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Kyle Gibson Opts Out Of Rays Deal

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Kyle Gibson opted out of his minor league contract with the Rays, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The veteran righty had signed with Tampa Bay last month but didn’t have a clear path to a rotation spot.

Gibson couldn’t have pitched much better over his four starts at Triple-A Durham. He allowed only one run over 17 1/3 innings. Gibson struck out 22 of 65 opponents (nearly 34%) against six walks. He hasn’t allowed a run in any of his last three starts, all of which were in the 4-5 inning range.

It’s a marked turnaround from Gibson’s four MLB starts with the Orioles earlier in the year. Those could hardly have gone worse. He was bombed for a staggering 23 runs on 29 hits (seven of which cleared the fences) while managing just 12 1/3 innings. The O’s released him four starts into a $5.25MM free agent contract. Gibson didn’t sign until the back half of Spring Training. His velocity wasn’t any different than where it’d been last year with St. Louis, but his execution clearly wasn’t there. The atypical offseason presumably had something to do with that.

Gibson needed to settle for a minor league contract after Baltimore released him. He should have a stronger chance of getting an MLB deal this time around. The Triple-A production gives some hope that he can still be a solid fifth starter, as he was when he turned in a 4.24 ERA in nearly 170 innings a year ago. He’d also not cost a signing team anything other than a roster spot. They would pay him only the prorated $760K league minimum for whatever time he spends in the big leagues. Baltimore remains responsible for the rest of the salary, minus the minimum for however long he’s on another team’s MLB roster.

Rays Sign Kyle Gibson To Minor League Deal

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4:25pm: The Rays announced that they have signed Gibson to a minor league contract.

3:20pm: Right-hander Kyle Gibson is signing with the Rays, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s unclear if it’s a major or minor league deal. If it’s a big league deal, the Rays have an open 40-man spot after designating catcher Ben Rortvedt for assignment earlier today, so they would only need to make a corresponding active roster move.

Gibson, 37, is a veteran with a solid track record but he is having a rough season so far. He lingered in free agency for a long time, eventually signing a one-year, $5.25MM deal with the Orioles less than a week before Opening Day. Since he missed spring training, he agreed to be optioned to the minors to get built up. He was called up at the end of April but got pounded, allowing 23 earned runs in 12 1/3 innings over four starts. The O’s then designated him for assignment and released him.

That leaves Baltimore on the hook for the remainder of that salary, meaning any club can sign Gibson and only pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary, with that amount subtracted from what the O’s pay.

It seems the Rays are willing to overlook Gibson’s 16.78 ERA in 2025 to focus more on his career track record. He has 1,878 big league innings under his belt with a 4.60 ERA on the whole. As recently as last year, he was a solid innings eater at the back-end of a rotation. He made 30 starts for the Cardinals in 2024, logging 169 2/3 frames with a 4.24 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 44.8% ground ball rate.

The Tampa rotation has been without Shane McClanahan all year but has otherwise been remarkably healthy. Apart from one Joe Boyle spot start, every other game has been started by the quintet of Taj Bradley, Ryan Pepiot, Drew Rasmussen, Zack Littell and Shane Baz. No one in that group has an ERA higher than 4.94 this year. The Rays also have guys like Boyle, Joe Rock and Ian Seymour on the 40-man roster and pitching in Triple-A.

Regardless, there’s no real harm to adding Gibson since the O’s are responsible for most of his salary. The Rays could be adding a bit of non-roster rotation depth or perhaps they want Gibson to jump into their big league bullpen and serve as a long reliever. It’s also possible that one of their big league starters has some sort of ailment that has not yet been publicly reported. Time will tell what the Rays have in mind for Gibson’s usage but he’s a respected veteran with a solid track record and essentially no cost.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images

Orioles Release Kyle Gibson

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The Orioles announced that right-hander Kyle Gibson has been released. That was the expected outcome after he was designated for assignment on the weekend. Assuming he’s already cleared release waivers, he’s free to sign with any club.

