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Angels Place Lucas Giolito, Matt Moore, Reynaldo López, Hunter Renfroe, Randal Grichuk On Waivers

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In a stunning development, the Angels have waved the white flag on their season, placing starter Lucas Giolito, relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo López, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Each player is an impending free agent and the Angels are apparently hoping to save some money by having some or all of them claimed off waivers while simultaneously allowing the players to join playoff contenders before the September 1 cutoff. Dominic Leone is also on the list, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

The Halos also placed starter Tyler Anderson on waivers last week, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). He went unclaimed and elected to stick with the Halos. That no one took Anderson on is hardly a surprise. He’s only in the first season of a three-year, $39MM free agent contract that hasn’t gone well in year one. In 117 2/3 innings, the veteran southpaw has a 5.35 ERA.

The Angels have been making a strong push to contend in recent years, trying to put a competitive ballclub around their superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Part of their offseason upgrades included signing Moore and trading for Renfroe. The club hovered around contention through the trade deadline, deciding to hang onto Ohtani as well as making further additions, including Giolito, López and Grichuk.

Unfortunately, just about everything has gone wrong in the month of August, with the club having posted a record of 7-18 so far this month. As if that weren’t enough, Ohtani was diagnosed with a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his throwing elbow, which will prevent him from pitching again this season. Trout, meanwhile, attempted to return from his hamate surgery despite still being sore but was in too much pain to continue and landed right back on the IL.

This brutal month has pushed the Angels’ record to 63-69, which leaves them 11.5 games back of a playoff spot. Calculations from both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus give the club no hope of coming back, making this a lost season. All six of the players reportedly on waivers are impending free agents, meaning they have no real use to the Angels now. The only player of the bunch that would warrant a qualifying offer, allowing the Angels to recoup draft pick compensation, would be Giolito but he’s ineligible to receive one since he was traded midseason.

Since the trade deadline passed four weeks ago, there’s no way for the Angels to exchange any of those players for any kind of future value. But by putting them on waivers, they at least give themselves a chance of saving some money. Giolito is making $10.4MM this year, without about $1.9MM left to be paid out. For Renfroe, those figures are $11.9MM and $2.18MM. For Moore, $7.55M and $1.38MM. López, $3.625MM and $633K. Leone is $1.5MM and $275K. Grichuk’s case is slightly more complicated since he’s making $9.33MM this year as part of the extension he signed with the Blue Jays, though that club is eating $4.33MM of that while the Rockies also sent some cash considerations is to the Angels when trading them Grichuk and C.J. Cron. There’s about $1.71MM left to be paid out though a claiming team wouldn’t be responsible for all of it.

Beyond the strict cash savings, dumping some salary will have luxury tax implications for the Angels. Roster Resource calculates the club’s competitive balance tax figure at $234.4MM, just $1.4MM over the base threshold of $233MM. Cot’s Baseball Contracts has them even farther over at $241.7MM. Both of those numbers are unofficial but highlight that the club is likely over the line by a small amount. The Angels are sure to make Ohtani a qualifying offer at season’s end and would receive draft pick compensation if he signed elsewhere. That compensation would be a pick just after the fourth round if they are a CBT payor but would move to just before the third round if they can dip below. That would roughly move the draft pick from around the 140th pick to the 75-80 range. Being a repeat payor also has escalating penalties, so avoiding paying the tax now could benefit the club if they decide to spend aggressively again next year.

In prior seasons, the July trade deadline was followed by a second deadline in August, though the latter portion required players to clear revocable waivers before being dealt. In 2019, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a single deadline, with no trades allowed at all after the first deadline. There’s no longer any way for a club to make deals at this part of the calendar but players are still playoff eligible if they join an organization prior to September 1. That means they may find interest on the waiver wire, so long as the claiming club is willing to take on the salary of the player in question.

The waiver order goes in reverse order of standings, regardless of league. The previous August waiver trade system used to be league-specific but that’s no longer in place. As of today, the Athletics would have first dibs on any of these players, followed by the Royals, then the Rockies and so on, simply going from worst record to best, regardless of league. Of course, there’s little reason for those clubs out of contention to claim an impending free agent and take on their salary commitments. The claims are more likely to be made by clubs still hoping to make the playoffs, with those with worse records having a better chance of a successful claim than those at the top of the standings.

This will lead to some interesting calculations in the days to come. Many contending clubs have already spent the majority of the money they had allotted for the season, but will have to decide on whether it’s worthwhile to suddenly add another $1.9MM just for one month of Giolito to help with a stretch run, for example. He’s been inconsistent since joining the Angels but had a 3.79 ERA for the White Sox prior to the deal and has a longer track record of success, with a 3.86 ERA from 2019 to 2022.

