Blue Jays To Add Lou Iannotti To Coaching Staff
The Blue Jays are hiring Lou Iannotti to John Schneider’s coaching staff, reports TSN’s Scott Mitchell (X link). Mitchell suggests Iannotti is likely to take an assistant hitting coach role under first-year hitting instructor David Popkins.
Iannotti, 32, had been with the Dodgers as a minor league hitting coordinator. A collegiate catcher at Quinnipiac, he had a very brief stint as a professional player in the independent Frontier League. Iannotti quickly moved into coaching in the lowest levels of the Dodgers’ minor league system. He worked his way up to hitting coach for L.A.’s Double-A affiliate before landing the coordinator role that allowed him to oversee multiple minor league levels. This’ll be his first work on an MLB coaching staff.
The Jays already have Hunter Mense on staff as an assistant hitting coach. He’s a holdover from previous years. The Jays otherwise made changes to their offensive staff. Toronto fired previous hitting coach Guillermo Martinez at the end of the season. Don Mattingly, who’d served as offensive coordinator in addition to bench coach, will only have traditional bench coach responsibilities with Popkins coming on as hitting coach.
Blue Jays Interested In Alex Bregman, Luis Severino
The Blue Jays are known to be in the Juan Soto bidding, but like all teams, they have to consider backup plans. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet takes a look at their Soto pursuit and notes that they also have interest in Max Fried, Luis Severino, Anthony Santander and Alex Bregman. MLBTR has previously covered their interest in Fried and Santander.
Bregman, 31, is one of the top free agents available this winter. He has a career batting line of .272/.366/.483, which translates to a 135 wRC+, indicating he’s been 35% better than league average at the plate overall. His strikeout rate hasn’t been higher than 13.6% in any of the past six full seasons, barely half of league average. His walk rate dipped a bit in 2024 but has been above par for most of his career.
He also gets strong grades for his third base defense and is willing to move to second if he signs with a club that has a greater need there. His clubhouse and leadership qualities are often lauded by those who have played with him. MLBTR predicted Bregman for a seven-year deal worth $182MM at the start of the offseason. It’s well established that the Astros want him back, but he’s also been connected to the Tigers, Red Sox, Phillies and now Blue Jays.
For the Jays, third base and second base are both fairly unsettled. Ernie Clement was the primary option at the hot corner in 2024 and he had a serviceable season. His .263/.284/.408 batting line was slightly below average, translating to a 94 wRC+. But he also stole 12 bases and got strong grades for his glovework at third and shortstop, as well as brief looks at second base and left field.
The total package added up to 2.2 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs and Clement is still on the roster, but he shouldn’t stand in the way of someone like Bregman coming aboard. If Bregman took over as the everyday guy at the hot corner, it could move Clement into a utility role, which could still allow him to contribute fairly regularly.
At second base, Spencer Horwitz and Davis Schneider got decent chunks of the playing time, alongside the now-departed Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Horwitz has hit well in his major league career so far but is not a natural second baseman, only moving there since his first base spot is taken by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. A lot of the designated hitter plate appearances went to Justin Turner in 2024, who is no longer with the team. Perhaps that frees up Horwitz and Guerrero to share that spot and first base in 2025, depending on what other moves the Jays make this winter. Schneider is coming off a down season and can also play left field.
The Jays have some other players on the roster capable of playing either third or second base, including Addison Barger, Orelvis Martínez, Will Wagner and Leo Jiménez, but no one in that group has even 70 games of major league experience. With the Jays looking to quickly bounce back from a poor 2024 campaign, there’s logic in going for an established major leaguer like Bregman as opposed to hoping that someone in that group takes a step forward. The Jays have also been tied to shortstop Willy Adames, who is reportedly willing to move to third base with his new club if they already have a shortstop. The Jays have Bo Bichette at short but he’s only one year from free agency, so that’s a move that could potentially help in the short and long term.
The interest in Severino aligns with the club’s other rotation pursuits. As mentioned, they’ve been tied to Fried as well as Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell, though Snell is now off the board due to his agreement with the Dodgers. Severino once seemed like a budding ace with the Yankees but he didn’t pitch much from 2019 to 2021 due to injuries. He was able to pitch partial seasons in 2022 and 2023 but with inconsistent results.
He’s coming off a solid bounceback year with the Mets. He made 32 starts and tossed 182 innings, his first time throwing more than 102 innings since 2018. On top of the quantity, there was also some quality, as Severino allowed 3.91 earned runs per innings. His 21.2% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate were all pretty close to league average.
