Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Pirates Reportedly Receiving Interest In Isiah Kiner-Falefa

By | at

The Pirates are expected to make much of their roster available on the trade market this summer after stumbling to a 26-40 start this season that has left them more or less buried in the NL playoff picture. According to a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale this morning, at least one player is already drawing interest on the trade market: infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. It should be noted that Nightengale does not connect the infielder to any specific clubs, and there’s no indication that a deal is anywhere near close at this time.

It’s not exactly a shocking revelation. After all, Kiner-Falefa is enjoying quite a strong season in Pittsburgh; in 53 games this year, he’s slashed an impressive .304/.351/.381 (106 wRC+) while serving primarily as the Pirates’ shortstop. He’s not rated out especially well at the position this year, but he’s typically been a strong defender at both second and third base throughout his career and even won a Gold Glove award at the hot corner. Given Kiner-Falefa’s strong reputation as a defender, he’d be a very impactful addition for a team in need of infield help if he can maintain this above average offense going forward.

That being said, there’s clear red flags in Kiner-Falefa’s profile that suggest he’s likely to regress in the future. Kiner-Falefa’s .306 career BABIP is solid, but even it doesn’t compare to the .360 figure he’s put up this year. That’s all but guaranteed to come down at some point, and he’s actually hitting for less power than last season with plate discipline numbers that aren’t markedly different. Kiner-Falefa’s .298 xwOBA is almost a perfect match for the .299 wOBA he put up last season, which indicates he’s likely to resume being a below-average hitter going forward, although he may at least stay fairly close to league average considering last year’s 93 wRC+.

The good news for the Pirates is that even if Kiner-Falefa regresses to the mean, he’ll be a very attractive trade candidate in a market that looks fairly desperate for infield help. The Yankees are already known to be on the hunt for a right-handed bat who can play the infield, and Kiner-Falefa both fits the bill and is a player the club liked enough to acquire in the past. If the Red Sox end up buying this summer, an infielder could make sense for them depending on the status of Alex Bregman. The Mariners are always looking for help on offense, the Brewers could use an upgrade over Caleb Durbin, and the Astros could use infield help if they hope to make Jose Altuve a regular in left field.

Those are just a handful of contenders who could theoretically use an infielder like Kiner-Falefa on their roster. Perhaps some of them will prioritize addressing other needs this summer or end up not being buyers at all, but it’s also possible that some teams that weren’t mentioned here could enter the fray due to an injury in their own infield mix. In any case, it seems likely there will be at least some demand for infield help this summer, and that demand could outstrip the supply when it comes to rentals. It’s always possible that a team could surprisingly make a controllable piece available as the Rays did with Isaac Paredes last year, but that sort of deal would come with a much higher acquisition cost that could scare away some buyers.

With few surefire sellers, there aren’t a ton of quality infield options expected to be available. Amed Rosario of the Nationals, Thairo Estrada of the Rockies, and Josh Rojas of the White Sox are among a handful of potential trade candidates, but of that group only Rosario is hitting as well as Kiner-Falefa at present and none have his defensive reputation. That could put the Pirates in a fairly solid bargaining position when it comes to the infield market, especially given the fact that they have a second potential rental option for teams in need of infield help in the form of second baseman Adam Frazier.

Pirates Select Tanner Rainey, Place Isiah Kiner-Falefa On Injured List

By | at

The Pirates are selecting the contract of right-hander Tanner Rainey, according to a club announcement. Right-hander Justin Lawrence was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for Rainey on the 40-man roster, while Rainey’s active roster spot will come at the expense of infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The veteran utility man is being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain, and the move is retroactive to May 1.

Rainey, 32, signed with the Pirates on a minor league deal back in December after being non-tendered by the Nationals just a couple of weeks prior. Originally drafted in the second round of the 2015 draft by the Reds, Rainey debuted with Cincinnati back in 2018 but was flipped to Washington prior to the 2019 season and has spent the vast majority of his career in the nation’s capital. In parts of six seasons with the Nats, Rainey has generally been a serviceable middle reliever with a 4.49 ERA (94 ERA+) and a 28.5% strikeout rate in his 182 1/3 innings of work.

