MLBTR Podcast: Twins And Orioles’ Injuries, The Guardians And Angels’ Quiet Offseasons, And Chris Sale’s Extension
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Twins right-hander Pablo López requiring Tommy John surgery (3:20)
- The Orioles losing Jordan Westburg due to a partially torn UCL in his elbow (13:15)
- The Guardians signing Rhys Hoskins to a minor league deal but doing little else this winter (23:45)
- Angels owner Arte Moreno making some curious statements (35:50)
- The Braves and Chris Sale signing an extension (47:35)
- Tony Clark resigning as executive director of the MLBPA and being replaced by Bruce Meyer (53:40)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Tigers’ Rotation, A Brewers-Red Sox Trade, And Late Free-Agent Signings – listen here
- Twins Front Office Shake-Up, The Brendan Donovan Trade, Eugenio Suarez, And More! – listen here
- Examining MLB’s Parity Situation – Also, Bellinger, Peralta, Robert, And Gore – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Jonah Hinebaugh, Imagn Images
Guardians To Sign Rhys Hoskins To Minor League Deal
First baseman Rhys Hoskins and the Guardians are finalizing a minor league deal, according to Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Hoskins, a Boras Corporation client, will receive a $1.5MM salary if he makes Cleveland’s MLB roster. The news of Hoskins’ deal with the Guardians comes after reports (including one from Meisel) earlier in the day indicated the veteran’s presence in the team’s Arizona clubhouse.
Hoskins, 33 next month, spent six seasons in Philadelphia as one of the more reliably above-average corner bats in the game. He managed to make up for low batting averages by consistently flashing 30-homer pop and keeping his walk rate above 10%. After a 2022 campaign where he slashed .246/.332/.462 with 30 homers in 156 games, Hoskins figured to be a key figure in the Phillies’ lineup headed into 2023 when those plans were abruptly scuttled by an ACL tear that wiped out his entire season.
That lost season led Hoskins to reach free agency as something of an unknown quantity, but he ultimately found a two-year deal with the Brewers that afforded him the opportunity to opt out after the 2024 season. The veteran appeared in 131 games for Milwaukee during that first season but didn’t hit at his typical levels, with a slash line of just .214/.303/.419 and a wRC+ of 101. While he was still good for 26 home runs, a career-high 28.8% strikeout rate sapped much of the value Hoskins had offered during his days in Philadelphia.
That down season was enough to convince Hoskins to remain in Milwaukee for 2025, but he was limited to just 90 games this past season due to a sprained thumb. The good news is that when he was on the field, his production ticked back up to be more substantially above league average. In 328 trips to the plate last year, Hoskins slashed .237/.332/.416 with a wRC+ of 109. While Hoskins’s power numbers were the weakest of his career, his strikeout rate ticked down to 27.7% while his walk rate crept up to 11.6%, his highest level since 2020.
A second injury-plagued season in the past three years was bad news for Hoskins’s market value, however, and he’s scarcely been discussed in the rumor mill since returning to free agency back in November. With Spring Training now underway, Hoskins opted to catch on with the Guardians on a minor league pact. The veteran is a strong fit for Cleveland’s needs, and signing with them should give him every opportunity to crack the club’s Opening Day roster.
Both first baseman Kyle Manzardo and expected designated hitter C.J. Kayfus are left-handed hitters, so a right-handed first base/DH option like Hoskins is a strong on-paper fit. While Hoskins actually had reverse splits last year, he’s a career 137 wRC+ hitter against southpaws, and even last year’s 102 wRC+ would be a substantial improvement over the numbers Mazardo (83) and Kayfus (67) posted against lefties last year.
While Hoskins currently looks likely to be ticketed for a platoon role on paper, it’s not at all difficult to imagine him working his way into earning everyday reps. Kayfus is a rookie who posted a wRC+ of just 96 in 44 games last year, after all, and Hoskins is a capable hitter against righties looking at both last season (111 wRC+) and his career (115). With Cleveland, the veteran should have a strong opportunity to put together a rebound season after his struggles to stay on the field and produce consistently over a full season that have cropped up over the past few years. If he can rediscover some of the form that made him a middle-of-the-order bat for the Phillies a few years ago, it’s not too difficult to imagine Hoskins becoming an instrumental part of the Guardians’ lineup alongside stars Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan.
Twins Exploring Mid-Tier First Base Market
After entering the offseason as expected sellers, the Twins have seemingly reversed course. They’re now inclined to hold Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan and Pablo López while making a few depth additions. Speaking at the Winter Meetings, general manager Jeremy Zoll highlighted revamping the bullpen and adding a power hitter as two offseason goals.
