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Royals Claim Tommy Pham, Robbie Grossman

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The Royals are bolstering their outfield with a pair of veterans, as K.C. has claimed both Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman off waivers.  The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported (X link) that Pham was claimed off the Cardinals’ waiver wire after St. Louis designated him for assignment yesterday, and MLB.com’s Anne Rogers (via X) reported that the Royals also claimed Grossman away from the Rangers.  Texas placed Grossman on outright waivers on Thursday.

Because these additions were made before September 1, Pham and Grossman would be eligible for the Royals’ postseason roster if K.C. makes it into the playoff bracket.  Coming off a dismal 106-loss season in 2023, the Royals have already far surpassed last year’s win total by posting a 75-61 record — Kansas City is in possession of the second AL wild card berth, and sit 2.5 games behind the Guardians for first place in the AL Central.

Despite this success, the outfield has been a clear weak link for K.C. for much of the season, and the ranks got even further thinned when Hunter Renfroe was placed on the injured list last week.  Beyond losing Renfroe, the Royals’ lineup took another big hit when Vinnie Pasquantino suffered a broken thumb Thursday and will likely miss the rest of the regular season.

The Royals were one of several teams who had interest in Pham prior to the trade deadline, when Pham was a very obvious trade candidate as a veteran rental on a rebuilding White Sox team.  The Cardinals ended up with Pham and Erick Fedde as part of a three-team trade involving the Dodgers and White Sox at the deadline, as St. Louis was hoping that Pham and right-hander Erick Fedde could boost both the lineup and rotation heading into the playoff stretch.

Unfortunately for Cards Nation, no surge materialized, as the Cardinals have an 11-16 record in August.  Pham himself didn’t provide much help, hitting .206/.286/.368 over 77 plate appearances during his brief stint in a St. Louis uniform.

Since Pham both wanted more playing time and wanted to join a contender, he discussed the possibility of a release with the Cardinals, and that wish has now been fully granted with the move across Missouri to the Royals.  From the Cardinals’ perspective, parting ways with Pham both created more outfield playing time for Jordan Walker, and saved a bit of payroll.  Pham has roughly $480K remaining on his original $3MM salary for the 2024 season, and Kansas City will now foot the rest of that bill.

The switch-hitting Grossman also began his season as a member of the White Sox, but was traded in May back to the Rangers, as Texas was thin on right-handed hitting.  Grossman was a known quantity in Arlington after being a regular for the 2023 World Series team, and he posted similar numbers in his second go-around as a Ranger, batting .238/.336/.362 over 122 PA for Texas this season.

The Rangers’ defense of their title has fallen far short of expectations, and thus the team put both Grossman and fellow outfielder Travis Jankowski on outright waivers to see if another team would clear a few dollars off the Rangers’ books.  Grossman has about $240K remaining of his $1.5MM base salary, so it makes for another inexpensive add for the Royals.

Grossman has continued to mash left-handed pitching and Pham has continued to post solid numbers against southpaws as well, giving Kansas City two new options to work within the lineup.  Either player could slot into Renfroe’s role as a regular right fielder who cedes some at-bats against righties to Adam Frazier, or either Pham or Grossman could spell MJ Melendez (another left-handed bat) in left field.  With the DH spot also up for grabs, it isn’t hard to imagine Pham or Grossman moving into more or less everyday roles, at least until Renfroe is able to return.

The Royals will be the ninth team Pham has suited up with at the MLB level over the course of his 11 big league seasons, while Grossman is joining his eighth team in a 12-year career in the Show.  The duo bring plenty of experience to a young Royals team, and we just need to look back to 2023 to see how Grossman and Pham (after he joined the Diamondbacks) can help out a playoff contender.

With a playoff berth hanging in the balance, general manager J.J. Picollo has now moved aggressively to try and address his team’s lineup needs before the September 1 cutoff date.  Depending on what happens in the pennant race, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Royals make other additions to try and just get into October, even if any newcomers after September 1 wouldn’t be part of any playoff rosters.