Severino isn’t as exciting as Burnes or Fried but he also won’t cost as much. MLBTR predicted Burnes for a $200MM guarantee and Fried a bit behind at $156MM. Severino, on the other hand, was projected for a three-year deal worth $51MM.
The Jays have a veteran rotation nucleus consisting of José Berríos, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt. Another spot is likely ticketed to Bowden Francis after his strong second half. Options for the fifth spot include Yariel Rodríguez and Jake Bloss but there’s sense in the Jays adding. Rodríguez has plenty of relief experience and the Jays need help in the bullpen, so he could be pushed there, at least until an injury opens up a need in the rotation. Bloss has less than 12 big league innings and only 112 in the minors, so he could get some more seasoning in Triple-A until a big league opportunity arises.
On the financial side of things, RosterResource projects the Jays for a payroll of $189MM next year. President Mark Shapiro has suggested the club will end up with a roughly similar payroll as they did in 2024. Cot’s Baseball Contracts pegged their Opening Day figure at $225MM last year, so that could leave them with about $35MM of wiggle room.
Adding one of these notable free agents could certainly fit into that window, though Soto would be a unique case. The average annual value of his contract will certainly eclipse that number but it’s been reported by Nicholson-Smith that the Jays would make an exception for Soto, willing to stretch the budget further than they would otherwise.
Each of Soto, Bregman, Severino, Fried, Burnes, Santander and Adames rejected a qualifying offer, so the associated penalties will also have to be a consideration. The Jays seemingly ducked under the competitive balance tax in 2024 with their midseason selloff, though it’s not yet official. If that proves to be the case, the Jays would have to surrender their second-best pick in the upcoming draft as well as $500K of international bonus pool space for signing one of these players.
Blue Jays, Michael Stefanic Agree To Minor League Deal
Infielder Michael Stefanic and the Blue Jays are in agreement on a minor league deal. Stefanic’s agent Nate Heisler of Klutch Sports relayed the news on X while Stefanic himself took to Instagram to thank the Angels, their fans and his former colleagues for his time with that club, in addition to expressing his excitement about his new opportunity.
Stefanic, 29 in February, was an undrafted free agent back in 2018. The Angels signed him at that time and he started to garner attention as a minor leaguer due to his plate discipline and multi-positional abilities, though a clear lack of power. In 2021, he took 554 trips to the plate in the minors, walking in 9.4% of them while only striking out 13.9% of the time.
His home run total spiked to 17 that year, even though he had only hit three over the 2018 and 2019 seasons combined. Perhaps that was due to him getting up to the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but his .336/.408/.493 line that year still translated to a 132 wRC+, indicating he was 32% better than league average.
Baseball America ranked him the #22 prospect in the Angels’ system going into 2022 and he went on to make his major league debut that year. He has been sent to the plate 264 times over the past three big league seasons, walking in 8.7% of those while striking out just 15.2% of the time. But he hasn’t yet hit a home run, leading to a fairly empty slash line of .232/.317/.275 and 72 wRC+. He has continued to hit in the minors, however, with a combined line of .349/.444/.456 and 133 wRC+ over the past three years.
That wasn’t enough to get him much run at the major league level and he exhausted his final option year in 2024. The Angels passed him through waivers and outrighted him last month, but Toronto will give him a non-roster gig. Stefanic has also played every position on the diamond except for center field and catcher in his professional career, perhaps giving him a shot at carving at a utility or bench role.
The Jays have plenty of uncertainty in their position player group at present. First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and shortstop Bo Bichette are both a year away from free agency. Right fielder George Springer is now 35 years old and has just two years left on his deal. Second base, third base and left field are fairly open. Players like Spencer Horwitz, Ernie Clement, Will Wagner, Nathan Lukes, Leo Jiménez, Davis Schneider, Jonatan Clase, Orelvis Martínez, Addison Barger, Joey Loperfido and Steward Berroa are all on the 40-man roster but Clement and Schneider are the only ones of thar group with more than 112 games of MLB experience.
If Stefanic can earn his way onto the roster, he is out of options but he has just a bit more than a year of service time, meaning he can be cheaply retained beyond 2025 if he has a roster spot at season’s end.
Latest On Juan Soto
While we’ve started to see some movement in the pitching market, with Blake Snell and Yusei Kikuchi both coming off the board this week, we’ve yet to see a prominent bat come off the board. Some of that is just the naturally slow pace of MLB’s free agency structure, but there’s also surely an element of Juan Soto holding things up to an extent. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear as though this will be a protracted free agent saga that lingers well into the new year.
Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media reported earlier this week that five clubs had made offers to Soto: the Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Dodgers. There’s been some back-and-forth reporting as to whether offers from each have been formally submitted, but semantics aside, that quintet appears to be the top set of bidders for Soto at the moment.
Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports that Soto and agent Scott Boras asked for initial offers to be submitted by Thanksgiving, so even if one of those clubs hasn’t yet submitted a formal offer just yet, it’s likely only a matter of hours before said offer is presented. Per Blum, there’s a growing belief that Soto could make a decision at or even before this year’s Winter Meetings, which take place from Dec. 8-11 in Dallas.
It should be noted that the current wave of offers being submitted is not a collection of “best and final” offers. With any free agent of this magnitude, there will be plenty of back-and-forth negotiations. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic tweets that this initial wave of offers is considered “preliminary,” with an additional round of offers likely coming in next week. Talks will intensify as teams are weeded out in the run-up to the Winter Meetings. Kuty, like Blum, suggests that landmark offseason event as a likely endpoint to Soto’s free agency.
Of the five known suitors, the Dodgers are perhaps the least likely. That might’ve been true even before Los Angeles struck their five-year deal with Snelll last night — one that guarantees him $182MM (with some deferred salary but also a huge up-front $52MM signing bonus). ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported several weeks back that while the Dodgers will be in the mix they’re not expected to chase Soto at all costs. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic offered a similar thinking last night in his breakdown of the Snell deal, suggesting that while the Dodgers will of course remain apprised of where Soto’s bidding lands, they could also be simply trying to drive up the price for more serious bidders in New York, Boston and Toronto.
To that end, Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote last night that the Red Sox are indeed quite serious in their pursuit of Soto. They’ve sought to sell Soto on the organization’s history of prominent left-handed hitters who’ve taken advantage of Fenway Park’s Green Monster and also enlisted franchise icons Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz to pitch the free agent slugger on the team’s history of touted stars from Soto’s native Dominican Republic.
Meanwhile, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe adds that the Sox don’t view Soto and adding a top-of-the-rotation arm as an either-or scenario. Even if they succeeded in landing Soto, the Sox would do so in simultaneous pursuit of a top-end starter. Red Sox president Sam Kennedy already signaled a willingness to exceed the luxury tax, and Speier notes that the Sox don’t view the $241MM tax threshold as any sort of hard cap. They’re currently $70MM shy of that level, per RosterResource’s estimates.
It’s not yet clear whether any other clubs could jump into the mix late in the bidding process. Phillies owner John Middleton stated earlier in the winter that he didn’t mind being a “stalking horse” on Soto, and there were reports that the Phils planned to meet with him at some point, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported Monday that the Phillies have yet to even speak to Boras about Soto specifically. The Giants were an oft-speculated suitor heading into the winter, but they’ve not yet met with Soto and reports have since indicated they may actually scale back payroll rather than spend as aggressively as some anticipated.
Blue Jays Interested In Anthony Santander, Corbin Burnes
The Blue Jays are interested free agent outfielder Anthony Santander, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Nightengale also mentions that the club is pursuing top pitchers like Corbin Burnes and Max Fried. The club has previously been connected to top free agent starters such as Fried and Blake Snell in recent weeks, so Burnes being on the list as well is aligned with those interests.
The connection with Santander is a sensible one. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco predicted the Jays to sign Santander when our Top 50 Free Agents list came out earlier this month. The Jays are a sensible fit for an outfielder and a potent bat, two boxes that would be checked by Santander.
Right now, the Jays have George Springer and Daulton Varsho as the two established big leaguers in their outfield. Varsho underwent shoulder surgery in September and it’s possible that he’ll miss the opening of the 2025 season. Springer is now 35 years old and has seen his wRC+ decline for five straight years now. He had a 155 wRC+ in 2019 but that number has gone to 143, 140, 133, 104 and 95 in recent years.
In addition to those two, the Jays have plenty of other theoretical options to take playing time on the turf. Nathan Lukes, Joey Loperfido, Jonatan Clase, Davis Schneider, Addison Barger and Steward Berroa are all outfield options on the 40-man roster, but there’s not much certainty there. Schneider is the only one with more than 81 big league games on his track record and he’s coming off a frustrating season. In short, there’s plenty of room for the Jays to make an external addition.
