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Kyle Teel

AL East Notes: Middleton, Santander, Red Sox

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Right-hander Keynan Middleton was one of the only players the Yankees added at the trade deadline this year. While the club ultimately missed the postseason with an 82-80 record, Middleton excelled in 14 1/3 innings of work after coming over in a deal with the White Sox over the summer. The righty posted a sterling 1.88 ERA with a strong 3.26 FIP as a Yankee, bringing his overall season numbers to a solid 3.38 ERA with a respectable 4.20 FIP in 50 2/3 innings between Chicago and New York.

Though Middleton is poised to hit free agency next month, it’s possible that won’t be the end of the union between Middleton and the Yankees. Greg Joyce of the New York Post relayed positive comments from the 30-year-old hurler on his time in the Bronx. Middleton said there aren’t “too many other places” he’s looking at as he prepares to hit free agency, adding that “After being here, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to be here… I’d love to come back here, but we’ll see what happens.”

The bullpen was a strength for the Yankees this season, though with right-hander Michael King slated to start in 2024 after a dominant year primarily in relief, it’s certainly reasonable the Yankees could look to reinforce their relief corps this offseason. Middleton figures to be joined by lefty relief arm Wandy Peralta and starters Luis Severino and Frankie Montas in departing the Yankees’ pitching staff for free agency this offseason.

More from around the AL East…

  • Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander has been a frequent target of trade speculation throughout his career as a reliable, quality outfield bat throughout the club’s rebuild. Though Baltimore broke through this season with a 101-win campaign that took them to the postseason for the first time since 2016, it appears rumors surrounding Santander will persist into his final offseason of arbitration eligibility. MASN’s Roch Kubatko suggests that given Santander’s hefty expected salary in 2024 (MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projects him to earn $12.7MM in his final trip through arbitration), Santander could be a topic of trade talks again this offseason. Kubatko goes on to note the Marlins as a team that’s had particular interest in his services in the past. The Marlins figure to once again have an opening in their outfield/DH mix this offseason, assuming Jorge Soler declines his player option for 2024.
  • The Red Sox have been widely speculated to be active participants in the trade market this offseason as they look to rebound from a fifth-place finish in the AL East. The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey suggests in a recent mailbag that plenty of the club’s prospects could be made available this offseason in their pursuit of a better season in 2024, with shortstop Marcelo Mayer, outfielder Roman Anthony, and catcher Kyle Teel as the club’s only perceived untouchables. Of course, McCaffrey notes that the current perception could change upon the hiring of a new head of baseball operations to replace Chaim Bloom, who the club fired last month.

Red Sox Agree To Terms With Their Top Two Draft Picks

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The Red Sox agreed to deals with their top two draft choices Friday afternoon, reports Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline (Twitter links). 14th overall pick Kyle Teel received an even $4MM signing bonus against a $4.66MM slot value, while second-rounder Nazzan Zanetello landed a well above-slot $3MM figure.

Teel, 21, was viewed as the top catcher in this year’s college class. He was the second backstop off the board after Kansas City took high schooler Blake Mitchell eighth overall. Teel ranked in the back half of the top 10 on pre-draft rankings at The Athletic, ESPN, Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. That made it a bit surprising he fell to Boston at 14 and the underslot signing figure most closely aligns with the slot value for the 18th selection.

A left-handed hitter, Teel put up a .407/.475/.655 line during his final season at the University of Virginia. He hit 25 doubles and 13 home runs with a modest 12.1% strikeout rate over 297 trips to the plate. He earned the ACC Player of the Year award as a result. Evaluators credit him with a well-rounded skillset headlined by excellent athleticism for a catcher and plus arm strength.

Zanetello, a Missouri high school infielder, was selected 50th overall. That selection has a slot value of $1.7MM, which the Sox handily exceeded to sign him away from the University of Arkansas. A right-handed hitting infielder, Zanetello ranked as high as 33rd on Keith Law’s pre-draft list at The Athletic but was outside the Top 100 at Baseball America. Evaluators praise his bat speed and athleticism but raised questions about the amount of swing-and-miss in his game.

2023 MLB Draft, First Round Results

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The 2023 MLB Draft begins tonight, and this post will be constantly updated with each team’s selections from the first round.  The Mets and Dodgers are the only teams without a first-rounder, as their top picks were each dropped 10 places overall as part of their punishment for exceeding the highest luxury-tax tier in 2022.  As a result, the Mets won’t have a selection until the 32nd overall pick, and the Dodgers won’t select until 36th overall.

The first-round selections….