Minnesota has never spent much on the bullpen under president of baseball operations Derek Falvey. That’s likely to continue this offseason, as they’ll presumably take a volume approach and bring in a few arms on one-year deals. They could aim a bit higher in their pursuit of a power hitter. That’s likeliest to come at first base.
Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that Minnesota has checked in with each of Ryan O’Hearn, Rhys Hoskins and Josh Bell. Hayes writes that the front office has around $20MM to spend this offseason. That opens the ability to play in the third or fourth tier of free agent bats. The Twins should be able to find an upgrade over utility player Kody Clemens, who’s probably the top in-house option at first base.
O’Hearn, a lefty bat, would be the most expensive of that trio. The 32-year-old is coming off a .281/.366/.437 showing with 17 homers across 544 plate appearances between the Orioles and Padres. He has been an above-average hitter in three consecutive seasons. O’Hearn has improved his approach while hitting between 14 and 17 longballs in each of the past three years.
That should be enough to secure a multi-year contract. MLBTR predicted a two-year, $26MM deal in ranking O’Hearn the #30 free agent in the class. A $13MM average annual value would evidently be within Minnesota’s overall budget, but that’d leave very little room for the bullpen or a utility infielder. It seems likely the Twins would aim lower if O’Hearn’s market pushes into an eight-figure annual salary.
Hoskins and Bell are more straightforward one-year deal candidates. The former is coming off a .237/.332/.416 showing with 12 homers in 90 games for the Brewers. He got out to a hot start but had a terrible June before suffering a left thumb sprain. That cost him six weeks and opened playing time for Andrew Vaughn, who surprisingly thrived in Milwaukee. Hoskins was relegated to a bench bat role when he returned in September. He’s only a season removed from hitting 26 homers, albeit with a middling .214/.303/.419 overall slash line.
Bell has signed a series of one-year deals over the past few seasons. He played on a $6MM contract with the Nationals in 2025, batting .237/.325/.417 with 22 longballs across 533 plate appearances. Bell is exceptionally streaky within seasons but pretty consistently ends up as a slightly above-average overall hitter at the end of the year. (He has some parallels to former Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario in that regard.) That was again the case this past season. Bell took a .219/.307/.372 line into the All-Star Break before rebounding with a .267/.353/.489 performance in the second half.
Hoskins is a right-handed batter. Bell is a switch-hitter who has generally been better from the left side of the plate. A righty bat might make more sense given the presence of lefty-swinging first base/DH options like Clemens, Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach and Edouard Julien. Lefty-hitting Nathaniel Lowe and right-handed Paul Goldschmidt should also be available on one-year deals.
Brewers Announce Three Option Decisions
The Brewers announced decisions on three options decisions today. First baseman Rhys Hoskins and left-hander Jose Quintana both had mutual options declined and are now free agents. The club also turned down a club option on catcher William Contreras, who remains under club control via arbitration.
Contreras, 28 in December, qualified for arbitration for the first time a year ago. He and the Brewers couldn’t agree on his salary for 2025, his first of three arb years, prior to the January 15th filing deadline. Late in January, they avoided a hearing by agreeing to a one-year deal with a club option. It was a $6.1MM guarantee in the form of a $6MM salary for 2025 and a $100K buyout on a $12MM club option for 2026.
In the season which just ended, Contreras still put up decent numbers but he played through a finger fracture and wasn’t quite at his previous level. His .260/.355/.399 line translated to a 113 wRC+, indicating he was 13% above league average, but he was 26-39% better than par in the three previous seasons.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Contreras for $11.1MM in his second arbitration season, a bit below the value of the club option. Presumably, Milwaukee’s internal projections are somewhat similar. They will give Contreras the $100K buyout for now. Later, they will try to get him signed for his second arbitration season with a salary below $12MM, therefore saving a few bucks.
The other two decisions were more straightforward. Mutual options are mostly an accounting measure designed to move part of the guarantee to the end of the deal. It’s been more than a decade since a mutual option was exercised by both parties.
Hoskins, 33 in March, signed with the Brewers going into the 2024 season. He had missed the entire 2023 campaign due to a torn ACL. It was a two-year deal with an opt-out halfway through. He would make $12MM in 2024 with a $4MM buyout on an $18MM player option, followed by an $18MM mutual option for 2026 with a $4MM buyout.
Ideally, Hoskins would have returned to form before heading back to free agency, but it didn’t play out that way. He hit .214/.303/.419 in 2024. That translated to a 101 wRC+, indicating he was barely above average. That wasn’t awful but also wasn’t good enough for a guy who isn’t an especially strong defender or baserunner. He triggered his player option and returned to Milwaukee for 2025.