Moore made a transition to the bullpen in recent years with excellent results, with a 1.95 ERA last year and 2.30 ERA this year. López is fairly similar, having gone from a fairly mediocre starter earlier in his career to effective reliever, including a 3.86 ERA this year. Renfroe’s production has been up-and-down, with a .240/.300/.480 batting line in his career but a lesser .239/.300/.425 showing this year. Grichuk is having another season with his blend of power but a subpar walk rate, slashing .261/.317/.435. Leone has struggled with control but has generally posted above-average strikeout rates.

For the players, they likely aren’t thrilled about being subject to the whims of the waiver wire, especially the ones who only just became Angels recently. But they will at least likely find themselves moving from a sinking ship to a contender in the coming days, giving them a chance to compete in a playoff race and perhaps get into the postseason.

As for the clubs considering a claim, this will be their best chance to bolster their rosters for the final month of the season, now that the deadline is long gone. It’s also possible that a new precedent has been set for the end of August, as it’s not just the Angels that have taken this tack. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has reported that Carlos Carrasco of the Mets, Mike Clevinger of the White Sox and José Cisnero of the Tigers have also been placed on waivers, while Erik Boland of Newsday first reported that Harrison Bader of the Yankees is also on the list.

Though the moves make some sense for the Angels, it’s undoubtedly a frustrating low point as the attempts to contend have repeatedly failed. They gave up several notable prospects to acquire some of these players just a few weeks ago and are now trying to give them away for little more than cost savings. They are now sure to finish the season without having made the playoffs since 2014 and could potentially watch Ohtani sign with a new club this winter.

Angels Select Trey Cabbage, Outright David Fletcher

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The Angels announced a number of moves before tonight’s game with the Astros. Los Angeles selected first baseman/corner outfielder Trey Cabbage, recalled infielder Michael Stefanic and reinstated Zach Neto and Matt Moore from the injured list.

In corresponding moves, the Halos placed Anthony Rendon, Jo Adell and Sam Bachman on the IL. All three placements are retroactive to July 11. The position players will be eligible to return a week from now, while Bachman is out until at least July 26. In a final transaction, infielder David Fletcher has already cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster to clear a spot for Cabbage.

On the positive side, Cabbage gets his first MLB look. The left-handed hitter was a fourth round selection of the Twins out of a Tennessee high school back in 2015. He played in the Minnesota system through 2021, topping out at Double-A. After becoming a minor league free agent, he joined the Halos.

Cabbage has spent the entire season at Triple-A Salt Lake. He has demonstrated interesting physical tools, connecting on 23 home runs and stealing 24 bases in 84 games. Even in the Pacific Coast League, his .287/.358/.576 batting line is better than average. He and Adell share the league lead in homers, and he’s fifth among 68 PCL hitters (minimum 200 plate appearances) in slugging.

He’ll add a left-handed power bat to Phil Nevin’s bench. Cabbage has gone down on strikes at a lofty 31.3% clip in Triple-A and has posted elevated strikeout totals throughout his career. The swing-and-miss has kept him from reaching the majors before his 26th birthday, but the huge power production in the upper minors earns him a look.

Cabbage is the latest member of an Angels’ infield that has gone through numerous recent iterations. Injuries to Neto, Gio Urshela and Rendon led the club to acquire Mike Moustakas and Eduardo Escobar. Neto is back at shortstop tonight after a month-long absence because of an oblique strain. That pushes Andrew Velazquez to the bench, while Luis Rengifo draws in at third base.

Rendon is dealing with a left shin contusion after fouling a ball off his leg a week ago. He told reporters the injury hasn’t healed as hoped and declined to answer when asked if he was engaged in any baseball activities (via Sam Blum of the Athletic). Adell has a left oblique strain. Bachman has inflammation in his throwing shoulder; Nevin told reporters he’ll be shut down for a brief period but isn’t expected to require a long-term absence (relayed by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).

Neto’s return squeezed Fletcher off the roster for the second time this season. The Halos also ran him through waivers in April. They re-selected his contract in late June but sent him back down after 11 games. Fletcher has gotten into 19 MLB contests on the season, hitting .213/.245/.298. He’s been far better in Salt Lake, putting up a .383/.431/.478 slash with more walks than strikeouts over 197 plate appearances.

Fletcher is making $6MM this season and under contract for the same amount through 2025. The $24MM extension he’d signed two years ago has given him ample financial security but ensured the Angels can send him through waivers without losing him. No other team is going to assume that money on a claim.

The latest demotion is timed so that the Halos can keep Fletcher in the organization as a non-roster player. He entered the season 61 days shy of the five-year MLB service threshold. He has picked up around 39 more days this year. Players with over five years of service time can decline a minor league assignment while retaining their entire contract; those with between three and five years would need to forfeit their guaranteed money to do so. Fletcher certainly isn’t going to pass on the money remaining on his deal, so the preemptive outright before he gets to five service years will keep him in Salt Lake.