More broadly, some home run pop would be welcome in the lineup. The Jays were middle of the pack in terms of wRC+ and on-base percentage in 2024 but were 26th in the majors in terms of home runs, ahead of just the Marlins, Rays, Nationals and White Sox. Only six guys on the club got to double digits with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. the only Blue Jay to get to 20 dingers on the year.
Santander can certainly provide that power, having just hit 44 home runs this past year. With 105 homers over the past three seasons, he’s sixth in the majors for that time frame behind star sluggers Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso and Matt Olson. The Jays have a bunch of key contributors who hit from the right side, such as Guerrero, Springer, Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk, so Santander’s switch-hitting ability likely adds to the appeal. He’s not a great defender but he’s slashed .244/.317/.478 over the past three years for a 124 wRC+ and the Jays don’t have a full-time designated hitter, which could allow them to limit the downside of his glovework.
It seems fair to conclude that Santander would be a fallback plan in the event the Jays don’t succeed in landing Juan Soto. The Jays are one of the clubs still plausibly in the mix for Soto, with offers expected to come in this week.
Soto ticks a lot of the same boxes as Santander, as he’s a lefty-swinging outfielder with power, but he’s the more attractive free agent for a few reasons. Soto is far younger, as he is now 26 while Santander is 30. Soto’s elite eye at the plate is also in a different stratosphere compared to Santander. Soto’s 18.8% walk rate in his career is roughly double a normal league average and higher than his 17% strikeout rate. Santander, meanwhile, takes a free pass at a subpar 7.3% clip.
Based on those differences, Soto is going to be Plan A for a lot of clubs, who will then view Santander as a potential safety alongside other free agent outfielders like Teoscar Hernández, Tyler O’Neill, Jurickson Profar and others. While MLBTR predicted Soto for a $600MM guarantee, Santander was projected for a deal of $80MM over four years, obviously far more affordable.
Santander has been connected to the Yankees this winter as one of many players the Yanks could turn to if they don’t get Soto and the Jays likely view their situation similarly. Soto is widely expected to secure a record-breaking contract of some kind, so teams will naturally want to assess their payroll ledgers and consider the domino effects of such a contract before pivoting to other moves.
On the pitching side, the Jays have been connected to a few starting pitchers already, as mentioned. The Jays have a veteran front three in their rotation, with Kevin Gausman, José Berríos and Chris Bassitt all under contract for 2025. Bowden Francis seems to have earned a rotation gig with his strong second half in 2024. Candidates for the fifth spot include Yariel Rodríguez and Jake Bloss, but Rodríguez also has plenty of relief experience and could be in the bullpen. Bloss still has options and limited experience, not having thrown much in the majors nor the minors.
Adding a pitcher like Fried or Snell or Burnes would obviously strengthen the group. Burnes has been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the past five years, though he hasn’t been quite as dominant over the past two. From 2020 to 2022, he had a 2.62 earned run average, 33.4% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 47.6% ground ball rate. In the two most recent seasons, it’s been a 3.15 ERA, with his strikeout rate falling to 24.3%.
That’s a bit of a concern but Burnes is still arguably the top pitcher available in free agency this offseason. MLBTR predicted Burnes for $200MM over seven years, with Snell at $160MM over five and Fried at $156MM over six.
There are many ways it could play out but it seems the Jays are setting their sights high after missing out on Ohtani last winter and then having a disappointing season in 2024. It’s also been suggested that the Jays could be quite aggressive this offseason since there are a few potential pivot points coming up. Guerrero, Bichette and Bassitt are all slated for free agency for 2025, while team president Mark Shapiro and manager John Schneider are each going into the final years of their respective deals as well. General manager Ross Atkins is under contract through 2026 though it’s been suggested that he may be under pressure to deliver in the upcoming season in order to stick around.
The Jays had an Opening Day payroll of $225MM last year, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, with RosterResource currently projecting them for $189MM in 2025. Shapiro had previously said he didn’t expect the club’s payroll to significantly increase or decrease relative to 2024, so the Jays could have something in the vicinity of $35MM to spend this offseason on a notable free agent.
Some reporting, including from Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, has pointed to ownership perhaps having a Soto and non-Soto budget. The club was apparently willing to go to greater financial extremes to sign Ohtani last winter but didn’t end up redistributing that money to other players after he signed with the Dodgers. Similarly, the payroll ceiling could be moved up to accommodate a Soto deal but not otherwise.
