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Players Avoiding Arbitration: 11/17/23

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Tonight marks the deadline for teams to tender contracts to players who are eligible for arbitration. This evening should also see a handful of arb-eligible players agree to terms with their clubs to avoid a hearing.

These so-called “pre-tender deals” usually, although not always, involve players who were borderline non-tender candidates. Rather than run the risk of being cut loose, they can look to sign in the lead-up to the deadline. Those salaries often come in a little below projections, since these players tend to have less leverage because of the uncertainty about whether they’ll be offered a contract at all.

Under the 2022 collective bargaining agreement, players who sign to avoid an arbitration hearing are guaranteed full termination pay. That’s a change from prior CBAs, when teams could release an arb-eligible player before the season began and would only owe a prorated portion of the contract. This was done to incentivize teams and players to get deals done without going to a hearing.

All salary projections referenced are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. This post will be updated throughout the night as deals are reported.

Latest Moves

  • The Orioles agreed to deals with outfielders Sam Hilliard and Ryan McKenna, reliever Keegan Akin and shortstop Jorge Mateo, as announced by the team. Mateo will make $2.7MM, as first reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link). Jon Heyman of the New York Post has terms (on X) for Akin and Hilliard: $825K for the former, $800K for the latter.
  • Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski has a deal for $7.9MM, Heyman reports. That’s a little above his $7.3MM projection. Yastrzemski has one additional arbitration year remaining.
  • Reliever Yency Almonte and the Dodgers have agreed to a $1.9MM salary, per Heyman. That matches his projection.
  • Lefty reliever Ryan Borucki agreed to a contract with the Pirates, the team announced. Feinsand reports it as a $1.6MM deal. He was projected at $1.3MM.
  • The Rockies have a deal with lefty reliever Jalen Beeks, Heyman reports. He’ll make $1.675MM. Recently claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay, Beeks was projected at $1.8MM.
  • The Cubs announced a deal with third baseman Patrick Wisdom. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports that the power-hitting infielder will make $2.725MM. That’s narrowly above a $2.6MM projection.
  • Outfielder DJ Stewart agreed to a deal with the Mets, per a club announcement. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports it’ll be for $1.38MM. Stewart had been projected at $1.5MM as an early qualifier via Super Two.
  • The Phillies announced deals with right-hander Dylan Covey, catcher Garrett Stubbs and outfielder Jake Cave. Terms were not disclosed.
  • The White Sox announced agreement with reliever Matt Foster on a deal for $750K, narrowly above the league minimum. The right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery in April.

Earlier Tonight

  • The Royals announced agreement with lefty reliever Josh Taylor. He’ll make $1.1MM, tweets Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Acquired from the Red Sox last winter, Taylor allowed an 8.15 ERA over 17 2/3 innings before undergoing season-ending back surgery. He was projected for a $1.3MM salary.
  • The Athletics announced today that they have agreed to one-year deals with infielders Miguel Andujar and Abraham Toro. The club claimed Andujar off waivers from Pittsburgh earlier this month and swung a deal to acquire Toro from the Brewers earlier this week. Andujar hit .250/.300/.476 in 90 trips to the plate in the majors this year while Toro appeared in just nine games at the big league level but slashed .444/.524/.778 in that extremely limited action. Andujar will make $1.7MM (Heyman link); Toro is set for a $1.275MM salary.
  • The Giants have a deal with outfielder Austin Slater for $4MM, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid (X link). That’s a little north of his $3.6MM projected salary. Slater has over five years of service time and will be a free agent next offseason. The right-handed hitter is coming off a .270/.348/.400 showing over 89 games. He’s a career .285/.374/.463 batter against left-handed pitching but owns a .227/.314/.333 mark versus righties.

