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Yankees ALDS Notes: Rotation, Peralta, Holmes, Carpenter

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In the wake of the news that Aroldis Chapman will not be named to the Yankees’ ALDS roster for skipping a mandatory team workout, notes about other Yankees have helped clarify how the Bronx Bombers will prepare to take on the Guardians:

  • Gerrit Cole will be getting the start in Game 1 of the ALDS in New York on Tuesday night, manager Aaron Boone announced. Cole will be followed by Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino in games 2 and 3, respectively. Boone stated that he considered different alignments for his starting rotation, but ultimately decided on Cole for the opener. Boone added that the Yankees are likely to opt for a three man rotation of Cole, Cortes, and Severino for the ALDS, considering the series’s unique schedule, which features an off day between the first and second games. The extra off day will allow Cole to pitch Game 4 on full rest.
  • Clay Holmes is going to face hitters on Monday, in what he hopes will be a final tune up for the ALDS, reports Meredith Marakovits of YES (via Twitter). Holmes has battled a strain in his right shoulder since the end of September and was last used on September 26. Holmes said that his most recent bullpen felt “free and easy” and that his velocity was good. It remains to be seen whether or not Holmes will be used as a closer in the ALDS, given his second half struggles. Holmes accumulated a 4.84 ERA during the second half, a far cry from his dominant first half, during which he logged a 1.31 ERA.
  • Wandy Peralta will be ready and back in the Yankees bullpen for the ALDS, Marakovits reports (via Twitter). Peralta hit the 15-day IL retroactive to September 19 with thoracic spine tightness. Peralta, a left hander, has been one of New York’s most effective relievers, posting a 2.72 ERA in 56 1/3 innings. Peralta projects to be particularly important if the Yankees are to quiet the bats of Guardians lefties, like Andres Giminez and Steven Kwan. He has held lefties to an OPS of .422 in 2022. With Chapman off the roster, Peralta and Lucas Luetge figure to be the Yankees only left-handed options out of the bullpen.
  • Matt Carpenter expects to be ready to play in the ALDS, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (via Twitter). Carpenter has been hitting, running bases, and took some grounders at first base on Sunday. After a sensational 47-game summer stretch in which Carpenter slugged 15 home runs and hit .305, the veteran infielder suffered a broken left foot on a foul ball. If Carpenter plays as a designated hitter against the Guardians, it is possible that Giancarlo Stanton will spend some time in the outfield, where he has not played since July 21.

AL East Notes: Hosmer, Pham, Castro, Peralta, Espinal

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Eric Hosmer will be activated from the injured list tomorrow, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. Hosmer has been out since late August with lower back inflammation.

It’s been a curious season for Hosmer. Dogged by trade rumors for years, the first baseman was initially reported to be part of the deadline blockbuster between the Padres and the Nationals where San Diego acquired Juan Soto and Josh Bell. Hosmer refused to waive his no-trade rights, however, and so the Padres pivoted, sending Luke Voit to Washington as part of the Soto package and instead moving Hosmer, Corey Rosier, and Max Ferguson to Boston in exchange for Jay Groome.

Hosmer played just 12 games for the Red Sox before heading to the injured list. In those games, he slashed a meager .225/.311/.300, though his season line of .267/.333/.381 is good for a 104 wRC+, his best mark in a full season since his 2017 walk year with the Royals. Though Hosmer’s contract, which will pay him $13 million a year for the 2023-2025 seasons, has an opt-out after this season, it’s extremely unlikely to be exercised. As such, Hosmer is expected to compete with Bobby Dalbec and top prospect Triston Casas for playing time at first base going forward, though with J.D. Martinez slated to hit free agency after this season, it’s possible Hosmer could see some time at DH as well.