Los Angeles Notes: Dodgers, Kershaw, Drury, Moore

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The Dodgers could see a shake up in their middle infield following the All Star break. As noted by The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, manager Dave Roberts recently told reporters that the club could consider optioning second baseman Miguel Vargas to the minors as he looks to correct his ongoing struggles, noting that “everything is on the table.” While Vargas got off to a solid start in 2023, with a .240/.341/.432 slash line in his first 44 games, he’s been trending downward ever since then. Since May 21,  Vargas has slashed just .139/.250/.287 in 129 plate appearances. While a BABIP of just .158 during that time could explain Vargas’s woes, the 23 year old is also striking out at an elevated 24.8% rate, a major leap from the 17% rate he was punching out over the season’s first two months.

Of course, the Dodgers have struggled to find production in the middle infield this season. Those issues have resulted in the club using outfielder Mookie Betts up the middle more often than usual. After appearing in just 15 games at second base during his first three seasons in LA, Betts has appeared at the keystone in 22 games this season while also recording 16 appearances at shortstop, a position he had never played in the majors prior to 2023. Those depth issues could be alleviated somewhat in the near future, however, as Roberts told reporters (including Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times) that utility man Chris Taylor will be activated from the injured list following the All Star break. Taylor, who has ample experience all around the infield and outfield, could add another option in addition to Betts the club can utilize both on the infield dirt and the outfield grass.

More from MLB’s LA teams…

  • Sticking with the Dodgers, Roberts told reporters (including Ardaya) that veteran ace Clayton Kershaw was feeling good after throwing a few pitches off the mound earlier today. The club has yet to decide whether or not Kershaw will return when first eligible on July 15, though Roberts previously expressed confidence Kershaw’s stint on the shelf would be a short one. The 2023 campaign has been another fantastic season for Kershaw as the lefty has posted a 2.55 ERA and 3.54 FIP in 95 1/3 innings of work. That inning total puts Kershaw on pace to easily surpass his innings totals from the past three seasons, during which he topped out with last year’s 126 1/3 figure.
  • Angels infielder Brandon Drury is still struggling with shoulder woes after landing on the injured list with a shoulder contusion last week. Manager Phil Nevin told reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) that an MRI on Drury’s shoulder revealed nothing but inflammation, indicating the infielder had avoided major injury. Drury will receive a cortisone shot and be re-evaluated after the All Star break. Drury’s absence is one of multiple key losses the Angels have suffered recently. Anthony Rendon hasn’t played since Tuesday after fouling a ball off his shin while Mike Trout, Zack Neto, and Gio Urshela have all landed on the shelf in recent weeks.
  • In more positive Angels news, Bollinger notes that left-hander Matt Moore threw 20 pitches to live hitters today, later telling reporters that he felt great afterwards. Moore’s return would be a major boost to the Anaheim bullpen, as the 34-year-old veteran posted a sterling 1.44 ERA in 25 innings this season prior to his placement on the IL at the end of May. While Moore’s been on the shelf, the club has relief on Chris Devenski and Jose Soriano alongside closer Carlos Estevez in the late innings.

West Notes: Campusano, San Jose, Urquidy, Moore

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Padres catcher Luis Campusano is making notable progress in his rehab from a sprained left thumb. As Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune notes, Campusano hit on the field prior to today’s game against the Nationals before catching a bullpen session for right-hander Yu Darvish. As noted by MLB.com, manager Bob Melvin considered today’s steps forward “significant” as Campusano continues his rehab process, but the club has not yet set a timeline for the catcher to begin a rehab assignment.

Campusano appeared in just seven games this season prior to going on the injured list, leaving much of the catching duties to Austin Nola, who’s struggled to a brutal .144/.263/.195 slash line this season. More recently, the Padres have learned on in-season addition Gary Sanchez behind the plate. In 80 plate appearances since arriving in San Diego, Sanchez has slashed .206/.275/.521 with a wRC+ of 114 while grading out as a roughly average defensive catcher. Still, Campusano’s eventual return figures to give the Padres insurance if Sanchez’s production takes a turn for the worse and an alternative to Nola as the second catcher on the roster.