Those numbers are decent enough, and he even earned some run as the club’s closer while the team was rebuilding in 2022 as he picked up 12 saves, but Rainey’s hefty 14.1% walk rate largely locked him out of the late innings with the club. His performance in 2024, when he pitched to a 4.76 ERA (86 ERA+) with a 5.42 FIP and a 12.6% walk rate against a strikeout rate of just 19.0%, was enough to convince the Nationals to move on from him rather than pay him an arbitration-level salary. Even so, the Pirates were interested enough in his strikeout-heavy profile to bring him into the fold as a potential depth option. He’ll now get a new big league opportunity with his third organization amid a season where the Pirates’ bullpen has largely been in flux.

Meanwhile, Kiner-Falefa exits Pittsburgh’s positional mix after hitting .280/.333/.330 in 109 plate appearances across his first 30 games of the year. The veteran’s lack of power means that line is overall good for a wRC+ of 87, but he’s been getting on base at a solid clip, keeping his strikeouts under control, and playing solid defense as the club’s reular shortstop. The Pirates will need to figure things out at the position without Kiner-Falefa’s steady glove, and that could be easier said than done. It would be a surprise if the Pirates opted to move Oneil Cruz back onto the infield dirt after he’s worked to improve as their everyday center fielder, which could leave the club to rely on Jared Triolo as its everyday shortstop for the time being.

As for Lawrence, it was revealed earlier this week that Lawrence was headed for a second opinion on his elbow injury. The diagnosis from that second opinion has not yet been revealed, but his transfer to the 60-day IL seems to indicate that Pittsburgh brass are expecting a fairly lengthy absence for their right-hander. It’s a frustrating blow to the Pirates’ bullpen, as his 11 1/3 innings of work with the club have been nothing short of fantastic with a 0.79 ERA and a 2.53 FIP. Lawrence was one of the biggest pleasant surprises of the Pirates’ young season so far, and now they’ll need to hope that Rainey or one of their other bullpen arms can similarly surprise and pick up the slack.

Contract Notes: Kiner-Falefa, Heaney, Flexen

By | at

The Pirates drew plenty of scrutiny for designating first baseman Rowdy Tellez for assignment when he was four plate appearances shy of reaching a $200K bonus in his contract, though management has publicly disputed that the bonus had anything to do with the decision. Another Pittsburgh veteran ultimately landed in a similar spot, but infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa tells Alex Stumpf of MLB.com that he declined an opportunity to enter the lineup and collect a $250K bonus. The infielder finished the season at 496 plate appearances, when his contract would’ve afforded him a $250K bonus for reaching 500 trips to the plate. Manager Derek Shelton initially omitted Kiner-Falefa from the Pirates’ Sunday lineup but, upon learning of the looming bonus, attempted to plug the infielder back into the lineup.

“I didn’t think it was fair to take a spot from [Liover Peguero], or one of the young guys, an opportunity to play at Yankee Stadium away from them,” says Kiner-Falefa, whom the Pirates acquired from the Blue Jays at the trade deadline. “I got hurt this year. I missed a month. If that doesn’t happen, or if we’re actually in a real race, I crush those incentives by a long shot. So, at the end of the day, I feel like I didn’t deserve it from that aspect. It’s nothing the team did. They tried to make it right at the end. That meant a lot to me right there. I’m thankful to [Shelton] and the organization to give me that opportunity.”