Additional notes from around the AL East…

  • Red Sox outfielder Tommy Pham’s mutual option for the 2023, previously reported as $6 million, is a $12 million option, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. Like any mutual option, it remains exceedingly unlikely to be exercised. The Red Sox acquired Pham from the Reds at the trade deadline earlier this season in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. It’s been a disappointing season at the plate for Pham, as he’s slashed just .241/.316/.381 in 611 plate appearances between Cincinnati and Boston.
  • The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner reports that Yankees reliever Miguel Castro is expected to be activated from the injured list tomorrow. The right-hander has posted a 4.00 ERA with a 3.75 FIP in 27 innings this season. Castro has been out with a right shoulder strain since July. As he’s coming off the 60-day injured list, a 40-man roster spot will be necessary to activate Castro. That spot could come from Matt Carpenter, who was transferred to the 60-day IL himself earlier today. Additionally, Kirschner relays that lefty Wandy Peralta will not pitch again during the regular season this year, instead heading to Somerset to prepare for the postseason while the Yankees travel to Texas for their final regular season series against the Rangers. Peralta was placed on the 15-day injured list in September with left thoracic spine tightness.
  • Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports that Blue Jays infielder Santiago Espinal will take live batting practice on Tuesday, and could be activated from the injured list shortly thereafter as Toronto gears up for the postseason. Espinal has slashed .267/.322/.370 in 491 plate appearances this season, but was placed on the injured list with a left oblique strain in September. While Espinal is expected to be ready for the postseason, how much playing time he’ll have available to him is an open question. Espinal has primarily played second base this season, but fellow second basemen Whit Merrifield has posted an .865 OPS since the start of September. That being said, both players have the positional versatility to share a lineup if interim manager John Schneider so desires.

Yankees Designate Miguel Andujar For Assignment

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The Yankees announced they’ve designated Miguel Andújar for assignment. The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for Zack Britton, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. To open a spot for Britton on the active roster, New York placed southpaw Wandy Peralta on the 15-day IL, retroactive to September 19, with thoracic spine tightness.

Andújar’s designation is likely to bring an end to his time as a Yankee. Signed as an amateur free agent back in 2011, he developed into one of the organization’s better prospects a few years later. Andújar hit well on his way up the minor league ladder, earning a cup of coffee late in the 2017 season. The right-handed hitter was widely regarded among the sport’s top prospects heading into 2018, and he very quickly seized the job as New York’s primary third baseman.

During his age-23 rookie season, Andújar hit .297/.328/.527 through 606 plate appearances. He connected on 27 home runs and 47 doubles, tying for third in the majors in the latter category. It wasn’t a flawless season — he didn’t walk much and his defensive marks were subpar — but it was an unquestionably impressive effort that looked as if it’d cement him in the middle of the Yankees order for years to come. He picked up a second place finish in that year’s American League Rookie of the Year balloting, collecting the five first-place votes that didn’t go to Shohei Ohtani.

Impressive as that debut season was, Andújar hasn’t gotten an extended chance to build upon it in the four years since then. That’s in large part due to injury, as he suffered a labrum tear in his right shoulder early in the 2019 campaign. He played in only 12 games before undergoing season-ending surgery. By the time he returned to health for 2020, Gio Urshela had broken out and staked a claim to the hot corner in the Bronx. Andújar was relegated to a depth role, bouncing between Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and New York as needed but never appearing in more than 45 games in a season.

Andújar hasn’t done much in those brief stints to warrant more regular playing time. Dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign, he owns just a .244/.272/.346 line with eight homers in 327 trips to the plate. That’s obviously not sufficient for a bat-first player, but it’s fair to wonder whether he’d have been able to perform better if the Yankees had more consistent at-bats to give him. Instead, he’s been caught in something of a catch-22 for three seasons: never playing well enough to earn everyday reps on a win-now team and thus not having a window of opportunity to get back on track.

The constant shuffling on and off the roster made Andújar a frequent subject of trade speculation, and the 27-year-old has reportedly requested to be traded on multiple occasions in search of a new opportunity. While the Yankees were open to offers at this summer’s deadline (and quite likely at periods before this August), they didn’t find a deal to their liking. Instead, they’ve kept Andújar around as a depth player while getting him some more experience in the corner outfield in addition to his infield work.

