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Hunter Renfroe, Chris Stratton Exercise Player Options

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Outfielder Hunter Renfroe and reliever Chris Stratton triggered player options in their deals with the Royals, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X links). Kansas City declined its end of a mutual option on infielder Adam Frazier, per Feinsand. In other Royals’ news, lefty reliever Josh Taylor elected free agency, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Kansas City evidently ran him through outright waivers instead of reinstating him from the 60-day injured list.

All three option decisions went as expected. Renfroe, Stratton and Frazier each signed as free agents last winter. None had a particularly good season. That made it a straightforward call for the players who could return to pass on their chances to retest the market, while the front office had a similarly easy call to move on from Frazier.

Renfroe returns on a $7.5MM salary. He’ll look to improve on this year’s middling .229/.297/.392 slash line. Renfroe hit 15 homers but reached base at less than a .300 clip for a second consecutive season. It was a replacement level performance altogether. He’ll be penciled back in as the starting right fielder for the moment, but the corner outfield is a clear area for the front office to try to upgrade.

Stratton secures a $4.5MM salary. His deal contained a $500K buyout, so that was a $4MM call. The veteran right-hander would probably be limited to minor league offers if he were a free agent. He struggled to a 5.55 earned run average through 58 1/3 innings this past season. It’s not a guarantee that the Royals keep him on the roster all winter. If they do bring him back, they’ll hope to get something closer to the 82 2/3 innings of 3.92 ball that he provided the Cardinals and Rangers in 2023.

Frazier gets a $2.5MM buyout instead of an $8.5MM salary. The former All-Star second baseman hasn’t hit much since being traded from Pittsburgh to San Diego in 2021. That continued during what looks like it’ll be his lone season in Kansas City. Frazier hit .202/.282/.294 while appearing in 104 games. Michael Massey outplayed him to take the second base job. Frazier might need to settle for a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite this winter.

As for Taylor, this effectively serves as an early non-tender. He was eligible for arbitration for a final time. While he was projected for a modest $1.1MM salary, the Royals didn’t want to create a 40-man roster spot after he missed the entire 2024 season. Taylor lost this year to a biceps injury and has also struggled with back issues in recent years.

Royals Acquire Colin Selby From Pirates

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The Royals have acquired right-hander Colin Selby from the Pirates in exchange for minor league left-hander Connor Oliver.  Both teams have announced the trade, and Kansas City further noted that left-hander Josh Taylor has been shifted to the 60-day injured list to create space for Selby on the 40-man roster.

Pittsburgh designated Selby for assignment earlier this week, and today’s trade ends Selby’s time with the Bucs after parts of seven pro seasons.  A 16th-round pick for Pittsburgh in the 2018 draft, Selby has pitched at Triple-A Indianapolis in each of the last three seasons, with a solid 3.57 ERA and a strong 29.22% strikeout rate over 35 1/3 innings at the top rung of the minor league ladder.  Selby’s strikeout totals have spiked upwards since he became a full-time relief pitcher in 2021, and he has posted very high grounder rates, including a superb 61.2% groundball rate in 30 1/3 Triple-A frames last season.

Control is Selby’s main issue, as his walks have shot upwards along with his missed bats.  The right-hander has a 16.23% walk rate during his Triple-A career, as well as a 13.2% walk rate over his 24 career innings in the majors.  Selby posted a 9.00 ERA in his MLB debut last season, hampered by his free passes and four home runs allowed in his small sample size as a big leaguer — even with a 48.5% grounder rate against Major League batters, Selby couldn’t limit the damage when he allowed fly balls.

K.C. was intrigued enough by Selby’s potential to arrange a trade, and the 26-year-old will now head to Triple-A Omaha so the Royals’ pitching development staff can get a closer look.  The Royals felt strongly enough to use a 40-man roster spot on Selby, though Taylor’s uncertain health situation created some flexibility on the team’s roster situation.

Taylor developed both a musculocutaneous nerve issue and left biceps soreness during Spring Training, leading the Royals to place him on the 15-day IL to begin the season.  The move to the 60-day IL doesn’t reset Taylor’s clock from its initial retroactive placement of March 25, but it does mean that he’ll now be out of action until at least the last week of May.

