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Sam Haggerty

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 11/21/25

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The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is this afternoon at 4pm CT. Throughout the day, we’ll surely 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 2022-26 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 in this post come via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. This post will be updated throughout the day as deals are announced and/or reported. Salary figures are from The Associated Press unless otherwise noted.

Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images

Rangers Select Billy McKinney

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The Rangers announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Billy McKinney. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow outfielder Wyatt Langford, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain. Outfielder Sam Haggerty has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for McKinney.

Langford has been battling side tightness for a few days now. He didn’t play on Friday or Saturday, before returning to the lineup Sunday. He then departed yesterday’s game, again due to side tightness. The Rangers were officially eliminated from playoff contention last night, meaning there’s no longer any need to try to stay on the field. Langford will therefore spend the final few days of the season on the IL.

That gets McKinney back onto the Rangers’ roster. He spent a few days with the club in July, getting into two games and stepping to the plate eight times. He went 1-7 with a walk. He was then designated for assignment and elected free agency before re-signing with the club on a new minor league deal.

He has been playing decently in the minors but that’s nothing new for him. He has always performed well on the farm, which has gotten him plenty of big league chances that he hasn’t been able to capitalize on. He has spent time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics, Pirates and Rangers, getting in 323 big league games. In his 951 plate appearances, he has a .208/.283/.384 batting line, which translates to a 79 wRC+. He can be retained for 2026 via arbitration but is probably just up to cover for a few days and will likely be removed from the roster in some fashion in subsequent weeks.

As for Haggerty, he landed on the 10-day IL in mid-August due to left ankle inflammation. He started a rehab assignment over a week ago but only got into two games, so he has presumably hit some sort of snag. He’ll finish the season on the 60-day IL. Like McKinney, he can be retained for next year via arbitration but is a non-tender candidate.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Rangers Select Cody Freeman

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The Rangers announced that they have selected contract of infielder Cody Freeman. Infielder Sam Haggerty was placed on the 10-day injured list due to ankle inflammation, retroactive to July 15th. The club had an open 40-man spot after trading Dane Dunning yesterday. Kennedi Landry of MLB.com was among those to relay the moves prior to the official announcement.

Freeman, 24, will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. The younger brother of Tyler Freeman of the Rockies, Cody was a fourth-round pick of the Rangers in 2019. Offensively, the younger Freeman provides a contact-forward approach. He has stepped to the plate 2,150 times in the minors with a 15.7% strikeout rate.

He has been at Triple-A for all of this year. In 350 plate appearances at that level, he has an 8.9% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 12 home runs. Even in the hitter-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League, his .315/.367/.494 slash line translates to a 113 wRC+.

Defensively, he is capable of bouncing around. This year, he has mostly been at third base but has also appeared in the middle infield. He has some work at first base and catcher on his track record but not in recent years.

Last month, FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention on their list of the top Ranger prospects in the “Contact-Driven Profiles” section. The quick mention of Freeman noted that he would have a future value of 40 on the 20-80 scale if he were a better defender.

Haggerty had been serving in a multi-positional bench role and Freeman will perhaps step up to do the same. As this is his first big league call, he has a full slate of options and can be easily sent back to the minors in the future, if needed.

Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images

Rangers Select Sam Haggerty

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The Rangers have selected outfielder Sam Haggerty’s contract from Triple-A Round Rock, the team announced. In a corresponding move, fellow outfielder Dustin Harris has been optioned to Triple-A. The Rangers had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

Following five seasons with the Mariners, Haggerty moved on to a new AL West club after Seattle non-tendered him this offseason. He was a productive bat for the M’s from 2022-23, producing a .727 OPS and a 113 wRC+ in 309 PA, but he missed most of 2024 after tearing his Achilles tendon. The Rangers added him on a minor league deal in February. He failed to win a job out of spring training and packed his bags for Round Rock to begin the year.

