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Michael Conforto

Boras: Michael Conforto Not Ruling Out Late-Season Return

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Michael Conforto was the most notable unsigned free agent of this past offseason. The outfielder rejected a qualifying offer from the Mets and didn’t find a deal to his liking before the league locked out the players in early December. The following month, he injured his right shoulder during training and remains unsigned.

Conforto underwent surgery last month, and reports at the time suggested the procedure would end his 2022 season before it began. That may not actually be the case, as his agent Scott Boras now tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post it’s not out of the question Conforto could make it back to the majors by September. “There is a possibility the swinging modality can be back to normal at a much earlier date than the throwing aspect,” Boras told Sherman. “He had his surgery in April. There’s a chance depending on how he progresses that (hitting in the majors late in the season) is a possibility.”

Based on those comments, it seems the path back for Conforto would be as a hitter only. If he’s still unable to throw by September, clubs certainly aren’t going to plug him back into right field (and probably wouldn’t risk him at first base either). Yet there’s apparently at least some chance he makes a late-season return as a designated hitter and/or bench bat, which hadn’t previously appeared possible.

Even if Conforto’s shoulder progresses well enough he could make it back to the diamond, he’d of course need to find a contract offer to his liking. Teams aren’t going to commit the kind of multi-year deal he’d been looking for entering the offseason, and Conforto and Boras may eventually decide it’s better for the 29-year-old to continue rehabbing on his own and look for a new team next year.

That said, clubs figure to keep an eye on Conforto’s progress over the next few months. While he posted only marginally above-average offensive numbers last season, he hit at a .261/.365/.478 level between 2018-20. Something approaching that production would be a boon to virtually every lineup, and a contending club looking for a bit more left-handed punch could have interest in a late-season pact if he’s healthy. That kind of arrangement, meanwhile, could allow Conforto to showcase his form for a few weeks (and into a possible postseason run) while still hitting the market next winter.

In any event, a resolution won’t be coming for several months. Conforto’s clearly not near an imminent return to game shape, and he’ll have to continue working on his own for at least the next two months. Any team would forfeit an amateur draft choice were they to sign Conforto now because he rejected the Mets’ QO. Certainly, no team is going to do that for a player with such an uncertain health status. Pick forfeiture will no longer apply once the draft concludes on July 19, however, so there’d be no penalty (aside from whatever guarantee he receives) for a team to add him after that point. The Mets won’t receive any compensation if he signs a post-draft deal.

Whether Conforto will sign anywhere this year won’t be known until at least after the All-Star Break, and quite likely for a while longer. That it’s even possible after news of his shoulder surgery makes for a surprising development, though, one that’ll be worth monitoring later in the season.

Michael Conforto Undergoes Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

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Michael Conforto underwent surgery on his right shoulder earlier this week, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).  Conforto will be sidelined for the entire 2022 season but is expected to be ready for Spring Training.

Agent Scott Boras revealed his client’s shoulder problems in late March, saying that Conforto suffered a strain while training in January, but he had since resumed hitting.  Just yesterday, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported that Conforto still hasn’t been able to throw, and was initially presented with the option of surgery earlier this offseason, but was choosing to hold off on going under the knife.  In a follow-up tweet from Heyman, Conforto was deciding between either getting the “cleanup” procedure done now, or waiting until after the season.

Undergoing the surgery now makes sense given Conforto’s still-unsigned status.  If he did land a one-year deal with a team for a prorated salary, it is quite possible the shoulder issues would prevent from Conforto from performing at an acceptable level.  Coming off a middling 2021 season, a down 2022 season, and then a shoulder surgery in the offseason would essentially crater Conforto’s market in the 2022-23 free agent sweepstakes, whereas now, he can get the surgery and then head into next winter with a slightly cleaner slate.

Sitting out 2022 also removes the qualifying offer as a factor in Conforto’s market.  He turned down the Mets’ one-year, $18.4MM QO last fall, and thus any team signing Conforto would have to had to give up at least one draft pick as compensation.  Since Conforto now won’t be signing until after the 2022 draft anyway, the attached compensation no longer applies, and players are only eligible to be tagged with the QO once in their careers. (Though the qualifying offer system might be abandoned anyway, pending on international draft negotiations between the league and the MLBPA later this summer.)

