Mets Reinstate Juan Soto
April 22nd: Soto has been officially activated, as expected, with Senger optioned as the corresponding move.
April 21st: The Mets are planning to reinstate Juan Soto from the injured list on Wednesday, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. He has been on the 10-day IL for a little over two weeks but will now return without a rehab assignment.
Soto, of course, is one of the best hitters in the league. He put up a huge .355/.412/.516 line in the club’s first eight games. A strain in his right calf put him out of action and sent him to the IL. Soto’s absence almost perfectly aligns with the club’s season going into a tailspin. The Mets won their first game with Soto on the IL, increasing their record to 7-4. They have since dropped 11 straight contests, dropping them to 7-15. That’s the worst record in the National League and only half a game better than the Royals for worst in the majors.
Ideally, Soto’s return will help the Mets to get back in the win column before the season slips away. They still have lots of time to make up ground but they’ve already put themselves in a hole. FanGraphs still gives the Mets a 41.4% chance of making the postseason, which doesn’t seem too bad in the current context, but that’s basically half of the 80.4% chance they had to begin the campaign.
The outfield has been a particular weak spot for the club since Soto landed on the shelf. The club has received a collective .232/.305/.322 line from their outfielders since Soto’s IL placement. That line translates to an 83 wRC+, indicating the group has been 17% below average, with only seven clubs below them in that category.
The Mets had planned on having Carson Benge in right, Luis Robert Jr. in center and Soto in left as their primary alignment. Robert is playing well but Benge has a .143/.229/.206 line on the year. That’s partially due to a rough .182 batting average on balls in play but his struggles have unfortunately coincided with Soto’s absence. Brett Baty has been largely bumped to the outfield by the Mets’ offseason infield additions but he has a .200/.206/.277 line this year. Tyrone Taylor is hitting .214/.241/.357. Tommy Pham is hitless in eight plate appearances.
Due to both Soto and Jorge Polanco being on the IL, MJ Melendez has picked up some playing time in the designated hitter spot. He has a .357/.438/.714 line but in a tiny sample of 16 plate appearances. That’s been helped by a massive .800 BABIP and has come despite him striking out eight times, half of his plate appearances. He won’t sustain this kind of production, especially since he’s a .216/.298/.391 hitter in almost 1700 career plate appearances.
The Mets will have to remove someone from the active roster when Soto is officially reinstated. They are currently carrying three catchers, so optioning Hayden Senger is probably the easiest solution. Recalling Senger for Polanco a few days ago may have been about giving the club the option of using Francisco Alvarez in the DH spot when he was getting a day off from catching, but they have been riding the hot hand of Melendez instead.
Optioning Benge is another option, since he is struggling so much. But as mentioned, some of that is due to poor batted ball luck, so the Mets might keep him around and hope his luck changes. Melendez also has options but the Mets might let him keep going until the hot streak ends. Designating Pham for assignment would be another possibility, since he’s not playing much and hasn’t hit when given the chance.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
The Opener: Soto, Kurtz, Ohtani
The Mets’ losing streak grew to a dozen last night. The club will be getting some reinforcements for Wednesday’s matchup.
1. Soto set to return
Outfielder Juan Soto is expected back tonight against the Twins. He’s missed a little under three weeks while nursing a calf injury. The four-time All-Star left early against the Giants on April 3. New York won that game and the next three contests with Soto out of the lineup. The team has since lost 12 straight games. Getting Soto’s bat back in the mix should be a boost. He had a .928 OPS through eight games before the injury. After last night’s 5-3 loss, the Mets have scored three runs or fewer 10 times during the losing streak.
2. Kurtz nearing A’s record
First baseman Nick Kurtz led off last night’s matchup against the Mariners by working a walk against right-hander Luis Castillo. It was his 12th consecutive game with a free pass, moving him into a tie with Rickey Henderson for fifth-most in franchise history (h/t Sarah Langs of MLB.com). The A’s record is a three-way tie at 15 straight games with a walk by Henderson, Max Bishop, and Topsy Hartsel. Kurtz will have a tough task on Wednesday, facing right-hander Logan Gilbert and his 4.3% walk rate.