Harris had been with the big league club since Wyatt Langford went on the IL in early April. He hit well enough over his first handful of games to stick around when Langford returned. However, he went 1-for-18 over his last 20 plate appearances, with a single, two walks, and six strikeouts. Meanwhile, Haggerty has been swinging a hot bat at Triple-A. Over the past three weeks, he hit .347 with an .879 OPS and a 129 wRC+. Furthermore, as a switch-hitter with MLB reps at all three bases and all three outfield spots, he offers the Rangers more versatility and experience. It’s only been a few years since Harris was widely considered a top-10 prospect in the Rangers organization. While his prospect sheen has faded, he is still just 25, and some more time at Triple-A could surely do him some good. Haggerty, on the other hand, has little to learn or prove in the minors. He’ll turn 31 later this month and has played in parts of six big league seasons.

Although he bats from both sides of the plate, Haggerty has much more impressive numbers in 216 career PA against left-handed pitchers than he does in his 260 career PA against righties. He has walked more and struck out less against southpaws, and he’s hit seven of his nine career home runs as a righty batter. The Rangers currently rank 21st in MLB with a .622 OPS and a 79 wRC+ against left-handed pitching, due in large part to the struggles of hitters like Corey Seager and Adolis García. Haggerty is no solution to that problem, but the Rangers will hope he can offer a bit of help off the bench. A fast runner with 33 career steals in 36 attempts, Haggerty can also help the Rangers on the basepaths; they currently rank 14th in stolen bases and 13th in FanGraphs baserunning value.

Rangers Notes: Outfield, Garcia, Duran

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The Rangers have faced plenty of questions about their outfield mix throughout the spring, as both Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia have been slowed by oblique issues. While both avoided a serious injury, Langford has only recently returned to game action and Garcia is further behind. Fortunately, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News reported earlier today that Garcia resumed swinging a bat today, putting both players in position to be ready for Opening Day on March 27.

That leaves the outfield corners more or less settled, with Langford and Garcia expected to patrol left and right field on a regular basis respectively. Center field remains something of a question mark, however. The club has both Evan Carter and Leody Taveras on the roster as solid options, and given his prospect pedigree it seems likely that Carter would have a leg up when it comes to regular playing time. With that being said, the club’s plans for center field remain very much up in the air due primarily to both Carter and Taveras struggling against left-handed pitching. Carter has hit just .081/.150/.081 against southpaws to this point in his young MLB career, and the switch-hitting Taveras’s .189/.270/.244 line last season wasn’t much more inspiring.

Without a clear option in center field against lefties, it seems increasingly likely the club could look to find a way to get either Kevin Pillar or Sam Haggerty onto the roster. Both Pillar and Haggerty are in camp as non-roster invitees but have solid track records against left-handed pitching and an ability to handle center. Pillar has plenty of experience as a glove-first outfield option over his 12 year MLB career, and even entering his age-36 season he retains the ability to mash opposite-handed pitching with a .310/.352/.500 line against lefties last year. Meanwhile, Haggerty has never had a regular role in the majors but is a career .263/.355/.452 hitter against southpaws, even better than Pillar’s career numbers. With that said, Haggerty has primarily played the outfield corners throughout his career to this point while Pillar is much more experienced in center.

Regardless of whether Pillar or Haggerty ultimately makes the roster, adding either to the mix would squeeze the club’s roster. One possible route could be optioning Carter to the minor leagues, where he has just eight games at the Triple-A level under his belt. That would cleanly allow the club to maximize its versatility while using a platoon of Taveras and either Pillar or Haggerty in center field but it would also mean further delaying the potential impact of Carter, who was a consensus top-5 prospect in the sport entering last season. If the Rangers want Carter on the roster for Opening Day, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggests that utility man Ezequiel Duran could be headed to Triple-A to start the season.

Duran, 25, had a brilliant season for the Rangers in 2023 but struggled badly last year with a 74 wRC+ last year. While a right-handed hitting utility player like Duran could seem like an obvious platoon partner for Carter or Taveras in center, he hit just .209/.250/.244 in 46 games against lefties last year. That work totaled just 92 plate appearances, so perhaps it should be taken with a grain of salt, but more pressing that Duran’s vanishing bat against southpaws last year is his lack of experience in center. He’s made just 16 professional appearances in center field throughout his career, and only one inning of that work came at the big league level. That could make Duran the odd man out on the club’s current roster, with fellow utility man Josh Smith potentially in line to take on additional duties in his stead.