Passing on the QO now seems like an error in hindsight for Conforto, and the decision even carried its share of controversy prior to his injury.  Conforto hit an unspectacular .232/.344/.384 with 14 home runs over 479 PA with New York last season, leading to speculation that he would either take the qualifying offer, or sign a one-year pillow contract of a similar value.  (This was MLBTR’s theory, predicting a one-year, $20MM pact for Conforto on the open market.)  With a one-season payday secured, Conforto would then look to bounce back and deliver a season similar to his 2015-20 prime years, thus setting him up for a bigger multi-year contract next winter.

The Marlins, Blue Jays, Yankees, Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Padres all had some level of interest in Conforto this past winter, and up to a dozen teams at least checked in on his services closer to the start of the free agent period.  Again, it is easy to say in hindsight that Conforto “should have” signed somewhere earlier in the offseason, though we don’t know what types of actual offers (if any) were on the table prior to the lockout.

Given Conforto’s production prior to 2021, it seems likely that he should be able to land a one-year, guaranteed big league deal in the offseason if he recovers well from his surgery, even if that salary is well south of $18.4MM.  Whether he’ll finally land that big multi-year pact remains to be seen, as Conforto will need to post some big numbers to settle any lingering doubts about his health, or his age (he’ll be 31 on Opening Day 2024).  In more immediate business, however, Conforto will simply have to focus on rehabbing his shoulder and getting himself fully back up to par.

Latest On Michael Conforto

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The 2022 MLB season is now more than two weeks old, yet there’s one significant free agent that’s still unsigned. Outfielder Michael Conforto was ranked 32nd on the MLBTR list of the top 50 free agents, the only one of that group still without a team.

The last report on Conforto, from about three weeks ago, was that his market had been slowed by an injury suffered during the lockout. Conforto’s agent Scott Boras explained the delay, telling reporters that the outfielder suffered a right shoulder strain while training in January.

At the time of that report in late March, Joel Sherman of the New York Post relayed that Conforto had been hitting for five weeks, meaning that he was taking hacks weeks before the lockout ended on March 10. That seemed to at least cast a bit of doubt on the report from Boras, though the health issue seems to be lingering, despite the fact that Conforto has been hitting for about two months now. Mike Puma of the New York Post relays that the shoulder injury was significant enough that surgery was considered, although Conforto opted to forgo that and try to let the shoulder heal. Although Puma doesn’t provide any specific diagnosis of the injury, he reports that Conforto has still not resumed throwing and even suggests it’s possible Conforto may not be able to return to the field at all this season.

If that ends up being the case, it would be another step in a string of bad luck for the outfielder, who already had the misfortune of having a down year just as he was about to qualify for free agency. From 2017 to 2020, he hit 97 home runs and slashed .265/.369/.495. In the estimation of FanGraphs, that production was about 33% better than league average (133 wRC+) and helped him produce 14.9 wins above replacement. However, his offense slipped in 2021 to .232/.344/.384, a wRC+ of 106, still above average but well below his previous level.

He was already going to be challenged to find a contract to his liking after that dip, and after declining an $18.4MM qualifying offer. MLBTR predicted that Conforto would settle for a one-year deal in the $20MM range and then return to the open market without the QO attached, hoping for better offers. This was a route previously taken by players like Yasmani Grandal and Marcell Ozuna, who each took one-year deals and eventually got four-year contracts worth over $60MM. How it will play out for Conforto now will be largely determined by the eventual timeline of his recuperation, which is currently quite murky.

If this injury is as serious as reported, Conforto might just linger on the market long enough to follow that Grandal/Ozuna plan, just without the one-year deal. If he’s able to heal his shoulder and get back into game shape over the next few months, this year’s draft is scheduled to take place July 17-19. Once the draft is completed, any team signing Conforto won’t have to worry about the draft pick forfeiture. Although his extended absence will likely dim the enthusiasm clubs will have for signing him, it’s also possible that a contender suffers an outfield injury of their own that spurs them towards taking a chance. For Conforto’s part, he will surely want to show his health, if he’s able to, in order to improve his earning power after the 2022 season. Even a contract with a modest financial outlay for the season’s final months could be enough to get him onto the field as an audition for his next job. The Marlins, Yankees, Padres, Rockies, Blue Jays and Rangers were known to be interested in him before this injury was revealed.

Michael Conforto Suffered Shoulder Injury In January

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Michael Conforto is the last unsigned player who appeared among MLBTR’s Top 50 free agents at the start of the offseason. Easily the best player still available on the open market, Conforto has nevertheless remained without a team with just a week until Opening Day.