Regardless of how much money they end up spending this winter, draft pick forfeiture will be another cost the club will have to consider. Each of Soto, Burnes, Fried and Santander rejected a qualifying offer, as did other potential targets like Hernández or Willy Adames. Snell wasn’t eligible to receive a QO this offseason because he already rejected one a year ago.
The Jays are believed to have just snuck under the competitive balance tax in 2024 by trading away some veterans at the deadline, which impacts their penalties for signing a player who rejected a qualifying offer. A tax-paying club has to forfeit $1MM of international bonus pool space as well as its second- and fifth-highest pick in the next draft. If the Jays did indeed go under the CBT line in 2024, those penalties will instead be $500K of pool space and just the second-best draft pick. In recent years, the Jays have been willing to sign players who rejected qualifying offers, doing so with both Springer and Bassitt.
Teams Expected To Make Offers To Juan Soto This Week
The sweepstakes to land superstar free agent Juan Soto is set to enter its next phase, as ESPN’s Buster Olney reported this afternoon that teams are expected to begin sending offers to the outfielder’s camp this week. Olney adds that to this point in the process, Soto has been meeting with teams and allowing Soto and the officials of interested clubs to get to know each other. The Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Dodgers are all known to have met with Soto at this point. The Phillies have also been reported to be planning a meeting with Soto, while the Giants, Rays, and Royals are all known to be among the teams to have reached out to Soto as well, though no meetings between Soto and any of those clubs are publicly known to have occurred and the Royals already reportedly view the offseason’s top free agent as outside of their comfort zone.
Of course, that aforementioned list of teams is surely not exhaustive. As-of-yet unreported clubs have surely contacted and perhaps even met with Soto as he prepares to sign what figures to be the largest contract in MLB history in terms of net present value this winter. As a two-time MVP finalist and career .285/.421/.532 hitter who’s hitting the market ahead of his age-26 season, Soto stands as the rare free agent who would make sense for virtually any contention timeline and stand as an upgrade to all 30 ball clubs, leaving his market to be limited more by teams’ willingness to spend enough to land him rather than positional or competitive fit.
The general consensus around the game seems to be that the Yankees and Mets are the favorites for Soto’s services, as both deep-pocketed New York teams appear motivated as the Yankees look to retain their key addition from last offseason who helped take the club from missing the playoffs in 2023 to an AL pennant this past season while the Mets hope to build on a 2024 campaign that saw them reach the NLCS for the first time since 2015. Soto naturally has a place in the Yankees lineup as their incumbent right fielder, though he might make even more sense for a Mets club that could push Starling Marte to DH in order to accommodate the addition of Soto given the fact that the acquisition of Soto forced the Yankees to use Aaron Judge as their everyday center fielder last year.
That doesn’t mean the other teams in the mix should be counted out, however. The Phillies and Dodgers both already need outfield help this winter and could further bolster the already-excellent lineups that made them the class of the NL this year by landing Soto. The Blue Jays figure to be especially motivated after falling just short in last winter’s Ohtani sweepstakes and subsequently missing the playoffs in 2024, while the Red Sox appear ready to resume spending in accordance with their market size this winter after spending the past several winters on the periphery of free agency. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a look at all 30 clubs in the context of the Soto sweepstakes of Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers.
While Soto has emphasized the importance of team competitiveness in his decision-making and there have been questions about whether he may prefer a team on the east coast given his offseason homes in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the Dominican Republic, the ultimate factor that figures to separate Soto’s suitors is money. With offers expected to be made over the course of the next week, it’s possible that previously-unknown suitors emerge as contenders for the star’s services or currently reported upon suitors fall behind in the bidding process. It’s also possible that the process begins to move quickly once offers begin to roll in; MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported earlier this week that the belief around the game is that Soto could sign during or even before the Winter Meetings, which run from December 9-12 in Dallas next month.
AL East Notes: Romano, Loaisiga, Hays, Rays
The Blue Jays didn’t make Jordan Romano a contract offer before the closer was non-tendered this week, the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm reports. This apparent lack of interest in retaining Romano at any price (let alone his projected $7.75MM arbitration salary) probably closes the door on any chance of a reunion between Romano and the Jays, so the two-time All-Star will almost surely be pitching elsewhere in 2025. It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that Romano was non-tendered, given his high price tag and the uncertainty over his health situation after his injury-riddled 2024 campaign.