Gibson, 37, was a late signing of the O’s. He and the club agreed to a one-year, $5.25MM deal in the latter half of March. He had lingered unsigned throughout the winter while the Orioles had some concerns about their pitching depth due to some spring injuries.

Adding a stable veteran like Gibson made plenty of sense but it did not work out at all. He agreed to be optioned to the minors at the start of the season, effectively as a delayed spring training ramp-up. He was recalled to the big leagues in late April but was quickly shelled. His first start was against the Yankees, with Gibson allowing four home runs in the first inning. He would eventually log 3 2/3 innings on the day, allowing five homers in total.

His next three starts weren’t much better. On May 5th, he allowed three earned runs in four innings against the Royals. He squared off against the Angels on May 10th, allowing five earned runs in four frames. On Saturday, he didn’t make it out of the first, getting tagged for six earned runs in two thirds of an inning against the Nationals. Put it all together and Gibson has an ugly 16.78 ERA through 12 1/3 innings this year. The O’s clearly ran out of patience, cutting him from the roster on Sunday.

Given those poor results and his salary, no club was going to claim him and take on the remainder of his contract. As a veteran with years of experience, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment.

But as a free agent, he might generate interest. With the O’s on the hook for the remainder of his salary, another club would only have to pay him the prorated version of the major league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster. The recent results have obviously not been good but perhaps some teams will chalk that up to his unusual ramp-up period. Gibson has almost 2,000 big league innings and has generally been a serviceable back-end guy. As recently as last year, he posted a 4.24 ERA over 169 2/3 innings with the Cardinals.

Given his track record and the number of pitching injuries around the league, it wouldn’t be a surprise for him to secure a minor league deal from some club in need of experienced depth. That’s what recently played out with Kenta Maeda, who was released by the Tigers but then landed a minor league deal with the Cubs. If Gibson follows a similar path, he could perhaps get a chance to get in a nice groove in the minors and earn his way back to the big leagues.

It’s also possible that the O’s are the club to give him that minor league deal, as they still have rotation depth concerns with Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Albert Suárez all on the 60-day injured list.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images

Orioles Place Tyler O’Neill On 10-Day IL, Designate Kyle Gibson

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The Orioles have placed outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day injured list due to a left shoulder impingement, and designated right-hander Kyle Gibson for assignment.  Outfielder Dylan Carlson and right-hander Kade Strowd were called up from Triple-A in the corresponding roster moves.

After signing a three-year, $49.5MM free agent deal this past winter, the early days of O’Neill’s tenure in Baltimore have been marked by injuries and a subpar performance at the plate.  This is already his second IL trip, as he previously missed a couple of weeks due to neck soreness in late April and early May.  It is fair to wonder if these health issues have led to O’Neill’s modest .188/.280/.325 slash line and two home runs over 93 plate appearances, as O’Neill just hasn’t looked like himself this year.

Being hampered by injuries has been a frequent subplot of O’Neill’s eight-year MLB career, as the outfielder has only twice topped the 100-game mark in a season.  One of those comparatively healthier seasons came with the Red Sox in 2024, as O’Neill made 473 PA over 113 games and hit .241/.336/.511 with 31 home runs.  O’Neill hit the IL on three separate occasions but with a minimal amount of missed time, which allowed O’Neill plenty of opportunity to mash at Fenway Park.

The O’s were impressed enough to bring O’Neill aboard in what was the most expensive signing of Baltimore’s offseason, yet like so many other moves in what is becoming a Murphy’s Law year for the Orioles, O’Neill has yet to deliver much at the plate.  Given how much criticism was directed at the front office and at ownership for not spending over the winter, the struggles of one of the players who did receive a healthy contract has only added to the discord of the Orioles’ 15-29 start.