It’s another tough setback for Taylor, who has been plagued with back problems for the better part of three years.  He missed the 2022 season entirely and underwent surgery last summer to address a herniated disc in his back, hopefully solving that issue once and for all.  Between the back injuries, a shoulder impingement, and elbow tendinitis, Taylor has appeared in just 86 games and thrown 72 2/3 innings since the start of the 2020 season.  This is Taylor’s second year in Kansas City, as the Royals acquired him from the Red Sox for Adalberto Mondesi in January 2023.

Oliver is a 22-year-old southpaw drafted in the 17th round in 2023, and his pro resume thus far consists of a single inning with the Royals’ complex league team last year.  The Miami of Ohio product had a 3.89 ERA in 14 starts and 78 2/3 innings in his final year of college ball.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 11/17/23

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Tonight marks the deadline for teams to tender contracts to players who are eligible for arbitration. This evening should also see a handful of arb-eligible players agree to terms with their clubs to avoid a hearing.

These so-called “pre-tender deals” usually, although not always, involve players who were borderline non-tender candidates. Rather than run the risk of being cut loose, they can look to sign in the lead-up to the deadline. Those salaries often come in a little below projections, since these players tend to have less leverage because of the uncertainty about whether they’ll be offered a contract at all.

Under the 2022 collective bargaining agreement, players who sign to avoid an arbitration hearing are guaranteed full termination pay. That’s a change from prior CBAs, when teams could release an arb-eligible player before the season began and would only owe a prorated portion of the contract. This was done to incentivize teams and players to get deals done without going to a hearing.

All salary projections referenced are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. This post will be updated throughout the night as deals are reported.

Latest Moves

  • The Orioles agreed to deals with outfielders Sam Hilliard and Ryan McKenna, reliever Keegan Akin and shortstop Jorge Mateo, as announced by the team. Mateo will make $2.7MM, as first reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link). Jon Heyman of the New York Post has terms (on X) for Akin and Hilliard: $825K for the former, $800K for the latter.
  • Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski has a deal for $7.9MM, Heyman reports. That’s a little above his $7.3MM projection. Yastrzemski has one additional arbitration year remaining.
  • Reliever Yency Almonte and the Dodgers have agreed to a $1.9MM salary, per Heyman. That matches his projection.
  • Lefty reliever Ryan Borucki agreed to a contract with the Pirates, the team announced. Feinsand reports it as a $1.6MM deal. He was projected at $1.3MM.
  • The Rockies have a deal with lefty reliever Jalen Beeks, Heyman reports. He’ll make $1.675MM. Recently claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay, Beeks was projected at $1.8MM.
  • The Cubs announced a deal with third baseman Patrick Wisdom. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports that the power-hitting infielder will make $2.725MM. That’s narrowly above a $2.6MM projection.
  • Outfielder DJ Stewart agreed to a deal with the Mets, per a club announcement. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports it’ll be for $1.38MM. Stewart had been projected at $1.5MM as an early qualifier via Super Two.
  • The Phillies announced deals with right-hander Dylan Covey, catcher Garrett Stubbs and outfielder Jake Cave. Terms were not disclosed.
  • The White Sox announced agreement with reliever Matt Foster on a deal for $750K, narrowly above the league minimum. The right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery in April.

Earlier Tonight

  • The Royals announced agreement with lefty reliever Josh Taylor. He’ll make $1.1MM, tweets Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Acquired from the Red Sox last winter, Taylor allowed an 8.15 ERA over 17 2/3 innings before undergoing season-ending back surgery. He was projected for a $1.3MM salary.
  • The Athletics announced today that they have agreed to one-year deals with infielders Miguel Andujar and Abraham Toro. The club claimed Andujar off waivers from Pittsburgh earlier this month and swung a deal to acquire Toro from the Brewers earlier this week. Andujar hit .250/.300/.476 in 90 trips to the plate in the majors this year while Toro appeared in just nine games at the big league level but slashed .444/.524/.778 in that extremely limited action. Andujar will make $1.7MM (Heyman link); Toro is set for a $1.275MM salary.
  • The Giants have a deal with outfielder Austin Slater for $4MM, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid (X link). That’s a little north of his $3.6MM projected salary. Slater has over five years of service time and will be a free agent next offseason. The right-handed hitter is coming off a .270/.348/.400 showing over 89 games. He’s a career .285/.374/.463 batter against left-handed pitching but owns a .227/.314/.333 mark versus righties.