Rangers Place Robbie Grossman, Travis Jankowski On Outright Waivers

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The Rangers have placed outfielders Robbie Grossman and Travis Jankowski on outright waivers, reports ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. Both are free agents at season’s end. Grossman and Jankowski can continue to play for Texas while on waivers, as neither was designated for assignment prior to his placement. However, outright waivers are irrevocable, so if either player is claimed when the 48-hour waiver period expires on Saturday, he’ll head straight to his new club with that team taking on the remainder of his contract.

In Grossman’s case, that’s the final 30 days of his prorated $1.5MM base salary — about $242K overall. For Jankowski, who’s on a $1.7MM base, the price would jump to about $274K. Either player would be postseason-eligible for a new team if claimed. If either goes unclaimed, he can remain with the Rangers and does not need to be removed from the 40-man roster. Waiver priority is determined based on the reverse order of MLB-wide standings and — unlike the now-defunct August trade waiver system — is not league-specific.

Grossman, 34, started the season with the White Sox but was traded to Texas just a few weeks into the year. He’s slashed a combined .225/.333/.318 between the two teams — production that’s about 9% below league-average, by measure of wRC+. That looks at his overall production this season, however, and his production is skewed by sub-par output against right-handed pitching. Against lefties, the switch-hitting Grossman has been has typically productive self: .279/.388/.430 (136 wRC+) in 103 plate appearances.

Grossman has made a career out of tormenting left-handed pitchers. He’s usually more productive against righties than he has been this season, but a strong split against lefties has been a hallmark throughout his career. Dating back to his 2013 MLB debut, Grossman’s ultra-patient approach has resulted in a .282/.382/.427 batting line versus lefties, with the switch-hitter drawing a free pass in nearly 14% of his plate appearances from the right side of the dish. A playoff contender seeking a boost against left-handed pitching could definitely have interest in Grossman’s track record and 2024 production against lefties — and the minimal acquisition cost can’t hurt his chances of being claimed, either.

No team is going to claim the 33-year-old Jankowski for his bat. He’s turned in a bleak .195/.257/.234 batting line in 167 plate appearances, rendering him as one of the league’s least productive players at the plate. That said, Jankowski is an above-average defender across all three outfield spots who ranks in the 84th percentile of MLB players in terms of sprint speed.

Jankowski hasn’t been productive at the plate this season, but he’s only a year removed from a decent showing. He hit .263/.357/.332 for the Rangers’ World Series-winning club last year — including a solid .269/.365/.333 slash against right-handed pitching. Jankowski is a typical speed-and-defense focused fourth outfielder who can provide a late-game defensive replacement and/or pinch-running weapon off the bench for a new club. He’s 8-for-9 in stolen base attempts this season and went 19-for-20 in 2023.

The Rangers’ Surprising Problem

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Each week at MLBTR, it seems we're covering a development that further tanks the Astros' chances of competing for a playoff spot. We've devoted less attention to their in-state rivals, but the Rangers are in no better a situation. Texas and Houston have identical 33-40 records after the Rangers' five-game losing streak. They're only four games clear of the Angels for fourth place in the AL West.

Texas starting the season slowly isn't a huge surprise in itself (even if the extent of their struggles is). The eye-opener is in the way the team has underperformed. The Rangers opened the season without Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle. They were largely trying to stay afloat for the first couple months before welcoming that trio of starters back throughout the summer. The early-season rotation was the big question -- the main reason the Rangers might find themselves closer to the bottom of the AL West than the top more than halfway into June.

Starting pitching has not been the problem. Texas is middle-of-the-pack in that regard, solid work from a staff without three of its most talented arms. The collapse has been on the other side of the ball. The Ranger offense hasn't performed. An outfield that looked like one of the game's most talented groups has been a disaster. It's not the easiest problem for GM Chris Young to address at the deadline -- if the Rangers find themselves in position to add at all next month.