Gibson was another offseason signing, though he joined the O’s just a week before Opening Day on a one-year, $5.25MM contract.  The Cardinals declined their $12MM club option on Gibson’s services for the 2025 season, sending the veteran starter into the open market for what ended up being an extended stay.  Since he didn’t have a proper Spring Training, Gibson agreed to begin the season in the minors so he could ramp up, but it seems like the right-hander is still showing plenty of rust.

Called up to the Orioles’ roster in late April, Gibson has been tagged for a 16.78 ERA over four starts and 12 1/3 innings.  The ugly numbers include six runs allowed in just two-thirds of an inning in yesterday’s start, which ended up as a 10-6 Orioles loss to the Nationals.

Gibson was blunt about his lack of performance when speaking with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other media yesterday, saying “four times taking the mound feeling like you haven’t given the team a chance to win each time is a pretty big gut punch.  Feeling like you’re part of getting a manager fired is a gut punch.  Just not going out there and being able to compete and give the team a chance to win every five days is frustrating. So yeah, I don’t know if any of you guys have ever felt the feeling of essentially letting down your co-workers, but it’s a gut punch.”

The DFA doesn’t necessarily mean that Gibson’s time in Baltimore is over.  Since there is no chance another team will claim the right-hander (and assume the rest of his salary) off waivers, Gibson could accept an outright assignment to Triple-A to give himself more time to get on track.  Gibson also has more than enough MLB service time to decline an outright assignment, which would allow him to retain his salary and re-enter free agency again.

Strowd is now back with the Orioles for the second time within the last month, though the right-hander has yet to officially make his Major League debut with an in-game appearance.  A 12th-round pick for Baltimore in the 2019 draft, Strowd’s minor league numbers aren’t great, as he has only a 6.99 ERA over 56 2/3 career frames at the Triple-A level.  That performance does come with a 31.02% strikeout rate and grounder rates that frequently top the 50% mark, but also a 12.41% walk rate.

Despite the rough bottom-line results, the Orioles were intrigued enough by Strowd’s ability to miss bats to add him to the 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.  This latest call-up should at least allow the righty to get a big league appearance on his resume, and given Baltimore’s pitching needs, there’s plenty of opportunity for Strowd to stick if he pitches decently well during however long he remains on the roster.

Orioles Recall Kyle Gibson For Season Debut

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April 29: It’s now official, with Strowd optioned for Gibson’s recall, per a club announcement.

April 28: The Orioles list Kyle Gibson as the probable starter for tomorrow evening’s game against the Yankees. He’ll match up against Carlos Rodón in what will be his season debut. Gibson is already on the 40-man roster but will need to be recalled from High-A Aberdeen after agreeing to be optioned to the minor leagues.

Baltimore signed the veteran righty to a one-year, $5.25MM free agent deal on March 21. Gibson had spent the entire offseason on the open market after the Cardinals declined their $12MM option on his services. He’d thrown side sessions independently but signed too late to get any kind of game action. As with most pitchers who sign in the latter half of March, Gibson consented to a minor league assignment that could serve as a kind of unofficial Spring Training.

The 37-year-old Gibson has made a trio of starts — two at Triple-A Norfolk and his most recent with Aberdeen. That start came on April 20. Gibson reached five innings and 78 pitches. He’ll also be on over a week of rest, so he should be able to take something close to a typical starting workload tomorrow.

It’ll kick off the second O’s stint for Gibson, who absorbed 192 innings with a 4.73 ERA for the club two seasons back. A reliable source of back-of-the-rotation innings, Gibson worked to a 4.24 mark across 169 2/3 frames for St. Louis last year. He’ll slot alongside Tomoyuki Sugano, Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer and Cade Povich in Brandon Hyde’s rotation. The O’s lost Zach Eflin to a mild lat strain a few weeks ago, while Grayson Rodriguez is at least a month away amidst elbow and lat injuries. Albert Suárez, who entered the regular season in long relief after battling for the fifth starter role in camp, suffered a subscapularis strain during his first appearance and promptly landed on the 60-day injured list himself.