A couple more interesting contract notes from the final weekend of the season…

  • Rangers lefty Andrew Heaney began his final start of the season Sunday at 156 innings, just four frames away from unlocking a $1.5MM bonus in his two-year deal. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that although he was hit hard through the first three innings of the game (seven runs allowed), Heaney was allowed to complete the fourth inning as a reward for the selflessness he’s shown in his two seasons with the club and for the value he’s provided as a teammate in the clubhouse. “[General manager Chris Young] said we are going to do the right things by people, by players and by fans,” Heaney tells Grant. “Chris and [manager] Bruce Bochy are baseball lifers and they understand what it means. I believed everything Chris told me when I signed here. It has been everything he presented and more.” The 33-year-old Heaney finished out the 2024 season with a 4.28 ERA in his 160 frames and logged an overall 4.22 ERA in 307 1/3 innings over his two years in Texas. He’s a free agent this winter.
  • Right-hander Chris Flexen has eaten innings at the back of the White Sox’ rotation amid the team’s historically feeble season, and the club made sure in his final start of the season that Flexen was able to reach the final incentive milestone in his one-year, $1.75MM contract, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale points out. Flexen’s deal called for $250K bonuses at each of 75, 100, 125 and 160 innings. The right-hander entered Sunday’s start with 153 2/3 innings under his belt. Flexen made the decision pretty easy for the Sox, as he tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Angels. Still, few would’ve questioned the decision to pull Flexen after six scoreless innings, 88 pitches and a 7-0 lead. But the Sox made sure to send Flexen back out for the seventh and only lifted him after he’d recorded that first out to get him to that 160-inning threshold. He finished out the season with a 4.95 ERA, leading the team in innings and ranking second to Garrett Crochet with 30 starts. Flexen will head back to free agency this winter.

Pirates To Move Oneil Cruz To Center Field

By | at

Pirates manager Derek Shelton announced to reporters today that shortstop Oneil Cruz will be moved to center field. As to whether this is a permanent move or just an experiment, Shelton said “I think right now, we’re looking at him as a center fielder” per Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on X. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will be the club’s primary shortstop for the rest of the year, per Hiles on X.

Cruz, now 25, has long been an exciting player due to his obvious natural abilities. His Statcast page features plenty of red, as he frequently features as one of the best players in the league in terms of things like exit velocity, sprint speed and arm strength.

However, there have always been questions about concerning elements in his game. One of those is his that his tremendous ability to crush the baseball also comes with huge amounts of strikeouts. And the other big question has been about whether his height would prevent him from sticking at shortstop. Cruz is listed at 6’7″ and there’s never really been a player of that size at that position for an extended period of time. The Bucs have given it a try but the results haven’t been amazing. Cruz has over 1700 major league innings at shortstop now but with -8 Defensive Runs Saved and -13 Outs Above Average.

It seems the club has decided now is time to try a change. The Bucs hovered around contention for much of the summer but they have fallen back lately. As of right now, they are eight games back of a playoff spot in the National League and would need to pass six other clubs in order to get in. The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs give them just a 0.4% chance of pulling it off while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are even less optimistic at 0.1%.

With the season more or less on life support, the club is clearly turning its attention to the future. Center fielder Michael A. Taylor has reportedly been placed on waivers as the club hopes for someone to take on what’s left of his $4MM salary. If he is claimed, it would save the club some money and open up the position for Cruz. If Taylor isn’t claimed, the club will presumably either move him to a bench role or cut him from the roster regardless.

The remaining five weeks of the schedule will give Cruz a chance to get familiar with the position, which he has never played. He has 80 minor league innings in left field and one major league inning in that corner as well, but that’s the sum of his outfield experience. Perhaps the natural athletic abilities of Cruz, particularly his speed, can be better deployed in center field.

If he seems passable out there in center, it will naturally impact the club’s future, this offseason and beyond. He can still be retained for four seasons beyond this one, so he could give the club an anchor in center if he takes to it. Bryan Reynolds was once the club’s center fielder but he has mostly been in the corners for the past two years. Jack Suwinski got a shot up the middle after a strong 2023 season but he crashed back to earth this year.

The Bucs acquired Bryan De La Cruz from the Marlins at the deadline to try to solidify right field. He has three seasons of club control beyond this one while Reynolds is under contract through 2030 with a club option for 2031. The club also has guys like Billy McKinney, Connor Joe, Ji Hwan Bae, Joshua Palacios and Suwinski on the roster to potentially help out in the future as well.