His bat ticked up slightly this year, as he hit .237/.332/.416 for a 109 wRC+, but he missed about two months with a sprained left thumb. He got Wally Pipped by Andrew Vaughn while he was out and was left off the club’s playoff roster.
The Brewers will move on while Hoskins will look for a new opportunity elsewhere. His reputation should be enough for a major league deal but his age and recent performance will likely limit him to one-year deals.
Quintana, 37 in January, lingered in free agency last offseason. The Brewers grabbed him in March, signing him to a one-year deal with a $4MM guarantee. That broke down as a $2MM salary and a $2MM buyout on a $15MM mutual option.
The lefty had a decent year, making 24 starts with a 3.96 earned run average, though he worked around a subpar 16% strikeout rate. His .259 batting average on balls in play was on the low side, which is why measures like his 4.81 FIP and 5.04 SIERA feel his ERA should have been about a full run higher. He’ll take his buyout and look for his next opportunity. Despite the low strikeouts, a solid veteran innings eater like Quintana will still be in line for a major league deal.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Imagn Images
Brewers Notes: NLDS, Chourio, Hoskins
The Brewers couldn’t capitalize on their first chance to close out the Cubs, as they dropped a 4-3 contest at Wrigley Field this evening. Chicago put up a four spot against Quinn Priester in the first inning, building a 4-1 cushion from which the Milwaukee bats couldn’t recover.
Priester didn’t make it out of the first. Manager Pat Murphy used five pitchers — Nick Mears, Jose Quintana, Grant Anderson, Jared Koenig and Chad Patrick — to combine for 7 1/3 scoreless frames out of the bullpen. The damage had been done, however, and the Brewers will need to try to close things out again tomorrow.
Neither Milwaukee nor the Cubs have announced a starter for tomorrow’s game, though ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that Chicago will give the ball back to Matthew Boyd. The Brewers pummeled Boyd for six runs in the first inning in Game 1 and cruised to a victory behind Freddy Peralta. Milwaukee could turn back to Peralta on four days rest for the same matchup, though Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that they’ve worked to provide their starters with an extra rest day when possible during the season.
Saving Peralta for a potential Game 5 on Saturday would probably mean the Brewers go back to a bullpen game, which they did in Game 2. Aaron Ashby opened that contest and surrendered a three-run homer to Seiya Suzuki, but the Brewers blanked the Cubs from then on and won 7-3. Running a bullpen game one day after their starter failed to escape the first inning isn’t ideal, but Murphy mostly relied on lower-leverage arms tonight. The Brewers stayed away from Ashby, Jacob Misiorowski, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill entirely. Koenig only threw seven pitches and is surely still in the mix for tomorrow.
On the position player side, Jackson Chourio played the full eight innings in left field tonight. He went 1-4 with a strikeout. Chourio has battled a nagging right hamstring injury and made early exits in favor of defensive substitute Brandon Lockridge in Games 1 and 2. Those were mostly precautionary absences with Milwaukee holding decent leads.
Meanwhile, Rhys Hoskins is watching the NLDS from the dugout, a difficult outcome for a player who had a solid season. Even though he didn’t make the postseason roster, Hoskins has remained involved as a teammate. “You got to play the hand that you’re dealt and try to help these guys accomplish the goal we set out to do,” the first baseman told Hogg in a separate column at the Journal Sentinel.
With Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers handling first base duties, the Brewers opted for Lockridge to add a speed element and provide cover for Chourio with their final roster spot. While Hoskins admitted to being frustrated, he accepted the role of supportive teammate after Murphy pushed to keep him in the mix. “He’s a great voice for these young players,” Murphy told Hogg. “He’s also well-respected and being genuine really adds to our whole unit.”
The NLDS exclusion wasn’t the first time Hoskins was pushed aside this season. After the veteran went down with a thumb injury in early July, Vaughn emerged as a key cog in the middle of Milwaukee’s lineup. Hoskins was limited to bench duties once he rejoined the team in September. The lefty-hitting Bauers provides more balance in a platoon with the right-handed Vaughn.
Hoskins was hitting .242/.340/.428 across 318 plate appearances when he suffered the injury. That opened the door for Vaughn, who cemented himself in the lineup with a monster performance as soon as he was recalled from Triple-A. Hoskins was limited to pinch-hitting when he returned, going 1-10 in eight games.
There’s a decent chance he’s made his final appearance with the Brewers. The team will buy him out for $4MM in lieu of an $18MM mutual option. He’ll be a free agent and almost certainly will head to a team that has more at-bats available at first base. Milwaukee could still swap Hoskins onto the roster for future playoff rounds should they advance, but they’re already carrying 14 position players. While Lockridge would probably be the player they might swap out, they’ll be reluctant to subtract outfield depth while Chourio is at less than full strength.