The lack of apparent playing time available has become so glaring the Yankees now decide to take him off the roster entirely. With the trade deadline having passed, they’ll have no choice but to place him on waivers in the next few days. It appears likely another team will put in a claim. Not only has Andújar had some MLB success a few years back, he owns a solid .285/.330/.487 line with 13 longballs in 297 Triple-A plate appearances this season. He’s only gone down on strikes in 11.8% of those trips, showcasing the blend of contact and power that once made him such a promising offensive player.

Andújar is making $1.3MM this season, but less than $100K of that remains to be paid out. He’s likely to finish this season with four-plus years of MLB service, meaning he’ll be eligible for arbitration twice more after this year. This is Andújar’s final minor league option year, so he’d have to break camp with another team next season or again be designated for assignment.

As for the other players involved, it’s a notable return for Britton. The veteran southpaw hasn’t thrown an MLB pitch this season after undergoing UCL replacement surgery last September. That brought a disheartening end to what had already been a rough season, as Britton posted just a 5.89 ERA over 18 1/3 innings while battling multiple injuries in 2021. He has made eight appearances on a minor league rehab stint and now returns to the active roster with a little less than two weeks to try to earn a playoff roster spot.

Britton is making $14MM this season, the final year of a contract he signed in January 2019. The 34-year-old is headed back to free agency at the end of the season. He won’t approach that kind of salary on his next deal, but a strong showing down the stretch and into the playoffs could earn him a few million dollars on the open market.

With Britton stepping in as a left-handed option for manager Aaron Boone, Peralta heads to the shelf. He’s had a quietly excellent 2022 campaign, working to a 2.72 ERA over 56 1/3 frames while holding southpaws to a meager .155/.211/.211 line in 77 plate appearances. He’d be a nice situational weapon for the postseason, and Boone told reporters this afternoon the club anticipates he’ll be back before the end of the regular season (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com).

Gary Sanchez Tests Positive For COVID-19

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Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez has tested positive for COVID-19, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News). He woke up this morning not feeling well and a rapid test came back positive. Rob Brantly is being re-selected to the roster as his replacement.

Sánchez is yet another notable Yankees player to land on the COVID IL. Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery hit the injured list earlier this week, and a few players (including star outfielder Aaron Judge) tested positive immediately after the All-Star Break. One of those players — reliever Wandy Peralta — just made his return from the IL this afternoon. Assuming follow-up testing confirms the positive result, Sánchez will miss at least ten days recuperating, leaving New York to rely upon Kyle Higashioka and Brantly behind the plate.

Brantly was selected as a COVID replacement, so he can be returned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at a later date without being subjected to waivers. He’s already been up as a COVID replacement once this season, appearing in four games.

Latest On Yankees’ COVID-19 Situation

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JULY 16: Testing today has turned up zero new positive cases, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). However, Boone added that six Yankees players have been confirmed positive within the past week and are expected to miss at least ten days, suggesting that follow-up testing on Judge, Urshela and Higashioka has confirmed their positive results. Friday’s game against the Red Sox will be played, with yesterday’s postponement to be made up as part of a doubleheader on August 17.

JULY 15, 5:20 pm: Judge is indeed the Yankees All-Star in question, The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham reports (via Twitter).  Gio Urshela, and Kyle Higashioka are the other two Yankees in COVID protocol, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets.

JULY 15, 5:05 pm: Rafael Devers and other Red Sox All-Star representatives were asked to undergo additional COVID-19 testing after being told that one of the Yankees’ All-Star reps tested positive, ESPN’s Marly Rivera (Twitter links) reports.  This would indicate at least one of Aaron Judge, Aroldis Chapman, or Gerrit Cole — Cole was replaced on the All-Star roster but was still present during festivities.

JULY 15, 3:39 pm: Tonight’s game between the Red Sox and Yankees has been postponed due to a COVID-19 situation within the Yankees’ clubhouse, as originally reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).  Major League Baseball released an official announcement about the postponement, noting “positive COVID-19 tests within the New York Yankees organization.”  There isn’t yet any word about a make-up date for tonight’s contest, and it isn’t yet known if any other games in the scheduled four-game series could be in jeopardy.