Agent Scott Boras offered an explanation for Conforto’s delay in signing this evening, telling Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic and Joel Sherman of the New York Post the outfielder suffered a right shoulder strain while training in January. Boras says Conforto is now healthy and is again hitting but that the issue slowed down both his offseason training routine and his hunt for a club. According to Rosenthal, negotiations with teams were on hold but resumed last week.

Conforto’s injury could partially clarify the hold-up in his finding a new club, although it doesn’t seem to completely explain the delay. After all, he suffered the strain in January, a time when MLB free agents were barred from communicating with teams anyhow. Sherman writes that Conforto has been hitting for five weeks, indicating he’d returned to batting practice well before the lockout was lifted on March 10. The delay in his resuming throwing ostensibly kept Boras from negotiating with teams in the immediate post-lockout signing spree, although that he’s been in contact with clubs for about a week suggests that only set back discussions around 10-14 days.

Unsurprisingly, Boras claimed that a now-healthy Conforto is drawing strong interest. However, he declined to project a timetable for the 29-year-old to sign. At the very least, that negotiations are ongoing would seem to reduce speculation among some fans that Conforto could wait until after the draft to put pen to paper. The left-handed hitter rejected a qualifying offer from the Mets at the start of the offseason, entitling New York to draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere and costing a signing club a draft choice.

Waiting to sign until after the draft would remove that compensation from the equation, and a few qualified free agents like Stephen Drew and Dallas Keuchel have taken that approach in past offseasons. However, this year’s draft is scheduled to take place from July 17-19, later than the early-June drafts of the Drew/Keuchel era. That’d require Conforto sitting out more than half the season, a course of action which never seemed likely.

Conforto is coming off a down season from a results perspective, but his strikeout and walk rates were customarily strong. The left-handed hitter also posted better batted ball marks than his 14 homers and .153 ISO (slugging minus batting average) would indicate. He looks like a strong bounceback candidate, one who could upgrade most lineups around the league.

Nevertheless, it’s tough to pin down top suitors for Conforto, even at this stage of the offseason. The Marlins, Yankees, Padres and Rockies were linked to him before the lockout. Miami and Colorado have since gone in different directions to upgrade their outfields, while San Diego is reportedly reluctant to take on another big move that could push them above the luxury tax threshold. New York hasn’t addressed the outfield, but they’ve since added Anthony Rizzo and Josh Donaldson to the payroll.

The Blue Jays more recently checked in as part of their search for a lefty-hitting outfielder, but they acquired Raimel Tapia from Colorado last week. No other team has been definitively tied to Conforto throughout the winter, but Jon Heyman of the MLB Network suggested on his Big Time Baseball podcast last week the Rangers could jump into the mix.

Latest On Michael Conforto

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Michael Conforto is the top free agent remaining on the market and the lone qualifying offer recipient who remains unsigned. We’re now less than two weeks from Opening Day, and it’s still difficult to glean just where Conforto might sign. And, as ESPN’s Buster Olney points out, Conforto will have a hard time following the path of some other QO recipients who waited things out and took a midseason deal. Dallas Keuchel, Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew, for instance, all waited to sign until after the draft had passed, thus freeing them from the burden of draft-pick compensation. That tactic already caused a player to sit out two months of the season, but with the draft now pushed back to mid-July, it’s an even less palatable approach for Conforto to take.

There’s been some talk of a potential reunion with his old team, but Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported yesterday evening that returning to the Mets is “extremely unlikely,” citing multiple sources close to the situation. With Starling Marte and Mark Canha joining Brandon Nimmo in the outfield, plus holdover infield/outfield bats like Dominic Smith and J.D. Davis still in the fold, at-bats for Conforto would be hard to come by — even with the designated hitter now in the National League.

Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, meanwhile, writes that the Blue Jays have “checked in” on Conforto, though perhaps only as a means of due diligence. The Jays have been looking for left-handed hitting to help balance a right-leaning lineup, and yesterday’s trade with the Rockies, swapping outfielders Randal Grichuk and Raimel Tapia, was a step toward that end. There’s arguably still a fit for Conforto in Toronto, as the Jays could cycle him, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez through the outfield and designated hitter spots in the lineup. However, GM Ross Atkins also threw some cold water on the idea of another big-ticket addition, telling reporters yesterday that it’s “getting harder for us to continue to add from a resource standpoint and from a flexibility standpoint” (Twitter link via TSN’s Scott Mitchell).