Kiner-Falefa is a competent defender at multiple positions, including shortstop, and is under contract for another season beyond this one. The club will need a long-term solution there but he can cover the spot in the short term. Termarr Johnson, one of the club’s best prospects, is a middle infielder but hasn’t yet reached Double-A and will need some more time to climb the ladder.

If the club feels good about Kiner-Falefa at shortstop and Cruz in center, then their offseason can be spent focusing on other aspects of the roster, such as second base, first base or the bullpen. For Cruz personally, he has been a strong offensive performer despite his strikeouts. He has hit .252/.314/.459 so far in his career for a wRC+ of 111 while also stealing 30 bases. That has come with subpar shortstop defense but he could perhaps increase his future earning power if he can become a solid defensive center fielder instead.

Pirates Acquire Isiah Kiner-Falefa

By | at

The Pirates and Blue Jays have agreed to a trade that will send utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa to Pittsburgh.  The Bucs will also get some cash considerations as part of the deal, while the Jays will receive outfield prospect Charles McAdoo in return.  The trade has been officially announced by both clubs. Toronto is reportedly paying down $1MM of the approximate $2.5MM remaining on Kiner-Falefa’s deal this season; they’ll also pick up roughly $1.22MM of the $7.5MM on his contract for next season.

Kiner-Falefa hasn’t played a big league game since June 30 due to a left knee sprain, but he is two games into a minor league rehab assignment and is expected to be activated within the next few days, assuming no setbacks.  The 29-year-old now looks to be making his return in a new uniform, and joining a playoff race, with the Pirates two games back of an NL wild card slot.

Toronto signed Kiner-Falefa to a two-year, $15MM free agent deal this winter, and both the size of the contract and IKF’s landing spot surprised many pundits at the time.  Kiner-Falefa has a history as a glove-first player and was coming off a rough year at the plate with the 2023 Yankees, and the Jays seemingly had little need for a utility infielder given their number of infield options already on hand.  As it turned out, however, Kiner-Falefa ended up being an all-around bright spot in an otherwise disappointing Blue Jays season.

Over 281 plate appearances, Kiner-Falefa has hit .292/.338/.420 with seven home runs in a Jays uniform.  His 116 wRC+ far outclasses the 81 wRC+ he posted in his first six MLB seasons, even if a fair amount of good fortune has been involved.  Kiner-Falefa’s .331 wOBA is well above his .291 xwOBA, he has a .316 BABIP, and he ranks in the bottom tenth percentile of all hitters in walk rate, hard-hit ball rate, and barrel rate.  While the hard contact hasn’t been there, Kiner-Falefa has made a lot of contact in general, with an excellent 13.2% strikeout rate.

This unexpected offense has been paired with IKF’s customary strong defense, as he has helped the Jays at second base, third base, and shortstop this year.  Pittsburgh already has an elite defensive third baseman in Ke’Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz is locked into the shortstop role, so with Nick Gonzales now facing a lengthy stint on the 10-day IL, Kiner-Falefa figures to slide right into the Pirates’ second base role once he himself returns to good health.

After five straight losing seasons, the Pirates appear eager to mark the end of their rebuild with a postseason berth.  Kiner-Falefa, Bryan De La Cruz, Jalen Beeks, and Josh Walker have all been added in trades in the last few days, and another deal or two might be squeezed in before the deadline.  While none of these moves are exactly blockbusters, the sum total is a set of modest but needed upgrades to bolster some weaker links on the roster.

The financial element of the IKF deal shouldn’t be overlooked, as Kiner-Falefa is owed roughly $2.5MM for the rest of this season and then $7.5MM in 2025. The Jays included cash in a few of their deadline deals.

McAdoo ranked 12th in Baseball America’s most recent evaluation of the Pirates’ minor league system, and the 22-year-old has hit .315/.394/.538 with 14 home runs over 376 total PA at high-A and Double-A this season.  A 13th-round pick out of San Jose State in the 2023 draft, McAdoo has done nothing but hit in his brief pro career, and has already shown a lot of polish in his approach at the plate.  BA notes that McAdoo has shown elite bat speed and exit velocities to back up his impressive bottom-line numbers.