Romano didn’t pitch after May 29 and he underwent an arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in July. As Chisholm notes, Romano told the Toronto Star’s Mike Wilner earlier in November that he was soon going to start throwing off a mound, and “that he was feeling great” in the recovery from his surgery. While more specifics on Romano’s health are sure to emerge over the offseason, it is clear that the Jays didn’t share the reliever’s confidence in his elbow. Finding a new closer is now the latest item on Toronto’s lengthy winter to-do list, and the Jays already had a lot of work to do in fixing a bullpen that was one of baseball’s worst last season.
More from around the AL East….
- The Yankees are open to a reunion with Jonathan Loaisiga, though Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post reports that the Bombers are one of 14 teams that have shown interest in the reliever. Loaisiga has pitched only 21 2/3 big league innings over the last two seasons, as elbow problems (including a bone spur removal surgery) limited him to 17 2/3 frames in 2023, and he tossed only four innings before a UCL surgery brought his 2024 season to a quick end. Loaisiga’s procedure wasn’t a Tommy John procedure, and he was throwing from 90-foot distances for scouts earlier this week, with the Yankees among the clubs with an evaluator on hand. All 163 of Loaisiga’s MLB games have come in a Yankees uniform, so the team has plenty of familiarity with the right-hander’s ability when healthy, and also the inside scoop on his health status. Signing Loaisiga wouldn’t be expensive for the Yankees or any team that might offer him a contract this winter, making him an interesting buy-low candidate on the bullpen market.
- Austin Hays was traded from the Orioles to the Phillies prior to the trade deadline, but now that Hays is a free agent after being non-tendered, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com thinks there’s a chance Hays could return to Baltimore. Hays had an injury-plagued 2024 season that included a severe kidney infection that emerged during his time in Philadelphia, and he wound up with a below-average 98 wRC+ from a .255/.303/.396 slash line in 255 total plate appearances. The outfielder was significantly better both offensively and defensively during the 2021-23 seasons when healthy, and Baltimore has a clear need for right-handed hitting outfielders (and right-handed hitting in general).
- It remains to be seen if the Rays will ever again play at Tropicana Field, but for at least the 2025 season, the club will play at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The move will impact the Rays’ roster construction plans, as some adjustment is naturally necessary simply by dint of the fact that the Rays will now be playing outdoors during the Florida summer rather than within the confines of a domed stadium. With multiple rainouts now a likelihood, president of baseball operations Erik Neander is looking to add multi-inning pitching depth at both the Major and minor league levels. As Neander told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, “it’s…making sure that we can protect our arms and maneuver the roster in a way where if a game gets disrupted and delayed after two innings and you lose a starter, and then you’ve got to cover four or five [innings] as it comes back before you can go to the bullpen, that you have the ability to maneuver day to day as needed, to cover that and do it in a way that’s responsible for the well-being of the group.” More pitching will also be needed since the Stein is expected to be a much more hitter-friendly environment than the Trop, though the Rays’ own hitters can also benefit from the situation.
Rico Carty Passes Away
Former All-Star Rico Carty passed away yesterday, according to a report from Dominican newspaper Listin Diario. The 15-year MLB veteran was 85 years old.
Born in San Pedro de Macoris, Carty signed with the then-Milwaukee Braves prior to the 1960 season as a catcher. During his time in the minor leagues, he converted to the outfield and, after a brief cup of coffee in 1963, emerged as the Braves’ regular left fielder during the 1964 season. In 133 games, Carty slashed an excellent .330/.388/.554 with 22 homers and 28 doubles. That excellent season earned him a second place finish behind Phillies infielder Dick Allen in Rookie of the Year voting. Back issues limited Carty to just 83 games the following year, though he continued to hit well when healthy enough to take the field.
Following the Braves’ relocation to Atlanta in 1966, Carty remained a fixture of the club’s lineup. He hit well during the club’s first year in Atlanta but slumped somewhat the following year as he slashed a relatively tepid .255/.329/.401 that, while decent, fell well short of his typical standards as a hitter. Carty then proceeded to miss the 1968 season due to a tuberculosis diagnosis. The ailment wiped out his entire season, but the slugger managed to recovery in time to return to the Braves early in May of 1969. Upon his return, he enjoyed the best offensive season of his career to that point with an excellent .342/.401/.549 slash line in 104 games.
After impressing in his return from illness the previous year, the 1970 season saw Carty reach his peak in his first full season back after recovering from tuberculosis. Then in his age-30 season, the slugger slashed an incredible .366/.454/.584 as he slugged 25 homers and 23 doubles while leading the league in both batting average and on-base percentage across 136 games. The superlative season saw Carty named an All-Star for the first and only time in his career and led him to a tenth-place finish in NL MVP voting behind titans of the game such as Johnny Bench, Billy Williams, Bob Gibson, and Willie McCovey.
