Greg Holland Makes Rangers’ Roster
The Rangers have informed veteran reliever Greg Holland that he’s made the Opening Day roster, per Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News. He’ll need to have his contract formally selected to the 40-man roster before Opening Day.
The 36-year-old Holland joined the Rangers on a minor league deal and made a strong impression in camp, firing five shutout innings with four hits, one walk and six strikeouts. Holland is the third non-roster veteran known to be breaking camp with the Rangers, who’ve already informed Charlie Culberson and Matt Bush they’ve made the club. Texas will need to make a trio of 40-man roster moves to accommodate this group.
A three-time All-Star and a pivotal cog to the Royals’ consecutive World Series rosters in 2014-15, Holland returned to Kansas City in 2020 after spending three years between the Rockies, Cardinals, Nationals and D-backs. He was outstanding in his return to K.C. during the shortened 2020 season but struggled more in 2021 as his strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates all trended in the wrong direction. On the whole, Holland posted a 3.86 ERA with a 23.7% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 44.6% ground-ball rate through 84 innings between his 2020-21 Royals reunion.
The Rangers will now become the sixth club for which Holland has suited up at the big league level. While Holland could eventually be in the mix for some saves in Texas, manager Chris Woodward told Hoyt and other reporters that the team isn’t planning to designate a set closer — at least not for Opening Day. Early-season performance will likely help to dictate the distribution of the late-inning workload, as will the respective rehabs of flamethrowers Jose Leclerc and Jonathan Hernandez, each of whom is on the mend from Tommy John surgery but expected to return in the first half of the 2022 season. Leclerc’s surgery came on March 30 last year, while Hernandez went under the knife just two weeks later, on April 12.
Holland’s contract reportedly came with a $2.1MM base salary upon making the club, so that’ll be locked in once the team formally selects his contract this week. With Hernandez and Leclerc slated to open the season on the injured list, Holland will join Bush, Joe Barlow, Josh Sborz and Brett Martin as late-inning options for Woodward.
Mets To Designate Jordan Yamamoto For Assignment
The Mets have designated right-hander Jordan Yamamoto for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for left-hander Chasen Shreve, whose contract has been selected to the 40-man roster, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Shreve told reporters earlier this week that he’d been informed he’s made the roster.
Yamamoto, 25, joined the Mets last offseason in a trade that sent minor league infielder Federico Polanco to the Marlins. He only made two appearances with the big league club and tallied only 32 2/3 minor league innings while battling a right shoulder injury. Originally drafted by the Brewers, Yamamoto was part of the Christian Yelich blockbuster with the Marlins and made his big league debut with the Fish in 2019, pitching to a solid 4.46 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate in 78 2/3 frames.
The shortened 2020 season was a nightmare for Yamamoto, as he surrendered 24 runs in just 10 2/3 innings. That ballooned his career ERA north of 6.00, but Yamamoto has generally been a solid pitcher in limited work outside that outlier season. He carries a career 3.79 ERA with a 25.3% strikeout rate, a 6.9% walk rate and a 44.6% ground-ball rate in 495 2/3 minor league innings as well.
Yamamoto does have a minor league option remaining, so it’s certainly possible that another club in need of some rotation depth will take a chance on a still-young righty who has had plenty of minor league success and also some success in the big leagues (2020 aside). The Mets will have a week to trade Yamamoto or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If he clears waivers, they can assign him to Triple-A Syracuse to begin the season, and he’ll continue to serve as depth in the upper levels of their system. Given that Jacob deGrom is expected to miss months and the Mets’ rotation has several other injury risks and situations worth monitoring, that’d be a welcome bonus for the organization.
With deGrom slated to start the year on the injured list, it’s looking increasingly like young righty Tylor Megill will be tabbed as New York’s Opening Day starter (Twitter link via Mike Puma of the New York Post). Max Scherzer has been slowed a minor hamstring issue but is back on track and looks ticketed for the season’s second game. Taijuan Walker recently had what the team hopes to be a minor knee issue pop up in his final spring start. Carlos Carrasco is looking for a rebound after an injury-ruined 2021 season, and righty Chris Bassitt, acquired from the A’s over the winter, is expected to round out the Mets’ rotation to begin the season.
Astros, Ryan Pressly Agree To Extension
The Astros and reliever Ryan Pressly are in agreement on a two-year, $30MM extension, per Robert Murray of FanSided. There is also a vesting option for 2025 that could take the deal up to $42MM. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Pressly will make $14MM in 2023 and 2024, along with a $2MM buyout on the 2025 option. (Twitter links) Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle relays that the $14MM option for 2025 will vest with 50 appearances in both 2023 and 2024. Pressly is represented by Scott Lonergan of the Ballengee Group.