Royals Transfer Josh Taylor To 60-Day Injured List

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The Royals today announced that outfielder Diego Hernandez was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to High-A Quad Cities. Left-hander Josh Taylor goes the other way, transferred to the 60-day IL in a corresponding move.

It’s not a shock to see Taylor wind up on the 60-day IL. He was placed on the 15-day IL in late May due to a shoulder impingement and it was reported last week that he would require lower back surgery to address a herniated disk. He’ll now be officially ineligible to return until late July, which didn’t seem especially likely anyhow. He’ll need to recover from that surgery and then will likely need a rehab assignment to get back into a game shape.

He came over to the Royals from in the January trade that saw the Red Sox acquire Adalberto Mondesí and a player to be named later, who was later named as Angel Pierre. Taylor made 17 appearances this year with an 8.15 ERA, though that number was inflated by a .409 batting average on balls in play and 55.1% strand rate. He struck out 31.3% of batters faced while walking 10.8% and advanced metrics liked him more than his ERA, such as a 4.81 FIP and 3.32 SIERA. Those figures align more closely with his 2022 performance, where he posted a 3.40 ERA in 61 appearances.

As for Hernandez, 22, he has yet to play in the majors or even at the Triple-A level. He was added to the club’s roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He dislocated his shoulder in February and was placed on the 60-day IL on Opening Day as the club selected the contracts of veterans Matt Duffy, Franmil Reyes and Jackie Bradley Jr. Hernandez was able to earn big league pay and service time for the past three months while on the major league IL, though that will now come to an end. He’ll head to High-A and try to work his way up to his major league debut. He hit .284/.347/.407 between High-A and Double-A last year, stealing 40 bases in 115 games.

Royals’ Josh Taylor To Undergo Lower Back Surgery

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Royals reliever Josh Taylor will undergo surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back, tweets Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The team hasn’t provided a recovery timetable.

Taylor has been on the injured list for a month while battling a shoulder impingement. The back issue apparently arose during his rehab process. Taylor missed the entire 2022 campaign as he battled a lower back strain.

It’s obviously an unfortunate setback that makes it seem likely he’ll find himself on the 60-day injured list once the club needs a 40-man roster spot. A 60-day IL transfer could be backdated to the time of his initial placement even though he’s now dealing with a separate injury.

Kansas City acquired the southpaw over the offseason in a swap that sent Adalberto Mondesí to the Red Sox. The deal hasn’t worked for either team, as both players have battled injuries. Mondesí still hasn’t played for Boston as he works back from last year’s ACL tear. Taylor has made 17 appearances for K.C. but been tagged for 16 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings. He has struck out just under 32% of opposing hitters, an excellent clip, but nine walks and four homers contributed to the inflated ERA.

This is Taylor’s second season of arbitration eligibility. He’s making $1.025MM this year and eligible for the process twice more. An extended absence would increase the odds of Kansas City non-tendering him next offseason, though it’s unclear precisely how long he’ll be out.

Royals Place Josh Taylor On Injured List

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The Royals announced that they’ve placed left hander Josh Taylor on the 15-day IL with left shoulder impingement syndrome and activated left hander Daniel Lynch. Lynch will start today’s game against the Nationals in Kansas City.

Taylor had limped to an 8.15 ERA over 17 2/3 innings this season, but was perhaps a little more unfortunate than that mark suggests. He owns a very high .409 BABIP and had been striking out batters at a quality 31.3% clip, so perhaps his performance was somewhat better than the ERA.

Acquired by the Royals this winter in the Adalberto Mondesi trade with the Red Sox, Taylor arrived in Kansas City with a career 3.69 ERA over 102 1/3 big league innings in Boston. He missed the entire 2022 season with a back injury, but his track record suggests there is certainly some talent in the left hander. Like many left handers, Taylor is far better against same sided batters, holding them to a .196/.277/.272 line as opposed to a .283/.367/.446 line against right handed hitters.