Orioles Place Ryan Mountcastle On Injured List

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The Orioles have placed first baseman Ryan Mountcastle on the injured list and recalled outfielder Ryan McKenna from Triple-A Norfolk in a corresponding move, manager Brandon Hyde announced to reporters (via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). The team’s formal announcement on the injury specifies Mountcastle’s injury as inflammation in the AC joint of his left shoulder.

Mountcastle has missed the past seven games due to discomfort in that shoulder, though stints on the injured list can only be backdated to a maximum of three days. As such, he’ll miss at least the next week. Hyde added that the O’s are hopeful Mountcastle will be able to return when first eligible, though that’ll obviously depend on how his ailing shoulder progresses.

Mountcastle, 26, has been a productive member of a stacked Baltimore lineup in 2023, hitting at a .269/.327/.453 clip with 18 home runs, 20 doubles and a triple in 459 trips to the plate. This will be his second IL stint of the season, as he also missed nearly a month earlier in the summer due to a bout with vertigo symptoms. Mountcastle had looked lost at the plate for a spell heading into that stint on the IL, but he’s been one of the Orioles’ top hitters since returning. In 198 plate appearances between the two IL stints, he’s posted a huge .327/.409/.497 with seven home runs, eight doubles, a 12.1% walk rate and a manageable 21.1% strikeout rate.

With Mountcastle shelved at least a week, the O’s will likely lean on Ryan O’Hearn at first base and outfielder Anthony Santander at designated hitter. Newly recalled top prospect Heston Kjerstad, the No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft, could see time in right field, at first base or at designated hitter as well.

The Orioles have already clinched a postseason spot — their first since 2016 — so there’s little reason to rush Mountcastle back. That said, the team would surely prefer to get a look at him in a game setting, if possible, before determining its postseason roster. The obvious hope is that the downtime for Mountcastle will allow him to recover enough to reclaim his spot in the heart of the team’s batting order. Baltimore’s lineup is one of the deepest in the league, but potentially losing a bat of Mountcastle’s caliber would be a notable blow to any team’s offense. Mountcastle is also the team’s top performer against left-handed pitching; he’s torched southpaws with an absolutely mammoth .340/.396/.660 slash line in 2023.

Orioles Select Heston Kjerstad

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The Orioles announced a series of roster moves today, selecting the contract of outfielder Heston Kjerstad and recalling right-hander Bryan Baker from Triple-A Norfolk. To open active roster spots for those two, outfielder Ryan McKenna and left-hander Nick Vespi were optioned to Norfolk. To open a spot for Kjerstad on the 40-man, infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra was recalled from Norfolk and placed on the 60-day injured list with a strained right shoulder.

Of all the moves, the most significant is the promotion of Kjerstad, as it’s yet another instance of the O’s promoting a highly-touted prospect to their major league club. The past six years have seen the club endure a significant rebuild, finishing last in the American League East four times, losing 108 games or more in three of those. That’s allowed them to build a pipeline of young talent that has started to feed into for the big league team. Youngsters like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez and others have helped the club jump to a record of 91-54, the best such mark in the American League this year.

Kjerstad, 24, was taken with the second overall pick in 2020. His professional debut was delayed by myocarditis, which prevented him from taking part in any official game action in 2021. He split last year between Single-A and High-A, hitting a combined .309/.394/.457 between those two levels. This year, he’s gone through Double-A and Triple-A with a combined slash of .303/.376/.528, which translates to a wRC+ of 132.

The outfielder is currently considered the #44 prospect in the league by Baseball America, #24 by MLB Pipeline, #49 by ESPN and #56 by Keith Law of The Athletic. FanGraphs doesn’t currently provide specific rankings beyond the 50 Future Value guys on the 20-80 scouting scale, but Kjerstad is one of many unnumbered 45+ guys that are lumped together around the back half of the top 100. He’s considered a bat-first prospect, with his power his standout tool, but it’s expected he can be a fine corner outfielder from a defensive standpoint.