This is the second time in Pressly’s career where he has signed an extension with the Astros while one year away from free agency. In March of 2019, the two sides agreed to a two-year extension that came with a $17.5MM guarantee, covering the 2020 and 2021 campaigns, along with a $10MM vesting option for 2022. Pressly needed to make 60 appearances in each of the 2020 and 2021 campaigns in order to vest the option, which he did. (In the shortened 2020 campaigns, all thresholds of this kind were prorated by 2.7, meaning Pressly’s 23 games were counted as just over 62 appearances.) Once again, Pressly has been locked up to keep him from hitting the open market.
As noted by Murray, this deal makes Pressly one of the highest-paid relievers in baseball and is the largest contract ever given to an Astros reliever. The fact that the Astros are willing to commit to Pressly in this way is hardly surprising based on his performance. Just months prior to the first extension, Pressly was acquired by Houston from Minnesota in a 2018 deadline deal. After the trade, Pressly took his game to new heights, something he later credited to Houston’s analytics department. As a Twin in 2018, he pitched 47 2/3 innings with a 3.40 ERA, 33.2% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate. Although those were already quality numbers, his post-trade work resulted in an ERA of 0.77 over 23 1/3 innings with a 38.1% strikeout rate and 3.6% walk rate.
Although Pressly couldn’t quite maintain the gaudy level of that small sample, he has still been one of the better relievers in the league since the signing of his previous deal. In the past three seasons, he’s logged 139 1/3 innings with a 2.45 ERA, 33% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate. Among relievers with at least 130 innings in that time, his ERA trails only Liam Hendriks and Josh Hader, with that strikeout rate coming in seventh and walk rate coming in sixth.
Now 33, this deal will keep Pressly in Houston through his age-35 season, and possibly for another year after that with the vesting option. For the Astros, they set a franchise record last year with a payroll of $187MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. For this season, they’ve dropped down to around $174MM, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That’s largely due to letting certain players walk, such as Carlos Correa and Zack Greinke. When this extension kicks in next year, there could be even more payroll flexibility, as Michael Brantley, Yuli Gurriel, Jason Castro, Aledmys Diaz and Rafael Montero are all set to hit free agency. There are also various players who have options for next year, such as Justin Verlander, Jake Odorizzi, Pedro Baez and Martin Maldonado. That means that, prior to this extension, there were just four players with guaranteed contracts for the 2023 campaign: Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Lance McCullers Jr. and Hector Neris.
In the end, the Astros get one of the best relievers in the game for a few more years, while Pressley gets the biggest payday of his career, one that pays him like the elite pitcher he is.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Rays, Manuel Margot Agree To Two-Year Extension
10:36pm: Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times provides the breakdown, with Margot making $7MM in 2023, $10MM in 2024, followed by a $12MM mutual option for 2025 that comes with a $2MM buyout.
2:21pm: The Rays are reportedly in agreement with outfielder Manuel Margot on a two-year, $19MM extension, pending a physical. The terms will begin in 2023 and buy out Margot’s first two seasons of free agent eligibility. The 27-year-old had been on track to hit the open market for the first time after this season. He and the club have already agreed upon a $5.6MM salary for his final arbitration-eligible year, and that reportedly won’t be affected by this extension. Margot is represented by Wasserman.
Margot has spent the past two seasons in Tampa after coming over from the Padres in a 2019-20 offseason trade. In both years, he’s posted slightly below-average numbers at the plate. Margot has tallied 623 plate appearances over 166 games as a Ray, posting a cumulative .258/.317/.375 line with 11 home runs. He’s done well to put the ball in play, only striking out in 15.2% of his plate appearances, but Margot has neither hit for much power nor drawn many walks.
While Margot has been an ordinary hitter for the bulk of his career, he’s an excellent defensive outfielder. Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating have pegged him as a plus gloveman in all five of his full big league seasons. That’s been true regardless of where he’s suited up. Margot is more than capable of handling center field, and he was downright excellent when moving to right field in deference to Kevin Kiermaier last season. No outfielder fared better than Margot in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric, which pegged him at 16 plays above par.
Tampa Bay has run out strong outfield defenses for years. That’s in large part due to the presence of an otherworldly center fielder in Kiermaier, but players like Margot, Brett Phillips and Randy Arozarena have done well in their own right. The Rays front office seemingly places strong emphasis on outfield defense, so it’s not too surprising they’d like to keep Margot in the fold.