Lynch was activated to make his season debut for the Royals as he returns from a rotator cuff strain suffered in spring training. The 26-year-old former first round pick has made 42 starts for the Royals over the past two years, putting together a 5.32 ERA with a 19.4% strikeout rate and a 9.1% walk rate, both marks that fall slightly below the league average.

Royals Place Kris Bubic On 15-Day Injured List

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The Royals placed left-hander Kris Bubic on the 15-day injured list due to a flexor strain in his left forearm.  Left-hander Josh Taylor was called up to take Bubic’s spot on the active roster.

Bubic pitched well in his first two starts of the season, but was touched up for five runs on 10 hits and a walk over five innings in yesterday’s outing against the Braves.  Bubic felt some forearm soreness in the aftermath and thought it might have been due to the game’s cooler temperatures, but unfortunately he’ll now face a larger problem in the form of a flexor strain.  It isn’t yet known what kind of timeline Bubic is facing for a recovery, as Royals manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star) that Bubic was “getting further diagnostics” on the injury.

Even if Bubic is able to avoid serious injury, the IL stint is still an unwelcome setback for a pitcher hoping to break out in his fourth Major League season.  Bubic was the 40th overall pick of the 2018 draft, and one of the young arms Kansas City was counting on as the linchpins of their rebuilding period.  Of that group, however, only Brady Singer has really stepped up at the big league level — Daniel Lynch, Jackson Kowar, and Bubic have all struggled to some degree, though Bubic has at least done enough to retain his spot in the K.C. rotation.

Bubic had a 4.89 ERA over 309 innings with the Royals from 2020-22, posting below-average walk and strikeout rates while struggling to limit hard contact.  In the small sample size of his 2023 efforts, Bubic’s 23.5% strikeout rate is a bit above average, while his control (2.9% walk rate) has been excellent.

Taylor will give the Royals more depth in the bullpen, which might be helpful in filling Bubic’s rotation spot since Quatraro suggested that an opener is a possibility.  However, due to an upcoming off-day, the Royals won’t need a fifth starter until April 25, giving the team some time to plan their next step.  If a traditional starter is used, Kowar, Max Castillo, or Jonathan Heasley might be options at Triple-A.

Red Sox Acquire Angel Pierre From Royals

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The Red Sox announced that infielder Angel Pierre has been acquired from the Royals.  Pierre is the player to be named later included along with Adalberto Mondesi in the January swap that sent Josh Taylor to Kansas City.

Pierre was an international signing for the Royals in January 2022, and the 19-year-old’s first year as professional saw him hit .300/.424/.550 with two home runs over 125 plate appearances in the Dominican Summer League.  Pierre hails from “the Cradle of Shortstops” in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, but he mostly played third base in DSL action, with a handful of games as a shortstop and second baseman.

Royals, Red Sox Swap Adalberto Mondesi For Josh Taylor

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The Red Sox added some much-needed middle infield help Tuesday, acquiring shortstop Adalberto Mondesi and a player to be named later from the Royals in exchange for left-handed reliever Josh Taylor. Both teams have announced the trade.

In Mondesi, Boston is acquiring an immensely talented 27-year-old infielder — but also one of the most frequently injured players in MLB over the past few seasons. Dating back to the 2018 season, Mondesi has appeared in only 40% of the Royals’ possible games, missing time due to a right shoulder impingement, a groin strain, a pair of left shoulder subluxations, a left hamstring strain, an oblique strain and, most recently, a torn ACL that wiped out his 2022 season. Both the left shoulder injury and ACL tear required surgery.

It’s a daunting list of injuries for Mondesi, but it’s nevertheless difficult not to be enticed by Mondesi’s blend of power, speed and defense. In 1366 Major League plate appearances, Mondesi has 38 home runs, 54 doubles, 20 triples and 133 stolen bases. He’s also amassed 23 Outs Above Average and a 13.3 Ultimate Zone Rating in 2126 career innings at shortstop.

Beyond the injuries, that combination of raw skills is also undercut by an aggressive approach and sub-par bat-to-ball skills that regularly lead to sub-par OBPs. Mondesi has fanned in 30.2% of his plate appearances against just a 4.4% walk rate, and he’s a career .244/.280/.408 hitter in the big leagues. That includes a rough .140/.204/.140 showing in 2022, though that came in a tiny sample of just 54 plate appearances.