3. Two-way Ohtani returns?
Right-hander Shohei Ohtani will be on the mound tonight against the Giants. It remains to be seen if he’ll be in the hitting lineup. The two-way star did not hit in his last start. Instead, Dalton Rushing served as the DH and slugged a home run. It was the first time as a Dodger that Ohtani pitched but wasn’t in the batting lineup. Manager Dave Roberts said a HBP earlier in the week led to the decision. LA’s lineup will be an interesting one to monitor on Wednesday, especially with Rushing off to a tremendous start.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
Mets Place Juan Soto On Injured List
The Mets announced that outfielder Juan Soto has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right calf strain. The move is retroactive to April 4th but the club also announced the typical return timeline as two to three weeks. Infielder Ronny Mauricio has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse as the corresponding move.
Soto departed Friday’s game with what the club called right calf soreness. Soto later told members of the media that he had a minor strain and would go day to day to see how he felt. After a couple of days of monitoring the situation, it seems the club will let him sit out for a while to rest up.
It’s not a major issue but it’s obviously not ideal for a player of Soto’s caliber to be subtracted from the lineup. He is one of the best hitters on the planet, with a career .282/.417/.531 line and 158 wRC+. His 18.6% walk rate is almost three ticks better than anyone else in the league. From 2018 to the present, Aaron Judge is second on the list with a 16% walk rate.
The timing is also a bit awkward. The Mets moved Soto to left field to begin the season and gave the right field job to prospect Carson Benge. Though Benge is talented, he has a .100/.206/.200 line through 34 plate appearances. Some of that is due to an unlucky .111 batting average on balls in play but he has also struck out in 32.4% of his plate appearances.
If the Mets had any thought of sending Benge down for a reset, that may be harder to do now that Soto is out, so they may be left with a floundering Benge in one corner and a patchwork solution in the other. On top of that, Brett Baty has missed the past few games due to a jammed left thumb while Jorge Polanco has an Achilles issue that is limiting him to designated hitter duty.
None of the issues are majors in a vacuum but the little bits add up to a challenging shuffle. Mark Vientos is covering first with Polanco in the DH spot. Baty could step into the outfield for Soto if his thumb feels better. If not, Jared Young and Tyrone Taylor could pick up some playing time.
As for Mauricio, he probably won’t play much behind the infield of shortstop Francisco Lindor, second baseman Marcus Semien and third baseman Bo Bichette. The Mets have been playing without a traditional backup infielder, comfortable with Bichette as a backup shortstop and guys like Baty and Vientos potential backups elsewhere. With Baty banged up, Mauricio gives them a bit more conventional cover.
Even if he doesn’t play much, it may be a notable transaction for him for other reasons. He came into this season with one option remaining and a service time count of two years and 31 days. Since he hasn’t yet spent 20 days on optional assignment this year, he hasn’t burned that final option. He also still has a path to get to three years of service in 2026, though getting sent back down later in the year could prevent him from getting there. Where he finishes the year could impact his path to arbitration and/or free agency.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images
Juan Soto Day To Day With “Minor Strain” In Right Calf
5:53PM: Soto told SNY and other media that the MRI revealed “just a minor strain” in his right calf. The plan is for Soto to go “day by day and see how it feels. Definitely no decisions made yet [about the injured list]. We’re going to see how I wake up for the next couple of days and then go from there.” The Mets have an off-day on Monday, which gives the team some extra time to monitor Soto and potentially make a roster decision before Tuesday’s game with the Diamondbacks.
1:09PM: Juan Soto left yesterday’s 10-3 Mets win over the Giants with what the team described as right calf tightness. Manager Carlos Mendoza told the New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters postgame that Soto will undergo an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury.