The Rays are set to open the 2022 campaign with a franchise-record player payroll in the $83MM range, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. There are only around $15MM in guarantees for next season, however. The Rays will have another hefty arbitration class, but Tampa Bay is never afraid to move arb-eligible players for younger, more affordable options. Last night’s trade of Austin Meadows to the Tigers fit that bill, and it afforded an opportunity for top prospect Josh Lowe to get an extended major league look.
Lowe, Margot and Arozarena now look to be in place as Tampa Bay’s primary 2023 outfield. Kiermaier is headed into the final guaranteed season of his contract. He’s controllable next year via $13MM club option, but the Rays could look to trade him or simply buy the option out if they’re content with Margot as the everyday center fielder. Tampa Bay has reportedly explored potential Kiermaier deals for a few seasons, but they’ve yet to pull the trigger on such a move.
Margot’s extension removes one of the better center fielders from the upcoming free agent market. Brandon Nimmo is set to headline that fairly thin class, with Kiermaier the second-best option if his option is declined. Beyond that duo, utilityman Enrique Hernández, Tyler Naquin (who’s a better fit in a corner) and veterans Lorenzo Cain and Jackie Bradley Jr. seem to be the top players available.
Tenchy Rodriguez first reported the Rays and Margot were in agreement on a two-year, $19MM extension. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times specified the deal would buy out his first two free agent seasons.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Angels Sign Monte Harrison To Minors Deal
The Angels have signed Monte Harrison to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been released by the Marlins last month.
Harrison was a second round pick of the Brewers in 2014 and impressed prospect evaluators in his first few seasons in the minors. Baseball America ranked him the 75th best prospect in baseball in 2018, around the same time that Harrison was included in the blockbuster trade that sent Christian Yelich from the Marlins to the Brewers.
Unfortunately, Harrison struggled as he reached higher levels of competition. In 2019, he cracked Triple-A for the first time, putting up a respectable line of .274/.357/.451, though that came with a worrisome strikeout rate of 29.9%. In 2020, with the minor leagues cancelled, Harrison made it to the big leagues and got into 32 games in the shortened season. His line of .170/.235/.255 and 51% strikeout rate showed that he clearly needed some more seasoning, leading to another year primarily spent in the minors. In 2021, he played 74 Triple-A games and hit .242/.331/.446. Despite a wRC+ of 108, strikeouts were a problem again, as he was K’d in 39.3% of his plate appearances.
Having exhausted his option years, the Marlins finally gave up on Harrison and designated him for assignment last month, eventually releasing him. For the Angels, there’s no harm in taking a flier on Harrison to see if he can right the ship. He’s only 26 years old and at least offers speed, having stolen more than 20 bases in the minors in each of the past four seasons in which they were played. He’s also been praised for his elite center field defense, a rare skill that means he wouldn’t need to be an excellent hitter to be valuable. If he can cut down on the strikeouts and earn his way back onto the big league roster, he has less than a year of MLB service time, meaning the Angels would have to ability to keep him around for years to come.
The club is currently heading into the season with Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh slated to be their regular outfielders, though all three of those come with question marks. Trout only played 36 games last year due to a calf injury, making his future uncertain. Even if he can have better health this year, the Angels will likely give him occasional breathers in order to not push him too hard. As for Marsh and Adell, they each have less than 80 games of big league experience and haven’t truly established themselves just yet. In the event of injuries or underperformance, Harrison could have a path back to the big leagues.
Rangers Release Jake Marisnick, Brandon Workman
The Rangers announced Tuesday that outfielder Jake Marisnick and righty Brandon Workman have been released from their minor league contracts. It’s not clear whether either exercised an out clause in their contract, but it’s common this time of year for veterans of this nature to trigger such provisions in their non-roster contracts if they’ve been informed they won’t make the team. Regardless, both veterans will now be free to seek a new opportunity with another club.
Marisnick, 31, split the 2021 season between the Cubs and Padres, batting a combined .216/.286/.375 through 198 trips to the plate. The longtime Astros outfielder has never been known for his offensive prowess, however, and instead provides the bulk of his value with the glove and on the basepaths. Capable of playing all three outfield positions, Marisnick boasts a whopping 75 Defensive Runs Saved and an impressive 41 Outs Above Average in 4929 career innings in the outfield. He’s also swiped 77 bases in 105 tries (73.3%).