Defensively, McAdoo has played mostly third base in the minors, but with a good chunk of time at first base, second base, and in both corner outfield spots.  BA hasn’t been wowed by his defense and feels the corner outfield might ultimately be his defensive home, though for now, McAdoo looks like the kind of versatile multi-position type the Blue Jays have prioritized in recent years.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan (X link) was the first to report that IKF was headed to the Pirates, while MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand wrote (via X) about McAdoo’s inclusion. Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported the specifics of the cash considerations.

Blue Jays Listening To Trade Offers On Isiah Kiner-Falefa

By | at

Blue Jays infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been on the 10-day injured list since the start of July due to a a left knee sprain, but he started a rehab assignment yesterday and could perhaps be traded prior to Tuesday’s deadline. Even if he’s not reinstated by then, trades of players on the IL are allowed and the Jays are willing to listen to offers, per both Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet on X and Robert Murray of FanSided.

Kiner-Falefa, 29, has long been a glove-first utility man. In his career, he has received strong grades for his work at the three infield spots to the left of first base. He’s also played all three outfield slots with some passable marks out there. Through the end of 2023, he had hit just .261/.314/.346 for a wRC+ of 81 but had stolen 74 bases in 98 tries.

The Jays signed him in the offseason to a two-year deal that paid him $15MM plus $1MM in incentives and he was having the best offensive showing of his career prior to the knee injury. He had seven home runs in 83 games, which isn’t a massive total but a nice jump for IKF personally as his career high is eight. He was only drawing walks at a 4.6% clip but also limited strikeouts to a 13.2% rate. His current .292/.338/.420 batting line translates to a 116 wRC+ in this year’s offensive environment.

Kiner-Falefa has close to 3,000 innings at shortstop in his career with 27 Defensive Runs Saved in that time. Outs Above Average has him at -5, but most of that is due to a -6 tally back in 2021. In almost 1500 innings at third base, he has 24 DRS and 24 OAA. His second base track record is barely over 400 innings but has nonetheless translated to 8 DRS and 2 OAA, while his over 500 innings in the outfield have been just a bit below par.

The Blue Jays are clear sellers but have mostly been focused on moving rental players. They’ve already traded Yimi García to the Mariners, Danny Jansen to the Red Sox and could look to flip Yusei Kikuchi, Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier and Trevor Richards in the coming days. While they are reportedly not trying to move core controllable guys like Bo Bichette or Vladimir Guerrero Jr., they are clearly at least willing to entertain moving some non-rental guys. They recently traded Nate Pearson to the Cubs despite Pearson having two extra seasons of control beyond this one.

Kiner-Falefa could perhaps garner interest due to the lack of other infielders that are available, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently examined in a piece of Front Office subscribers. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is already off the board after being acquired by the Yankees. Brandon Drury and Paul DeJong are having underwhelming seasons.

There are a few guys out there, such as Luis Rengifo of the Angels. The Rays have Amed Rosario and are probably open to offers on Brandon Lowe and Isaac Paredes, though the prices on the latter two should be pretty notable. The Reds might listen on Jonathan India but it’s unclear how available he really is. Ditto for Nico Hoerner of the Cubs.

Even after getting Chisholm, the Yankees are still looking for help at third base. Clubs like the Rangers, Astros, Dodgers, Red Sox, Mariners, Atlanta and the Pirates could be looking for infield upgrades in the coming days. Perhaps the imbalance between supply and demand will lead to the Jays getting some interesting calls. They could always keep Kiner-Falefa for the second year of his deal but their infield mix has also changed since they signed him.