Speaking with The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (all links to Twitter) and other reporters, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said the club has six ongoing COVID-19 cases, all of players.  Cashman confirmed that the three players currently on the Yankees’ COVID-related injury list (left-handers Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta, and righty Jonathan Loaisiga) all tested positive for the virus, while three other potential cases are pending confirmation of positive results.  ESPN’s Marly Rivera reports that “at least two” of the positive COVID tests were delivered by Yankees position players.

Most importantly, Cashman indicated that the cases appear to be asymptomatic, saying “As of right now, everybody is ok.”  The Yankees as a whole have passed the league’s mandated 85% vaccination rate , though Cashman said that only “most” of the six players had received vaccines.  Cortes, Peralta, and Loaisiga had all been vaccinated.

Cortes and Peralta were placed on the COVID-19 list earlier today, while Loaisiga’s placement came back on July 10.  Loaisiga has yet to rejoin the team from their road trip in Houston, Cashman said, as the right-hander has been quarantined.

This is the second time the Yankees have been hit with a COVID outbreak this season, after eight players and coaches tested positive for the virus back in May.  (New York manager Aaron Boone told Adler and other reporters today that Gleyber Torres’ positive test at the time was actually a false positive.)  That outbreak didn’t result in any postponed games, as while COVID-IL placements have still been rather common this season, today’s Red Sox/Yankees matchup is the only the eighth game of the season to be postponed for COVID-related reasons.  The other seven postponements all took place prior to April 19.

Yankees Select Trey Amburgey, Activate Zack Britton

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The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of minor league outfielder Trey Amburgey to the Major League roster and reinstated lefty Zack Britton from the 10-day injured list. In a pair of corresponding roster moves, both Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta were placed on the Covid-19-related injured list. The team has not provided further updates on their status. Players on the Covid list do not count against a team’s 40-man roster, so no further corresponding move was necessary to place Amburgey on the 40-man.

Amburgey, 26, was the team’s 13th-round pick back in 2015. He’s never been considered one of the organization’s top prospects and posted mostly average results while rising through the minor league ranks. However, his 2019 campaign in Triple-A was a bit above the league average, and his second go-around at that level has been enormously productive.

Through 161 plate appearances so far in 2021, Amburgey has tattooed Triple-A pitching at a .312/.379/.582 clip. He’s connected on seven home runs, 15 doubles and a triple while walking at a healthy 9.9 percent clip and fanning in 24.2 percent his plate appearances.

Amburgey has played the outfield corners exclusively so far in 2021, but he does have 753 innings of center-field work under his belt — including 122 innings there back in Triple-A during the 2019 season. That makes him an option to work into the mix at multiple spots, as the Yankees have received generally poor collective output from both left field (.232/.297/.363, 83 wRC+) and center field (.182/.289/.312, 71 wRC+) so far in 2021. Right fielder Aaron Judge has been characteristically excellent, both with the glove and the bat, but the outfield group as a whole has been a key factor in the Yankees’ underwhelming 2021 campaign.

The 33-year-old Britton, meanwhile, will return from his second IL stint of the season — the second a much shorter one than the first. Britton was out from Opening Day through June 12 due to arthroscopic surgery that removed bone chips from his left elbow. He tossed just 4 1/3 innings upon his activation before going down with a hamstring strain that sidelined him another three weeks.

Britton’s return will come at a time when the Yankees’ other high-priced bullpen lefty, Aroldis Chapman, has been melting down at the most alarming rate of his career. Chapman carried a near-immaculate 0.39 ERA through early June before imploding in a four-run loss to the Twins at Target Field in which he failed to retire any batters. He’s now allowed runs in five of his past ten outings, including three of his past four, and pitched to a disastrous 18.90 ERA over those ten outings. Since that June 10 meltdown, Chapman has yielded 14 earned runs on 15 hits and 11 walks in just 6 2/3 frames. Four of those hits have left the yard, and he’s also hit a batter. He’s faced 46 batters and allowed 27 of them to reach.