The Guardians have been an oft-cited fit for Conforto, due both to the team’s paltry $56MM payroll and a generally unproven mix of outfield options. General manager Mike Chernoff didn’t comment directly on Conforto or any other free agents this morning, but did say in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that the front office is prioritizing its young players (Twitter link, with audio).

“One of the big challenges for us has been, how do we make sure we’re creating opportunities for those guys and not taking opportunity?” said Chernoff. “Not just signing a veteran guy that’s going to eat into some of the playing time that allows these guys to get their feet underneath them in the big leagues.”

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman suggests a new suitor in his latest podcast (Conforto talk around the 41-minute mark), calling the Rangers perhaps the likeliest team to jump on Conforto. Texas has already forfeited a second-round and third-round selection in order to sign Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, meaning the draft-pick cost of signing Conforto would be down to a fourth-rounder for them. That, however, would still run counter to prior reports on the Rangers’ spending plans; Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported shortly after the lockout lifted that Texas viewed Matt Olson and Clayton Kershaw (both of whom they pursued but were unable to acquire) as special cases but otherwise did not plan to plan to spend significantly.

Blue Jays Continue To Pursue Left-Handed Hitting

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The Blue Jays have one of baseball’s most dangerous lineups, though their projected starting nine tilts heavily to the right side.  Cavan Biggio is the only left-handed hitter set to receive everyday action in Toronto’s lineup, and even Santiago Espinal is expected to spell Biggio when southpaws are on the mound.  With this in mind, the Jays continue to look into left-handed hitters, with Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi writing that the club has shown interest in Michael Conforto, Joc Pederson, Brad Miller, and former Jay Corey Dickerson.

While Davidi reports that the Jays “had offers in” on the latter three names, Dickerson joined the Cardinals on a one-year/$5MM deal, Pederson went with the Giants’ one-year/$6MM offer, and Miller received $10MM over a two-year deal with the Rangers.  These players all projected for platoon or part-time duty, whereas Conforto would seemingly both be in line for more of an everyday role, and at a significantly higher cost.

Such clubs as the Rockies, Marlins, Yankees, and Padres have also been linked to Conforto’s market this winter, though Colorado could be off the board after signing Kris Bryant, while the Marlins have addressed their outfield needs with Jorge Soler and Avisail Garcia.  Signing Conforto would cost a draft pick since he turned down the Mets’ qualifying offer, and it does remain to be seen exactly what kind of deal Conforto will land as Opening Day nears.  His market could improve as other outfielders get signed, though in the wake of Conforto’s average 2021 season, teams may still balk at committing significant money.

A multi-year contract with opt-out clauses could be an option, similar to the deal just signed by another Scott Boras client — new Twins shortstop Carlos Correa.  Or, the Jays could offer Conforto a straight one-year contract worth $18.4MM (the cost of the qualifying offer), in a move similar to how Toronto landed Marcus Semien last winter.  Like Semien, Conforto could see the one-year deal as a bridge to a bigger contract the following offseason, assuming that Conforto returns to his past form.

Signing Conforto would cost the Blue Jays $500K of international spending money and their second-highest pick in the 2022 draft, which would be their second-round selection.  However, since the Blue Jays will be getting two extra compensatory picks just prior to the third round (since Semien and Robbie Ray rejected QOs and signed elsewhere this winter), the Jays could feel they have the draft depth to rationalize signing Conforto.

The amount of interest Toronto has in Conforto isn’t known, as Davidi acknowledges that the Jays could just be making a routine check-in on a notable unsigned free agent.  Since the Jays don’t have a set DH, Teoscar Hernandez, George Springer, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Conforto could all see regular work in the DH spot and the starting outfield spots, with Randal Grichuk getting fill-in duty as the situation warrants.

Of course, switch-hitting Guardians star Jose Ramirez continues to be a Blue Jays target, and would represent another left-handed option to balance out the lineup in a major fashion.  It remains to be seen if the Jays and Guardians can finally agree on a trade package or if Cleveland will even end up moving Ramirez whatsoever, though Davidi reports that a Guardians scout was recently seen taking video of Alejandro Kirk.  Since the Guards are thin at catcher now and don’t have a true catcher of the future lined up (depending on Bo Naylor’s future position), Kirk would be a logical candidate to be included as part of a potential Ramirez trade package.