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MLBTR Podcast: Paul Skenes, The Prospect Hype Machine, Willson Contreras And Rising Catcher’s Interference Rates

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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…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • If the Astros continue this horrible start through the summer months, who are some players that they might swap? (33:15)
  • With the Phillies having one of the best rotations in baseball and six pitchers deep, it seems to make a guy like Mick Abel expendable. Do you think the Phillies possibly move him at the deadline? Say for a bat to possibly platoon with Nick Castellanos in right? (38:45)
  • Is there any chance the Tigers may try and sell high on Tarik Skubal? He’s an ace and it would take a lot to pry him away but Detroit just doesn’t seem like a place that’ll pay him the big bucks under Chris Ilitch’s regime. Not sure his value will ever be higher especially if they continue to play how they have in recent weeks. (46:00)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Rangers Place Dane Dunning On Injured List

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1:45pm: The Rangers have now made it official, announcing Dunning’s injury as a right rotator cuff strain. White was recalled and Leiter was added as the 27th man, as expected. They also activated outfielder Robbie Grossman, who they acquired from the White Sox earlier today, while optioning infielder Jonathan Ornelas.

1:30pm: The Rangers are going to place right-hander Dane Dunning on the 15-day injured list due to a shoulder issue, manager Bruce Bochy tells Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, who relayed the info on X.

It’s unclear how long the Rangers expect Dunning to be out of action, but it’s an unfortunate development for the team regardless as their rotation depth has been continually thinned out this year. The club knew that Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle wouldn’t be available in the first half, as both of them underwent Tommy John surgery last year. Then Max Scherzer required back surgery in the offseason, which was going to force him to miss some time as well.

Last week, Nathan Eovaldi landed on the IL due to a groin strain Cody Bradford due to a rib stress fracture. Now Dunning will follow him due to this shoulder issue. Between those two, Scherzer, deGrom and Mahle, they have a full rotation on the injured list at the moment.

That leaves Jon Gray, Michael Lorenzen and Andrew Heaney as the healthy core of the starting staff at the moment. José Ureña had been working out of the bullpen but started yesterday and threw five innings against the A’s.

The club has a double-header today, with Lorenzen taking the ball for the first contest. Jack Leiter is planned for the “27th man” and the starter for the second game, though Owen White is coming up as well, per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today. White will seemingly be the corresponding move for Dunning’s IL placement.

With Dunning now on the shelf, the Rangers will have to decide on how they want to structure the back end of their rotation, with Ureña, White and Leiter presumably in contention for the two spots behind Gray, Lorenzen and Heaney.

Ureña has a 3.86 earned run average this year but, as mentioned, most of that has come out of the bullpen. He had a 6.45 ERA in ten starts last year and hasn’t posted an ERA below 5.00 since 2018. Leiter first major league start didn’t go especially well, with seven earned runs allowed in 3 2/3 innings. He has struck out 37% of Triple-A batters faced this year but also allowed six home runs in just 25 1/3 innings. White allowed five earned runs in four big league innings last year and currently has a 5.70 ERA in Triple-A this year.

Scherzer once seemed to be on track to return in early May but that plan has hit a snag. It was reported a week ago that he experienced some thumb soreness while on a rehab assignment and was going to be shut down for a bit. General manager Chris Young said today that Scherzer won’t throw again until the soreness is completely gone, per Wilson on X.

His rehab outing was on April 24, so he’s now two weeks removed from that. The longer his current shutdown lasts will presumably require more of a ramp-up once he is able to get back on track. As of now, that leaves him a question mark until there’s progress with the thumb soreness.

All that points to the Rangers cobbling a rotation together for a bit, until Eovaldi or Dunning are able to rejoin the mix. Despite the rotation challenges, the Rangers are 21-16 and half a game ahead of the Mariners for the division lead in the American League West.

Rangers Acquire Robbie Grossman, Designate Kolton Ingram

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The Rangers announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired outfielder Robbie Grossman from the White Sox in exchange for minor league right-hander Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa. To make room on the 40-man roster, Texas designated lefty Kolton Ingram for assignment.

Grossman, 34, returns to the team with which he won a World Series ring just last season. He signed a minor league deal with the White Sox, but his stint with the South Siders will ultimately last only 25 games and 85 plate appearances. The veteran switch-hitter turned in a .211/.329/.268 slash in that small sample but was a solid part-time player for manager Bruce Bochy last year when he batted .238/.340/.394 in 420 trips to the plate. He’ll be a cost-effective addition for the Rangers, as his deal with the ChiSox carried a $1.5MM base salary.

