots spoken for, with Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and José Berríos firmly entrenched. The fifth spot is a bit less certain, but they have plenty of options, including Yusei Kikuchi, Mitch White and Nate Pearson. Thompson will jump into that mix and give the club another layer of depth. He has between one and two years of MLB service time, meaning he still hasn’t reached arbitration and can be cheaply retained for the foreseeable future.

In order to get that extra pitching depth, the Jays are parting with Young. The 25-year-old will jump to a new organization for the first time, having spent his entire career in the Jays’ system until now. He was selected in the 39th round of the 2016 draft, drafted out of the Bahamas. Since then, he’s climbed his way up the minor league ladder, hitting well at each stop until he got to Triple-A. In 78 Double-A games in 2021, he hit .265/.350/.409 for a wRC+ of 109. In 65 Triple-A games last year, his production dropped to .234/.331/.350, 86 wRC+. He’ll look to take a step forward at the plate with his new team, but he provides a solid floor to the Bucs from his speed and defense regardless. He’s played all three outfield positions, including plenty of center field, and has stolen at least 20 bases in each of the past four minor league seasons.

The Jays are also relinquishing Fernández, whom they just grabbed on waivers from the Yankees last week. The right-hander has huge velocity but has yet to figure out how to properly harness it. He averaged 98.8 mph on his four-seamer this year and 98.7 mph on his sinker last year but struck out just 16.7% of batters faced while walking 14.3% of them. 2022 was his last option year and he’s become a popular target on waivers in recent months. After being designated for assignment by the Cardinals in September, he’s been claimed off waivers by the Pirates, Yankees and Blue Jays. The Jays will now have a week to trade him or put him back on waivers yet again.

Rangers Interested In Bryan Reynolds

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Bryan Reynolds has been the subject of trade rumors for quite some time, given that he’s been a strong performer on a rebuilding Pirates club. Plenty of teams around the league have reportedly expressed an interest in his services, including the Yankees, Blue Jays, Marlins, Red Sox, Braves, Rockies and Mariners. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic adds the Rangers to the list, reporting that acquiring Reynolds is one avenue they’re considering in their pursuit of outfield upgrades.

The interest of the Rangers, and all the other clubs, is perfectly understandable given how Reynolds has performed thus far in his career. He debuted in 2019, hitting 16 home runs and batting .314/.377/.503 for a wRC+ of 130. He struggled badly in the shortened 2020 season but was back in form over the past two campaigns. Over 2021 and 2022, he hit 51 homers and stole 12 bases while walking in 10.4% of his plate appearances and striking out in just 20.6% of them. He produced a slash line of .282/.368/.492 over those campaigns for a wRC+ of 133, indicating he was 33% better than the league average hitter. That mark put him in the top 25 among all qualified hitters in that stretch, as was his 9.0 wins above replacement from FanGraphs.

Despite the high amount of interest around the league, the Bucs have yet to put a deal together with many sources highlighting their asking price as being very high. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports on the Reynolds matter today and reiterates that framing, with one source characterizing Pittsburgh’s asks as “unrealistic.” Despite the apparently sky high asking prices, Heyman reports that the Yankees are one of the teams that is “consistently” interested in Reynolds.

Of course, the Pirates are under no obligation to find a trade for Reynolds, even though he has reportedly requested one. He’s not slated to reach free agency until after the 2025 campaign and the club could plausibly return to contention in that window. If no one blows them away with a monumental offer, they can simply hang onto Reynolds as their rebuild progresses.

There’s also the possibility of an extension, though there doesn’t seem to be a lot of optimism in that department at the moment. Recent reporting had indicated that the two sides had been about $50MM apart in their negotiations, with Heyman providing some more details on those talks today. He says the club offered $75MM over six years while Reynolds and his representatives were asking for something a bit lower than the eight-year, $168MM extension Matt Olson got from Atlanta.

The Olson comparison is an interesting one, though not a perfect analogue. When Olson signed his extension in March of last year, he was two years away from free agency, one year closer than Reynolds is now. But from an on-field comparison, there’s some logic to it. Both players had a swoon in the 2020 season but had three strong campaigns around it. Olson’s four years from 2018 to 2021 resulted in a batting line of .254/.348/.501 and a wRC+ of 130. Reynolds, from 2019 to the present, had less power but a better batting average, leading to a slash line of .281/.361/.481 and a wRC+ of 126. Olson produced 12.8 fWAR against a 12.5 mark for Reynolds. Olson was about to turn 28 when his deal was signed, same as Reynolds now.

Given the similar level of production, it’s not surprising that Reynolds’ camp would set that Olson figure as a target. The one year difference in their timelines will limit Reynolds somewhat, but Heyman does report that their ask is indeed lower than that. How much lower isn’t known but it seems to be well beyond Pittsburgh’s current comfort zone. Their six-year offer would seem to take Reynolds through his age-33 season, while Reynolds seems to be trying to get another couple years and go through his age-35 season. That doesn’t mean that talks are necessarily doomed, as large gaps can sometimes be quickly overcome. Not too long ago, the Red Sox and Rafael Devers were reportedly about $100MM apart in their negotiations before the club decided to step up and meet his asking price.