Soto lasted just a half-inning into Friday’s game, as he picked up the injury while advancing from first to third on a Bo Bichette single in the first inning. Soto was retired on a force play at the plate later in the frame, and Tyrone Taylor took over for Soto in left field for the bottom half of the first.
Over 34 plate appearances, Soto has hit .355/.412/.516 with one home run in the early stages of the 2026 campaign. The superstar’s hot start has been a bright spot within an inconsistent Mets offense — beyond yesterday’s rout of the Giants and an 11-7 win over the Pirates on Opening Day, New York has scored only 14 runs over its other six games.
Needless to say, losing Soto for any amount of time would be a rough break for the Mets’ lineup. Brett Baty would likely get the bulk of playing time in left field if Soto is sidelined, with Taylor providing some platoon cover apart from his usual fourth-outfielder duties. Jorge Polanco has been limited mostly to DH duty due to his bothersome left Achilles, so Mark Vientos (who is also off to a hot start in limited playing time) would see more action at first base if Baty is needed more regularly in left field.
Soto’s durability is an underrated aspect of his standing as one of baseball’s best players. Over the 2021-25 seasons, Soto played in 783 of a possible 810 games, and he hasn’t been on the injured list since 2021 (when he missed two weeks with a left shoulder strain). The MRI results will determine whether or not this streak of good health will continue, though even if the tests are negative, the Mets could opt to give Soto a 10-day IL stint just as a precaution in order to let him fully heal up.
Juan Soto Moving To Left Field
Mets outfielder Juan Soto will have a new position this season. President of baseball operations David Stearns announced that Soto will move to left field, according to multiple reports. He was New York’s primary right fielder in 2025. The 27-year-old is entering the second year of the $765MM mega deal he signed with the club.
Stearns mentioned comfort as being a factor in the decision. Soto will also be playing left field for Team Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. He’s logged more than 4,000 innings at the position as a big leaguer.
The switch means the Mets’ outfield will look completely different in 2026. Soto will slide over to the void left by longtime left fielder Brandon Nimmo, who was traded to the Rangers. Trade acquisition Luis Robert Jr. will take over in center field. Tyrone Taylor took the majority of reps there last year, followed by trade deadline addition Cedric Mullins. Taylor may be headed back to a fourth outfielder role. Mullins signed with the Rays. Part-time outfielder Jeff McNeil is now an Athletic, while Starling Marte is a free agent.
Soto is no stranger to left field. He debuted at the position with Washington in 2018 and held down the spot through the shortened 2020 season. Soto moved to right field in 2021 after the club signed Kyle Schwarber. He remained there in 2022, which was split between the Nationals and the Padres. San Diego slotted Soto in left field the following season. He’s been back in right field the past two years while playing for both New York teams.
The defensive grades for Soto have typically been underwhelming. He’s at -14 Defensive Runs Saved for his career in left field. In the opposite corner, he’s been at -5 DSR. Soto has two productive defensive seasons on the ledger, one apiece at each spot. He was credited with +3 DSR and +5 Outs Above Average in 2019 as a left fielder. In 2021, it was a +6 DSR and a +4 OAA in right field. Soto finished second in NL MVP voting that year.
Soto ranked in the first percentile in OAA (-15) and arm value (-5) last season. He spent 1,374 innings in right field. His -7 DSR was his worst performance since the 2020 campaign. Soto’s -13 Fielding Run Value was tied with Jo Adell for the second-lowest mark among qualified defenders, ahead of only Edgar Quero.
Shifting Soto to left field doesn’t seem to be a hint regarding the right field job. Taylor has been a plus defender at all three spots. Recent signee MJ Melendez has put in solid work at both corners. Top prospect Carson Benge has spent time at each outfield position during his time in the minors, but he’s primarily been a center fielder.
Jorge Castillo of ESPN was among the reporters to relay Stearns’ comments about the position switch. Joel Sherman of the New York Post mentioned the details about Soto playing left field in the WBC and being comfortable there.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Shohei Ohtani Wins NL MVP Award
Shohei Ohtani has his fourth MVP award. As expected, the two-way superstar repeated as NL MVP and has now won the award twice in each league. He’s the second player in MLB history to win a fourth MVP. Barry Bonds won the award seven times. Until tonight, he’d been the only player to earn that title more than thrice. Ohtani won the award unanimously for the third consecutive season and has gotten all 30 first-place votes in all four of his wins.