It was reported last night that a promotion of Kjerstad was possible, in conjunction with Ryan Mountcastle battling a shoulder injury. Mountcastle hasn’t landed on the injured list as of yet, but it seems Kjerstad will push into the mix regardless. Mountcastle has been the regular option at first base, but perhaps his injury means Ryan O’Hearn takes over that spot and spends less time in the outfield corners. That would perhaps leave Kjerstad, Anthony Santander, Aaron Hicks and Austin Hays splitting the duties of left field, right field and designated hitter. Kjerstad also played some first base in the minors and could be a factor there.

The O’s are about to begin what may be their most important series of the regular season. The Rays are just two games back in the East division and the two clubs are set to face off in a four-game series that starts tonight in Baltimore. Both teams are sure to make the postseason but the division winner will secure a bye through the first round, making the distinction significant. Kjerstad isn’t in the starting lineup tonight but should make his debut at some point in the next few weeks and might even secure himself a spot on the postseason roster.

With so little time left in the season, Kjerstad won’t be able to exhaust his rookie status and will therefore still be on prospect lists in the upcoming offseason. That means he will still be eligible for the “prospect promotion incentives” that are present in the current collective bargaining agreement. That could allow the O’s to recoup a bonus draft pick in the future, depending on how Kjerstad fares in awards voting going forward.

As for Vavra, he was with the big league club earlier this year but has been on optional assignment since early June. While in the minors, he missed over two months from mid-June to late August, when he began a rehab assignment. The club informed reporters last week, including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, that Vavra’s rehab was being shut down for further testing. There’s not much detail on his injury or timeline but it seems his season is over, based on today’s transfer.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Orioles Place Aaron Hicks On 10-Day Injured List

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Prior to tonight’s game with the A’s, the Orioles placed outfielder Aaron Hicks on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back strain, with a retroactive placement date of August 16.  Ryan McKenna was called up from Triple-A to take Hicks’ spot on the active roster and as part of Baltimore’s outfield mix.

Injuries have plagued Hicks throughout his career, and his recent setbacks are at least less serious than some of his past season-shortening issues.  However, Hicks missed about three weeks due to a hamstring strain before being activated last Monday, but he played in just one game before being sidelined again with his back problem.

As Hicks told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters, “as soon as I start hitting it kind of starts to flare up a little bit….Walking around I feel fine, doing little things feel fine, rotation feels fine.  And then as soon as I start to try to fire it up and get moving as fast as possible is when it starts wanting to shut down.”

The Orioles’ plan is to shut Hicks down for around two weeks, manager Brandon Hyde told Kubatko and company, then re-evaluate.  With this cautious approach, Hicks will need some ramp-up time and perhaps more minor league rehab games before returning, so the veteran seems to be looking at a rough return timeline of the second week of September.  Because the injury is “kind of hit or miss right now,” as Hicks put it, the timeline might conceivably be shorter if his back spasms quickly dissipate.

The two IL stints have put a damper on a nice comeback run for Hicks in an O’s uniform.  After the Yankees designated and subsequently released Hicks in late May, he caught on with the Orioles for a minimum salary, as New York is still paying the rest of the roughly $22.6MM still owed on Hicks’ contract through the 2025 campaign.  The change of scenery seemed to help, as Hicks is hitting .261/.355/.440 with six homers over 155 plate appearances for Baltimore, after managing only a .211/.322/.317 slash line in 579 PA with the Yankees in 2021-22.

Given Hicks’ previous IL trip, the Orioles have gotten used to adjusting with Hicks in the lineup.  Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, and Anthony Santander will remain the club’s primary outfield trio, though Santander is missing today’s game due to what Hyde described as “general soreness.”  Ryan O’Hearn and McKenna will also provide outfield depth in a part-time capacity.

Orioles Place Aaron Hicks On IL With Hamstring Strain

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The Orioles announced that they have placed outfielder Aaron Hicks on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain, with fellow outfielder Ryan McKenna recalled from Triple-A Norfolk in a corresponding move. Hicks departed last night’s game after appearing to injure himself making a catch and it seems he’ll need at least 10 days to recover.