For now, it seems Reynolds is destined to have his name pop up in trade rumors until a deal comes together, whether that’s a trade or an extension. The interest from the Rangers is quite sensible, since the top items on their to-do list this winter have been the rotation and the outfield. They addressed the rotation in a huge way by re-signing Martín Pérez while signing Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney and trading for Jake Odorizzi. The outfield, however, has yet to be addressed.

As things stand now, Adolis Garcia seems to have a lock on right field while Leody Taveras can provide a glove-first option in center. Left field, however, is far less certain with Josh Smith, Bubba Thompson, Brad Miller, Ezequiel Duran and Mark Mathias some of the options. Miller, Smith and Duran have each spent more time on the infield in their careers and are coming off subpar seasons at the plate. Mathias just came over from the Brewers in the Matt Bush trade and hit well down the stretch, but he’s also more of an infielder who can play the outfield in a pinch than an everyday option on the grass.

Thompson is arguably the most straightforward solution currently on the roster. He has excellent speed, having stolen 49 bases in the minors last year and another 18 in the majors. However, he strikes out a lot, including in 30.9% of his 181 major league plate appearances so far. That led to a .265/.302/.312 slash line and a 77 wRC+ despite a .389 batting average on balls in play.

It’s possible that one member of that group could take the job and run with it but it behooves the Rangers to look for upgrades if they plan on competing in 2023. The most appealing free agent outfielders have already signed, leaving AJ Pollock and David Peralta as some of the best names still available. Rosenthal adds that those are two of the names being considered by the Rangers alongside Reynolds.

Reynolds is certainly a more attractive option than those guys, especially for a Rangers club that’s starting to get near the luxury tax. The club’s competitive balance tax figure is currently $220MM, per the calculations of Roster Resource. That puts them within striking distance of the lowest tax threshold, which is $233MM this year. Reynolds is going to be making $6.75MM this year as part of the two-year deal he signed with the Bucs last year, with two further arbitration trips to come.

Adding that kind of salary to their books would allow the Rangers to make a huge outfield upgrade while staying under the tax for now. Of course, that combination of low salary and high talent is what makes him so appealing as a trade candidate and why the Pirates are asking for the moon in return. The Rangers have shown plenty of willingness to hand out huge free agent deals over the past couple of years but whether they would have appetite for parting with premium prospects in order to upgrade the roster is another question.

Adding someone like Pollock or Peralta likely would also likely allow the Rangers to stay under the tax, as they aren’t expected to fetch huge salaries. However, their expected impact is certainly beneath that of Reynolds. Pollock, 35, hit .245/.292/.389 last year for a wRC+ of 92. Peralta, also 35, had a strong first half with the Diamondbacks but wilted after a trade to the Rays, hitting .255/.317/.335 for a wRC+ of 91.

Pirates Designate Zach Thompson For Assignment

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The Pirates have announced their signing of left-hander Rich Hill, making that official. In order to open a spot for Hill on the 40-man roster, right-hander Zach Thompson has been designated for assignment.

Thompson, 29, was a fifth round selection of the White Sox in 2014. He spent parts of seven years in their system but wasn’t allowed to crack the club’s roster, reaching minor league free agency after 2020. The Marlins then grabbed him on a minor league deal, which turned out to be a shrewd move. Thompson made 26 appearances for the Fish in 2021, including 14 starts, posting a 3.24 ERA over 75 innings along with a 21% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate and 43.4% ground ball rate.

In November of 2021, the Pirates traded catcher Jacob Stallings to the Marlins in exchange for Thompson, as well as prospects Kyle Nicolas and Connor Scott. Just over a year later and that deal hasn’t worked out great for either side so far. Stallings took steps backwards both offensively and defensively while Thompson posted a 5.18 ERA over 121 2/3 innings for Pittsburgh. He still got ground balls at a solid 45.3% clip but his strikeout rate dipped to 16.6%.

It seems that Thompson has been pushed down Pittsburgh’s starting pitching depth chart by a couple of factors. They’ve added veterans like Hill and Vince Velasquez this winter and saw encouraging developments from younger pitchers like Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras and Luis Ortiz in 2022. Those pitchers have nudged Thompson out of the rotation and off Pittsburgh’s roster entirely.

The Bucs will now have a week to trade Thompson or pass him through waivers. It wouldn’t be a shock to see other clubs around the league have interest in him. Thompson has at least some major league success and a full slate of options. Even a club that feels good about its five best starters could have Thompson on their 40-man but optioned to the minors and awaiting a need to arise as the season progresses. He also has just over a year of service time, making him controllable for another five seasons, though optional assignments could potentially push that back further.

Brewers Acquire Bryse Wilson From Pirates

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3:55pm: In a corresponding move, the Brewers have designated right-hander Trevor Kelly for assignment, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Kelley, 30, was signed to a minor league deal prior to the 2022 season and was selected to the roster in May. He tossed 34 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 2.36 ERA but posted a 6.08 ERA in 23 2/3 big league innings.