Rangers, Sam Haggerty Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have agreed to a minor league contract with utilityman Sam Haggerty, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The BHSC client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.

Haggerty, 30, was non-tendered by the Mariners back in November. He suffered a torn Achilles tendon while running down a flyball with the team’s Triple-A affiliate last May, which unsurprisingly proved to be a season-ending injury.

The switch-hitting Haggerty spent parts of five seasons with the Mariners, plus a very brief MLB debut with the Mets organization (four plate appearances) back in 2019. He’s a career .232/.312/.351 hitter in 477 trips to the plate, including a career-best .255/.345/.382 (113 wRC+) in 309 plate appearances with Seattle from 2022-23.

Haggerty is lacking in power but makes up for that with plus speed and a good bit of versatility. Statcast credited him with 92nd percentile sprint speed (29.2 ft/sec) as recently as 2023, and Haggerty boasts a career 33-for-36 (91.7%) mark in stolen base attempts in the majors. He’s played all three outfield spots and each of first base, second base and third base in the big leagues as well. The bulk of his time has been spent in the outfield — left field, specifically — and he’s drawn solid grades for his glovework there. Haggerty is best-suited for the short side of a platoon; despite his switch-hitting status, he’s just a .209/.278/.272 hitter as a lefty but carries a sharp .263/.355/.452 output when batting from the right side of the plate.

Given that Haggerty has spent the past half decade in the AL West, the Rangers have seen him plenty. He’ll give Texas some depth around the diamond but particularly in the outfield, where Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter and Adolis Garcia are slated to start and veteran Leody Taveras is projected to be the fourth outfielder. (Of course, Taveras stands as a viable trade candidate, which could improve Haggerty’s chances of making the roster.) If Haggerty does crack the big league club, he’s at 4.036 years of MLB service, making him controllable at least through 2026.

Mariners Non-Tender Josh Rojas, Three Others

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The Mariners announced that they have non-tendered four players: infielder Josh Rojas, infielder/outfielder Sam Haggerty, as well as right-handers JT Chargois and Austin Voth. Haggerty’s non-tender was reported earlier by Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link).

Rojas, 30, has had an up-and-down career thus far. With the Diamondbacks in 2021 and 2022, he slashed .266/.345/.401 for a wRC+ of 106, indicating he was 6% better than league average over that span. He also stole 32 bases while bouncing around to the three infield positions to the left of first base as well as the outfield corners.

But his performance dipped badly in 2023, as he slashed .228/.292/.296 in 59 games for the Snakes that year. The Mariners then tried to buy low on him, acquiring him as part of the July 2023 trade headlined by Paul Sewald.

Initially, it seemed like the buy-low move might have worked, as Rojas slashed .272/.321/.400 for a 105 wRC+ in 46 games after the trade. The M’s gave him a $3.1MM salary for 2024 and hoped that he could keep it going, but this year’s line of .225/.304/.336 led to a wRC+ of just 91. He still stole 10 bases and bounced all over the diamond, but the club has decided to go in a different direction. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Rojas for a bump to $4.3MM next year, though the M’s clearly weren’t willing to bring him back at that price point, sending him to free agency instead.

It’s been reported that the Mariners are looking to upgrade their infield and this further cements that desire. They had already declined a club option on Jorge Polanco and traded away Ty France. Deadline acquisition Justin Turner hit free agency. That means shortstop J.P. Crawford is the only stable portion of the club’s infield mix at present. Luke Raley could get lots of playing time at first base but could also be in the outfield. Players like Dylan Moore, Ryan Bliss, Austin Shenton, Leo Rivas, Samad Taylor or Tyler Locklear could be involved next year but the M’s will surely be looking for external additions in the coming months.

Turning to the others, Haggerty has been a useful part-time players for the Mariners in recent years but he only played eight games in 2024 due to a torn achilles. Voth and Chargois were each entering their final season of club control, so there was no long-term benefit to rostering them in 2025. Voth had a solid 3.69 earned run average this year but with a .236 batting average on balls in play. Chargois had a 2.23 ERA this year but is a journeyman who’s about to turn 34. Haggerty was projected for a salary of $900K, Voth $2.2MM and Chargois $1.7MM, but the M’s have balked at all of those prices and sent those players into free agency instead.