Hicks, 33, had been struggling mightily with the Yankees in recent years, eventually leading to his release in May. He quickly landed with the Orioles and has had a resurgence since then, having hit .252/.349/.435 in 152 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 119, indicating he’s been 19% above league average. A lot of that time has been spent in center field, with Cedric Mullins having spent much of June on the IL due to a groin strain.

Since Hicks took over in center and played well, it allowed the club to avoid a significant drop-off while Mullins was away. He was reinstated from the IL in late June but landed back there last week, again due to a right groin strain. Hicks jumped back into the regular center field job in the past week but now he’s joining Mullins on the injured list. It’s unclear how serious Hicks’ injury is, but Mullins is without a clear timetable and may not be an option until late in the season. The club will now seemingly have to proceed without either player for at least the next 10 days.

The position might now fall to rookie Colton Cowser, who has logged 38 1/3 innings there so far this year and has been given the start for tonight’s contest. Unfortunately, his first 49 major league plate appearances have led to a batting line of just .128/.286/.154. That’s obviously a small sample and he has much better numbers in the minors, but the O’s will have a bit less certainty at the position for the time being.

Cowser figures to be flanked by Austin Hays and Anthony Santander, with McKenna likely in a bench role. Infielders Adam Frazier and Ryan O’Hearn have also seen some time on the grass this year and could factor into the mix. If the O’s decide they need to supplement that group, they still have some time, with the August 1 trade deadline one week away. The club is 62-38, putting them 2.5 games ahead of the Rays in the AL East and clearly in buyer position.

Orioles Designate Anthony Bemboom, Chris Vallimont

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The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve designated catcher Anthony Bemboom and right-hander Chris Vallimont for assignment. They’ve also optioned outfielder Ryan McKenna to Triple-A Norfolk. In a pair of corresponding moves, Baltimore has selected the contracts of top outfielder prospect Colton Cowser (as previously reported) and righty Eduard Bazardo from Norfolk.

Bemboom, 33, has gone 2-for-11 with a pair of walks and a pair of strikeouts in limited big league time with the O’s this season. He’s a career .161/.236/.260 hitter in a small sample of 216 big league plate appearances but carries a more palatable .249/.342/.392 batting line in parts of seven Triple-A seasons — including a .278/.366/.389 output there in 2023. The O’s will have a week to trade Bemboom, release him or pass him through outright waivers.

Vallimont, 26, made his MLB debut a couple days ago when he pitched a scoreless two-thirds of an inning with a strikeout. The former Twins and Marlins prospect has had a tough go in the upper minors over the past two seasons, working to a combined 5.22 ERA in 129 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Minnesota designated Vallimont for assignment last summer, at which point Baltimore claimed him off waivers.

The O’s have already passed Vallimont through waivers once, back in January, and he remained with the club after going unclaimed. Since he’s now been outrighted previously in his career, Vallimont would have the right to reject any additional outright assignments in favor of free agency. The right-hander will be traded, placed on waivers or released in the coming week.

Cowser, 23, entered the season as a top-50 prospect in the sport, and the 2021 first-rounder has done nothing to dispel that optimism. In 56 games, he’s slashed .330/.459/.537 with 10 homers, 10 doubles, a triple and seven steals (in eight tries). He’s shown keen strike-zone recognition as well, drawing a walk in a massive 18.7% of his 257 plate appearances. He’s played all three outfield spots in the minors, and based on his pedigree, production and versatility, he should be expected to take on an everyday role with the O’s moving forward.

As for the 27-year-old Bazardo, this’ll be his third season with at least some big league experience. The righty appeared with the Red Sox in each of the past two seasons but only logged a combined 19 1/3 innings of relief work. He’s posted an impressive 2.33 ERA in that time, although his 18.2% strikeout rate is well below average. He does have a solid 7.8% walk rate in that time, however, and Bazardo has been sharp in Triple-A this year: 33 1/3 innings, 3.51 ERA, 2.89 FIP, 27.7% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate.