As has been the case throughout his career, Grossman was particularly effective from the right side of the dish last season. He hit .309/.416/.536 against southpaws,  giving Texas a highly productive right-handed bat to mix in at left field and designated hitter. Things have played out similarly in his brief time with the ChiSox; Grossman is 6-for-16 with a pair of doubles, four walks and four strikeouts against lefties this year. In his career, he’s a .283/.383/.427 hitter against lefties — far superior to his .228/.331/.357 slash from the left side of the plate.

While Texas has a pair of big right-handed bats in Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia — plus switch-hitting catcher Jonah Heim, who’s better right-handed — the lineup generally skews left-handed. That’s all  the more true with third baseman Josh Jung on the injured list following wrist surgery. Promising young hitters Wyatt Langford (strained hamstring) and Justin Foscue (strained oblique) are both on the injured list as well, subtracting another pair of potentially impactful right-handed bats from the equation.

The Rangers, as a whole, have been flummoxed by left-handed pitching this season. The team is currently batting a collective .231/.288/.343 against southpaws. The resulting 80 wRC+ suggests that Rangers hitters have been 20% worse than average against lefties this year, ranking 25th among MLB teams.

Grossman can give the Rangers a platoon partner for young outfielder Evan Carter in left field. Carter has pummeled right-handed pitching but is just 2-for-33  against lefties in his young big league career and has fanned in 44.4% of his left-on-left matchups to date. And while Grossman doesn’t have the strongest career numbers from the left side of the dish, his keen plate discipline still allows him to post quality OBP marks from that side of the dish, making him a corner outfield or DH option against right-handed starters.

In exchange for Grossman, the Rangers will part with a bullpen prospect who’s approaching MLB readiness. While Hoopii-Tuionetoa hasn’t cracked the Rangers’ top-30 prospect lists at Baseball America or MLB.com, he’s breezed through Double-A opposition thus far, rattling off 12 1/3 shutout innings with a hefty 34% strikeout rate against a solid 8.5% walk rate. That strong start to his 2024 campaign comes on the heels of a 2023 season that saw the Hawaiian-born righty pitch 24 1/3 innings of 2.96 ERA ball with a 25% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate between Low-A  and High-A.

Shoulder troubles limited Hoopii-Tuionetoa’s workload last year, but he finished the season healthy and also tacked on 9 2/3 innings of shutout ball in the Arizona Fall League. Hoopii-Tuionetoa went unselected in December’s Rule 5 Draft despite being eligible — Texas selected him in the 30th round of the 2019 draft — but he’s only further enhanced his stock with a terrific start to the 2024 campaign.

Grossman’s acquisition pushes the 27-year-old Ingram off the Rangers’ roster. He’d been claimed off waivers out of the Mets organization just under three weeks ago. The Rangers will have five days to trade him or else place him on outright waivers or release waivers, which could last another 48 hours. Whichever route the Rangers take, Ingram will know his next destination within a week’s time.

Ingram made his big league debut with the Angels in 2023 but totaled just 5 1/3 innings. He allowed five runs on eight hits and five walks in that tiny sample but did fan seven of his 30 opponents. He’s had far more success in the upper minors, logging 102 1/3 innings of 2.46 ERA ball in Double-A and 40 2/3 innings of 3.54 ERA ball in Triple-A — including a pair of scoreless frames with the Rangers’ affiliate in Round Rock.

Broadly speaking, Ingram has shown a knack for missing bats throughout his career — evidenced by a sharp 29.3% strikeout rate in the minors. However, he’s also battled command issues, walking 11.1% of his opponents in addition to another 14 plunked batters (1.5%). Primarily a fastball/slider pitcher, Ingram sits 92-93 mph with his heater and has proven to be a consistent headache for left-handed opponents. They mustered an awful .151/.245/.186 slash against him in 2023 and hit just .141/.243/.219 against him the year prior. Righties have had more success but primarily due to his sub-par command. Right-handed opponents still hit in the low .200s against Ingram, but they’ve walked at a 12.5% clip against him over the past several seasons.

White Sox Select Robbie Grossman, Designate Alex Speas

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The White Sox on Friday announced that they’ve placed Eloy Jimenez on the 10-day injured list with an adductor strain, selected the contract of veteran outfielder Robbie Grossman, and designated right-hander Alex Speas for assignment in order to open a roster spot for Grossman. Jimenez’s IL placement is retroactive to April 2.

