Athletics Trade Matt Chapman To Blue Jays
Oakland’s rapid sell-off and the Blue Jays’ aggressive offseason both continued Wednesday, as the A’s announced that third baseman Matt Chapman has been traded to Toronto in exchange for right-hander Gunnar Hoglund, infielder Kevin Smith, left-hander Zach Logue and left-hander Kirby Snead.
The acquisition of Chapman will give the Blue Jays not only one of the best defensive third basemen in the game but one of the top defensive players in baseball at any position. Since Chapman’s 2017 Major League debut, his 88 Defensive Runs Saved and his 47.3 Ultimate Zone rating both trail only Mookie Betts and Andrelton Simmons among all big leaguers. Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric largely agrees, ranking him tenth among all big league players, regardless of position, since 2017. Indeed, Chapman has twice been recognized as the league’s best all-around defender by being named the league’s Platinum Glove winner.
Of course, Chapman is far from a glove-only player. From 2018-19, he was a legitimate MVP candidate on the strength of his combined offensive and defensive prowess. The former No. 25 overall draft pick posted a .263/.348/.507 slash with 60 home runs while playing his home games at the cavernous Oakland Coliseum during those two seasons, finishing Top 7 in American League MVP voting on both occasions.
Chapman’s offensive production has fallen sharply over the past two seasons, due in no small part to a major hip injury in 2020 that he tried to play through before succumbing to surgery. That procedure both repaired a labrum tear and “cleaned up” the head of his right femur bone. Even as his production has dipped, Chapman has still hit for power (37 home runs, .216 ISO) and drawn plenty of walks (11.4%), but his strikeout rate has spiked from 22.8% in 2018-19 all the way to 33.1% in 2020-21. Over the past two seasons, he’s posted a combined .215/.206/.431 batting line.
The Jays are surely betting that Chapman will bounce back to an extent at the plate now that he’ll be 18 months removed from that September 2020 surgery. However, even if he doesn’t return to his MVP-caliber levels from 2018-19, the new three-true-outcomes version of Chapman was still worth 3.5 wins above replacement per both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs last season. He’s a pronounced upgrade for a Jays team hoping to make a deep postseason run on the strength of a dominant offense and a rotation that has improved by leaps and bounds in recent seasons.
Chapman’s salary has not yet been settled, as he’s arbitration-eligible and did not settle on a price point with the A’s prior to the lockout. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $9.5MM this coming season and will be owed one more raise for the 2023 campaign before reaching free agency in the 2023-24 offseason. While Jays fans may be looking to Matt Olson‘s swift extension following a trade from Oakland to his hometown Braves, it should be pointed out that as a client of the Boras Corporation, Chapman seems less likely to follow that same trajectory. Still, he’ll be locked in as the Toronto third baseman for at least the next two seasons.
Adding Chapman firmly pushes Cavan Biggio to second base, where he’s better suited to play from a defensive standpoint. Chapman’s range will also play nicely alongside Bo Bichette, who has drawn mixed reviews for his glovework at shortstop. Statcast notes that Bichette is much stronger on balls hit to his left side than those hit to his right, so getting some extra range out of their third baseman will be particularly helpful.
It’s worth pointing out that Chapman isn’t an ideal fit for a Toronto lineup that skews almost entirely right-handed. He’d give them eight pure right-handed hitters in the starting lineup, with Biggio the lone lefty. That right-handed lean was part of the reason that a potential Freddie Freeman fit has seemed so tantalizing for the Jays. This acquisition technically doesn’t rule out a Freeman signing, but it does quash any speculation of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. moving back to third base. That’s in the team’s best interest anyhow, as Guerrero was never a strong defensive option at the hot corner. A theoretical Freeman addition would push Guerrero into a primary designated hitter role earlier in his career than the Jays might’ve liked, but the sheer offensive firepower of that lineup would still make it worth considering. Toronto had been linked to Kyle Schwarber, but he’s now Philadelphia-bound after agreeing to a four-year deal with the Phillies.