Baltimore will need to option a pitcher tomorrow. Kade Strowd, who was called up this afternoon but did not get into their 4-3 win against New York, seems likely to head back to Norfolk.

The Orioles’ Struggling Rotation

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The Orioles remade their rotation in the offseason, but to the extent hoped for by Baltimore fans. Corbin Burnes departed in free agency, netting a compensatory draft pick, but the front office opted to go with a series of older veterans on one-year deals to round out the staff. Charlie Morton signed for $15MM. Longtime NPB ace Tomoyuki Sugano landed a $13MM guarantee. Old friend Kyle Gibson signed late, inking a $5MM deal in late March. It was a big bet on in-house arms taking a step forward and on some older free agents fending off Father Time for another season.

That bet hasn’t paid off.

Baltimore starters have the worst earned run average in the majors, checking in at 6.11. Their combined 15.4% strikeout rate is also last in the majors, as is their 7.9% swinging-strike rate. No team’s rotation has allowed home runs at a higher rate than the Orioles’ 1.86 HR/9, and only two have yielded higher marks in terms of average exit velocity and hard-hit rate.

Sugano and Zach Eflin are the only two Orioles starters with an ERA under 6.00. Sugano’s 9.2% strikeout rate is the third-lowest among all starters with at least 10 innings, leading only Antonio Senzatela and Randy Vasquez. Eflin, at an uncharacteristic 11.8%, has the sixth-worst strikeout rate in that same set. He’s also on the injured list due to a mild lat strain. Grayson Rodriguez, the team’s best young starter, is currently out with a shoulder injury for which he recently sought a second opinion.

Currently, the O’s are trotting out a quartet of Sugano, Morton, Dean Kremer and Cade Povich. Morton, 41, has struggled more than any pitcher in baseball, yielding a 10.89 ERA with five homers in his 20 2/3 innings. Manager Brandon Hyde was asked about Morton today and wouldn’t commit to the veteran keeping his rotation spot. “I think anything’s on the table at this point, Hyde said, per Jake Rill of MLB.com. “We’re going to get through this series and then kind of see where we are.” Kremer, sitting on a 6.41 ERA, has also served up five homers in just 19 2/3 innings. Povich has been tagged for four homers in 18 1/3 innings and seen more than half of his opponents’ batted balls leave the bat with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph.

The Orioles drew plenty of criticism for their cautious offseason. They reportedly offered Burnes a four-year deal to stay, one that’s said to have come with a $45MM annual value, but a four-year term for a 30-year-old former Cy Young winner in free agency never seemed like it’d get the job done. The team seemed to place a heavy emphasis on sustaining long-term flexibility, which has been a theme under GM Mike Elias as he navigated his club’s lengthy rebuild.

Some of that lack of multi-year spending in past offseasons could be attributable both to the team’s rebuilding status and due to the now-former ownership group helmed by the Angelos family. There was significant in-fighting among the Angelos family over control of the franchise, and in any scenario where a team is up for sale, the current owners are going to be reluctant to commit to pricey, long-term commitments.

There was some hope that’d change under new owner David Rubenstein, who purchased the team last spring. But while the O’s have spent more both at the trade deadline and this past offseason, the commitments remained short term. Tyler O’Neill is the only free agent to sign a multi-year deal under Elias, but his contract lets him opt out after the current season. Eflin was controlled beyond 2024, but only for one additional season. Right or wrong, the perception exists that the Orioles are rather squeamish when it comes to longer-term spending.

Whether it was a deliberate calculation or mere happenstance that the O’s again went short-term in the rotation, the end result is a struggling group that runs the risk of undercutting a lineup full of excellent young hitters. There’s no firm indication as to when Rodriguez will be back. Eflin has been throwing on flat ground but has yet to work off a mound. He’ll presumably need a rehab assignment, too. A mid-May return seems like a best-case scenario. Right-handers Tyler Wells and Kyle Bradish had UCL surgery last year and won’t be available until midseason. Albert Suarez was placed on the 15-day injured list after one appearance due to shoulder inflammation and has since been transferred to the 60-day IL.