Sox GM Chris Getz suggested earlier this week that Grossman, 34, could soon be added to the big league roster. The veteran switch-hitter spent the 2023 season with the World Series champion Rangers and batted .238/.340/.394. He’s been an average or better hitter in six of the past eight seasons, collecting 3552 plate appearances and delivering a combined .245/.350/.387 batting line. Grossman is a career .282/.381/.426 slash against left-handed pitching (126 wRC+). He’s been below-average, albeit not egregiously so, against right-handed pitching.

Grossman has played a bit of center field in his career, but the vast majority of that experience came back in 2013. He’s primarily a corner outfielder and designated hitter, with the bulk of his outfield work coming in left field. He played 553 innings on the grass for Texas last season but turned in well below-average defensive marks. He can offer the Sox a veteran bat to step in for the injured Jimenez at designated hitter and could also spell left-handed-hitting corner outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Dominic Fletcher against left-handed starting pitchers on occasion.

Speas, 26, joined the White Sox via waiver claim last October. The flamethrowing righty sits 99-100 mph with his heater and can climb higher than that. As one would expect, that’s led to some prodigious strikeout totals in the minors, but Speas struggles to command his power arsenal and has alarming walk rates in the upper minors. He pitched two big league innings for the Rangers last year but split the bulk of the season between Double-A and Triple-A. Speas fanned a ridiculous 41% of his Double-A opponents and nearly 35% of his Triple-A opponents, but he also walked a combined 15.5% of his opponents.

Speas was with the Sox during spring training and walked six of his 26 opponents. He’s begun the season in Triple-A Charlotte, where he was tagged for four runs in two innings as he walked another two of the 11 batters he’s faced there. The 2016 second-round pick has electric stuff but has walked more than 18% of the opponents he’s faced in pro ball. The White Sox will have a week to trade Speas, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him.

Jimenez exited the White Sox’ game back on Sunday due to soreness in his adductor muscle and hasn’t played in a game since. He’s out to a 2-for-11 start on the season, with both hits being singles. The 27-year-old slugger has shown at times that he has the upside to be one of the game’s most dangerous hitters. Jimenez belted 31 homers as a rookie in 2019 and as recently as 2021, he slashed .295/.358/.500 with 16 homers in just 84 games.

Injuries have been far too frequent for the Dominican-born slugger, however. He’s been on the injured list due to ankle, elbow/forearm, and hamstring injuries (twice), in addition to the current adductor strain and a 2023 appendectomy that kept him out for about three weeks. Jimenez has never topped the 122 games he played as a rookie, and that 2019 season is the only one of his career in which he’s reached 500 big league plate appearances.

White Sox Sign Robbie Grossman To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve signed free agent outfielder Robbie Grossman to a minor league deal. He’ll be invited to the remainder of big league camp.

Grossman, 34, spent the 2023 season with the World Series champion Rangers but will head into the 2024 season with a rebuilding ChiSox club. He hit .238/.340/.394 with Texas last season and has been an average or better hitter in six of the past eight seasons. Grossman has tallied 3552 plate appearances in that span and delivered a composite .245/.350/.387 batting line during that time. The switch-hitter is a career .282/.381/.426 slash against left-handed pitching (126 wRC+). He’s been below-average, albeit not egregiously so, against right-handed pitching.

Grossman has played a bit of center field in his career, but the vast majority of that experience came back in 2013. He’s primarily a corner outfielder and designated hitter, with the bulk of his outfield work coming in left field. He played 553 innings on the grass for Texas last season but turned in well below-average defensive marks.

The White Sox figure to enter the season with left-handed-hitting Dominic Fletcher as their primary right fielder and lefty-swinging Andrew Benintendi in left. Grossman’s excellence from the right side of the plate would make him a viable platoon partner for either player. They currently have Kevin Pillar in camp as a fellow non-roster veteran who could offer a righty complement to those lefty-hitting corner outfielders, but Pillar has an out clause in his minor league contract today, which could come into play.

Free Agent Profile: Robbie Grossman

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Spring Training is getting going but there are still plenty of unsigned free agents. The market is headlined by the so-called “Boras Four,” which consists of Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman, but there are also lots of guys who could be nice under-the-radar pickups at this stage of the offseason.