Brewers Notes: Ortiz, Hoskins, Gasser
Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz is headed for an MRI on his left hamstring after leaving this afternoon’s game, manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy). The second-year infielder pulled up after running out a ground-ball and immediately favored the back of his left leg. It certainly had the look of a hamstring strain that’d require an injured list stint, though that won’t be official until tomorrow.
Andruw Monasterio finished the game at shortstop. Aside from one early-season appearance from Vinny Capra (who is no longer in the organization), Monasterio is the only player other than Ortiz to start a game at shortstop. He’s the likeliest option to step into an everyday role if Ortiz heads to the IL. A career .243/.318/.336 hitter, Monasterio has only tallied 72 plate appearances in 43 games this season.
The Brewers don’t have any other natural shortstops on the 40-man roster. Calling up Triple-A shortstop Freddy Zamora would require a 40-man move. Oliver Dunn, who is on the 40-man, has gotten some shortstop work in the minors and could be recalled as an emergency option off the bench. It’s unlikely Milwaukee would disrupt the routines of Brice Turang or Caleb Durbin by moving them to shortstop on an everyday basis, but either player could move there as a late-game substitute if the Brewers remove Monasterio for pinch-hitting or injury purposes.
Milwaukee’s win over the Cubs today pushed their lead in the NL Central back to seven games. They’re five and a half games clear of the Phillies for the top seed in the National League. That gives them the cushion to weather an Ortiz absence unless he suffered a significant enough strain to threaten his readiness for the postseason.
On the other side of the equation, Milwaukee has a few players nearing returns. Rhys Hoskins began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday. Hoskins has been sidelined since July 6 with a left thumb sprain. That injury forced the Brewers to call up Andrew Vaughn from Triple-A. They certainly wouldn’t have foreseen Vaughn going on a .320/.386/.578 tear with dramatically improved plate discipline metrics relative to his early-season stint with the White Sox.
Vaughn has mashed his way to an everyday role. Christian Yelich continues to get a lot of designated hitter work. Even if the Brewers felt Yelich could shoulder a bigger workload in left field, Isaac Collins has played far too well to leave the lineup. It leaves Hoskins without a clear path to playing time once he’s ready to return, which could be within the next week or two.
Hoskins may be relegated to part-time first base and DH work. The veteran got out to a great start to the season, hitting .276/.374/.475 through the end of May. He’d slumped to a .170/.269/.330 line in the next five weeks leading up to the injury. The Brewers wouldn’t have considered replacing him with Vaughn despite the slump, but the injury and the latter’s performance changed the calculus.
Robert Gasser has been rehabbing in Triple-A for the past few weeks. The lefty is working back from last June’s elbow surgery. Gasser is closing in on reinstatement after throwing four scoreless innings and building to 52 pitches on Tuesday. He may only need one or two more minor league starts. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, the Brewers are weighing whether to keep him built up as a starter or kick him to the bullpen in anticipation of his likelier postseason role.
Gasser impressed with a 2.57 ERA over his first five big league starts last summer. The Brewers no doubt view him as a long-term starter but have sufficient rotation depth that he’s unlikely to get a starting job this season. Gasser still has a full slate of minor league options, so the Brewers could keep him in Nashville even after he returns from the injured list (though they’ll need to clear a spot for him on the 40-man roster).
Rhys Hoskins Expects To Be Out Roughly Six Weeks
Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins is targeting a six-week return from his thumb injury, the slugger himself told the team’s beat this afternoon (video link via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). Hoskins has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and a bone bruise as well.
Hoskins will be in a splint for the next couple weeks before beginning strength exercises and eventually resuming baseball activity. He noted that some doctors have told him four weeks and others have suggested an absence of eight weeks. He’s targeting the midpoint, which would place him back in the lineup mid-August.
Hoskins originally sustained the injury three days ago when applying a lunging tag to Marlins infielder Eric Wagaman on a play at first base (video link). He immediately took off his mitt and was checked out by the training staff. Jake Bauers replaced him at first base the next inning. Andrew Vaughn has since been recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take Hoskins’ spot on the roster. The former White Sox slugger ripped a three-run homer in his first at-bat after replacing Hoskins on the roster.