Workman, 33, has been with three different clubs over the past two seasons and struggled to recapture the peak form he displayed in Boston from 2017-19. During that three-year run with the Sox, Workman tallied 152 2/3 innings of 2.59 ERA ball with an impressive 28.9% strikeout rate that helped to offset a bloated 11.7% walk rate. Opponents struggled to do damage on contact against Workman during that time — evidenced by a 0.82 HR/9 mark.
Over the past two seasons, however, Workman has been clobbered for a 5.66 ERA in 47 2/3 frames, due in no small part to the fact that his HR/9 mark has nearly doubled to 1.51. Workman’s strikeout rate has also fallen to 20.3%, while his already problematic walk rate has further inflated to 14.3%. He appeared in a pair of official spring games with the Rangers and yielded two runs in two innings of work. Workman didn’t yield a homer or a walk and punched out three of the nine men he faced.
Pirates To Sign Andrew Knapp
The Pirates are set to sign Andrew Knapp to serve as their backup catcher, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Knapp, who’s spent the past five seasons with the cross-state Phillies, was in camp with the Reds this spring but was granted his release recently after being informed he wouldn’t make the roster. Knapp is repped by Apex Baseball.
Knapp, 30, was long one of the Phillies’ more highly ranked prospects and even cracked Baseball America’s Top 100 list (No. 96) in the 2015-16 offseason. However, while he had a solid rookie season at the plate and enjoyed a productive stretch of 89 plate appearances during the shortened 2020 season, he’s yet to consistently deliver average or better production in the Majors. Through 827 MLB plate appearances, all coming with the Phillies, Knapp is a .214/.314/.322 hitter. He’s drawn a walk in 11.9% of career plate appearances, and while a good chunk of those have come batting eighth in front of the pitcher, Knapp has walk rates north of 11% even when batting sixth and seventh in the lineup.
Defensively, Knapp has drawn roughly average ratings for his ability to block pitches in the dirt, but his 19% caught-stealing rate and framing marks at both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus check in below average. Knapp does have a vastly superior 31% caught-stealing mark in parts of six minor league seasons, however, and he’s a career .262/.335/.381 hitter at the Triple-A level.
The Pirates traded catcher Jacob Stallings, one of the sport’s premier defensive players, to the Marlins this offseason in a deal that netted them right-hander Zach Thompson and prospects Kyle Nicolas and Connor Scott. Pittsburgh quickly turned around and signed free agent Roberto Perez, another high-end defender but one whose bat has dropped off in recent years while dealing with a series of thumb and hand injuries.
Knapp will give the Bucs an experienced backup to Perez, likely pushing non-roster options Michael Perez and Taylor Davis to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the year. Of course, 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis is viewed as the catcher of the future for the Pirates, but the former Louisville star will still need a couple years of development time in all likelihood.
Marlins, Jesus Aguilar Avoid Arbitration
The Marlins and first baseman Jesús Aguilar have agreed on a $7.5MM deal to avoid arbitration, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (on Twitter). That comes in the form of a $7.3MM salary for the upcoming season plus a $200K buyout on a new mutual option for the 2023 campaign. That buyout will increase to $250K if Aguilar, a client of MVP Sports Group, tallies at least 550 plate appearances this season.
Aguilar had filed at $7.75MM, while team had countered at $7MM. They’ll eventually come in a bit north of the midpoint of those figures to avoid an in-season hearing. It concludes the final trip through the arb process for Aguilar, as the 31-year-old is set to hit free agency at the end of the season.
The mutual option theoretically raises the possibility of him not hitting the open market, although it’s likely little more than an accounting measure. Mutual options are very rarely exercised by both sides, and the primary purpose is to push the team’s responsibility for the buyout to the end of the season as opposed to dispersing that money over the coming months in 2022 salary.
Aguilar has spent the past two seasons in South Florida. He’s served as Miami’s primary first baseman since being claimed off waivers from the Rays in December 2019. The right-handed hitter has been a solid but not elite hitter over that run, hitting .265/.336/.458 in a pitcher-friendly home ballpark. He’ll be part of what looks to be a solid crop of free agent first basemen next winter; Brandon Belt, José Abreu, Josh Bell, Yuli Gurriel and Trey Mancini are all set to hit the open market, while Anthony Rizzo will have the opportunity to opt-out of his deal with the Yankees.
Yankees Select David McKay
APRIL 5: New York has formally selected McKay onto the 40-man roster. Fellow reliever Stephen Ridings was placed on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.