Turning the Oakland’s return, they’ll acquire one high-end but far-off pitching prospect, Hoglund, and a trio of largely MLB-ready pieces in Smith, Logue and Snead. Hoglund was the No. 19 overall draft pick in 2021 and might well have gone in the Top 10 selections had he not required Tommy John surgery during last year’s NCAA season. The former Ole Miss ace was largely regarded as one of the top college arms in the draft after pitching to a 2.41 ERA with a sky-high 39% strikeout rate against a strong 6.1% walk rate.
Baseball America ranked him fifth among Toronto farmhands, while FanGraphs pegged him No. 3 in the Toronto system. Much of Hoglund’s future depends on how he recovers from Tommy John surgery, but he’d been described as an advanced college arm with mid-rotation upside and a potential quick path to the big leagues.
Smith, 25, ought to step right into the Athletics’ Opening Day lineup. He went just 3-for-32 in a brief big league cup of coffee late in the 2021 season, but that’s overshadowed by a big .285/.370/.561 batting line in Triple-A last year. Smith, ranked seventh among Jays prospects at BA and 16th at FanGraphs, smacked 21 home runs, 27 doubles and four triples while also going 18-for-21 in stolen base attempts in that outstanding Triple-A campaign. BA ranked him as the game’s No. 91 prospect in the 2018-19 offseason, and while a poor first showing in Triple-A dropped his stock, last year’s excellent rebound restored a good bit of faith in his abilities.
The Jays played Smith primarily at shortstop during his time in Triple-A, but he also has 651 professional innings at third base and 161 innings of work at second base. Scouting reports peg him as a capable but not-elite defender at short. Given the presence of all-world defensive prospect Nick Allen in the upper tiers of the Oakland system, it seems quite possible that Smith’s eventual home with the A’s will be either third base or second base.
As for the two pitchers, Logue has a chance to be in the Oakland rotation before long. The 25-year-old (26 in April) was Toronto’s ninth-round pick in 2017 and has greatly elevated his status, thanks in part to a nice showing between Double-A and Triple-A this past season. In 125 innings between the two levels, Logue notched a 3.67 ERA with a strong 28.2% strikeout rate, an even better 5.3% walk rate and a 38% ground-ball rate. That he’s a fly-ball pitcher moving to Oakland as opposed to Toronto’s more hitter-friendly Rogers Centre can only help his chances of becoming a quality big league contributor.
Logue ranked 24th among Jays prospects at BA, where he was labeled one of the system’s “most improved” players in 2021 and touted as a potential back-end starter. FanGraphs tabbed him 10th in the Toronto system, praising his plus changeup, plus command and above-average cutter. Scouting reports generally don’t peg Logue as more than a fourth starter, but if he’s able to realize that potential, there’s quite a bit of value in six-plus seasons of a No. 4 starter.
Snead, 27, gives the A’s an MLB-ready bullpen piece who made his big league debut late in the ’21 season. Snead allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a pair of walks with seven strikeouts through his first 7 2/3 big league innings last year. That marked the continuation of an excellent season in Triple-A, where he’d notched a 1.58 ERA with a huge 36.1% strikeout rate, a 10.1% walk rate and a massive 63.3% ground-ball rate.
Unlike many lefties, Snead has no issues containing right-handed opponents in 2021. While he was still better against left-handers, who posted an awful .141/.222/.203 against him (Majors and Triple-A combined), right-handers were similarly futile. Even when batters held the platoon advantage, they mustered only a .186/.278/.245 output against Snead. He’s been a pure reliever throughout his professional career, but that dominance against both righties and lefties mitigates any specialist concerns and gives him the chance to be a multi-inning option. Snead has pitched 236 1/3 innings through 186 minor league appearances, so he’s no stranger to working more than an inning at a time.