More from around MLB’s western divisions…

  • As reported by John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose mayor Matt Mahan and four previous mayors of the city have issued a letter to commissioner Rob Manfred pleading the city’s case for an MLB expansion or relocation team. In the letter, the mayors argue that San Jose presents a unique opportunity for MLB considering its population, annual GDP, and its relationship with major tech companies. As Shea notes, the Giants currently have territorial rights over San Jose following an agreement between San Francisco and Oakland in 1990. That agreement was a major factor in the failure of a bid by the Athletics to move to San Jose back in 2013. While the idea of San Jose as a potential expansion team location farfetched considering MLB’s decision to support the Giants in their dispute with the A’s over territorial rights a decade ago, the situation is nonetheless worth noting as groups around the country such as those in Nashville and Salt Lake City prepare for the possibility of expansion in the coming decade.
  • Astros right-hander Jose Urquidy threw a bullpen session today and told reporters, including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle, that he was sitting 88-89 with his fastball, down from his typical velocity of 93-94. That’s not much of a cause for concern at the moment, however, considering how early it is in Urquidy’s rehab from shoulder woes that have kept him on the injured list since the beginning of May. Urquidy, who has long been expected to return sometime in July, told reporters that the current plan is for him to throw two more bullpen sessions before advancing to facing live hitters. It seems reasonable to expect a rehab assignment to be in the near future for Urquidy once he begins facing live batters, assuming everything goes well up to that point.
  • Angels lefty Matt Moore is making progress in his rehab from an oblique injury that has left his sidelined for nearly a month, though he told reporters, including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, that today’s bullpen didn’t go well enough for him to be activated from the injured list on Monday. While how Moore feels tomorrow will decide a lot of the process, the Halos reliever indicated that he expects to throw at least one more bullpen before he’s activated from the IL. Moore has been stellar for the Angels this season when healthy, with a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings, though the club has managed to maintain a solid bullpen in his absence thanks to the efforts of players like Carlos Estevez, Jaime Barria, and Chris Devenski.

Angels Select Ben Joyce

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The Angels announced that they have called up hard throwing right hander Ben Joyce to the big leagues. To make room, left hander Matt Moore has been placed on the 15-day IL with a right oblique strain, and Austin Warren has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Joyce has been working at Double-A this season, where he’s posted a 4.60 ERA over 15 2/3 innings, combining a 34.3% strikeout rate with an 18.3% walk rate. His calling card is undoubtedly the fastball, which as touched 105 mph in the past. Joyce ranked 19th on Keith Law’s Angels prospect rankings for The Athletic, with Law stating “he doesn’t have an average second pitch or particularly good command of the fastball … He’ll have to develop his slider to be a big-league reliever.”

That’s seemed to shine through in his minor league numbers, with Joyce walking more than seven batters every nine innings so far this season.  There’s obviously a big step up from Double-A to the big leagues, but it’ll be fascinating to see how such a hard thrower goes against the increased competition.

Joyce will be replacing one of the Angels’ best relievers in Moore. The left hander has worked to a 1.44 ERA through 25 innings for the Angels, following on from his impressive season in 2022 for the Rangers. Moore has reverse splits for a left hander, with left handed hitters going .250/.333/.625 against him while right handers have struggled to a .117/.194/.167 line against the veteran. There’s no timetable yet for Moore’s recovery, but he’ll miss at least the next two weeks as he recovers. 

Angels Sign Matt Moore

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The Angels added veteran help to their bullpen Thursday, announcing the signing of left-hander Matt Moore to a one-year, $7.55MM contract. Right-hander Davis Daniel, who’s dealing with a shoulder strain, was placed on the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Moore is represented by Apex Baseball.

Moore began his career in 2011 as a starting pitcher for the Rays and pitched effectively, even earning an All Star appearance and down-ballot Cy Young award votes in 2013. Unfortunately, Moore missed most of the 2014 season after receiving Tommy John surgery, and struggled to remain effective as a starter following the procedure. In 557 2/3 innings across the 2014-19 seasons, Moore struggled to a 5.08 ERA (83 ERA+) while spending time as a member of the Rays, Giants, Rangers, and Tigers.

These struggles led Moore to Japan, where he pitched well as a reliever during the 2020 season. In 2021, he returned to stateside ball, but struggled once again in a swing role for the Phillies, posting a 6.29 ERA (67 ERA+) in 73 innings. The following offseason, Moore had to settle for a minor league contract with the Rangers, who he had previously pitched for during the 2018 season. That minors deal proved to be a stroke of genius by the Rangers front office, as Moore posted an astonishing 1.95 ERA (203 ERA+) across 74 innings in 2022.

Moore’s extreme success last season wasn’t entirely supported by his peripherals. He allowed a BABIP of just .257, nearly 40 points below his career norms, and his FIP came in more than a full run higher than his ERA. That same FIP is still a strong 2.98, however, and many underlying metrics reveal plenty of reason for optimism about Moore’s future headed into his age-34 season. His fastball gained an average of 1.5 mph in velocity in 2022, which allowed Moore to rack up far more strikeouts than he had previously. In 2021, Moore struck out just 18.9% of batters faced, but 2022 saw that figure climb all the way to 27.3%.