Ernie Clement has essentially been performing the role IKF was brought in for, providing quality defense at multiple spots with a contact-based approach at the plate. Spencer Horwitz moved from first base to second base due to Guerrero being locked in at first. Horwitz has been hitting well while seemingly performing capable enough at the keystone. Leo Jiménez is covering shortstop with Bichette on the injured list. Orelvis Martinez will be back in the mix after he serves his 80-game PED suspension. Guys like Addison Barger and Davis Schneider are also capable of playing some infield. On the outfield, even without Kiermaier next year, the Jays currently project to have George Springer and Daulton Varsho with Barger and Schneider in play, as well as Jonatan Clase, recently acquired in the Garcia trade.

Perhaps IKF is more useful to them at this point as a trade chip than as a part of their 2025 plans. IKF’s contract has a $7.5MM competitive balance tax hit for the year but an acquiring club would only be taking on about a third of that by trading for him now. It’s also possible the Jays could look to eat some of the money owed to him in order to facilitate a deal.

Blue Jays Place Isiah Kiner-Falefa On Injured List, Recall Leo Jimenez For Major League Debut

By | at

The Blue Jays announced that infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left knee sprain. Infielder Leo Jimenez has been recalled in a corresponding move and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Kiner-Falefa, 29, was a late scratch from yesterday’s game. Manager John Schneider said that the infielder “felt something” which “popped up out of nowhere” during his pre-game stretches, per Hazel Mae of Sportsnet on X. It’s unclear how much time the Jays expect him to miss but the injury is significant enough that he’ll require an IL stint.

Signed to a two-year deal in the offseason, IKF has been having the best campaign of his career thus far. He has always been a glove-first utility guy but had hit just .261/.314/.346 coming into the year for an 81 wRC+. Though much has gone wrong for the Jays here in 2024, Kiner-Falefa’s deal has been a nice development, as he has hit .292/.338/.420 for a wRC+ of 117. He’s done that while playing the three infield positions to the left of first base and one inning in center field as well. His 2.0 wins above replacement are currently leading the team, according to the calculations at FanGraphs.

It’s a less than ideal development for the Jays, who have fallen back in the American League playoff picture. Though many contenders have been bunched up in the Wild Card race for a lot of the year, the Jays have slipped to 38-46, tied with the Tigers and Rangers and eight games out of the last postseason spot. With the trade deadline less than a month away, the club will need a serious hot streak to avoid a summer selloff, which will be harder to do without one of their more productive players on the season. If the summer selloff does end up coming to pass, there would also be an argument for selling high on IKF, though that could perhaps be less likely now, depending on how things develop in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, Jimenez gets his first call to the big leagues. An international signing out of Panama in 2017, he’s long been considered one of the better prospects in the Jays’ system. Baseball America has ranked him one of the top 30 farmhands in the organization since 2019, generally considering him a strong defender at shortstop but with a possibility that he ends up at second base due to his arm.

Offensively, Jimenez is considered more of a line drive hitter than a power threat but the plate discipline appears to be strong. He has stepped to the plate just under 1200 times since the start of 2021 with just 22 home runs but a 12.8% walk rate and a 16.4% strikeout rate. He’s slashed a combined .269/.404/.401 in that time for a wRC+ of 127. That includes a line of .271/.416/.431 and 129 wRC+ in 57 Triple-A games this year, with a 13.3% walk rate and 15% strikeout rate.

Jimenez has mostly played shortstop this year but also some second base. The Jays have Bo Bichette at short but the keystone could be available. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has some sore fingers after being hit by a pitch and missed yesterday’s game, so Spencer Horwitz could perhaps move to first until Guerrero is ready to return. That would leave second base open for Jimenez and Davis Schneider, though Schneider has also been playing left field this year.

Though this is his first call to the big leagues, Jimenez was actually added to the 40-man roster back in November of 2021 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. That means he is in his final option year and will be out of options by next season. Given his solid profile, he’ll likely be ticketed for a role on next year’s team. If the 2024 season ends up being a lost year for the Jays, they can at least use the final months of the schedule to audition controllable players like Jimenez, Horwitz, Schneider and Addison Barger as they evaluate how to approach building next year’s roster.