Just over a year ago, February 17 of 2023, the Rangers signed outfielder Robbie Grossman. The deal guaranteed him $2MM and also came with $5MM in possible incentives. The Rangers had a fairly unsettled outfield mix, with Adolis García’s presence the only certainty at the time.

The switch-hitting Grossman ended up getting into 115 games for the Rangers, drawing a walk in 13.6% of his 420 plate appearances and hitting 10 home runs. His .238/.340/.394 batting line translated to a 102 wRC+, indicating he was just a bit above league average, though his defense was subpar.

It’s not an overwhelming profile but digging a little deeper is where the enticing stuff lies. Though he bats from both sides of the plate, Grossman has always been better against left-handed pitching. For his career, he’s hit southpaws to the tune of .282/.381/.426 for a 126 wRC+. Against righties, his .229/.332/.360 batting line translates to a 94 wRC+. The split was even more stark in 2023, as he limped to a line of .206/.304/.329 against righties for a 75 wRC+ but lit up lefties for a .309/.416/.536 slash and 158 wRC+.

The Rangers ended up going 90-72 last year, sneaking into the playoffs by securing a Wild Card spot in the final weekend of the regular season. From there, they went on to charge through the postseason and win the World Series for the first time in franchise history. That was obviously thanks to huge contributions from superstars like Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, but small pickups like Grossman and Travis Jankowski played their roles as well.

Grossman’s received a fairly regular role over the years, having stepped to the plate at least 420 times in each of the past six full seasons and 192 in the shortened 2020 campaign. Now that he’s 34 years old and set to turn 35 in the latter parts of the upcoming campaign, perhaps he would be best utilized by a club that could limit his exposure to right-handed pitching.

The Red Sox are reportedly looking for outfield additions with a righty being preferred to match with lefties Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida. The Tigers have a lefty-heavy outfield featuring Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Akil Baddoo. They acquired Mark Canha to add a righty bat to their outfield and the signing of infielder Gio Urshela might push righties Matt Vierling and Andy Ibañez into the outfield mix, though those two may also be used at second base with left-handed-hitting rookie Colt Keith. The Blue Jays have a couple of lefty-hitting regulars in Kevin Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho. The Twins have a bunch of lefties for their corner outfield/designated hitter rotation in Max Kepler, Matt Wallner and Alex Kirilloff. The White Sox have lefties Dominic Fletcher, Óscar Colás, Zach DeLoach and Gavin Sheets competing for their right field job, though they brought in righty Kevin Pillar on a non-roster pact. The Athletics have lefties Seth Brown and JJ Bleday set for regular roles in their outfield. The Mariners have Luke Raley, Taylor Trammell, Cade Marlowe and Dominic Canzone competing for time in the outfield.

In the National League, the Brewers have lefty swingers Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell in their outfield. The Reds have Jake Fraley TJ Friedl and Will Benson in their outfield mix, with righties like Spencer Steer and Jonathan India perhaps moving off the infield to help them out. The Padres have a wide open outfield apart from Fernando Tatis Jr.

There are lots of plausible fits right now and injuries will inevitably crop up over the course of the season that create other sensible landing spots. Plenty of veteran players have signed for modest deals in recent days, with Amed Rosario and Urshela each getting $1.5MM to fill roles on the Rays and Tigers, respectively. Randal Grichuk got $2MM from the Diamondbacks and Jurickson Profar $1MM from the Friars. For a fairly modest price, Grossman could be a similar piece for another club.

The Top Unsigned Corner Outfielders

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Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training in about two weeks but a slow offseason means there are still plenty of free agents out there. Over the past week, MLBTR has already taken a look at the remaining catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, shortstops, center fielders, designated hitters and starting pitchers, and we will now proceed to the corner outfielders.