In addition, his began to allow much weaker contact in 2022, with his hard contact rate dropping from 35.5% all the way to 22.5% while his soft contact rate leapt from 14.3% up to 22%. Striking out batters at a clip similar to that of Luis Castillo (27.2% strikeout rate) while generating nearly as much weak contact as Max Scherzer (22.7% soft contact rate) is certainly a recipe for success, so it’s easy to see why the Angels would want to add Moore to their mix at the back of a bullpen that currently features Carlos Estevez, Ryan Tepera, and Aaron Loup among its top options.

With that being said, the Halos are almost certainly hoping they can find a way to help their new reliever limit his walks. Moore’s walk rate of 12.5% was third worst in the majors among all pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched, ahead of just Yusei Kikuchi and Caleb Smith. Moore’s sensational 2022 proves that if you can strike batters out at an elevated clip while limiting hard contact it’s still possible to have success even when you walk too many batters, as does the success of pitchers like Jorge Lopez and Dylan Cease. Nonetheless, Moore’s penchant for allowing free passes puts more pressure on the rest of his skills to hold up at their current top-tier levels if he’s going to remain among the best relievers in the game, as he was in 2022.

Moore’s signing continues what has been a fairly aggressive offseason from the Angels. While the club didn’t sign a marquee free agent or swing a blockbuster trade, they’ve added much-needed depth to a roster that already had plenty of star power and made important upgrades to almost every position on the roster. Moore and fellow free-agent acquisition Estevez strengthen the bullpen, while the signing of Tyler Anderson improves the rotation. Meanwhile, the lineup is bolstered by the additions of Hunter Renfroe, Gio Urshela, and Brandon Drury.

The Halos still have an uphill battle in the AL West this year, as the 2022 World Series champion Astros don’t appear to be slowing down, the Mariners are still on the upswing, and the Rangers had a second straight offseason full of splashy additions. Nonetheless, it’s clear that Moore makes the Angels better, even in spite of his age, walk rate, and lacking track record prior to 2022. If he manages to have a season resembling the one he had last year again, it’s easy to see a world where Angels fans no longer miss old closer Raisel Iglesias, who was sent to Atlanta at last year’s trade deadline.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported the Angels and Moore were nearing an agreement. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported it was a one-year contract.

Angels Interested In Zack Britton

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The Angels are known to be in the market for left-handed bullpen help, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale specifies that the Halos “have strong interest” in Zack Britton’s services.  The two sides have yet to line up on a contract, as Nightengale writes that the Angels’ interest may only hinge on getting Britton at a lower amount than his asking price of roughly $9MM.

It is easy to understand the team’s hesitation, given that Britton has barely pitched (19 total innings) over the last two seasons due to injury.  Bone chips in Britton’s elbow hampered his 2021 performance, and a Tommy John surgery then sidelined the reliever for virtually all of the 2022 campaign.  Though Britton recently held a showcase to display his health for scouts, there’s naturally a good amount of uncertainty over what can be expected from the southpaw as he heads into his age-35 season.

From Britton’s perspective, a $9MM guarantee is a reasonable ask for a pitcher who was arguably baseball’s best reliever from 2014-20, posting elite numbers with the Orioles and Yankees.  As noted by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Matt Strahm’s two-year, $15MM deal with the Phillies seemed to throw off the market for left-handed relievers, to the point that Britton and fellow free agent southpaws Andrew Chafin and Matt Moore might still be unsigned because they feel they deserve to top Strahm in either total value, average annual value, or both.  (Nightengale writes that Chafin and Moore are also looking for around $9MM, though it isn’t clear if that translates to multi-year deal worth $9MM per season, or if either is open to a one-year commitment.)

Rosenthal’s report also cited the Angels as only one of 10 teams who were still looking at adding a left-handed reliever, so with this many potential suitors, Britton — and Chafin and Moore — might feel there’s enough interest that at least one club will eventually pay up.  Speculatively, each of the three free agents also might be in some sense waiting to see which of the group signs first, as that deal could also reset the market.

The Angels already made one notable bullpen signing this winter in landing Carlos Estevez on a two-year, $13.5MM contract.  The flame-throwing Estevez will factor into a closer mix that also includes Jimmy Herget and Ryan Tepera, but elsewhere in the Halos’ bullpen, Aaron Loup, Jose Quijada, and perhaps Tucker Davidson are the left-handed options.  Since Loup and Quijada were each only okay in 2022, there’s certainly room for the Angels to add more help from the left side, and Britton’s past experience as a closer might also add to the list of ninth-inning candidates.

Signing Britton, Moore, or Chafin would add another noteworthy salary to an Angels payroll that is already projected by Roster Resource to sit at approximately $220.2MM.  Though the Angels haven’t surpassed the luxury tax threshold since 2004, GM Perry Minasian said earlier this winter that owner Arte Moreno had no mandate against staying under the tax line.  As such, there wouldn’t appear to be any obstacle to the Halos topping the $233MM threshold by signing Britton and perhaps another player or two, though naturally the front office might balk if they simply don’t value at a $9MM price point.