The 32-year-old Hoskins has enjoyed a more productive second season in Milwaukee than he did in his first season last year. The longtime Phillies slugger is batting .242/.340/.428 (115 wRC+) with a dozen homers and doubles apiece. He’s upped his walk rate from 10.3% to 11.9% and cut his strikeout rate from 28.8% to 26.7%. Hoskins turned in big performances in April and May before slumping for much of June. He looked to be getting back on track at the plate, with a .237/.354/.526 performance in 12 games leading up to his injury.
It’s at least plausible that Milwaukee will consider bringing in another bat to help patch things over, although they’ll surely take a look at the Bauers/Vaughn tandem before making any larger changes. Vaughn hit well in 16 games with the Brewers’ Triple-A Nashville club before being summoned to take Hoskins’ spot on the roster, and Bauers has at least drawn walks at a gaudy 15.3% clip against right-handed pitching this season, resulting in a .328 OBP in those matchups. The righty-swinging Vaughn and lefty-hitting Bauers could patch things over in a short-term platoon arrangement — particularly if Hoskins can return on the quicker side of the timetables presented to him.
That said, the Milwaukee bench isn’t exactly a strong point, currently including Vaughn, backup catcher Eric Haase, third baseman Andruw Monasterio (career .241/.321/.327) and 26-year-old rookie catcher/infielder Anthony Seigler (a minor league free agent signee who is 1-for-8 to begin his MLB career). Prospect Tyler Black might’ve been an option, but he’s hitting .129/.260/.177 in 73 Triple-A plate appearances since returning from a broken hamate. Adding a multi-position bat that can handle first base (among other spots on the diamond) and also offer some more offense from Pat Murphy’s bench arguably makes good sense regardless of Hoskins’ timetable.
Rhys Hoskins Suffers Grade 2 Thumb Sprain, Headed To IL
7:06PM: The Brewers will indeed call up Vaughn once Hoskins is placed on the IL, according to reporter Francys Romero.
3:34PM: Rhys Hoskins left the Brewers’ 3-1 win over the Marlins on Saturday due to a left thumb injury, and now faces a lengthy stint on the injured list. Initial x-rays were negative on Hoskins’ thumb, but Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the first baseman underwent an MRI that revealed a Grade 2 thumb sprain. Hoskins will be placed on the 10-day IL prior to the Brewers’ game with the Dodgers on Monday.
The injury occurred on a tag play at first base, as Hoskins had to lunge at a wide throw and tag out Miami’s Eric Wagaman. Hoskins showed immediate discomfort in the aftermath. Hoskins was able to finish the inning, but Jake Bauers took over as a pinch-hitter and then at first base for the remainder of the game.
The Grade 2 designation indicates a more severe variety of sprain, so chances are Hoskins will be out of action for at least a month. We’ll likely learn more specifics about a recovery timeline soon, and the exact timing could very well factor into the Brewers’ plans for the July 31st trade deadline.
If Hoskins is going to be sidelined for well into August or beyond, Milwaukee could consider adding a bat to help out at first base. Should Hoskins be projected for a return in early August, the club could stand pat with in-house options. Bauers is the obvious candidate, and Andrew Vaughn (acquired in a trade with the White Sox in mid-June) will probably be called up from Triple-A to team up with Bauers in a lefty/righty first base platoon. Utilityman Andruw Monasterio and even Sal Frelick (who has all of one career inning as a first baseman) could potentially chip in at the cold corner if necessary.
It should be noted that the thumb sprain also likely removes any chance that Hoskins himself could be traded at the deadline. Though the Brewers are competing for a playoff berth, Hoskins is an impending free agent who still has roughly $8.25MM of his $18MM salary for 2025 left to be paid out. (He is also owed a $4MM buyout on an $18MM mutual option for 2026 that will surely be bought out.) This price tag probably would’ve made it difficult for the Brewers to find a trade partner anyway, but the Vaughn trade created some speculation that Milwaukee might try to shed Hoskins’ salary at the deadline in order to address other needs for their postseason push. With payroll space at a premium, the Milwaukee front office has often tried to both buy and sell at the deadline regardless of the club’s position in the standings, with the 2022 deadline trade of Josh Hader standing out as the prime example of the Brewers’ flexibility.
Hoskins is hitting .242/.340/.428 with 12 homers, good for a 115 wRC+ over his 318 plate appearances. In what seemed like an echo of his 2024 season in Milwaukee, Hoskins also got off to a big start this year before drastically cooling off. The first baseman had an .892 OPS over his first 187 PA of the season and then just a .436 OPS in his following 83 PA, though Hoskins had started swinging the bat a lot better over the last couple of weeks.