There are some reinforcements coming for the Orioles, but none of it is likely to pitch at a front-of-the-rotation level. MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes that Gibson could join the big league club as soon as Friday. (Kubatko’s piece also contains candid, thoughtful and lengthy comments from Morton on his 2025 struggles, which readers are encouraged to check out in full.) Gibson has tossed 12 minor league innings and been effective in building up for the season, but the 37-year-old veteran is at best an innings-eating fourth starter at this point in his career.

Gibson isn’t the only arm on the mend. The Orioles announced this morning that left-hander Trevor Rogers will begin a rehab assignment at Double-A this week. Acquired last July in trade that sent Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers to the Marlins, Rogers is a former top-10 pick, top prospect and Rookie of the Year candidate whose star has dimmed amid a lengthy series of injuries. He was rocked for 15 runs in 19 innings for the Orioles following the trade before being optioned to Triple-A and closing out the year with a 5.65 ERA in his final five minor league starts. He’s a possible fresh arm, which the team needs, but it’s hard to bank on him contributing quality innings. He’ll also probably need a rehab stint of some length, given that he’s been dealing with his current knee issue since January.

For all their pitching struggles, the Orioles sit at 9-12. Their -20 run differential suggests they may be fortunate to be “only” three games under .500, but they’ve kept themselves afloat. If they can stick around in contention while patching together the rotation, then further adding to the rotation will be a primary focus once the trade market opens more fully in the summer. Until then, they’ll likely have to rely on in-house arms and hope the farm yields an unexpectedly productive option. Righty Brandon Young has already made his debut, and it stands to reason that names like Kyle Brnovich, Cameron Weston and perhaps former Nationals Rule 5 pick Thaddeus Ward could get looks if the current struggles continue to mount.

Orioles Sign Kyle Gibson

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The Orioles announced on Friday that they’ve reunited with Kyle Gibson on a one-year deal. The Rowley Sports Management client is reportedly guaranteed $5.25MM and can earn another $1.525MM in performance bonuses — including $150K apiece at 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 starts. Baltimore placed Kyle Bradish, who underwent elbow surgery last June, on the 60-day injured list to open a roster spot.

Gibson was the top remaining free agent starting pitcher. The veteran righty has been a durable innings source at the back of various rotations. That included a 2023 season spent in Baltimore. Gibson made 33 starts and tossed 192 innings for the O’s two seasons ago. He posted a 4.73 earned run average while recording 157 strikeouts.

The Missouri product signed a $13MM free agent deal with the Cardinals during the 2023-24 offseason. He continued to work as a steady if unexciting back-end option. Gibson took 30 turns through the rotation and pitched to a 4.24 ERA over 169 2/3 innings. His 20.9% strikeout rate and 44.8% ground-ball percentage were near league average. St. Louis declined a $12MM club option in favor of a $1MM buyout at year’s end.

Gibson has nine MLB seasons with at least 29 starts and more than 150 frames. He hasn’t spent any time on the injured list within the last three seasons. His 711 1/3 innings over the past four years ranks eighth among major league pitchers. Once he’s ready for major league work, he should slot into the fifth spot in Brandon Hyde’s rotation.

That won’t be from Opening Day. While Gibson has been throwing side sessions, that’s not a direct substitute for Spring Training. Hyde told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com that Gibson will need the equivalent of a spring ramp-up. It’s not clear if he’ll consent to an optional assignment to begin the season in the minors or start the year on the injured list, but he won’t be on the active roster on Thursday.

Gibson is the third older starting pitcher whom the Orioles have added on a one-year deal. They signed Charlie Morton to a $15MM contract and brought in NPB veteran Tomoyuki Sugano at $13MM. All three project more as back-end arms at this stage of their careers.