Given those struggles, it wouldn’t at all be a surprise to see a returning Britton and the steadier Chad Green supplant Chapman in high-leverage and/or save situations. (Although Green himself just imploded for four runs in his final first-half outing.) Britton, of course, has more closing experience than just about any “setup” man around the game, having racked up 153 saves in his career — including an AL-best 47 back in 2016 with the Orioles.

The Yankees are turning to Amburgey and Britton at a pivotal time for the club. They’ll face the division-leading Red Sox in eight of their next ten games, with the only reprieve coming via a two-game set against the Phillies.

The Yankees’ season in many ways hangs in the balance; they’re already eight games behind Boston in the AL East and four and a half games back in the AL Wild Card chase. A strong showing in these eight games could rally the club and push the front office into buy mode with the July 30 trade deadline looming, but if the Sox are able to topple the Yankees in the majority of these eight games, it could serve as a proverbial nail in the coffin of the 2021 Yankees, who’d have some interesting veterans to peddle in advance of the deadline.

Yankees Place Zack Britton, Wandy Peralta On Injured List, Recall Albert Abreu, Brooks Kriske

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Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Zack Britton is heading back to the injured list with a left hamstring strain, per Lindsey Adler of The Athletic (via Twitter). A back issue has landed Wandy Peralta on the injured list as well, while Albert Abreu and Brooks Kriske will be recalled from Triple-A. They are available out of the bullpen tonight, per Erik Boland of Newsday Sports and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter links).

Britton, a significant piece of New York’s run prevention plan, has just five appearances on the season. On the bright side, the Yankees don’t expect Britton to miss too much time, with Boone characterizing the injury as more “cramping” than “strain,” per ESPN’s Marly Rivera (via Twitter). A bone spur in his elbow forced Britton to miss the first 72 days of the season. Since returning, the Yankees’ deputy southpaw tossed 4 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits (one homer), three walks, and a hit batsman while striking out three.

Peralta’s IL stint is retroactive to June 23rd. Since arriving from the Giants in exchange for Mike Tauchman, Peralta has a 5.28 ERA/5.69 FIP in 15 1/3 innings over 20 outings. He has recorded just nine strikeouts in that time for a substandard 13.9 percent strikeout rate.

Peralta leans heavily on his change-up with a 38.4 percent usage rate, but it’s his slider that’s not generating swings and misses. The whiff rate on Peralta’s breaking ball has seen a year-over-year decline from 42.9 percent to 37.0 percent. He’s throwing it less as a result, but it’s still his second most-used offering with a 25.5 percent usage rate. If Peralta’s slider has been affected by his recent back pain, there may be some cause for optimism that he can again become an effective big-league arm, as he’s been at multiple stages of his MLB career.

Abreu, 25, and Kriske, 27, have each spent time in the Majors this season, making four appearances apiece. Abreu served as more of a long man, soaking up 8 2/3 innings while allowing just two earned runs on two hits while walking four and striking out 10. Kriske has been less effective, surrendering five earned runs while facing just 20 batters in those four innings of work.

Yankees Acquire Connor Cannon To Complete Mike Tauchman Trade

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The Yankees have acquired infielder Connor Cannon from the Giants to complete the April 27th trade that sent Mike Tauchman to San Francisco for Wandy Peralta and a Player To Be Named Later. The Yankees announced the completion of the deal.

Cannon was drafted in the 17th round of the 2019 draft out of UC Riverside. The 23-year-old hit .326/.399/.689 in rookie ball during his first taste of pro action after being drafted, but he has yet to appear this season. Probably a first baseman, Cannon pitched some at college, but his power at the plate is by far the greater talent.

The 6’5″, 240 pounder will be on the older side for a prospect wherever he ultimately reports this season, but he does have some promise at the plate, particularly for an American League club that might envision him as a designated hitter. FanGraphs named his as the Giants’ 40th-ranked prospect, crediting him with top-of-the-scale, 80-grade raw power but bottom-of-the-scale, 20-grade speed.