Looking ahead to Hoskins’ free agency, an extended injury absence won’t help his chances of landing a multi-year contract. It was already going to be a bit of an uphill battle for Hoskins as a first base-only player entering his age-33 season, and it remains to be seen how his market might develop this winter. More immediately, of course, Hoskins is just focused on getting healthy and returning to help the Brewers both reach and succeed in the playoffs.
Rhys Hoskins’ Offensive Resurgence
Rhys Hoskins’ first season in Milwaukee was a disappointment. The Brewers signed the veteran slugger to a two-year, $34MM free agent contract over the 2023-24 offseason. Hoskins had missed his entire walk year because of a Spring Training ACL tear. He entered the offseason healthy, and Milwaukee placed a sizable bet — especially by their standards — that he’d look no worse for wear in 2024.
The deal included an opt-out after the first season. The ideal outcome for everyone involved was Hoskins would mash for one year, opt out, potentially receive and reject a qualifying offer, then sign elsewhere on a longer-term contract. That isn’t how things played out. Hoskins started the season well enough, but he hit .203/.285/.395 from the start of June through season’s end. He decided not to opt out, leaving the Brew Crew with a $22MM commitment for a first baseman coming off the worst season of his career. The contract meant they couldn’t drum up trade interest, leaving them to retain Hoskins as the team’s second highest-paid player.
While it wasn’t what the front office had planned, that investment looks a lot better now than it did two months ago. Hoskins has been one of the best hitters in baseball. He’ll take a .300/.402/.500 batting line into tonight’s series opener in Pittsburgh. He joins Aaron Judge, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith as the only four hitters with at least 100 plate appearances and the rare .300/.400/.500+ triple slash.
Hoskins looks like the impact bat he was throughout his tenure in Philadelphia. He’s taking walks at a characteristically excellent 14% rate while striking out at a manageable 22.3% clip. He has hit seven home runs while averaging 91.4 MPH on batted balls. It’s an across the board improvement relative to his first season in Milwaukee. He’s taking more free passes, striking out less often, and making more authoritative contact. This has been a better start than his strong first two months of last season. He carried a .239/.342/.471 slash with fewer walks and hard-hit balls through the end of May 2024.
It’s true that Hoskins has benefitted from a career-high .362 average on balls in play. That’s going to come down, and Hoskins is highly unlikely to hit above .300 all year. He was more reliably a .245 hitter for the Phillies. That’s a fairer baseline. That’s also sufficient for a player with 25-30 home run pop and an extremely disciplined plate approach. Hoskins was consistently around 25-30 percent better than an average hitter during his time in Philadelphia, as measured by wRC+. That was enough to make him a top 40 or so hitter in MLB.
Hoskins’ rebound also figures to make him an interesting trade candidate. The Brewers are out to a 24-26 start, putting them fourth in the NL Central. They’re six games back in the division and 4.5 out of the Wild Card race with five teams to jump. They’re certainly not out of it with more than 110 games to make up the gap, yet they’re also not clear-cut contenders as they were every season between 2018-24.
Even if the Brewers don’t find themselves as true “sellers,” they could try to move Hoskins. Like many small-market contenders, Milwaukee tends to take a more flexible trade approach — shopping expensive veterans with dwindling club control windows while targeting cheaper players who could immediately contribute to the MLB team. Hoskins would be a candidate for that kind of move even if the Brewers are at or slightly above .500 in July.
On the one hand, Hoskins would be a straightforward trade candidate as one of the best available rental bats. The Red Sox need first base help after the Triston Casas injury. The Giants have gotten a dismal .193/.294/.339 line from their first basemen and could use a short-term bridge before calling upon top prospect Bryce Eldridge. (That Hoskins is a Sacramento native who attended Sacramento State would be an added bonus.) The Mariners, Twins and Reds are other teams that could upgrade at first base.
That’s complicated by the contract, which could be onerous for some teams. Hoskins is living up to his salary in a vacuum, but many clubs are reluctant to take on significant money midseason. There will still be roughly $5.6MM of his $18MM salary to be paid from the deadline through the end of the regular season. More notably, there’s a $4MM buyout on an $18MM mutual option for 2026. The option is going to be declined — quite likely by Hoskins — and the team will need to pay the buyout on February 1, 2026. That might be a bigger stumbling block for an acquiring club. It’s possible teams will want the Brewers to cover a portion of the buyout to facilitate a trade.
Teams may negotiate conditional cash considerations for option buyouts in trade talks; last summer’s trade of Eloy Jiménez from the White Sox to Baltimore is one recent example. That’s not an option on waivers, however. Hypothetically, say the Brewers hold Hoskins past the deadline but fall firmly out of contention in August. It’s possible they’d take the increasingly common approach of trying to dump his salary by placing him on outright waivers before the September 1 deadline for playoff eligibility. There’s a decent chance Hoskins would clear in that scenario, as a claiming team would become responsible for the entire option buyout for what amounts to one regular season month (plus a hopeful playoff run).