Grayson Rodriguez received a cortisone shot to treat elbow inflammation a couple weeks ago. He’ll begin the season on the injured list. Zach Eflin leads a starting five that also includes Morton, Sugano and Dean Kremer. Swingman Albert Suárez and young lefty Cade Povich are battling to round out the rotation. Suárez entered camp as the sixth starter, but Povich has outperformed him this spring. They’ll need one of those pitchers to hold a rotation spot until Gibson is ready for regular season work.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the $5.25MM base salary and the $1.525MM in incentives. Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner reported the start breakdown. Image courtesy of Jerome Miron, USA Today Sports.

Cubs, Orioles Exploring Rotation Additions

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There are still several starting pitchers available in free agency and it’s possible that mounting injuries could help create new opportunities for them. Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic report that the Cubs and Orioles are two clubs exploring rotation additions. The Cubs reportedly had some talks with Andrew Heaney before he signed with the Pirates and are currently keeping tabs on Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn.

The Cubs don’t have a major health concern in their rotation at the moment. Javier Assad has been slowed by some oblique soreness and is trending towards starting the season on the injured list, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll be out for an especially long time. The club’s projected top four of Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd and Jameson Taillon are healthy. With Assad out, Colin Rea could perhaps take the fifth spot for a while. Or if he’s in a long relief role, guys like Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, Caleb Kilian or Cody Poteet could step up, though all the guys in that group have options and could also be in the Triple-A rotation.

However, Rosenthal notes that the Cubs are facing an unusual spring. They have been ramping up a bit earlier than usual in anticipation of going to Japan soon. As part of the Tokyo Series, they will play a couple of exhibition games against Japanese clubs on March 15th and 16th, before playing regular season games against the Dodgers on March 18th and 19th. The Cubs are seemingly aware that some hiccups could arise with the unique schedule and are keeping the phone lines open.

At this part of the calendar, the market isn’t especially kind to players. The aforementioned Heaney signed with the Pirates a few weeks ago, a one-year deal with a guarantee of just $5.25MM. About a week ago, Jose Quintana signed with the Brewers for a $4.25MM guarantee. Coming into the winter, MLBTR predicted Heaney and Quintana to get two-year deals worth $24MM and $20MM respectively. Many pitchers outearned expectations earlier in the offseason but the market has clearly fallen off more recently.

A few months ago, Gibson and Lynn seemed like possibilities for eight-figure guarantees on one-year deals. But the fact that they have lingered unsigned while the market has softened means they are likely going to have to adjust their expectations if they want to sign. Rosenthal reports that unsigned pitchers are being asked to sign advanced consent forms, which allow clubs to terminate a contract within 45 days for any reason except injury and only have to pay the player for the time he spent on the roster. That’s obviously not ideal from a player’s perspective and it would only be signed if such a player had very little leverage.

Lynn, 38 in May, has a lengthy track record but isn’t riding a high tide of momentum at the moment. He posted a 5.73 earned run average in 2023, the worst of his career. He still was able to a secure a one-year, $11MM deal from the Cardinals and bounced back somewhat with a 3.84 ERA in 2024, but there were also some flags. He twice went on the injured list due to inflammation in his right knee, the same knee that had required surgical repair in 2022. Those IL stints limited him to 117 1/3 innings last year. While the ERA bounced back, his strikeout rate and velocity dropped.

Gibson, 37, is one of the steadiest pitchers in the league but lacks upside. He has logged at least 147 1/3 innings in each of the past ten major league seasons. However, he only posted an ERA below 4.20 in three of those. His 4.24 ERA last year was his best of the past three seasons.

Perhaps neither are as exciting as the aforementioned optionable pitchers that the Cubs have on hand, but they certainly have more experience. Between Brown, Wicks, Kilian and Poteet, there’s no one with even 85 big league innings.