It’s a third consecutive MVP for the Dodgers slugger. He won the AL version in 2023 during his final season as a member of the Angels. He has taken the crown in both seasons as a Dodger, winning a World Series in each. His $700MM free agent contract is already among the most successful in league history. He’ll have the opportunity to match Bonds’ record of four consecutive MVP wins next season. Bonds won the award as a member of the Giants each season from 2001-04.
Ohtani beats out Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto, the other NL finalists. He led the majors with 146 runs scored while slashing .282/.392/.622 across 727 plate appearances. Ohtani paced the NL in slugging percentage and OPS. He hit a career-high 55 home runs, one back of Schwarber for the Senior Circuit lead. Ohtani’s 102 runs batted in were “only” good for sixth in the NL, though that’s partially because he spent all but one week of the season working out of the leadoff spot.
While Schwarber matched Ohtani from a power perspective, the latter had the advantage of more than .040 points of batting average and .025 points in OBP. He also stole 20 bases and was a far more valuable overall baserunner. That’s before considering his achievements on the mound.
Ohtani finally returned after an extended layoff from pitching following his second career elbow surgery. He chipped in 47 innings of 2.84 ERA ball with 62 strikeouts over 14 starts. Ohtani probably would have won the MVP even if he were simply a DH, as he did in 2024. That he’s also capable of pitching at a top-of-the-rotation level when healthy only reaffirms his status as the sport’s greatest player today and arguably ever.
The award voting takes place at the end of the regular season. Ohtani added another eight homers with a .265/.405/.691 slash over 84 plate appearances in the postseason. He’d been only average during the Dodgers’ World Series run in 2024. That changed this October. Ohtani leveled up when the lights were brightest, hitting .333 with a .500 on-base percentage during the Fall Classic. He set a playoff record with nine times on base during the marathon Game 3, when a couple early homers led Jays manager John Schneider to intentionally walk him every time he came up in extra innings.
Ohtani’s monster showing shouldn’t take away from Schwarber’s phenomenal year. He led the NL in homers and took home the major league RBI crown by driving in 132 runs. Schwarber hit .240/.365/.563 across 724 plate appearances while starting all 162 games for the Phillies. He hit 187 home runs over the course of his four-year, $79MM free agent deal with the Phils and is now set to cash in during a return trip to free agency. Schwarber and Ohtani are tied for second in the majors in homers over the past four seasons, trailing only Aaron Judge. He has received MVP votes in four straight seasons, but this is his first time as a finalist.
Soto just wrapped up the first season of his free agent mega deal with the Mets. It was a disappointing year for the team, as they melted down in September and lost out on a playoff berth to an 83-win Cincinnati club. Soto came under some fire early after getting out to a slow start, but he was a monster from June onward. He finished the year with a .263/.396/.525 slash across 715 trips to the plate. Soto led the majors with 127 walks and paced the NL in on-base percentage. That’s to be expected for the hitter with the game’s best eye. Far more surprising is that he also tied for the NL lead with 38 stolen bases after entering the season with 57 steals over his first six and a half seasons. Soto has never won an MVP but has finished in the top three on three occasions.
FanGraphs credited Ohtani with an NL-best 9.4 wins above replacement between his pitching and hitting. Baseball Reference had him in second place at 7.7 WAR, narrowly behind Cy Young runner-up Cristopher Sánchez at eight WAR. BRef actually had Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo as the WAR leader solely among position players, excluding Ohtani’s pitching stats. Perdomo was second in fWAR behind Ohtani.