  • Jorge Soler: He probably won’t be considered an everyday fielder by any club in the league, but his bat is clearly a notch above anyone else on this list. Soler hasn’t been the most consistent hitter over the years but is excellent when he’s in good form. 2023 was an upswing in his up-and-down career, as he hit 36 home runs and drew walks in 11.4% of his plate appearances. He also kept his strikeouts to a 24.3% rate, a tad above league average but solid by his standards. Soler’s .250/.341/.512 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 126. He walked away from $13MM and the final year of his deal with the Marlins and is now surely looking for a strong multi-year deal. But despite that potent bat, he won’t be anything more than a part-time option in the outfield. He only made 31 starts in the field last year and was graded poorly when out there, having never really received strong marks for his glovework. Whichever club signs him will surely think of him as a designated hitter who can play the field on a part-time basis, at best. The Blue Jays, Mets, Giants and Angels have been linked to him this offseason, with the Jays perceived by some as the favorite to get a deal done.
  • Adam Duvall: Though he has been seeing significant time in center field in recent seasons, Duvall has spent far more of his career in the corners. His work in center has been passable, but he’s now 35 years old and is probably best thought of as a corner guy who can cover center on occasion. At the plate, he doesn’t take many walks and also strikes out a ton, but he parks the ball over the fence often enough to be useful. He was punched out in 31.2% of his trips to the plate last year and only walked at a 6.2% clip, but he launched 21 home runs in just 92 games. His .247/.303/.531 slash translated to a 116 wRC+. Health is an issue, which is why his output was limited last year and he’s only once played 100 games in the last four full seasons. But the combination of solid outfield defense and home runs nonetheless makes him an attractive piece. Jon Heyman of The New York Post recently suggested that Duvall would be choosing between the Angels and the Red Sox.
  • Tommy Pham: After a solid run from 2015 to 2019, Pham’s production has been up-and-down over the past four seasons. He had a rough time in the shortened 2020 season, bounced back in 2021 but then struggled again in 2022. His most recent campaign was another solid bounceback, a season he split between the Mets and Diamondbacks. His 9.8% walk rate and 22% strikeout rate were both a bit better than league average. Pham hit 16 home runs, and his line of .256/.328/.446 translated a wRC+ of 110. He also stole 22 bases and slotted in at all three outfield positions, though primarily in left. As the Diamondbacks made a World Series run, he was able to add another three homers and swipe another two bags in the postseason. Back in November, he said he had received interest from roughly 10 teams, but no specific clubs were mentioned and some of them may have moved on to other targets since.
  • Aaron Hicks: Like many of the other names on this list, Hicks has been inconsistently productive in his career. He had a strong run with the Yankees from 2017 to 2020 but his results fell off from there. He was subpar throughout 2021 and 2022, continuing into the beginning of 2023, leading the Yanks to release him. He latched on with the Orioles and got back on track. In 65 games with the O’s, Hicks hit seven home runs and walked in 14.8% of his plate appearances, striking out just 20.8% of the time. His .275/.381/.425 line translated to a wRC+ of 129. He also stole six bases and played all three outfield spots. That’s a fairly small sample of work that followed more than two years of struggles, but Hicks will be a no-risk signing for whichever club lands him, at least from a financial perspective. The Yankees are still on the hook for his $9.5MM salary both this year and next, as well as a $1MM buyout on a 2026 club option. Any other club can sign Hicks for the prorated league minimum of $740K for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Yankees pay. It’s unknown what Hicks will be looking for in a landing spot, but since he’s already got a contract, he could look to prioritize playing time or joining a competitive club.
  • Eddie Rosario: Rosario has been at least league average at the plate for six of the past seven seasons. In 2022, his wRC+ dipped all the way down to 62, but it rebounded to an even 100 in 2023. He dealt with some vision problems in that 2022 season and underwent a laser eye procedure, so it’s seems fair to write that year off as an aberration. Rosario hit 21 homers for Atlanta in 2023, though with a subpar walk rate of 6.6%. His .255/.305/.450 line was exactly league average, as mentioned, but Rosario’s platoon splits have become increasingly glaring as his career has progressed. His defensive grades have declined over the years as well, although he posted solid marks in 2023. Many teams will view him as a left field/DH option who’s best paired with a platoon partner. Atlanta declined a $9MM club option for his 2024 services. He’ll likely be available on a one-year deal that clocks in south of that sum.

Honorable mentions: Whit Merrifield, Randal Grichuk, Robbie Grossman, Austin Meadows, David Peralta, Jurickson Profar, Brian Anderson

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