Perhaps the Brewers will catch fire over the next two months and make that all a moot point. If Hoskins rakes all season and helps Milwaukee back to the postseason, they could hold him and even consider a qualifying offer to potentially recoup a draft choice if he walks as a free agent.
Image courtesy of Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images.
Looking Ahead To Club Options: NL Central
MLBTR continues our division by division look at next year’s team/mutual option class with the NL Central. Virtually all of the mutual options will be bought out by one side. Generally, if the team is willing to retain the player at the option price, the player will decline his end in search of a better free agent deal.
Previous installments: player options/opt-outs, NL West, AL West
Chicago Cubs
- Shota Imanaga, LHP (team has three-year, $57MM option covering 2026-28; if they decline, Imanaga has $15MM player option for 2026)
Imanaga signed a somewhat complex four-year, $53MM deal when he made the jump from NPB during the 2023-24 offseason. Next winter, the Cubs need to decide whether to trigger a three-year, $57MM option for the 2026-28 seasons. That’d come with respective salaries of $20MM, $20MM and $17MM. If the Cubs decline their end, Imanaga would be able to decline a $15MM player option for ’26 and test free agency.
It’d almost certainly take an injury for that to happen. Concerns about how Imanaga’s stuff might translate against MLB competition proved unfounded. The southpaw finished fifth in NL Cy Young balloting during his first major league season. He turned in a 2.91 earned run average across 173 1/3 innings, striking out a quarter of opponents against a 4% walk rate. The punchouts haven’t been there through this year’s first five starts, but he takes a 2.22 ERA into tonight’s appearance against the Dodgers. He’s getting whiffs on an excellent 14% of his pitches, so he’ll likely finish off a few more strikeouts moving forward. Imanaga’s deal looks like a bargain, and the Cubs should happily sign up for another three seasons at a $19MM average annual value unless he suffers an injury.
- Colin Rea, RHP ($6MM club option, $750K buyout)
Rea reunited with Craig Counsell in Chicago after the Brewers declined his $5.5MM club option. It actually worked out slightly to his financial benefit. The righty collected a $1MM buyout from Milwaukee and secured a $5MM guarantee with the Cubs. He’s playing this year on a $4.25MM salary and will make at least a $750K buyout on next year’s club option. That’s valued at $6MM, so it’ll be a $5.25MM decision.
The Cubs had Rea work in long relief to begin the season. He has stepped into the rotation since the Justin Steele injury. The 34-year-old righty is out to a strong start, allowing two runs through his first 13 2/3 innings. He has punched out 12 while only allowing one walk in 56 plate appearances. Rea had held a rotation role in Milwaukee for most of last year, posting a 4.29 ERA through a career-high 167 2/3 innings. As a mid-30s swingman with league average whiff rates, he’s never going to break the bank, but the option price is reasonable for a capable #5/6 starter.
- Justin Turner, 3B/DH ($10MM mutual option, $2MM buyout)
Turner’s option is mostly an accounting measure designed to push back $2MM of his $6MM free agent guarantee by a few months. Option buyouts are paid at year’s end, while the money would have been evenly distributed throughout the season had it simply been a $6MM salary. It’s unlikely that the Cubs would want to sign up for a $10MM salary covering Turner’s age-41 campaign even if he repeats his solid 2024 production.
The 17-year big league veteran has posted 11 consecutive above-average offensive seasons since his 2014 breakout with the Dodgers. His power numbers have declined with age, but he put up a strong .354 on-base percentage in 139 games between the Blue Jays and Mariners a year ago. Turner’s start on the North Side hasn’t been good. He’s hitting .147 without an extra-base hit over 14 games. He’s taken six walks against nine strikeouts but will obviously need to make more of a slugging impact.
Cincinnati Reds
- Scott Barlow, RHP ($6.5MM club option, $1MM buyout)
Cincinnati took a buy-low flier on Barlow, a former closer who was released by the Guardians shortly before the playoffs. The righty had fallen quickly down the depth chart in Cleveland. He carried a 3.52 ERA with a 32% strikeout rate into the All-Star Break. Barlow allowed a near-6.00 ERA while striking out just 19% of batters faced in the second half. A fastball that typically sat around 93 MPH had dropped to the 90-91 range.