Anthony Santander Out Two To Four Weeks

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11:21am: The team has now announced that Santander is on the 10-day injured list. McKenna has indeed been recalled to take his spot on the 26-man roster.

10:50am: Orioles slugger Anthony Santander will miss the next two to four weeks of action after sustaining a sprained ankle, manager Brandon Hyde announced to reporters this morning (Twitter link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). X-rays and an MRI both confirmed that there is no fracture in Santander’s ankle. A corresponding roster move is in the works, per Hyde. Santander injured the ankle last night when lunging back to first base on a pickoff attempt (video link).

Santander, 26, emerged as one of the Orioles’ best hitters from 2019-20 and was the subject of some trade inquiries over the winter. However, the O’s control him all the way through 2024 and clearly weren’t motivated to make a move based on any of those talks.

The switch-hitting Santander is out to a slow start in 2021, hitting just .196/.230/.321 in 62 plate appearances after missing some time late in Spring Training with an oblique issue. But from 2019-20, Santander delivered a .261/.302/.505 batting line with 31 dingers, 33 doubles and a pair of triples in 570 trips to the plate. A middling 5.1 percent walk rate in that time limits his on-base upside, but Santander also struck out in just 15.6 percent of his plate appearances last season.

Baltimore just welcomed outfielder Austin Hays back from the injured list yesterday, so he’ll effectively be replacing Santander in the everyday lineup moving forward. Hays and hot-hitting Cedric Mullins are both options at any of the three outfield spots, while Ryan Mountcastle and DJ Stewart can work in the corners and also mix in some at-bats as the designated hitter. Ryan McKenna, who was optioned yesterday after Hays was activated, could also quickly be brought back and added into the equation if the Orioles want to replenish some outfield depth.

Orioles Place Austin Hays On 10-Day Injured List

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8:52pm: Hays has a mild strain, according to manager Brandon Hyde, who’s optimistic he won’t miss much time (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com).

4:48pm: The Orioles have placed outfielder Austin Hays on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain, per a team announcement. In other moves, the Orioles activated right-hander Shawn Armstrong from the IL, recalled outfielder Ryan McKenna and optioned righty Cole Sulser.

The 25-year-old Hays is a promising piece for the rebuilding Orioles, but injuries – including to his ribs, ankle, wrist – have dogged him during his professional career. He only appeared in 33 of 60 games last year, owing in part to a rib fracture, but bounced back from an awful start to finish with a roughly league-average .279/.328/.393 line with four home runs in 134 plate appearances. He began this season with two hits in 10 PA during the Orioles’ three-game sweep of the Red Sox.

McKenna, 24, will give the O’s more outfield depth as they await Hays’ return. He hasn’t yet played above Double-A ball, where he hit .232/.321/.365 with nine HRs and 25 steals in 567 PA in 2019, though FanGraphs does rank McKenna as the organization’s seventh-best prospect. Eric Longenhagen wrote last month that “McKenna can fly and he has all-fields, doubles power, peppering the right-center gap with inside-out swings,” adding he could mix average offense with quality defense in the bigs. The 24-year-old will join Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, Ryan Mountcastle and Pat Valaika as outfield options on Baltimore’s roster.