Schwarber received 23 of the 30 second-place votes. Four voters had Soto second on their ballot, while the other three placed Perdomo in that spot. The three finalists were the only players who appeared among the top five on all 30 ballots. Trea Turner, Pete Alonso and Freddie Freeman all received one third-place vote, with the rest split between Schwarber, Soto and Perdomo. Perdomo finished in fourth place, while Turner landed in fifth. Cy Young winner Paul Skenes came in sixth and was the top pitcher on the ballot. Corbin Carroll, Fernando Tatis Jr., Pete Crow-Armstrong and Francisco Lindor rounded out the top 10. Twenty three players received at least one vote.
Image courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images. Full vote breakdown available via BBWAA.
The Biggest Trade In Nationals History Looks Better Every Day
The 2022 Nationals found themselves at a crossroads. Washington had sold at the prior year's trade deadline, shipping Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers, sending Kyle Schwarber to the Red Sox, dealing Daniel Hudson to the Padres and trading Jon Lester to the Cardinals. The organization's steadfast hope had been that even while rebuilding, Juan Soto would be at the heart of those efforts to build back up. Longtime general manager Mike Rizzo acknowledged as much in June, plainly stating on the record that he had no intention of trading Soto.
The Nats offered Soto an extension reportedly worth $440MM in guaranteed money. It would've been the largest deal in MLB history at the time. Only after Soto turned that offer down -- drawing plenty of criticism for doing so -- did Washington begin to seriously explore the possibility of trading him. Moving the game's best young hitter when he had two and a half seasons of club control remaining was no small undertaking. It'd require a seismic haul of young talent -- the type of prospect package that several interested parties simply didn't have the inventory to assemble. Most other clubs simply couldn't stomach the asking price.
A limited market of suitors for Soto emerged. To no one's surprise, the hyper-aggressive Padres entered the bidding and made a strong push. San Diego president of baseball operations A.J. Preller throws his hat in the ring when nearly any star-caliber player is available. From the moment Soto hit the market, the Padres -- then armed with one of baseball's best farm systems -- were among the most logical landing spots.
San Diego indeed wound up reeling in their big fish, and it took the type of trade haul we might not see again for years to come. Soto and Josh Bell went from the Nats to the Padres in exchange for shortstop CJ Abrams, left-hander MacKenzie Gore, outfielder James Wood, outfielder Robert Hassell III and right-hander Jarlin Susana. The Padres also sent first baseman Luke Voit to the Nats as something of a financial counterweight, and in a separate deal they shipped Eric Hosmer -- who'd invoked his no-trade rights to block his inclusion in the Soto trade -- to the Red Sox.
It was a jaw-dropping haul. Abrams, Gore and Hassell had all been top-10 draft picks within the past five seasons. Abrams was a consensus top-10 prospect in the sport at the time. Gore had struggled through some mechanical issues in the upper minors but was only a few years removed from being one of the consensus top pitching prospects in the game. Wood was a 19-year-old who was just a year removed from being a second-round pick, and his stock was firmly on the rise at the time of the swap as he ripped through A-ball. Hassell entered the 2022 season as a top-40 prospect in the game. Susana was only 18 at the time of the trade and was in his first season of pro ball after signing out of his native Dominican Republic; Baseball America likened his upside to that of a high schooler who might go in the first round of the MLB draft.
While not every blockbuster trade pans out -- Washington hasn't gotten a ton of value from that Scherzer/Turner stunner, for instance -- the Soto trade has produced a bumper crop that seems likely to form the nucleus of the next contending Nationals club.
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Soto: Mets Didn’t Offer The Most Money
The Juan Soto free agency was one of the most anticipated in baseball history. It was expected to deliver historic results and did just that. He signed a massive 15-year, $765MM deal with the Mets. That’s the longest contract ever and the largest guarantee. The $51MM average annual value is also a record if one considers the deferrals in Shohei Ohtani‘s deal with the Dodgers. Ohtani technically got $700MM over ten years for a $70MM AAV but the heavy deferrals bring the net present value down to the $45MM range annually.