Yankees Trade Mike Tauchman To Giants For Wandy Peralta

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The Yankees have traded outfielder Mike Tauchman to the Giants for left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports. New York will also receive a player to be named later, the team announced.

This deal sends the 30-year-old Tauchman back to the National League West, where the former 10th-round pick played with the Rockies from 2017-18. Tauchman was unable to establish himself in Colorado, which traded him to the Yankees for lefty Phillip Diehl shortly before the 2019 season.

At first, the Tauchman pickup looked like a steal for the Yankees, as he appeared in 87 games as a reserve in his initial year with the team and slashed a terrific .277/.361/.504 with 13 home runs, six steals and 2.6 fWAR over 296 plate appearances. Tauchman blended that offensive performance with great work among all three outfield positions, combining for 19 Defensive Runs Saved in the grass.

While the 2019 version of Tauchman was a gem, his production and playing time have significantly dwindled since then. Tauchman did appear in 43 games and total 111 PA last season, but he failed to hit a homer, batted a below-average .242/.342/.305 and essentially broke even in the field with zero DRS and a minus-2.2 Ultimate Zone Rating. Meanwhile, fellow Yankees outfielders Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner each recorded far superior production, which helped lead Tauchman to fall out of favor.

With Judge, Frazier, Hicks and Gardner returning, Tauchman became an afterthought for the Yankees this year. So far, he has picked up a meager 16 trips to the plate and batted .214/.267/.286 without a homer. Now, the out-of-options Tauchman will provide versatile depth in a Giants outfield that has used Mike Yastrzemski (though he’s currently dealing with a mild oblique issue), Austin Slater, Alex Dickerson, Mauricio Dubon and Darin Ruf, among others, this season. Tauchman won’t reach arbitration for the first time until the upcoming winter, so he could be a multiyear piece for the Giants if he performs to their liking this season.

Peralta, 29, started his career in 2016 with the Reds, who lost him on waivers to the Giants late in the 2019 campaign. Despite 95-96 mph fastball velocity and a career 50.4 percent groundball rate, Peralta has typically had trouble keeping runs off the board. Through 192 2/3 innings, including 8 1/3 this season, Peralta has recorded a 4.72 ERA/4.58 SIERA with unspectacular strikeout and walk percentages of 18.5 and 10.8, respectively.

Peralta still has a minor league option remaining, though he’ll only be eligible for arbitration one more time. For now, Peralta will give the New York organization a third southpaw relief option behind closer Aroldis Chapman and Lucas Luetge. The Yankees have had to go this season without key lefty setup man Zack Britton, who’s on the mend from arthroscopic elbow surgery and probably won’t return until the summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12/2/20

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With the non-tender deadline coming today at 7pm CT, expect quite a few players to agree to contracts for the 2021 season, avoiding arbitration in advance.  In many (but not all) cases, these deals — referred to as “pre-tender” deals because they fall prior to the deadline — will fall shy of expectations and projections.  Teams will sometimes present borderline non-tender candidates with a “take it or leave it” style offer which will be accepted for fear of being non-tendered and sent out into an uncertain market.  Speculatively, such deals could increase in 2020 due to the economic uncertainty sweeping through the game, although there are also widespread expectations of record non-tender numbers.

You can track all of the arbitration and non-tender activity here, and we’ll also run through today’s smaller-scale pre-tender deals in this post.  You can also check out Matt Swartz’s arbitration salary projections here.