60-Man Pool Additions: Orioles, Brewers

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Here are the latest additions to 60-man player pools from around the majors:

  • Joining the Orioles’ 60-man player pool are righty Kyle Bradish, outfielder Ryan McKenna, and southpaw Bruce Zimmermann. Bradish, a fourth-round pick of the 2018 draft, had a solid year at the High-A level in 2019 and came to the Baltimore organization in the Dylan Bundy swap. The latter two will each be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this fall if they’re not added to the 40-man roster beforehand. McKenna had a tough season last year at Double-A, where slashed just .232/.321/.365 in 567 plate appearances. The 25-year-old Zimmermann topped out at Triple-A in 2019, scuffling in seven starts. But he earned his way there with 101 1/3 impressive frames at Bowie, over which he carried a 2.58 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
  • The Brewers have brought outfielder Hedbert Perez and righty Justin Topa into their alternate training site, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on Twitter. It’s a rather interesting duo. The former only just turned 17 years of age and is obviously still a long ways away from the majors. The organization obviously sees quite a lot of potential. Topa is already 29 but sits in the upper nineties with his fastball, so this’ll be an opportunity for the Milwaukee organization to see if he could ultimately be an option at the MLB level. Last year, Topa worked to a cumulative 3.38 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 over forty frames split between the High-A and Double-A levels.

Players Added To 40-Man Roster: American League

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We’re going to see a whole lot of players added to 40-man rosters in advance of tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. We will use this post to track those contract selections from American League teams that are not otherwise covered on the site.

AL West:

  • The Athletics made just one addition to the 40-man roster, righty Daulton Jefferies, which resulted in the DFA of righty Jharel Cotton (more on that move here).
  • The Rangers will add at least four players to their 40-man, per MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter). Infielder Sherten Apostel, outfielder Leody Taveras, and hurlers Demarcus Evans and Tyler Phillips are all reportedly set to get a slot. Taveras is the most exciting name of this bunch; by the reckoning of some observers, he’s one of the club’s best prospects. Apostel came over in the Keone Kela trade. The two pitchers are upper-minors arms who could contribute in 2020.
  • There’s 40-man movement elsewhere in Texas as well. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets that the Astros have tacked on four players: Taylor Jones, Cristian Javier, Enoli Paredes, and Nivaldo Rodriguez. The last of those is the one that came from the farthest reaches of the prospect map (half a season of High-A ball); clearly, the ’Stros see him as an up-and-comer and were worried other teams would as well. Jones had a strong season at Triple-A and could fight for a bench spot. Javier and Paredes could be in the MLB bullpen mix after running up the farm ladder with high strikeout rates in 2019.
  • The Angels have selected second baseman/outfielder Jahmai Jones and lefty Hector Yan, according to the club. Both players (Jones – No. 6; Yan – No. 17) rank among the Angels’ top 20 prospects at MLB.com. The 22-year-old Jones is a 2015 second-rounder who spent the past two seasons at the Double-A level, where he hit .234/.308/.324 in 544 plate appearances in 2019. Yan, a 20-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, rose to Single-A ball this past season and notched a 3.39 ERA/3.17 FIP with a whopping 12.22 K/9 against 4.29 BB/9 over 109 innings.

AL Central:

AL East:

  • Infielder Santiago Espinal and righty Thomas Hatch were the Blue Jays’ pair of roster additions on Wednesday. Toronto jettisoned Tim Mayza and Justin Shafer from the 40-man roster in a pair of corresponding moves, as explored at greater length here.
  • The Orioles announced that they’ve selected the contracts of left-hander Keegan Akin, right-hander Dean Kremer, infielder/outfielder Ryan Mountcastle and outfielder Ryan McKenna. Mountcastle, a former first-rounder, has long been considered among the organization’s most promising minor leaguers. Akin posted a down year in Triple-A in 2019 but has generally been successful and is viewed as a near-MLB ready arm.
  • The Red Sox have added infielders C.J. Chatham and Bobby Dalbec, outfielder Marcus Wilson, and lefties Kyle Hart and Yoan Aybar to their 40-man, the team announced.The most hyped farmhand there is Dalbec, whom MLB.com ranks as the Red Sox’s second-best prospect. The 24-year-old reached the Triple-A level for the first time in 2019 after obliterating Double-A pitching, and he posted a .257/.301/.478 line with seven home runs and 29 strikeouts against just five walks over 123 trips to the plate.

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