Marlins Exploring Free Agent Infield Market

By | at

The Marlins are the only team in MLB that hasn’t signed at least one free agent to a major league contract this offseason. This morning’s minor league pact with Trey Mancini stands as the team’s most notable free-agent pickup to date, and the trade front hasn’t been particularly active either. The Fish acquired catcher Christian Bethancourt from the Guardians for cash and bought low on former top prospect Vidal Brujan and reliever Calvin Faucher in a trade with new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix’s former club, the Rays.

It seems as though some modest activity could at least be on the horizon. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the team is looking into a thin crop of free-agent shortstops and hoping to add someone on a big league deal — ideally a player who could also handle some third base on occasion.

This offseason’s crop of shortstops is the worst in recent years, and one of the better names is already off the board: Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Notably, Jackson adds that the Marlins made an offer to Kiner-Falefa but balked at adding a second guaranteed year. He instead signed with the Blue Jays on a two-year, $15MM contract.

Looking elsewhere on the free agent market, there’s not a lot to be had. Tim Anderson will likely sign a one-year deal in hopes of bouncing back to his previous All-Star form, but he’s coming off a catastrophic 2023 showing in which all of his slash stats checked in south of .300 (.245/.286/.296). Anderson has never played third base in the majors, but he did say a few months back that he’s open to a move to second base if need be. Presumably, that means he’d be similarly open to spending occasional time at third base.

Other options on the market include Amed Rosario and longtime Giants cornerstone Brandon Crawford. Rosario, like Anderson, is seeking a rebound opportunity after he hit .263/.305/.378 last season — his worst production since the shortened 2020 season. That batting line checked in 12% south of league-average, by measure of wRC+, and it’s worth noting that Rosario has also never played third base in the big leagues. But he’s put in over 6000 innings of shortstop work since his debut, in addition to occasional work at second base and all three outfield spots. Presumably, he’d be comfortable moving to the hot corner.

Crawford, 37, is a lifelong Giant and could well be averse to traveling clear across the country to continue his career on a team that is, at best, a Wild Card contender. He’s looking to bounce back from a career-worst .194/.273/.314 performance at the plate last season. Statcast still pegs Crawford as a plus defender at shortstop, while Defensive Runs Saved feels (rather emphatically so) that the opposite is true. Regardless, he’d likely be available on a one-year deal and ought to be capable of handling third base on occasion, given his nearly 14,000 career innings at shortstop.

Veteran infielder Gio Urshela represents one more speculative option, though it’s far from clear any club will give him everyday work at shortstop. He’s been more of a third baseman since establishing himself as a regular, and he’s now coming off a season-ending pelvic fracture sustained last June during his lone season as an Angel. The Halos gave Urshela 71 innings at shortstop last season, but that was the second-highest total at the position in any single season. A full-time role at shortstop is probably a reach, particularly coming off an injury of note.

The market has a handful of other options, but most are generally going to be available on minor league deals. Elvis Andrus, Nick Ahmed, Yu Chang, Adalberto Mondesi and Matt Duffy all know their way around the shortstop position; Chang, Mondesi and Duffy have quite a bit of experience at the hot corner as well (Duffy in particular). All have been below-average hitters more often than not in recent seasons though, and Mondesi has one of the lengthiest injury histories of any active player in the game.

Beyond that, free agency doesn’t have much in the way of shortstop options. A creative trade still seems viable — particularly if the Marlins remain amenable to dealing a controllable starter like Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett or Jesus Luzardo. If the plan is to find a short-term option in free agency, however, the options are few and far between.

MLBTR Podcast: Yamamoto Fallout, the Sale/Grissom Trade and Transaction Roundup

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Ross Atkins Discusses Current State Of Blue Jays’ Roster

By | at

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins spoke to the media today as the club introduced recent signees Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Those comments were relayed by reporters including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportnet (X links), Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (X link) and Keegan Matheson of MLB.com (X links).