Latest Agreements

Earlier Agreements

  • Twins righty Jose Berrios will earn $6.1MM with a $500K signing bonus in 2021, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports. Catcher Mitch Garver will rake in $1.875MM, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Center fielder Byron Buxton ($5.125MM) and reliever Taylor Rogers (terms not released) also agreed to deals, according to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune.
  • The Phillies have deals with starter Zach Eflin ($4.45MM) and relievers Hector Neris ($5MM), David Hale ($850K) and Seranthony Dominguez ($727,500), Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Heyman and Todd Zolecki of MLB.com relay.
  • The Marlins and first baseman Garrett Cooper have a $1.8MM agreement that could max out at $2.05MM with performance bonuses, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets.
  • The Brewers are keeping catcher Manny Pina in the fold for $1.65MM, according to Heyman. They’re also retaining first baseman Daniel Vogelbach for $1.4MM, Nightengale reports.
  • The Giants and outfielder Austin Slater have a one-year, $1.15MM deal, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.The club also reached a $925K agreement with lefty Wandy Peralta and a $700K pact with righty Trevor Gott, Heyman tweets.
  • The Cubs are bringing back hurlers Dan Winkler ($900K), Colin Rea ($702,500) and Kyle Ryan ($800K), Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Ryan’s agreement is a split contract that features a $250K minor league salary.
  • The Mets are retaining lefty Steven Matz for $5.2MM, Nightengale tweets. Matz had a brutal campaign in 2020 with a 9.68 ERA/7.76 FIP over 30 2/3 innings in 2020, but the Mets will give him a chance to rebound.
  • The Padres and lefty Matt Strahm have a one-year, $2MM deal, Nightengale reports. Strahm gave the Padres a 2.61 ERA/4.93 FIP in 20 2/3 innings in 2020.
  • Outfielder Guillermo Heredia, whom the Mets claimed from Pittsburgh in August, will earn $1MM in 2021, according to Nightengale.
  • The Astros and reliever Austin Pruitt have settled for $617, 500, per Heyman. The right-hander missed the season with elbow issues.
  • The Royals and outfielder Jorge Soler have agreed to a one-year, $8.05MM deal with $250K in incentives, Nightengale reports. Soler was a 48-home run hitter in 2019, but his production went backward this past season, in which he slashed .228/.326/.443 with eight HRs in 174 trips to the plate.
  • The Red Sox have kept relievers Matt Barnes ($4.4MM) and Ryan Brasier ($1.25MM) and catcher Kevin Plawecki ($1.6MM), per tweets from Nightengale, Robert Murray of FanSided and Heyman. Barnes has been a solid reliever as a member of the Red Sox, though he yielded more than five walks per nine and upward of four runs per nine in 2020. Brasier was more successful this past season, as he tossed 25 frames of 3.96 ERA/3.15 FIP ball and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine. Plawecki had a nice year as the backup to Christian Vazquez, as he batted .341/.393/.463 in 89 PA.
  • The Giants and southpaw Jarlin Garcia have settled for $950K, according to Heyman. Garcia is coming off an 18 1/3-inning effort in which he posted a near-perfect 0.49 (with an impressive 3.14 FIP) and 6.87 K/9 against 3.44 BB/9.
  • The Marlins have agreed to a one-year, $4.3MM deal with first baseman Jesus Aguilar, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. The 30-year-old slugger put up strong numbers in his first year with the Fish, slashing .277/.352/.457 with eight long balls in 216 plate appearances.
  • The Giants and outfielder Alex Dickerson settled at a year and $2MM, tweets Nightengale. The 30-year-old slugger has a lengthy injury history but has been excellent in limited work with the Giants, including a .298/.371/.576 slash in 170 plate appearances this past season.
  • Luis Cessa will be back with the Yankees on a one-year deal, tweets Nightengale. He’ll earn $1.05MM. The righty notched a 3.32 ERA and 3.79 FIP with a 17-to-7 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings this past season. Fellow righty Ben Heller will also return, the team announced, though it didn’t disclose financial details.
  • First baseman Matt Olson and the Athletics settled on a one-year deal worth $5MM, tweets Nightengale. The 26-year-old Olson’s .198/.310/.424 slash was an obvious step back from his 2019 campaign, but he’s still viewed as a vital part of the club’s future moving forward.
  • The Braves and righty Luke Jackson agreed to a one-year deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The 29-year-old was rocked for a 6.84 ERA in this year’s shortened slate of games but posted a 3.84 ERA and 3.24 FIP with better than 13 K/9 as one of the team’s steadiest relievers in 2019. The contract is valued at $1.9MM, per a team announcement.