The early tenure in Cincinnati has been mixed. Barlow has gotten his velocity back, averaging 93 on both his four-seam and sinker. He’s getting whiffs on a huge 15.3% of his offerings, nearly two percentage points above last year’s level. The stuff is certainly more encouraging, but the results haven’t followed. He has a pedestrian 9:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio while allowing five runs on eight hits through 9 1/3 innings. He was limited to a $2.5MM guarantee last offseason. He’ll need a more convincing rebound for Cincinnati to retain him on what amounts to a $5.5MM call.
- Austin Hays, OF ($12MM mutual option, $1MM buyout)
Hays signed for $5MM after being non-tendered by the Phillies. The righty-hitting outfielder has been a capable regular for most of his career, but his production dipped last season while he battled a grueling kidney infection. A Spring Training calf injury delayed his team debut until last week. Hays has been on tear since his return, connecting on three homers while hitting .406 in 34 plate appearances. He has a hit in all seven games, including three straight multi-hit performances against his old teammates in Baltimore over the weekend.
- Brent Suter, LHP ($3MM club option, $250K buyout)
Suter, who grew up in Cincinnati, joined the Reds on a $3MM deal during the 2023-24 offseason. He posted a 3.15 ERA through 65 2/3 innings and signed a $2.25MM extension at the start of last winter. The 35-year-old southpaw is out to a customary start. He has managed 9 2/3 frames of three-run ball despite striking out just four of 38 opponents. Suter’s stuff is never going to jump off the page — he’s sitting in his typical 85-88 MPH range with his fastballs — but he avoids hard contact and is aiming for his seventh straight sub-4.00 ERA showing. Assuming he continues on his usual pace, the Reds should want him back on a $2.75MM decision.
Milwaukee Brewers
- Rhys Hoskins, 1B ($18MM mutual option, $4MM buyout)
Milwaukee made a big investment by their standards in signing Hoskins to a two-year, $34MM contract during the 2023-24 offseason. The longtime Phillies first baseman had missed his walk year after suffering an ACL tear during Spring Training. The Brewers expected Hoskins to recapture his consistently above-average offensive form after a healthy offseason.
That didn’t happen in year one, as he hit a career-worst .214/.303/.419 across 517 plate appearances. Hoskins still managed 26 homers, but the overall offense was essentially league average. It wasn’t attributable to lingering knee discomfort. Hoskins did his best work early in the season, carrying an .813 OPS through the end of May. He hit .203/.285/.395 over the season’s final four months and bypassed an opt-out opportunity.
Hoskins has gotten out to another strong start this year. He’s batting .270 with a trio of homers and what would be a career-low 20% strikeout rate over his first 75 trips to the plate.
- Freddy Peralta, RHP ($8MM club option)
Milwaukee signed Peralta to a $20MM extension just before Spring Training 2020. He was mostly unproven at the time, but it only took one more season before he developed into a top-of-the-rotation starter. This quickly became one of the more team-friendly contracts in baseball. The deal included respective $8MM club options for 2025 and ’26, which would have been Peralta’s first two free agent years had he gone through arbitration.
The 28-year-old righty has been the clear staff ace since Milwaukee traded Corbin Burnes. He posted a sub-4.00 ERA in each of the five guaranteed seasons of the contract. Peralta has rattled off another 28 1/3 frames of 1.91 ERA ball through his first five starts this year. Unless he suffers a significant injury that’d threaten his availability for next season, the Brewers are going to rubber-stamp the option.
- Jose Quintana, LHP ($15MM mutual option, $2MM buyout deferred)
Quintana signed late on a $4.25MM pillow contract after finding a weaker market than he expected. The net present value was actually just under $4MM, as Quintana agreed to defer the $2MM buyout on his ’26 mutual option. The Brewers aren’t going to exercise their end of the $15MM option for what would be the veteran lefty’s age-37 season. It looks like they got great value on the one-year deal, though, as Quintana is coming off a 3.75 ERA showing for the Mets. The late signing delayed his team debut, but he has fired 12 1/3 innings of one-run ball over his first two starts.
- Brandon Woodruff, RHP ($20MM mutual option, $10MM buyout)
Woodruff underwent shoulder surgery late in the 2023 season. The Brewers re-signed him to a backloaded two-year deal with a $17.5MM guarantee. They knew he’d spend all of ’24 rehabbing. They’ve taken his progression carefully and didn’t push him during Spring Training. Woodruff began a minor league rehab stint on April 12. He has made a pair of rehab starts and could be back with the big league team in the next couple weeks.
Note: William Contreras’ arbitration contract contains a $12MM team option for next season. He’s excluded from this list because he’d remain under arbitration control if Milwaukee declines the option, as they did with Devin Williams last offseason.
Pittsburgh Pirates
- None
St. Louis Cardinals
- None