Michael Conforto Turned Down Nine-Figure Extension Prior To 2021 Season

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Outfielder Michael Conforto turned down an extension offer from the Mets one year ago, reports Andy Martino of SNY. Per Martino’s tweet, the contract offer was “in the $100 million range” and “would have gone to about $120MM.”

Conforto’s market this winter has been one of the more difficult to predict, given that he followed up a run of four consecutive seasons of excellent production with a bit of a down year right before free agency. One year ago, at the time of this reported offer, Conforto had just finished a 2017-2020 run wherein he launched 97 home runs and hit .265/.369/.495, wRC+ of 133.

Other than the vague approximation of the final value of the offer, there’s nothing publicly known about it, making it difficult to evaluate Conforto’s decision. For instance, that number could have been spread over enough years to make the average annual value a non-starter. But just looking at the final number, it wasn’t outlandish for Conforto to reject that contract at that time. Just as a comparison, Nick Castellanos hit 98 homers over his past four years and put up a wRC+ of 126. He just signed with the Phillies for $100MM over five years. Conforto is a year younger than Castellanos, hits from the left side and doesn’t have the same defensive liabilities. If he had yet another great year at the plate in 2021, he certainly could have topped that $100MM number.

Unfortunately, Conforto had an ill-timed swoon last year, just as he was headed into free agency. Despite lowering his strikeout rate, he only managed 14 homers in 125 games and slashed .232/.344/.384 overall, for a wRC+ of just 106. Based on that performance, MLBTR predicted that Conforto would reject the qualifying offer, not find deals to his liking and eventually settle for a one-year, $20MM deal, hoping for a bounceback campaign and a return to the free agent market without the QO and with a better platform. So far, it’s seems possible things are following that script, as Conforto did indeed reject the QO is now just one of three free agents from that Top 50 list that remain unsigned or retired. (Trevor Story and Jorge Soler are the others.)

It is perhaps worth mentioned that Conforto is represented by the Boras Corporation. Superstar agent Scott Boras has often found creative ways to get his clients paid in a way that also ensures them future opportunities for further contracts. For instance, the aforementioned Castellanos signed a four-year deal with the Reds prior to the 2020 season, which came with opt-outs after each of the first two years of the deal. After a down year in 2020, he stayed put in Cincy and mashed through 2021, triggering his second opt-out and securing his $100MM deal this week. Carlos Rodon was also a candidate to settle for a one-year deal due to his excellent but injury-hampered season, but he ended up securing a two-year, $44MM deal that allows him to opt-out after the first year as long as he throws 110 innings. Carlos Correa went into the offseason looking for $330MM or more but couldn’t find a deal in that range. After switching his representation to Boras during the lockout, he just settled with the Twins for $105.3MM over three years, but with opt-outs after each season, allowing him to re-enter the market essentially at his will and take another shot at a mega payday.

Although it might initially seem like it was a mistake for Conforto to have turned down that $100MM, there’s still a chance he could come out ahead in the end. It’s entirely possible that he and Boras could find a similar deal to those examples, one that finds some middle ground between current financial security and future earning potential. He only turned 29 years of age a few weeks ago, meaning that it’s possible for Conforto to bank some money now and return to the open market going into his age-30 or age-31 season. All he has to do is put 2021 behind him and return to the form he showed in the previous four seasons.

Latest On Michael Conforto’s Market

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4:10PM: Conforto is “not a top priority” for the Rockies, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports, though the club has some level of interest.

1:52PM: Michael Conforto’s market continues to grow, as the Diamondbacks “were among the teams showing the most interest in Conforto before the lockout,” The New York Post’s Mike Puma writes.  The Marlins had also been previously linked to Conforto, and Joe Frisaro of Man On Second tweets that Conforto remains on Miami’s list of outfield targets.

Such clubs as the Padres, Rockies, and Yankees have also been reported as suitors for Conforto’s services, with his market thus far representing an interesting cross-section of contenders and teams who struggled in 2021.  The D’Backs are coming off a 110-loss season, while the Marlins followed up an appearance in the expanded 2020 playoff bracket with a 95-loss campaign last year.