Mondesi has tantalized scouts, fans and evaluators for years now, but the Red Sox will be the first team other than the Royals to try to both keep Mondesi healthy and maximize the return on those raw tools. They’re only acquiring a year of his services, as despite his struggles to remain on the field, Mondesi has racked up over five years of Major League service time through his various stints on the injured list. He and the Royals avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $3.045MM salary back in December.

Boston’s need for up-the-middle help has skyrocketed over the offseason, with Xander Bogaerts heading to the Padres via free agency and Trevor Story now sidelined for at least a significant portion of the 2023 campaign following internal brace surgery in his right elbow. Boston signed Adam Duvall to play center field, thereby pushing Enrique Hernandez to the middle infield. With Mondesi now on board, he can likely handle the bulk of the workload at shortstop, when healthy, while Hernandez slides over to second base. Christian Arroyo remains on hand as a utility option who could play second base regularly, should Hernandez need to slide over to shortstop in the event of a Mondesi injury.

As for the Royals, the trade of Mondesi represents a disappointing outcome regarding a player they once viewed as a potential foundational piece. The long-term outlook of the infield now contains a new cast of characters, highlighted by Bobby Witt Jr. and defensive standout Nicky Lopez. The trade of Mondesi should open up some additional playing time for 24-year-old Michael Massey, whom the organization hopes can be a prominent piece of the infield for years to come.

Kansas City is acquiring three years of Taylor, an affordable and talented lefty reliever who missed the 2022 season due to a back injury. When he’s been healthy, Taylor has pitched 102 1/3 innings at the MLB level, logging a 3.69 ERA with an impressive 29.4% strikeout rate against a more troubling 10% walk rate. Taylor averages nearly 95 mph on his heater, has average ground-ball tendencies and owns a hefty 15% swinging-strike rate in his career — a possible portent for even more strikeout upside. He’s set to earn $1.025MM in 2023 and is controllable through 2025 via arbitration.

Talented as Taylor is, he’s had his own share of health troubles in his pro career. The lefty missed time with shoulder tendinitis in 2020 before dealing with a back strain late in 2021 and then missing the 2022 season due to a continuation of that back issue. He’s also struggled against right-handed hitters, yielding a .283/.375/.429 batting line as opposed to a .173/.247/.228 slash against lefties.

It’s the second trade in as many days for the Royals, who’ve now trimmed a bit more than $6.5MM off their 2023 payroll by trading Mondesi and center fielder Michael A. Taylor. The newly acquired Josh Taylor and lefty Evan Sisk, acquired in last night’s trade with the Twins, give Kansas City a pair of lefties who could impact the bullpen this season. It also frees up some additional resources for the Royals to continue their reported pursuit of a Zack Greinke reunion or perhaps another bat to add elsewhere in the lineup.

Univision’s Mike Rodriguez first reported that the two sides were getting close to a Mondesi trade. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that a deal sending Mondesi and a PTBNL to the Red Sox in exchange for Taylor was in place (Twitter link).

Red Sox, Josh Taylor Avoid Arbitration

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The Red Sox and left-hander Josh Taylor are in agreement on a contract for 2023, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Taylor will earn a salary of $1.025MM in the upcoming campaign.

It’s been a rollercoaster for Taylor over the past few seasons. He made his MLB debut in 2019 and made 52 appearances with a solid 3.04 ERA. However, he went to the injured list multiple times in 2020 and was only able to get into eight games, posting a 9.82 ERA in those. He was able to get back on track in 2021 by getting into 61 games with a 3.40 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate, 11% walk rate and 43.4% ground ball rate.

He reached arbitration for the first time as a Super Two player and agreed to a salary of $1.025MM for 2022. Unfortunately, a low back strain kept him on the injured list for the entire season. Since the arbitration system is designed so that salaries effectively never go down, Taylor and club have agreed at the exact same price point for the upcoming campaign.

Taylor will look to get back to health and back on track in 2023, before going through the arbitration process two more times, slated to reach free agency after 2025. Despite the modest price point, he might be a key member of the club, as he and Joely Rodriguez are the only southpaws that currently seem likely to be in the Boston bullpen.

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