For the Orioles, Rosenthal doesn’t specifically connect them to Gibson or Lynn, but it’s understandable that they would be keeping tabs on the market generally. Grayson Rodriguez has some elbow inflammation and is still getting some testing done but will start the season on the IL regardless. That leaves the O’s with a projected rotation of Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Dean Kremer. Manager Brandon Hyde has suggested the final spot is likely down to Albert Suárez or Cade Povich.

Suárez is a journeyman who spent many years in Asia before returning to North American ball last year. He pitched in a swing role for the O’s in 2024 and logged a 3.70 ERA. Povich went into 2024 as a notable prospect but had a 5.20 ERA in his first 16 big league starts. Adding a veteran starter could allow the club to keep Suárez in a long relief role and bump Povich to the Triple-A rotation, while also adding depth to hedge against future injuries.

Signing at this part of the season does come with some perceived risk, however. As noted by Rosenthal, both Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery signed late last winter and the initial results were poor with both. Snell signed with the Giants in mid-March, then had a couple of IL stints in the first half. He eventually finished strong but was sitting on a 9.51 ERA when he returned from his second IL stint in July. Montgomery didn’t officially sign with the Diamondback until late March and never got on track, finishing the year with a 6.23 ERA over 117 innings.

The Cubs and Orioles are surely not the only clubs sniffing around the available starting pitchers. The Yankees will be without Luis Gil for months due to a lat strain and are facing the possibility of Gerrit Cole requiring Tommy John surgery. The Mariners are going to put George Kirby on the IL to start the year due to some shoulder inflammation. Other injuries will inevitably arise and lengthen that list.

For clubs looking to free agency, they will have to consider whether its worth the money to sign one of these vets and quickly ramp them up, as opposed to going with in-house options. Rosenthal notes that both Gibson and Lynn have been throwing in an attempt to be somewhat ready, though they would surely still need some game action somewhere to truly get in form. Other free agents of note include Patrick Corbin and Spencer Turnbull. Guys like Jordan Montgomery or Taijuan Walker may be available on the trade market.

Kyle Gibson Intends To Continue Playing

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Kyle Gibson stands as the top unsigned starting pitcher following Jose Quintana’s one-year deal with Milwaukee. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reports that the 37-year-old Gibson plans to pitch this year. The former All-Star has been throwing live batting practice to college hitters to ensure he’s not starting from scratch whenever he signs. Morosi indicates that Gibson has gotten up to 60 pitches in those sessions.

Opening Day is just over three weeks off. It’s reaching the point where teams could have concerns about a pitcher’s readiness for the start of the regular season if they’re not currently in camp. (Lance Lynn and Spencer Turnbull are among other free agent starters of note.) Though throwing batting practice to non-professional hitters isn’t a direct substitute for Spring Training, it should at least keep Gibson generally on track for whenever he puts pen to paper.

Gibson has been a back-of-the-rotation workhorse for most of his career. He has thrown nearly 1900 innings over a career spanning parts of 12 seasons. Gibson has started at least 29 games on nine occasions. He has nine seasons with 150+ innings, including three years with 190+ frames. The Missouri product tossed 169 2/3 innings over 30 starts for the Cardinals last season. He pitched to a 4.24 ERA with a slightly below-average 20.9% strikeout rate.

St. Louis declined a $12MM option in favor of a $1MM buyout. Gibson looked like a candidate for an eight-figure salary on a one-year deal early in the offseason. That’s tough to envision at this stage. The early robust rotation market has cooled. Quintana was limited to a $4.25MM guarantee. Andrew Heaney signed with Pittsburgh for $5.25MM a couple weeks ago. Gibson is probably looking at a similar price point.

There hasn’t been any kind of recent reporting on potential landing spots. The Cardinals initially expressed openness to bringing Gibson back at a lower price, but they probably expected to trade at least one starter in a move that would have offloaded salary. That hasn’t transpired. The Tigers were linked to Gibson early in the winter; they’ve subsequently added Alex Cobb and re-signed Jack Flaherty. MLBTR’s afternoon poll asked readers to predict Gibson’s landing spot. No team received even 10% of the vote. The Cardinals are narrowly ahead of the Mets as the poll’s plurality favorite.