3:10pm: The Brewers announced that they have acquired right-hander Bryse Wilson from the Pirates. Wilson had been designated for assignment last week by the Bucs, who will receive cash considerations from Milwaukee in this deal.

Wilson, 25, was selected by Atlanta in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. He shot up prospect rankings in 2018, as he went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A and the majors at the age of 20. After that surge, he was ranked the #80 prospect in the league by Baseball America going into the 2019 season.

Unfortunately, Wilson hasn’t been able to deliver on that excitement in the subsequent seasons. Atlanta frequently optioned him to the minors over the 2019-2021 seasons, only allowing him to make 20 big league appearances in that time. They then flipped him to Pittsburgh at the deadline in 2021 as part of the Richard Rodríguez trade.

With the Bucs in 2022, he got his most extended stretch of MLB action thus far in his career, tossing 115 2/3 innings over 20 starts and six relief appearances. He posted a 5.52 ERA in that time with solid a 6.3% walk rate and 43.3% ground ball rate but a meager 15.5% strikeout rate.

Now out of options, it seems Wilson’s rotation opportunities dried up in Pittsburgh, but the Brewers are willing to take a shot. The front of the Milwaukee rotation is spoken for with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta and Eric Lauer taking the first four spots. Wilson could be in competition for the final spot with the likes of Aaron Ashby and Adrian Houser. An injury to anyone in the rotation could open things up a bit, but it’s also possible that a couple of the guys in that trio end up in the bullpen as long relief options.

Pirates, Bryan Reynolds Had Been Roughly $50MM Apart In Extension Talks

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The status of Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds is one of the top storylines of the offseason’s second half. Trade rumors surrounding the former All-Star are nothing new and they returned last month once Reynolds asked the club to deal him.

That trade request came after talks about a long-term extension between his camp and the Pirates fizzled out. The precise numbers under discussion at the time aren’t clear, although Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the club put forth an offer that would’ve topped the franchise-record $70MM guarantee that Ke’Bryan Hayes had secured last spring. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shed further light on the talks as part of a reader mailbag this week, reporting that Pittsburgh’s offer was roughly $50MM shy of what Reynolds and his representatives at CAA had sought.

That’d set a floor of approximately $120MM for Reynolds’ asking price, although it’s possible his camp was aiming higher than that. It’s not known how far above $70MM the Bucs offered. Mackey writes that Pittsburgh’s proposal involved fewer seasons than the eight years Hayes received, although Reynolds would obviously have pulled in more on an annual basis. That’s unsurprising considering Reynolds now has two more years of major league service than Hayes had at the time of his deal.

Reynolds, who turns 28 later this month, has between three and four years of big league service. He’s under contract for $6.75MM next season in what would’ve been his second year of arbitration. In the absence of a long-term deal, he’ll go through the arbitration process twice more before hitting free agency over the 2025-26 offseason.

Six players in that service bucket have signed extensions topping $70MM, with Sean Murphy joining that club last week. Just two players in the 3-4 year service class have reached $120MM, with Freddie Freeman holding the record on his $135MM deal with the Braves from the 2013-14 offseason. Freeman was nearly four years younger at the time of his deal than Reynolds is now and coming off a .319/.396/.501 showing in 2013 that rivals Reynolds’ career-best season from 2021.

Given the age discrepancy, one could certainly argue Freeman was a better long-term bet than Reynolds would be, although it’d also wouldn’t be surprising if the latter’s camp wanted to approach or beat that precedent. After all, the Freeman extension is now nearly nine years old. Matt Olson landed an eight-year, $168MM extension with the Braves going into his age-28 season last year. Olson was a year closer to free agency and coming off a .271/.371/.540 showing that topped Reynolds’ .262/.345/.461 mark from 2022. Reynolds seems unlikely to reach the heights Olson secured for those reasons, but that more recent deal leads credence to the idea the Pittsburgh outfielder had a case to easily beat nine figures.

That seems mostly theoretical so long as Reynolds remains a Pirate. There’s no indication the sides plan to reengage on a potential long-term deal after talks collapsed. However, it’s at least possible another club swings a trade for the center fielder and subsequently looks to reopen extension discussions.

Pittsburgh has maintained they don’t plan to move off a very lofty asking price in trade talks, Reynolds’ request notwithstanding. The Vanderbilt product has no recourse to force a trade. Jon Morosi of MLB.com suggested late last month Pittsburgh was targeting a high-end pitching prospect at the center of potential trade packages. It’s hard to imagine they’d rigidly require a deal being built around a young arm, although that at least serves as the latest reaffirmation GM Ben Cherington and his front office continue to aim high.

Nevertheless, Mackey suggests there’s a good chance the Bucs pull the trigger on a Reynolds trade at some point in 2023. Pittsburgh is still amidst a rebuild, and Reynolds is their most appealing trade candidate. They’re not under much financial pressure to make a move, although there’s certainly a case for the club to seriously entertain offers both this offseason and at next summer’s deadline — particularly now that hopes of an extension seem to have evaporated. Assuming he has another productive season, Reynolds would still have ample trade value by next offseason, although it’s unlikely Pittsburgh will find much stronger interest than there’ll be over the coming months considering his window of club control will only shrink.

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