American League Non-Tenders: 11/22/24

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The deadline to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm CT. Here’s a rundown of the players on American League teams that have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all players eligible for arbitration last month. All players who are non-tendered before this evening’s deadline go directly into free agency, where they’re eligible to sign with any of MLB’s 30 clubs.

Onto the transactions…

  • The Angels announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Patrick Sandoval, infielder Eric Wagaman, as well as outfielders Jordyn Adams and Bryce Teodosio. You can read more about those moves here.
  • The Astros tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Athletics announced that they did not tender a contract to right-hander Dany Jiménez, who was projected for a $1MM salary. He posted a 4.91 in 25 appearances for the A’s in 2024. He struck out 21.4% of opponents but gave out walks at a 16.2% clip.
  • The Blue Jays are planning to non-tender righty Dillon Tate, per Ben Nicholson Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (X link). Tate was just claimed off waivers at the start of September and had a projected salary of $1.9MM. He’s a former fourth overall pick with some good numbers in his career but he missed most of 2023 due to injury and then posted a 4.66 ERA in 2024. The Jays are also non-tendering righty Jordan Romano, which you can read more about here.
  • The Guardians have non-tendered outfielder George Valera and right-hander Connor Gillispie, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (X link). Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week.
  • The Mariners are going to non-tender outfielder Sam Haggerty, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). He was limited to just eight games in 2024 due to a torn achilles. He was only projected for a salary of $900K but the M’s have decided to move on. They also non-tendered infielder Josh Rojas and righties Austin Voth and JT Chargois, moves that are covered with more depth here.
  • The Orioles plan to non-tender right-hander Jacob Webb, per Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X link). Webb was projected for a salary of $1.7MM next year. The righty tossed 56 2/3 innings for the O’s in 2024 with a 3.02 ERA and 24.5% strikeout rate, but an 11.4% walk rate.
  • The Rays announced they have non-tendered outfielder Dylan Carlson as well as left-handers Tyler Alexander, Colin Poche and Richard Lovelady. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relayed the news (X link) prior to the official announcement. Carlson once seemed like a building block in St. Louis but his offense has declined for three straight years now and he was projected for a $2.7MM salary. Alexander was projected for $2.8MM and had a 5.10 ERA this year. Poche had a solid 3.86 ERA but was projected for $3.4MM. Lovelady was designated for assignment a few days ago.
  • The Rangers tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Red Sox announced that right-handers Bryan Mata and Isaiah Campbell were both non-tendered. Those two had been designated for assignment earlier this week.
  • The Royals tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Tigers announced that they have non-tendered infielder Eddys Leonard as well as right-handers Ricky Vanasco, Brendan White and Wilmer Flores. Three of those four were designated for assignment earlier this week. Flores, the lone exception, is the younger brother of the same-named Wilmer Flores of the Giants. The younger Flores was once a notable pitching prospect but was injured for most of 2024.
  • The Twins tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Yankees have non-tendered infielder Jon Berti, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). He was projected for a salary of $3.8MM. He was injured for much of the year and only got into 25 games. The Yankees also announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Tim Mayza, who was projected for a $4MM salary but had a 6.33 ERA in 2024.
  • The White Sox will non-tender first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets, which MLBTR covered earlier today. The Sox later announced Sheets and also that they non-tendered right-hander Enyel De Los Santos as well. De Los Santos was projected for a salary of $1.7MM but posted a 5.20 ERA this year.

Mariners Select Ryan Bliss

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The Mariners announced they’ve selected infielder Ryan Bliss onto the MLB roster. Second baseman Jorge Polanco is headed to the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, the M’s recalled Sam Haggerty and placed him on the major league 60-day IL.

It’s the first major league call for the 24-year-old Bliss. The Diamondbacks picked the 5’7″ middle infielder in the second round of the 2021 draft out of Auburn. Bliss rebounded from a tough first full professional season with a breakout 2023 campaign. The right-handed hitter raked at a .358/.414/.594 clip with Arizona’s Double-A affiliate. He earned a call to the Futures Game last summer and was involved in a significant trade not long thereafter. The D-Backs packaged him to Seattle alongside Josh Rojas and Dominic Canzone for closer Paul Sewald.