  1. Pittsburgh Pirates: Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU
  2. Washington Nationals: Dylan Crews, OF, LSU
  3. Detroit Tigers: Max Clark, OF, Franklin Community High School (IN)
  4. Texas Rangers: Wyatt Langford, OF, University Of Florida
  5. Minnesota Twins: Walker Jenkins, OF, South Brunswick High School (NC)
  6. Oakland Athletics: Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon University
  7. Cincinnati Reds: Rhett Lowder, RHP, Wake Forest
  8. Kansas City Royals: Blake Mitchell, C, Sinton High School (TX)
  9. Colorado Rockies: Chase Dollander, RHP, University of Tennessee
  10. Miami Marlins: Noble Meyer, RHP, Jesuit High School (OR)
  11. Los Angeles Angels: Nolan Schanuel, 1B/OF, Florida Atlantic
  12. Arizona Diamondbacks: Tommy Troy, SS, Stanford
  13. Chicago Cubs: Matthew Shaw, SS, University of Maryland
  14. Boston Red Sox: Kyle Teel, C, University of Virginia
  15. Chicago White Sox: Jacob Gonzalez, SS, University Of Mississippi
  16. San Francisco Giants: Bryce Eldridge, 1B/RHP, Madison High School (VA)
  17. Baltimore Orioles: Enrique Bradfield Jr., OF, Vanderbilt
  18. Milwaukee Brewers: Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest
  19. Tampa Bay Rays: Brayden Taylor, 3B/SS, TCU
  20. Toronto Blue Jays: Arjun Nimmala, SS, Strawberry Crest High School (FL)
  21. St. Louis Cardinals: Chase Davis, OF, University of Arizona
  22. Seattle Mariners: Colt Emerson, SS, Glenn High School (OH)
  23. Cleveland Guardians: Ralphy Velazquez, C, Huntington Beach High School (CA)
  24. Atlanta Braves: Hurston Waldrep, RHP, University of Florida
  25. San Diego Padres: Dillon Head, OF, Homewood-Flossmoor High School (IL)
  26. New York Yankees: George Lombard Jr., 3B/SS, Gulliver Prep High School (FL)
  27. Philadelphia Phillies: Aidan Miller, 3B/SS, Mitchell High School (FL)
  28. Houston Astros: Brice Matthews, SS, University of Nebraska

This year’s draft will again be 20 rounds long, and split over three days.  Rounds 11-20 will take place on Tuesday, rounds 3-10 on Monday, and the draft’s first 70 picks will be made tonight.  Those 70 picks cover the first two official rounds, the two Competitive Balance Rounds, the two sets of compensatory rounds (giving picks to teams who lost qualifying offer-rejecting free agents), and the first-ever Prospect Promotion Incentive Pick.  The Mariners received the PPI selection at 29th overall, since Julio Rodriguez filled the criteria of winning the Rookie Of The Year Award, being part of his team’s active roster from Opening Day onwards, and he ranked as a preseason top-100 prospect by at least two of Baseball America, ESPN, and MLB Pipeline.

The PPI is one of several new wrinkles to the 2023 draft, as this is the first draft held under the new guidelines established by the 2022-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement.  The process for determining the 14 teams in the Competitive Balance Rounds was also tweaked, though the teams (all in the bottom 10 in market size or revenue size) will still have their picks split up over two mini-rounds sandwiched around the second round.  The most obvious change came at the very top of the board, as this was the first year of the lottery process to determine the draft’s top six picks.  This is how the Pirates ended up with the first overall selection, even though the Nationals and A’s each had worse records in 2022.

This year’s draft class is considered to be one of the deepest and most talent-laden in years, so several potential franchise-changing players could be starting their pro careers tonight.  More details and scouting reports on all these young players are available in pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.  As well, Pipeline has the breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.

Several Prospects Withdraw From 2020 Draft

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With MLB’s shortened, five-round draft a week away, multiple players have removed their names from consideration. Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo reports that high school outfielders Dylan Crews and Brandon Fields have withdrawn their names, as has Florida State outfielder Reese Albert, who’ll return to FSU for his senior season. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel adds that high school catcher Kyle Teel is also withdrawing. Crews will honor his commitment to Louisiana State University, while Fields will play for the University of South Carolina and Teel will head to the University of Virginia. They’ll all be eligible for the 2023 draft.

Crews is the most notable of the bunch, landing 39th on McDaniel’s Top 150, 54th on Baseball America’s Top 500 and 68th on MLB.com’s Top 200. Collazo writes that Crews ranked as the No. 2 prep player in the country entering last summer but had somewhat of a down year that caused his stock to dip a bit. As for the others, McDaniel calls Teel a potential third-round talent, while Collazo lists both Fields and Albert as “top-200 caliber” players, which suggests that neither was a lock to go in this year’s shortened draft.

It’s possible, if not likely, that additional players will remove themselves from consideration in 2020 between now and next Wednesday. Beyond the draft being capped at five rounds, this year’s slot values did not increase over their 2019 levels, and draft bonuses are being paid out in deferred fashion through 2022. Those who go undrafted, meanwhile, will be limited to $20K signing bonuses. High school players, in particular, could see appeal in playing college ball and bolstering their stock, given the elimination of the middle and late rounds of the event.

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