APRIL 4: The Yankees are acquiring reliever David McKay from the Rays, report Ken Rosenthal and Lindsey Adler of the Athletic (Twitter link). The right-hander will be added to New York’s 40-man roster. It’ll be cash considerations heading back to the Rays, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
McKay, who joined the Rays in February via minor league deal, had already been reassigned to the minors. With the Yankees willing to give him a roster spot the Rays were not, Tampa Bay will flip him to a division rival with a clearer path to big league time. McKay does still have a minor league option year remaining, so the Yankees can shuttle him between the Bronx and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre all season.
The 27-year-old has appeared in two big league campaigns. He suited up with the Mariners and Tigers between 2019-20, tossing 26 2/3 innings over 26 appearances. McKay pitched to a 6.08 ERA in that time, walking an elevated 15.3% of opponents. To his credit, he punched out a strong 28.8% of batters faced, albeit with just an 8.6% swinging strike percentage.
McKay owns a 4.82 ERA in 46 2/3 Triple-A frames, but he’s fanned an excellent 36.5% of opponents at the minors’ top level. The Yankees will add him to a righty relief group that thinned out a bit over the weekend when New York shipped Albert Abreu to the Rangers for catcher Jose Trevino.
Reds Release Shogo Akiyama; Expected To Select Drury, Garcia, Farmer
The Reds announced this afternoon they’ve released outfielder Shogo Akiyama. It had seemed likely Akiyama would be released when the club informed him over the weekend he wouldn’t break camp on the active roster, as his contract afforded him the right to refuse any minor league assignments.
The move closes the book on a disappointing tenure in Cincinnati. Akiyama signed a three-year, $21MM deal over the 2019-20 offseason. Making the jump from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball to MLB during the 2020 season was no doubt difficult, as the typical challenges of the new environment were exacerbated by the shortened schedule and pandemic protocols. Nevertheless, the Reds certainly expected better than the .224/.320/.274 line Akiyama posted in 366 plate appearances over the past two years.
Due $8MM in 2022 under the terms of that contract, Akiyama is a lock to clear release waivers. Cincinnati will remain on the hook for that money, minus the league minimum salary if the 33-year-old catches on with another MLB team as a free agent. From the Reds perspective, the release was about reallocating Akiyama’s spot on the active and 40-man rosters.
The Reds don’t have to officially make a call on their Opening Day roster until Thursday, but C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic tweets the club is planning to select three non-roster invitees to the big league club. Infielder/outfielder Brandon Drury, catcher Aramís García and reliever Buck Farmer are all expected to break camp.
It would be the eighth consecutive season with some MLB time for Drury. The right-handed hitting utilityman had a couple decent seasons early in his career with the Diamondbacks but has only eclipsed 90 plate appearances once in the past four years. His last extended run in the majors — 120 games with the 2019 Blue Jays — resulted in only a .218/.262/.380 slash, but Drury was alright in a bench capacity with the Mets last year.
García is expected to join the big league club as the backup to Tyler Stephenson. The 29-year-old backstop has suited up with the Giants and A’s in recent years. Over parts of three big league seasons, he’s a .218/.256/.373 hitter. García owns a more impressive .268/.333/.448 line at Triple-A. He seemingly beat out fellow non-roster invitee Andrew Knapp for the backup catching job. Rosecrans tweets that Knapp has been granted his release after being informed he wouldn’t break camp.
Farmer, meanwhile, has pitched in parts of eight big league seasons. He’d spent his entire career with the Tigers but is now in line for his second MLB team. The right-hander posted a sub-4.00 ERA in both 2019-20, but he’s coming off a difficult 2021 campaign. In 35 1/3 innings, Farmer posted a 6.37 ERA with an elevated 12.3% walk rate. He’ll add some multi-inning relief depth for skipper David Bell, though, in hopes of rediscovering his 2019-20 form.
Akiyama’s release clears one spot on the 40-man roster, and the other two seem likely to come from injured list placements. Righty Justin Dunn is out “months” with a shoulder issue and figures to wind up on the 60-day injured list. Bell told reporters (including Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that infielder Max Schrock will be placed on the 60-day IL as well. The 27-year-old is dealing with a left calf strain.
That’ll set the stage for the Opening Day roster, but the Reds figure to require another 40-man roster spot by the middle of next week. As Jesse Borek of MLB.com writes, Cincinnati is expected to promote top pitching prospect Nick Lodolo to make his major league debut when the team first needs a fifth starter on April 13. The team has yet to make a formal announcement, but Lodolo isn’t expected to be assigned to a minor league affiliate. Assuming that plan comes to fruition, the Reds would have to formally select the southpaw onto the major league roster.