“We feel really good about the team that we have,” Atkins said, while acknowledging that further moves could still be forthcoming. “I don’t think we’ll add three players. I think, most likely, that it’s closer to one.” The forthcoming addition would “most likely be in the outfield or DH category, but we’re not limited to that.” When asked if their third baseman was already on the roster, he said that “We feel really good about the team that we have. Between [Santiago] Espinal, [Cavan] Biggio and Kiner-Falefa, we have opportunities to deploy different lineups and different players playing third base potentially.” Further moves could change the role for Kiner-Falefa but “There could be a pathway for him to get a lot of third base at-bats the way we’re currently constructed.”

All of this would seem to suggest that their likelihood of re-signing Matt Chapman is currently low, though some caveats apply. While Atkins suggested they are more focused on an outfield/DH addition, he did at least leave the door open by saying they are “not limited to that.” It’s also possible that this is a negotiating tactic, downplaying their interest in order to improve their leverage in contract talks.

If it does come to pass that Kiner-Falefa replaces Chapman in getting the bulk of the playing time at the hot corner, that would count as a notable downgrade for the club. Both are excellent defenders but IKF has a career batting line of just .261/.314/.346, which translates to a wRC+ of 81. Chapman, meanwhile, has hit .240/.329/.461 in his career for a wRC+ of 118. Kiner-Falefa could make up for that gap somewhat with his speed, having stolen 56 bases over the past three years, but Chapman is obviously the superior player overall. Kiner-Falefa has a career tally of 3.8 wins above replacement from FanGraphs, a figure that Chapman has topped in a single season on four occasions.

It seems the club is focused on run prevention, as both Kiner-Falefa and Kiermaier are defensive specialists, while hoping for greater offense from their incumbent players. “We feel like last year was just a blip in terms of run-scoring,” Atkins said today, per Matheson. Lineup regulars like George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk all had relative down years at the plate in 2023 and it seems like the club is expecting that group bouncing back to make up for the loss of Chapman’s bat.

If this is an honest assessment of the club’s current makeup and not mere posturing, it’s a bold gambit for the club to take. The offense was a bit underwhelming in 2023 and the lineup has since lost Chapman, Brandon Belt and Whit Merrifield. The club seemed focused on upgrading the lineup all winter, having been connected to big bats like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Cody Bellinger and others. While Ohtani and Soto are off the board, Bellinger is still available, as are some other known targets. The club has been connected to DH-type players like Joc Pederson, Michael Brantley, Jorge Soler, Rhys Hoskins, J.D. Martinez, Joey Votto and Justin Turner. It seems at least one addition is still forthcoming but the Jays could be placing a lot of faith in a return to form from the aforementioned quartet.

It’s also possible that some internal improvements could come from elsewhere. Davis Schneider had a red hot debut in 2023 but cooled later in the year. He still finished with a batting line of .276/.404/.603 in his first 141 major league plate appearances, translating to a wRC+ of 176. He surely won’t be able to maintain that, but even some regression could perhaps see him bolster the lineup over a full season.

The club also got encouraging minor league performances, to varying degrees, from players like Spencer Horwitz, Damiano Palmegiani, Orelvis Martinez, Ernie Clement, Leo Jimenez, Addison Barger and Nathan Lukes. All of those players have either made their major league debut already or have reached Triple-A, making them plausible contributors to the 2024 club. A strong step forward from one or two guys in that group could quickly cut into IKF’s playing time. “I know the off-season isn’t done,” Kiner-Falefa said today, per Davidi. “I know are still going to be moves. I’m just ready to play everywhere.”

The club is clearly not done and it’s perhaps best to reserve judgement until later in the offseason, but it currently looks a bit odd. The Jays clearly set their sights high and it seemed as recently as a few weeks ago that they were committed to making a big splash to upgrade the lineup but now appear to have made a significant shift in how they are approaching their 2024 roster construction.

On another note, Atkins relayed that the Jays have added Matt Hague to their big league coaching staff as assistant hitting coach, per Nicholson-Smith. Hague played in 43 big league games between the Pirates and Blue Jays. He last appeared in the majors in 2015 but continued toiling away in the minors through 2018. For the past four years, he has been serving as a hitting coach in the minor leagues of the Jays’ system but will now get a chance to join a major league staff.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top