Despite all those records, Soto claims he could have got more. Abriendo Sports released a teaser for a Spanish-language interview they did with Soto. The full conversation won’t be released until Sunday but reporter Mike Rodriguez provided an English translation of the teaser. Soto says that the field was narrowed to the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Red Sox and that the Mets didn’t offer the most money, with multiple teams offering more.
No other details were provided but it’s potentially an interesting bit of information. The five finalists are not surprising, as they were the clubs most often connected to Soto throughout the winter and towards the end of his free agency. Soto’s claim that the offer from the Mets wasn’t actually the highest doesn’t align with previous reporting. At the time of the agreement with the Mets, it was reported by Jon Heyman of The New York Post that the Yankees topped out at $760MM over 16 years. Sean McAdam of MassLive reported that the Red Sox maxxed out at $700MM over 15. Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reported that the Blue Jays stopped short of $700MM. Patrick Mooney, Will Sammon, Brendan Kuty and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Dodgers stopped at $600MM.
All those numbers are under what Soto got from the Mets, so it’s tough to figure which teams could have had a larger offer than $765MM. Andy Martino of SNY reports today that Boston was one of multiple clubs willing to go higher than the top offer if they thought Soto would accept, but he went to the Mets because of the “family-friendly vibe” established by Alex Cohen, wife of Mets owner Steve Cohen. Perhaps the Red Sox had topped out at $700MM in terms of an official offer but had made some sort of verbal indication to Soto and agent Scott Boras that they were willing to keep pushing.
Speculatively speaking, it’s also possible that there was some creative accounting going on. The Dodgers are famous/infamous for their heavy use of deferred money in the contracts they sign with players. Ohtani’s contract is the most extreme example. As mentioned, it came with an advertised sticker price of $700MM but actually had a net present value that the league calculated at just over $460MM while the MLBPA calculated it around $438MM. While the Dodgers reportedly stopped their offer at $600MM, perhaps that was a post-deferral number, while the offer might have had a shinier pre-deferral number.
Or perhaps there was some mystery team willing to throw out wild numbers that Soto never took especially seriously. 11 clubs reportedly reached out to him at the start of free agency. Soto was connected to clubs like the Giants, Phillies, Rays, Royals and even his original Nationals club at various points through the offseason. None of them seemed to get especially close. The Rays reportedly offered Soto some kind of high-AAV deal on a short-term, so it’s also possible that’s what Soto is referring to. Maybe the Rays offered a higher AAV than the Mets but with far fewer years.
Ultimately, it’s all a moot point. Soto has signed with the Mets and that can’t be changed now. Still, it does make for fun hypothetical speculation. Teams generally went nuts for Soto because of his incredible track record at such a young age. Many top prospects don’t debut until their mid-20s but Soto already had 936 big league games under his belt by the end of his age-25 season. And he had hit .285/.421/.532 for a 158 wRC+ in those. To get that player with so many prime years remaining was a very rare alignment that led to an unprecedented bidding war and perhaps we don’t know how high it actually could have gone.
Rays Notes: Boyle, Springs Trade, Shortstop, Soto
The Rays swung a prominent trade with the Athletics yesterday, bringing in three players and a Competitive Balance Round draft pick in exchange for left-handers Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez. Tampa president of baseball operations Erik Neander told MLB.com’s Adam Berry and other reporters that the decision to move Springs was “really, really difficult,” and that the trade was “a situation where the A’s really stepped forward and really wanted Jeffrey.”
On paper, it was widely assumed that the Rays would be dealing from their rotation depth this winter, with Springs and Zack Littell viewed as the likeliest trade candidates since they were the two highest-paid of the rotation candidates. The surplus is still technically in place since they still have six starters (Shane McClanahan, Shane Baz, Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley, Drew Rasmussen, and Littell) on the roster, plus now Joe Boyle acquired in the Springs trade. Berry writes that that despite all these available arms, the Rays aren’t expected to trade any more starting pitching.
“Right now, we’re looking at more starters than we have rotation spots and kind of navigating the different ways to resolve that while also knowing you can never have enough,” Neander said.