One player who isn’t on Anaheim’s radar is Gary Sanchez, Nightengale reports.  Rookie prospect Logan O’Hoppe (acquired from the Phillies in the Brandon Marsh deal last summer) and veteran Max Stassi comprise the Angels’ current catching tandem, with Chad Wallach and Jose Godoy providing more depth in the minors.  The Halos did have interest in Willson Contreras before Contreras signed with the Cardinals, but it isn’t clear if Los Angeles was looking at a catching upgrade in general, or Contreras was just a specific target as the top catcher on the free agent market.

Regardless, it doesn’t appear that Sanchez is under consideration.  The former two-time All-Star has hit only .195/.287/.394 with 49 homers over 1089 plate appearances since the start of the 2020 season, translating to a 90 wRC+.  Between that decline at the plate and Sanchez’s inconsistent defense, the Twins were willing to move on from Sanchez after the season (signing Christian Vazquez instead), and the Giants’ interest in Sanchez may have dried up since San Francisco inked Roberto Perez to a contract earlier today.

Red Sox Have Shown Interest In Matt Moore

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The Red Sox have checked in on free agent reliever Matt Moore this offseason, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter links). The extent of their interest isn’t known, but Cotillo adds that fellow southpaw Andrew Chafin has not been on Boston’s radar thus far.

Moore and Chafin are arguably the two best remaining free agent relievers. Alongside Will Smith, they’re part of a group of quality left-handers whose market has unexpectedly lingered. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal linked a third of the league (Boston included) to the lefty relief market earlier in the week, but we’ve still not seen any notable movement since Taylor Rogers inked a three-year deal with the Giants before the calendar flipped to 2023.

The 33-year-old Moore spent a decade as a big leaguer starter, battling inconsistency along the way. The former top prospect had a couple strong seasons upon breaking in with the Rays but started to struggle in the wake of 2014 Tommy John surgery. He sandwiched a solid 2016 campaign between a trio of 5.00-plus ERA marks between 2015-18. Moore barely pitched in 2019, spent the ’20 campaign in Japan and was hit hard in his return showing with the Phillies two seasons ago.

Moore inked a minor league deal with the Rangers last offseason. He was in the majors again by mid-April and reinvented himself as a power arm out of the bullpen. Texas deployed him exclusively in relief, calling upon the veteran 63 times. Through 74 innings, Moore posted a stellar 1.95 ERA. He struck out batters at a strong 27.3% clip while generating swinging strikes on a massive 14.7% of his offerings. His fastball averaged around 94 MPH and he got excellent results on both his curveball and changeup, giving him a three-pitch arsenal to deploy in short stints.

The sole red flag in Moore’s 2022 performance was his control. He dished out walks to 12.5% of opponents, a rate more than three percentage points higher than average. ERA estimators like FIP (2.98) and SIERA (3.69) weren’t quite as bullish as his sub-2.00 ERA would suggest, as Moore was probably a bit fortunate to strand 81% of the baserunners he allowed. That said, there’s room for Moore to regress marginally from his 2022 level while still remaining a quality high-leverage option if he can sustain last season’s swing-and-miss prowess.

Moore certainly earned himself a big league deal this time around and he has a case for a multi-year pact even headed into his age-34 campaign. Former Red Sox hurler Matt Strahm secured a two-year, $15MM deal from the Phillies on the heels of a solid but arguably less impressive 3.83 ERA/3.30 SIERA showing.

Chafin has an even stronger argument for a two-year contract. He’s going into his age-33 season and coming off a second straight excellent year. He provided the Tigers 57 1/3 frames of 2.83 ERA ball with a 27.6% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk percentage. That was on the heels of a 1.83 ERA season between the Cubs and A’s in 2021. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible that’s leading to a loftier asking price than is coming from Moore’s camp to explain Boston’s seeming lack of interest in Chafin.

The Red Sox have a fairly straightforward desire for left-handed relief help. They’ve added Joely Rodríguez on a $2MM free agent contract but parted with Darwinzon Hernández and Josh Taylor after seeing Strahm leave in free agency. Rodríguez is the only assured lefty reliever on the 40-man roster, though starting pitching prospects Chris Murphy and Brandon Walter could theoretically find themselves in that mix. The Sox have signed Ryan Sherriff and Matt Dermody to minor league deals in recent days to strengthen the depth. Neither would take them out of the market for Moore, who’d be a more significant acquisition.

The Red Sox currently project for a player payroll in the $192MM range, as tabulated by Roster Resource. More meaningfully, they’re around $219MM in luxury tax obligations. That leaves them approximately $14MM shy of the $233MM base threshold, so a Moore deal would be financially viable while still leaving them some breathing room under the tax for midseason additions should they so desire. The Cubs are the only other team known to have checked in with Moore’s camp this winter, though there are surely numerous unreported suitors.