Before Carty could follow up on that excellent season, however, he suffered a disastrous knee injury while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. He underwent surgery and tried to return to action in time for Spring Training 1971, but ultimately missed the entire season due to the injury. He returned to the lineup in 1972 but struggled to stay healthy once again and found himself limited to 86 games as he hit .277/.378/.408 with just six homers. That was Carty’s final season in a Braves uniform, as he was traded to the Rangers in October 1972.
The 1973 season was a tumultuous one for Carty. After suffering a fractured jaw while playing winter ball in the offseason, he began the season as the first regular DH in Rangers history but hit just .232/.311/.301 in 86 games with the club and bounced from the Cubs to the A’s throughout the remainder of the season after being placed on waivers. Those struggles seemed as though they may be the end of Carty’s career, but he caught fire after signing with the Mexican League’s Cafeteros de Cordoba. That excellent play in Mexico earned him another chance in the big leagues, as Cleveland brass decided to sign him to return to the big leagues.
It’s a gamble that wound up paying off, as Carty would spend four seasons in Ohio. From his signing in 1974 to his departure following the 1978 season, Carty slashed an excellent .303/.372/.455 with 47 homers and 81 doubles as the club’s regular DH. His best season in Cleveland came in 1976, when he slashed .310/.379/.442 and earned some down ballot consideration for the AL MVP award. Carty was traded to the Blue Jays (who had briefly selected him in the 1976 expansion draft before quickly trading him back to Cleveland that same offseason) prior to the 1978 season, and he continued to provide value as he slashed .282/.348/.502 with a career-best 31 homers at the age of 38 in a season split between Toronto and Oakland.
Carty’s big league career came to a close in 1979, when he hit .256/.322/.390 in 132 games for the Blue Jays. He later worked for Toronto as a scout in Latin America and was inducted to the Braves Hall of Fame in 2023. Overall, the 15-year veteran was a career .299/.369/.464 hitter in the big leagues and collected 1677 hits, including 204 home runs, during his time as a major leaguer. MLBTR joins the rest of the baseball world in extending our condolences to Carty’s family, friends, loved ones, and fans.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: 11/22/24
The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm 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/evening as deals are announced and/or reported.
- The Mets announced that they have agreed to a one-year contract with right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, though salary figures have not yet been reported. He was projected for a $900K salary next year after posting a 1.66 ERA but in just 21 2/3 innings due to injury.
- The Rangers announced they avoided arbitration with right-hander Josh Sborz, who was projected for a $1.3MM salary next year. He’ll come in just shy of that at $1.1MM, per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today (X link). He underwent a shoulder debridement procedure recently, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (X link) and will likely miss the first two or three months of 2025.
- The Tigers and infielder Andy Ibanez have agreed to a salary of $1.4MM next year, per Francys Romero (X link). That’s a shade below his $1.5MM projection. Ibanez hit .241/.295/.357 in 99 games for the Tigers in 2024.
- The Guardians avoided arbitration with right-hander Ben Lively, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (X link). He’ll make $2.25MM next year, below his $3.2MM projection. Lively had a 3.81 ERA in 151 innings for the Guards this year.
- The Cubs and right-hander Julian Merryweather have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a salary of $1.225MM, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN (X link). That’s just shy of his $1.3MM projection. Merryweather had a 6.60 ERA in 2024 but was injured most of the time and only made 15 appearances. He had a solid 3.38 ERA the year prior in 72 innings. The Cubs also agreed to terms with catcher Matt Thaiss and righty Keegan Thompson, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (X link), though salary figures have not yet been reported.
- The Blue Jays got a deal done with right-hander Erik Swanson, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet on X. The righty was projected for $3.2MM next year but will make a smidge less than that, with Keegan Matheson of MLB.com (X link) relaying that Swanson will make $3MM. He had a 5.03 ERA in 2024 but was at 2.97 the year prior and also finished this year strong, with a 2.55 ERA in the second half.