That wasn’t the most popular trade in the M’s clubhouse at the time, and the second-guessing only got louder when Seattle narrowly missed the playoffs last season. Sewald, meanwhile, stabilized a shaky bullpen in the desert to help Arizona to a surprising World Series berth. The Mariners have gotten good work from both Rojas and Canzone through the first two months of 2024, though. Bliss now joins them on the big league roster.

Bliss finished last season with the M’s top affiliate in Tacoma, hitting .251/.356/.466 over 47 games. He has similar numbers through 50 contests with the Rainiers this year. Bliss owns a .247/.382/.445 batting line through 229 plate appearances. He has walked at a massive 17% clip against a manageable 21.8% strikeout percentage. Bliss has already stolen 28 bases in 34 tries and has reasonable power numbers (seven homers, nine doubles and three triples).

While his slight frame limits his raw power upside, Bliss offers a well-rounded profile that could make him a viable everyday player. He has split his time about evenly between the middle infield spots this year. Prospect evaluators have generally preferred him at second base rather than shortstop because of his fringe arm strength.

That’s where he’ll slot in during his first MLB look. J.P. Crawford has shortstop secure, but Polanco has played sparingly in recent days because of hamstring discomfort. Acquired as part of an overhauled Seattle offense, the longtime Twin has slumped to a .195/.293/.302 showing to begin his Mariner tenure. The M’s plugged Luis Urías into the lineup when Polanco missed a few games two weeks ago. Seattle optioned him last week and will give Bliss a look at second base instead of the more experienced Urías, another offseason pickup who has only hit .152/.264/.316 in 34 games.

The M’s essentially had an open 40-man roster spot after Haggerty suffered a season-ending Achilles tear last week. That occurred in Tacoma, so the outfielder initially went on the minor league injured list. He’ll spend the rest of the season on the MLB IL, where he’ll pick up major league service. Haggerty should narrowly cross the four-year service threshold and would likely be in line for another salary in the realm of this year’s $900K if the Mariners tender him a contract next offseason.

Mariners’ Sam Haggerty Suffers Torn Achilles

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Mariners utilityman Sam Haggerty suffered a torn Achilles tendon while trying to run down a deep fly-ball with the team’s Triple-A affiliate over the weekend, general manager Justin Hollander announced to reporters Monday (X link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). The injury will cost him the remainder of the 2024 season.

Haggerty opened the season on the injured list, was optioned to Triple-A in mid-April, recalled in late April, and then optioned back to Tacoma just last week after a cold spell at the plate. Playing center field for Tacoma, he was tracking a hard-hit fly ball that dropped just beyond his reach. Haggerty, running hard toward the gap, climbed/ran up the outfield wall to slow himself down and crumbled to the warning track upon landing (video link via MiLB Mariners on X). He was in clear agony while being checked on by teammates and the training staff.

The 29-year-old Haggerty has played in just eight big league games this season and went 1-for-15 in that time, but he’s been an oft-used bench/utility player for manager Scott Servais when healthy in recent years. A shoulder injury, a groin strain and a concussion have limited his time on the field even before this gruesome Achilles tear, but Haggerty hit .255/.342/.382 in 135 games from 2022-23, appearing at all three outfield spots and every infield position other than shortstop.

In parts of six big league seasons, Haggerty is a .232/.312/.351 hitter with nine homers and 33 steals (in 36 attempts) through 477 plate appearances. His right-handed bat has been overmatched by fellow righties (.209/.278/.272), but he’s pounded left-handed opponents at a .263/.355/.452 pace in his big league career.

That the injury occurred in the minor leagues is particularly unfortunate for Haggerty, as he’ll be placed on the minor league injured list rather than the MLB injured list for the time being. If the Mariners want to free up a 40-man roster spot at any point, they can recall Haggerty to the majors and place him on the 60-day IL, where he’d accrue big league service time. Haggerty entered the year with 3.044 years of service and agreed to a $900K salary to avoid arbitration this offseason. He’s under club control through the 2026 season and would be arb-eligible again this winter. Coming off a season-ending injury after only 16 plate appearances, he’d very likely command that exact same salary again for the 2025 campaign.

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