  • The Brewers are bringing back catcher Omar Narvaez for one year and $2.5MM, Heyman tweets. Narvaez was a very good offensive catcher from 2o16-19 with the White Sox and Mariners, but he struggled last season after the M’s traded him to the Brewers. Thanks in part to a career-worst 31 percent strikeout rate, Narvaez could only muster a .176/.294/.269 line and a paltry two HRs in 126 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he’s in line to return to the Brewers for a second season.
  • The Brewers have agreed to a one-year, $2MM contract with shortstop Orlando Arcia, Nightengale relays. Arcia endured serious struggles on offense in prior years, but the 26-year-old managed a respectable .260/.317/.416 line with five home runs over 189 plate appearances this past season.
  • The Phillies and catcher Andrew Knapp have reached a one-year, $1.1MM agreement, per Nightengale. Typically a light-hitting backstop, Knapp batted a career-best .278/.404/.444 in 89 plate appearances in 2020. He’s currently the No. 1 catcher on a Phillies team that could lose J.T. Realmuto in free agency.
  • Pirates infielder Erik Gonzalez agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.225MM, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. It was the second year of arb eligibility for Gonzalez, whose glovework will earn him a contract despite a brutal .227/.255/.359 batting line in 193 plate appearances in 2020.
  • The Royals and Hunter Dozier agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.72MM in entirely guaranteed money, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.  More is available to Dozier via contract incentives.  Dozier hit .228/.344/.392 over 186 PA after missing over the first two weeks of the season recovering from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
  • The Red Sox agreed to an $870K deal with right-hander Austin Brice for the 2021 season, as per Nightengale.  Brice posted a 5.95 ERA, 11.4 K/9, and 5.9 BB/9 over 19 2/3 innings in his first season in Boston, and was considered a potential non-tender candidate.
  • The Twins and righty Tyler Duffey agreed to a one-year, $2.2MM pact, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports.  According to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, Duffey’s deal is fully guaranteed.
  • The Braves agreed to a one-year, $900K deal with southpaw Grant Dayton, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  Dayton had a 2.30 ERA over 27 1/3 innings in 2020.
  • The Braves announced an agreement with utilityman Johan Camargo on a one-year, $1.36MM deal.  Camargo was thought to be a non-tender candidate after struggling to a .222/.267/.378 slash line in 375 plate appearances over the last two seasons, but he will return for a fifth year in Atlanta.
  • The White Sox and left-hander Jace Fry agreed to a one-year deal worth $862.5K, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  Fry posted a 3.66 ERA, 2.00 K/BB rate, and 11.0 K/9 over 19 2/3 innings in 2020, and he has strong overall career numbers against left-handed batters.
  • The Orioles agreed with second baseman Yolmer Sanchez on a one-year deal worth $1MM, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).  Baltimore claimed Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox at the end of October.  A Gold Glove winner in 2019, Sanchez was non-tendered by Chicago prior to last year’s deadline, though after signing a minors deal with the Giants, he returned to the White Sox on another minors deal and appeared in 11 games on the South Side.
  • The Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth roughly $700K with left-hander Caleb Thielbar, The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman reports (via Twitter).  2020 marked Thielbar’s first taste of MLB action since 2015, as the southpaw worked his way back from independent ball to post a 2.25 ERA, 2.44 K/BB rate, and 9.9 K/9 over 20 innings for Minnesota.
  • The Dodgers and left-hander Scott Alexander have agreed to a one-year, $1MM deal, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link).  Alexander posted a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Los Angeles bullpen this season, recording an equal number of walks and strikeouts (nine).  The southpaw was thought to be a potential non-tender candidate given his relative lack of usage and his non-inclusion on the Dodgers’ playoff roster, but the team will retain Alexander for his second arb-eligible year.  ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter) adds the noteworthy detail that Alexander’s $1MM salary is fully guaranteed, as opposed to the usual contracts for arbitration-eligible players that allow their teams to release them prior to Opening Day and only pay a fraction of the agreed-upon salary.
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