This wide range of interested clubs could reflect Conforto’s status coming off a subpar (by his standards) .232/.344/.384 season over 479 plate appearances with the Mets.  While Conforto rejected the Mets’ qualifying offer, speculation persists that Conforto might look for a shorter-term contract that would allow him to re-test free agency next winter.  Since Conforto surely feels he’ll hit better in 2022, he naturally wouldn’t want to short-change himself by signing a longer-term contract now that is reflective of his 2021 numbers.

Even if Conforto is “looking for big free agent pay day,” as Frisaro puts it, he could still land a healthy salary on a one-year deal, which opens the door for many teams as possible fits.  Clubs that may be wary of a longer-term commitment to Conforto (or not keen on longer-term commitments in general) could certainly be more open to a one-year arrangement, since a Conforto that returns to his 2015-20 form is a major addition to any lineup.

Though Arizona would seemingly be closer to a rebuild than a true push for contention next season, the D’Backs haven’t been willing to entirely blow things up, as the team still has some interesting core pieces as well as some younger players hoped to be on the verge of a breakout.  To this end, the Snakes signed Mark Melancon to a two-year, $14MM deal prior to the lockout, and president/CEO Derrick Hall said yesterday that the Diamondbacks were looking to add some offense.

Hall said he “could easily” see a scenario where Arizona spends $17MM to push the projected 2022 payroll up to the $110MM range.  Since Conforto would certainly want to at least top the cost of the qualifying offer ($18.4MM) on any one-year deal, he’d cost more than $17MM, thus putting him at the high end of the Diamondbacks’ possible spending range.  Plus, if that hypothetical $17MM represents all the front office would have to spend on remaining needs, it is quite possible the D’Backs would prefer to spread that money around to several players rather than splurge on Conforto alone.

Conforto’s rejection of the QO could represent an obstacle for both the Diamondbacks and the Marlins, as either team would have to give up their third-highest pick in the 2022 draft as compensation for signing the outfielder.  Surrendering such a notable pick for what might be a short-term deal is a hefty price to pay for an Arizona team that isn’t really in position to contend in 2022.

Likewise, the Marlins had also been wary about QO free agents when making their winter moves, but Miami has been more clear about its intent to challenge for a postseason berth next season.  The Marlins have already signed Avisail Garcia and traded for both Jacob Stallings and Joey Wendle, and the Fish have also been reportedly chasing such big-ticket trade candidates as the Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds.

Just how much more the Marlins are willing to spend on upgrades, however, is still an unknown.  Derek Jeter’s surprising departure as the team’s CEO was (according to some accounts) due to a change in ownership’s approach to spending heading into the 2022 campaign.  Prior to the lockout, the Jeter-led Marlins were in talks with Nick Castellanos on a contract of longer than five years, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link), though only time will tell if such major expenditures are still on the Marlins’ radar now that the lockout is over.

Naturally, the Marlins can still improve their team without spending a ton of money — the Stallings and Wendle trades are evidence of that, and Miami has a lot of young pitching depth that could bring back a cost-controlled talent like Reynolds in a further swap.  Conforto might also represent an interesting middle ground for the team, if he was indeed open to only a one-year contract.  Miami could take the one-year payroll boost to add Conforto, look to benefit from a possible rebound year from the former All-Star, and then watch him depart in free agency next winter.

Padres Showed Interest In Michael Conforto Pre-Lockout

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The Padres expressed interest in free agent outfielder Michael Conforto prior to the MLB lockout, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Padres join a growing list of known teams to have reached out to the longtime Met’s camp, including the Yankees, who were reported to have interest earlier today.

Conforto is the latest player in a long line of free agent left field fielders the Padres have looked into. Reports from earlier in the offseason have connected San Diego to a number of offensively-gifted outfielders to bolster their lineup, including Kris Bryant, Nick Castellanos, and Seiya Suzuki. The interest in Conforto and other top outfielders stems from the departure of incumbent left fielder Tommy Pham, himself a candidate to be re-signed by the club via free agency.

Replacing Pham with Conforto may not deliver the jolt to a disappointing San Diego offense that fans expect, however. In 2021 Conforto slashed an uncharacteristically middling .232/.344/.384 with a 101 OPS+, not far off from a post-injury Pham’s .229/.340/.383 and 103 OPS+ output. Considering both players dealt with injuries and seemingly underperformed their batted ball metrics, it’s possible the Padres may simply find more bounce-back appeal (and, potentially, contract value) in the 29-year-old over the more senior Pham, who just turned 34-years-old.