Poll: Where Will Kyle Gibson Sign?

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Yesterday saw the top remaining pitcher on MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents list for the winter, southpaw Jose Quintana, come off the board when he reached an agreement with the Brewers on a one-year deal. That makes veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson, the #41 player on this offseason’s list, the top player remaining. With players like Quintana and Andrew Heaney having recently come off the board, it would hardly be a surprise to see that recent run on the remaining starters continue now that the calendar has flipped to March and Opening Day is less than a month away.

Gibson, 37, is the sort of player who tends to go underappreciated by fans but many clubs value. The veteran has typically been a slightly below average pitcher throughout his lengthy career, with a 93 ERA+ across both his 12 seasons in the majors overall and also in the five years since he first departed the Twins in free agency during the 2019-20 offseason. Despite those unimpressive numbers, Gibson still provides value to clubs through volume. The right-hander has posted at least 147 1/3 innings of work in every full season of his career, with only his partial rookie season in 2013 and the 60-game 2020 campaign falling beneath that figure.

While relying on a 37-year-old veteran for volume may seem counterintuitive when it’s common for players to struggle with staying healthy and effective as they age, Gibson has actually proven to be more durable than ever in his mid-to-late 30s: Since the start of his age-33 season in 2021, the veteran has made at least 30 starts each year and qualified for the ERA title in every season. In all, Gibson has made 124 starts with 711 1/3 innings of work total over the past four years. That’s a level of volume that’s become increasingly rare in today’s game: Gibson’s innings total is good for eighth in baseball over that timeframe, while his 124 games started is tied for seventh in baseball with Charlie Morton and Logan Webb.

Veteran innings-eaters of this sort are far from the most coveted assets in the game and will rarely make a club’s playoff rotation, but they still have value to teams in a number of situations. Rebuilding clubs without solid starting depth can often benefit from the stability and leadership a veteran can provide to its arsenal of young arms, and that’s a role Gibson previously filled in Texas. Even teams with playoff aspirations that either have lackluster depth in their rotations or are relying on young arms can benefit from the certainty offered by a player like Gibson; the Cubs and Mets signed Colin Rea and Griffin Canning to major league deals this offseason for their ability to eat innings in a pinch despite the fact that they had two of the three worst seasons among all qualified starters last year according to FIP.

Gibson offers a higher floor than either of those pitchers, though perhaps without the theoretical upside of Canning and the swingman experience of Rea. That should still be enough for the right-hander to command a major league deal this winter, however, and a handful of teams have expressed interest in his services throughout the winter. There appeared to be some level of mutual interest in a reunion between Gibson and the incumbent Cardinals even after St. Louis declined their club option on the veteran at the outset of the offseason, but a winter where the club failed to move a substantial salary like Nolan Arenado has seemingly left the front office’s hands mostly tied.

Outside of St. Louis, the Athletics and Tigers both reportedly expressed interest in Gibson at varying points during the winter, but both clubs have subsequently brought other rotation veterans into the fold and are no longer clear suitors for starting pitching help. The Guardians, Astros, Padres, and White Sox are among the teams who could theoretically make room for Gibson in their rotation but have not been publicly connected to the right-hander this winter. Aside from those more speculative fits, it’s worth noting that an injury or two could suddenly make a rotation spot available and push a team towards signing Gibson. After all, Quintana signed with the Brewers in a similar situation as the club dealt with injuries to youngsters DL Hall and Aaron Ashby. Other clubs that have suffered rotation injuries this spring include the Red Sox, Mets, Yankees, and Cubs, though it’s unclear if any of those clubs would consider looking outside the organization to fill that void rather than relying on internal depth options.

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