- The Yankees reached agreement with center fielder Trent Grisham on a $5MM salary, reports Jorge Castillo of ESPN (on X). The deal contains another $250K in incentives. The two-time Gold Glove winner had been projected at $5.7MM. Grisham had an underwhelming .190/.290/.385 showing during his first season in the Bronx. The Yankees will nevertheless keep him around for his final year of arbitration, presumably in a fourth outfield capacity. The Yankees also announced that they have a deal with righty JT Brubaker, though figures haven’t been reported. He was projected for a salary of $2.275MM, the same figure he made in 2023 and 2024, two seasons he missed while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
- The Rockies reached deals with outfielder Sam Hilliard and lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath, Feinsand reports (on X). Hilliard gets $1MM, while Gilbreath signed for $785K. Both figures come in shy of the respective $1.7MM and $900K projections. Hilliard popped 10 home runs over 58 games as a depth outfielder. Gilbreath only made three appearances after missing the entire ’23 season to Tommy John surgery. He posted a 4.19 ERA across 43 innings two years ago.
Earlier Agreements
- The Dodgers and right-hander Tony Gonsolin have agreed to a $5.4MM salary for 2025, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link), an exact match for his projection. He had signed a two-year, $6.65MM deal to cover the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He made 20 starts for the Dodgers in the first year of that pact but he missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
- The Guardians and Sam Hentges have agreed to a $1.337MM deal, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. That’s right in line with his projected $1.4MM salary. The left-hander has been an effective reliever for Cleveland over the past three seasons (2.93 ERA, 2.82 SIERA, 138 IP), but he missed the latter half of 2024 with a shoulder injury. After undergoing surgery in September, he will miss the entire 2025 season.
- The Orioles and infielder Emmanuel Rivera agreed to a $1MM deal, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’d been projected at $1.4MM. He hit .238/.312/.343 this year.
- Right-hander Brock Stewart and the Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth $870K, MLBTR has learned. He’d been projected at $800K. Stewart, who missed much of the season due to injury, can earn another $30K via incentives. He’s been lights-out for the Twins when healthy over the past two seasons (2.28 ERA, 33.5 K%, 10.8 BB%). Minnesota and righty Michael Tonkin also agreed to a $1MM deal, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’d been projected at $1.5MM. The Twins later announced that they had reached deals with Stewart, Tonkin and righty Justin Topa. Hewas projected for $1.3MM next year but will come in just shy of that in terms of guarantee. Per Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune (Bluesky link), it’s a $1.225MM guarantee in the form of a $1MM salary and then a $225K buyout on a $2MM club option for 2026.
- The Padres and Tyler Wade agreed to a one-year deal worth $900K, Heyman tweets. There’s a club option for an additional season. Wade, who hit .217/.285/.239 in 2024, was projected for that same $900K figure.
- Infielder Santiago Espinal and the Reds settled on a one-year deal at $2.4MM, Heyman tweets. That’s well shy of his $4MM projection and actually represents a slight pay cut after Espinal hit .246/.295/.356 for Cincinnati.
- The Rangers and righty Dane Dunning agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.66MM, Heyman reports. It’s a 19% cut after Dunning struggled to a 5.31 ERA in 95 innings this past season. He was projected at $4.4MM.
- The Giants and right-hander Austin Warren agreed to terms on a one-year deal, reports Justice de los Santos of the San Jose Mercury News. He missed most of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery but returned late with 10 2/3 innings of two-run ball out of the bullpen.
- The Brewers announced that they’ve signed catcher/outfielder Eric Haase to a one-year deal for the upcoming season. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that the deal guarantees Haase $1.35MM with the chance to earn more via incentives. He’d been projected for a $1.8MM salary. Haase will fill the backup catcher role in Milwaukee next season. He’s controllable through the 2027 season.
- The Dodgers and right-hander Dustin May settled at $2.135MM, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (X link). That’s the exact same salary he had in 2024. May will be looking to bounce back after spending all of this year on the injured list.
- The Phillies and right-hander José Ruiz settled at $1.225MM, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). That’s slightly above his $1.2MM projection. The righty can also unlock a $20K bonus for pitching in 30 games and $25K for pitching in 40. He made 52 appearances for the Phils in 2024 with a 3.71 ERA. Philadelphia also announced agreement with backup catcher Garrett Stubbs on a one-year deal. The Phils did not reveal the salary figure. Stubbs hit .207 in 54 games this year.
- The Tigers and infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry agreed to a $1.65MM salary for 2025, per Robert Murray of FanSided (hat tip to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press on X). That’s slightly ahead of his $1.3MM projection. He hit .215/.277/.337 this year while stealing 16 bases and playing each position except or first base and catcher,
American League Non-Tenders: 11/22/24
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.