Whether the Padres and their growingly-thin farm system should take a risk on Conforto is up for debate, as the Boras client rejected a qualifying offer en route to free agency and will cost his new team a draft pick and international bonus pool money. Still, the upside Conforto— a career .255/.356/.468 (124 OPS+) hitter— possesses is undeniable, and a likely upgrade over any current in-house options.

With plenty of offseason (remarkably) left to go in March, San Diego’s projected lineup still has room to change. It’s perhaps worth mentioning that RosterResource currently has non-roster invitee Nomar Mazara penciled into left field, a risky proposition for a team looking to take on their two 100+ win division rivals.

Acee notes that the Friars have roughly $15MM left to spend before hitting the new luxury tax threshold, and potentially more given the team’s willingness to surpass that threshold last season. Even if the club is hesitant to pass the threshold in consecutive seasons it’s still possible a long-term deal can be worked out with Conforto, owing to the likely departure of the well-compensated Wil Myers after the 2022 season. Efforts to move Eric Hosmer’s remaining salary persist as well, which would only further serve president of baseball operations AJ Preller’s penchant for big moves.

With this in mind, team officials have told Acee that the club “is in position to spend for an offensive upgrade”. Whether Conforto is atop Preller’s shopping list remains to be seen, but it’s clear based on this report that the Padres will be a team to watch in the coming days.

Yankees Had Pre-Lockout Interest In Michael Conforto

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Prior to the lockout, the Yankees had interest in outfielder Michael Conforto, according to The New York Post’s Mike Puma (Twitter link).  The Bronx Bombers join the Rockies and Marlins as the only teams publicly linked to Conforto’s market, though over a dozen teams reportedly checked in on the former All-Star around the start of the free agent period.

The possibility of Conforto jumping from the Mets to the Yankees creates some natural Big Apple intrigue, plus Conforto would seem like a good fit in the Yankees’ lineup.  The Bombers are short on left-handed bats, and though Conforto slots in most naturally as the new everyday left fielder, he can also play right field (in the event of an injury or just a DH day for Aaron Judge) or even center field in a pinch, should Aaron Hicks run into more injury woes.

The short porch at Yankee Stadium has been a boon to many a left-handed hitter, and it could help Conforto bounce back from an ill-timed down year just as he was on the verge of free agency.  Conforto hit .232/.344/.384 with 14 homers over 479 PA — still above average (101 OPS+, 106 wRC+) production, though well behind the numbers he posted from 2015-20.

Conforto may have been hampered by a hamstring strain that cost him five weeks on the injured list, and teams will surely also note that Conforto’s 2021 Statcast numbers were largely unchanged from his career norms, apart from a drop in barrels and barrel rate.  Still, the Yankees or any other interested clubs surely have some concern over guaranteeing a big multi-year contract (and giving up a draft pick, since Conforto rejected the Mets’ qualifying offer) to player coming off a rather underwhelming season.

With that platform year in mind, there was speculation that Conforto could be open to a shorter-term contract with an opt-out clause, or perhaps just a straight one-year deal.  Such an arrangement would allow Conforto to quickly re-enter free agency next winter on what he certainly hopes will be on the heels of a stronger 2022 season, not to mention a normal offseason that won’t be interrupted by a lockout.  Conforto is represented by the Boras Corporation, and Scott Boras is no stranger to unique contracts (such as the swell-opt) that allow his clients both some flexibility and the possibility of locking in more longer-term money.

The Yankees have done plenty of business with Boras in the past, and in fact another Boras client in Gerrit Cole represents the last QO-rejecting free agent the Yankees signed without regard to the draft pick compensation.  Naturally, there is a vast difference between Cole and Conforto’s situations, and thus the Yankees likely have some wariness about surrendering their second-highest 2022 draft pick and $500K in international bonus pool money in exchange for signing Conforto.

That said, if Conforto was open to a shorter-term deal, he could fit into the Yankees’ reported preference for such contracts.  New York offered a one-year, $25MM pact to another QO free agent in Justin Verlander before Verlander re-signed with the Astros, and the Yankees’ reported post-lockout plan is to monitor the shortstop market to see if any major names (i.e. the still-unsigned Carlos Correa or Trevor Story) could be amendable to a shorter-term arrangement.  It stands to reason that the Yankees could expand this strategy beyond just shortstops, and to any prominent free agents like Conforto who can address other areas of need on the Bombers’ roster, while still not tying the club to a lengthy commitment.

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