Latest On Market For Left-Handed Relievers

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With less than three weeks to go until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, most of the top free agents have already signed with clubs for the upcoming season. One segment of the market that’s been strangely quiet, however, is left-handed relief. Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore and Zack Britton are some of the noteworthy southpaws still unattached, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Rangers, Angels, Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs and Mets are interested in their services.

Those three relievers bring varying levels of appeal to the interested clubs. Britton, 35, was arguably the best reliever in the league for an extended stretch though he entered free agency on a down note after a couple of seasons lost to injury. Moore, 34 in June, is in effectively the opposite position of Britton, as he has a lengthy track record of disappointing results but hit the open market on the upswing. Chafin, 33 in June, has been fairly consistent in recent years, apart from a small-sample blip in the shortened 2020 season.

Britton posted an incredible 1.84 ERA over a seven-year stretch from 2014 to 2020, thanks to a bowling ball sinker that bordered on unhittable. He got grounders on a ludicrous 76.2% of balls in play over that time, almost double a typical league average of about 43%. He was limited to just 18 1/3 innings in 2021 before requiring surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow. During that procedure, it was determined that he would also need Tommy John surgery, which put him out of action until late in 2022. He did make it back to the hill last year but his velocity was down and his control was all over the place. He finished the season on the injured list for shoulder fatigue. He would be a risky acquisition at this point given his uncertain health but he recently held a showcase for clubs and will surely entice one of them to take a gamble based on his previous excellence.

Moore was once one of the top prospects in the game and seemed like a rotation building block for the Rays a decade ago. However, Tommy John surgery in 2014 put him out of action for an extended stretch and he struggled once back on the mound. He bounced around to various different clubs for years, including a stint in Japan, but never really got things back on track. But a full-time move to the bullpen last year has seemingly given him a second act, as he posted a 1.95 ERA over 74 innings for the Rangers. His 12.5% walk rate was certainly concerning, but he also struck out 27.3% of batters faced and got grounders at a healthy 43.9% clip.

Chafin has posted a 3.05 ERA from 2017 to the present, even with his rough 2020 campaign. He’s been even better recently, with a 2.29 ERA over the past couple of seasons, striking out 25.7% of batters faced, walking just 7.5% of them and keeping the ball on the ground at a 47.9% clip.

All three pitchers will surely interest clubs to some degree but Rosenthal hears from one executive that the Matt Strahm signing has slowed things down. The Phillies signed him to a two-year, $15MM deal back in December, despite a somewhat shaky track record. He got some good results in his first few seasons, working mostly in relief but with the occasional start. He had an unusual season with the Padres in 2019 as he attempted to become a starter. He made 16 starts that year but posted a 5.29 ERA in that role against a 3.27 mark in 30 relief appearances. Back in the bullpen in 2020, he registered a 2.61 ERA in the shortened season but only got into six games in 2021 due to various injuries. He bounced back with the Red Sox in 2022 with a 3.83 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 36.8% ground ball rate. Each of Moore and Chafin are coming off a stronger 2022 season than Strahm while Britton has a more impressive career overall. Strahm is younger than the rest of them but not by too much, having recently turned 31. Perhaps the free agents are trying to match or top the $15MM guarantee that Strahm secured and has yet to convince a team to pull the trigger on that.

Despite lingering on the market, it doesn’t seem like there’s any shortage of interest. Just about any team with designs on contending could fit another arm into their bullpen and it seems like they’re all keeping tabs here. The Rangers’ southpaw contingent took a blow recently as Brett Martin required shoulder surgery and will likely miss most of the upcoming campaign. They still have Brock Burke, Taylor Hearn and John King in the mix but it wouldn’t hurt to bolster that group. The Angels have Aaron Loup and José Quijada lined up as their primary southpaw relievers but Loup is now 35 and Quijada has control issues. The Astros are a fairly logical fit since their only lefty relievers on the 40-man are Blake Taylor and Parker Mushinski, both of whom have fairly limited track records.

The Red Sox have Joely Rodríguez as their only obvious southpaw reliever, though Chris Sale or James Paxton could move from the rotation at some point since they have each hardly pitched in the past three years. Their various injuries have severely limited their innings recently and they might struggle to handle a starter’s workload for a full season. The Jays have Tim Mayza and Matt Gage as left-handed options in their relief corps, though Yusei Kikuchi spent some time there last year after getting bumped from the rotation, a situation that could play out again this year.