Boyle has big league experience in the form of 63 2/3 innings with the A’s over the last two seasons, but of the seven potential starters, he seems like the clearest candidate to begin the season in Triple-A. The hard-throwing Boyle has battled his control in both the major and minors, and Neander suggested that the Rays view him as a bit of a work in progress, with plenty of potential.
“Joe Boyle is somebody that has the physicality and the stuff to fit at the front of the rotation,” Neander said. “I think there’s signs of progress on the strike-throwing, and he doesn’t need to be a sharpshooter to be really effective….The upside, I think, is something that warrants great patience when it comes to his development.”
Trading from the rotation depth was one of the top checkpoints on Tampa’s offseason to-do list, and it remains to be seen what else Neander has in store to upgrade the roster ahead of what will be an unconventional season at George M. Steinbrenner Field rather than Tropicana Field. In terms of lineup help, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times feels the Rays will mostly look within their organization, but they could add outfield depth and the team is “at least open to a more offensive-oriented shortstop.”
Since Wander Franco‘s time with the Rays is almost surely over, Taylor Walls is penciled in as the starting shortstop, and Walls is still looking for a breakout at the plate. Over parts of four MLB seasons, Walls has hit only .188/.288/.293 over 1243 plate appearances — Walls’ 71 wRC+ is the fourth-lowest of any player with at least 1000 PA since Opening Day 2021.
What Walls brings to the table is glovework, though public defensive metrics aren’t unanimous in their approval of Walls’ work at shortstop. The Outs Above Average metrics has given him negative grades in each of the last three seasons and he drew negative UZR/150 scores in 2022 and 2023 before a huge +15.3 UZR/150 last season. The Defensive Runs Saved metric, meanwhile, has given Walls +35 DRS over his 1983 2/3 career innings at shortstop.
The Rays seem to lean more towards the DRS view, as Topkin notes that the club has a “fervid appreciation” for Walls’ glovework. As such, a trade offer or free agent opportunity would have to pass “a high bar” to inspire Tampa Bay to reduce Walls’ playing time. Any kind of acquisition at shortstop would also be a short-term add anyway, since top prospect Carson Williams could be in line to make his MLB debut at some point later in the 2025 season.
Still, Neander and his front office can never be ruled out for making a creative move. We saw evidence of this in early November when reports indicated that the Rays were one of the many teams who had been in contact with Juan Soto at the opening of the free agent market. The check-in was perhaps largely but due diligence, but Topkin reports that “the Rays pitched a short-term deal…supposedly with opt-outs after each season.”
It is probably safe to assume that this offer didn’t gain much traction within Soto’s camp, but there was no harm in floating a unique offer Soto’s way to see if there was any interest. It was just last season that several other Scott Boras clients signed shorter-term, player option-heavy contracts after not finding the long-term deals they were hoping to land in free agency, though there was much less chance that Soto would come up short in his bid for a record-setting contract.
MLBTR Podcast: Winter Meetings Recap
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 Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Mets signing Juan Soto (2:35)
- The Yankees to sign Max Fried (26:05)
- The Red Sox acquiring Garrett Crochet from the White Sox (36:10)
- The Giants signing Willy Adames (46:40)
- The Athletics signing Luis Severino (51:55)
- The Blue Jays acquiring Andrés Giménez from the Guardians who flip Spencer Horwitz to the Pirates for Luis Ortiz (1:01:25)
- The Orioles signing Tyler O’Neill and Gary Sánchez (1:14:00)
- The Tigers signing Alex Cobb (1:21:35)
- The Rangers re-signing Nathan Eovaldi and acquiring Jake Burger from the Marlins (1:25:20)
Check out our past episodes!
- Blake Snell, Dodger Fatigue, And The Simmering Hot Stove – listen here
- Yusei Kikuchi, The Aggressive Angels, And The Brady Singer/Jonathan India Trade – listen here
- The Rays’ Stadium Plans, Diamond Sports, And Some Offseason Rumors – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!