The Brewers have Hoby Milner as their most straightforward lefty reliever, though Wade Miley and Aason Ashby could spend some time there if they get nudged out of a crowded rotation. The Cardinals have Genesis Cabrera slated to be the go-to guy but their other choices are optionable and have limited experience, including Packy Naughton, JoJo Romero and Zack Thompson. The Cubs make a lot of sense for adding a lefty reliever, as they currently only have Brandon Hughes on the 40, who could be in line for a closer’s role as opposed to a situational lefty job.

The Yankees recently let Lucas Luetge go, designating him for assignment and flipping him to Atlanta. That has left Wandy Peralta as the club’s only option from the left side in their bullpen. Adding even a modest contract to their books might be an issue, however, as they are reportedly concerned about crossing the final tier of the competitive balance tax. Roster Resource currently pegs their CBT figure at $292.3MM, just a hair under the final line of $293MM. Making any external addition without making up that difference will be a challenge. Trading the contract of someone like Josh Donaldson or Aaron Hicks would give them some more breathing room but the Yanks haven’t been able to find a deal so far.

The interest of the Mets might be complicated as well, as Rosenthal reports that they are hesitant to add another out-of-options pitcher to the mix and reduce their roster flexibility. All players with more than five years of service time cannot be optioned without their consent, meaning that all of these veterans are in that category. None of Edwin Díaz, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson or Brooks Raley can be optioned to the minors either.

For clubs that miss out on Chafin, Britton and Moore, some of the other lefties still available include Will Smith, Brad Hand and Justin Wilson.

Cubs Interested In Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore

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The Cubs continue to look for relief help, and The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma reports that left-handers Andrew Chafin and Matt Moore are both on the team’s radar.  It isn’t clear whether the Cubs are necessarily willing to meet either pitcher’s asking price, as president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer had previously indicated that his team preferred one-year deals for relievers, and the Cubs have traditionally found success in adding relief pitching at lower-cost deals.

As Hoyer told Sharma and other reporters at today’s Cubs Convention fan event, this past strategy is now “a lot more difficult” in the current free agent market.  “If you look at the cost on some of the players we were able to do that on, it was really low stakes as far as what we were paying those guys.  I do think the buy-low reliever market has been a lot higher than the past.  It’s made that job difficult.”

Of course, neither Chafin or Moore are buy-low players any longer, adding another wrinkle to Chicago’s interest.  Chafin was in fact a bounce-back type when he signed a one-year, $2.75MM deal with the Cubs in the 2020-21 offseason, as the southpaw had struggled with the Diamondbacks in 2020 before the Cubs initially picked him up at the trade deadline.

That rough (and brief, at only 6 2/3 innings) stint with the D’Backs represented Chafin’s only real down point of the last six seasons, as the lefty has been an otherwise solid and occasionally dominant relief arm.  Last year with the Tigers, Chafin posted a 2.83 ERA and an above-average 27.6% strikeout rate, and 51.3% grounder rate over 57 1/3 innings, giving him a solid platform to re-enter the free agent market.  Chafin declined his $6.5MM player option for 2023, opting to leave Detroit in search of a more lucrative multi-year offer.  Chafin certainly has familiarity with Wrigley Field, and could theoretically have interest in a reunion — especially with the Cubs now looking to contend after a short rebuilding period.

MLBTR listed Chafin 39th on our ranking of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, projecting the veteran southpaw for a two-year, $18MM deal.  Moore was an honorable mention on the list, as while he only has one season of full-time relief work under his belt, Moore looked quite sharp in his first year as a bullpen regular.  The left-hander posted a 1.95 ERA over 74 innings with the Rangers, even if a 3.69 SIERA and a .257 BABIP indicated Moore enjoyed some good fortune.

Still, secondary metrics tended to back up Moore’s revival.  He had a strong 27.3% strikeout rate and did an outstanding job of limiting hard contact, as both his hard-hit ball and barrel rates ranked above the 91st percentile of all pitchers.  However, control was still a major issue for Moore, as his 12.5% walk rate sat near the bottom of the league.

Signing either Chafin or Moore would add some left-handed balance to a Chicago bullpen that is mostly full of right-handers, as Brandon Hughes looks to be the only southpaw assured of a spot on the Opening Day roster.  The Cubs did bolster their left-handed depth by signing Roenis Elias, Ryan Borucki, and Eric Stout to minor league deals, while Anthony Kay was claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays last month.

Hoyer said that “bench and bullpen” are remaining target areas for the Cubs, with Sharma noting that the team could be looking for a player who can serve as a DH and possibly play some first base.  Rather than free agency, the Cubs could potentially look to address their needs in a trade, and perhaps to this end, Sharma writes that the versatile Zach McKinstry “has also been a popular name when other teams call the Cubs regarding trade possibilities.”  Sharma opines that Chicago could possibly trade McKinstry and replace him from within with Miles Mastrobuoni, a similar player who (unlike McKinstry) has minor league options remaining.

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