The trade of an All-Star third baseman to the Blue Jays for a four-player package consisting of three largely MLB-ready pieces and one further-off but high-upside prospect will do little to quell comparisons to the 2014 Josh Donaldson blockbuster. That trade, which brought Franklin Barreto, Brett Lawrie, Kendall Graveman and Sean Nolin to Oakland, didn’t pan out as the front office hoped, but today’s swap is a separate deal, eerie similarities notwithstanding. The A’s have added a notable influx of talent to their system, and the Chapman return in particular features the largest crop of MLB-ready talent they’ve picked up thus far in their offseason dealings.
The Chapman trade marks the latest step in the dismantling of a roster that was largely foreseeable but is nevertheless disheartening for the fanbase. Chapman follows fan favorites Olson and Chris Bassitt out the door, and it’s unlikely Oakland will stop its roster purge with those three. Lefty Sean Manaea, a free agent at season’s end, seems all but certain to be traded. Right-hander Frankie Montas, center fielder Ramon Laureano and reliever Lou Trivino all have multiple seasons of club control remaining but still could change hands. Montas, in particular, has been a target for pitching-hungry clubs. Looking ahead, it’s not really a question of whether any of those players will be traded — but rather one of who’ll be the next to go.
Former All-Star second baseman Carlos Baerga first reported on Instagram that a trade agreement was in place. Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reported Oakland’s return for Chapman (Twitter link).
Tigers To Sign Andrew Chafin
The Tigers have an agreement with lefty reliever Andrew Chafin, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Chafin’s contract will be a two-year deal in the $13MM range, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. That is indeed the contract value, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network, who notes the inclusion of an opt-out after 2022. Chafin is represented by Meister Sports Management.
Chafin, 31, posted a career-best 1.83 ERA in 68 2/3 innings for the Cubs and Athletics in 2021. Though his 24.1 K% was down from previous years, he also managed a career-best 7.1 BB%. Chafin was tough on both righties and lefties in ’21, and actually posted a significantly higher strikeout rate against righties. Though Chafin is not known for his velocity or spin rate, his Statcast metrics regarding quality of contact are excellent.
Chafin was drafted 43rd overall by the Diamondbacks out of Kent State back in 2011. He’s made 66+ appearances in a season five different times, leading all MLB relievers with 225 appearances from 2017-19. In facing 263 lefty batters since 2019, Chafin has posted an 18.3 K-BB% against them while allowing a .225/.290/.317 batting line.
According to MLB.com’s Jason Beck, the relative proximity to Chafin’s Ohio home was an advantage for Detroit. The Chafin signing is another move toward respectability for the Tigers in an offseason full of them. The club committed $217MM to Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez prior to the lockout, also trading for catcher Tucker Barnhart. Chafin joins a Tigers bullpen that is slated to include holdovers Gregory Soto, Michael Fulmer, Jose Cisnero, Alex Lange, and Kyle Funkhouser.
In February of last year, the Cubs signed Chafin to a one-year, $2.75MM deal. Near the July trade deadline, he was dealt to Oakland for minor leaguers Greg Deichmann and Daniel Palencia.
Three other lefty relievers have signed two-year deals this winter. Aaron Loup received a $17MM deal from the Angels, while Brooks Raley got $10MM from the Rays and Jake Diekman got $8MM from the Red Sox. Brad Hand, Matt Strahm, T.J. McFarland, and Joely Rodriguez inked one-year pacts. Here’s a look at the lefty relievers still remaining in free agency.
Tigers Re-Sign Wily Peralta
The Tigers have brought right-hander Wily Peralta back to the organization on a minor league contract, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports (via Twitter). He’ll compete for a roster spot in big league camp after a solid showing in Detroit last year. Peralta would earn a $2.5MM base salary if he makes the roster, per Petzold, with the opportunity to pick up another $500K worth of incentives.
Peralta, 32, had a strong return to the Majors last season after not pitching in the Majors in 2020 and logging a 5.80 ERA in 40 innings with Kansas City in 2019. The former Brewers hurler went from minor league signee to a regular member in the Detroit rotation, making 18 starts (plus one relief appearance) and pitching to a 3.07 ERA in 93 2/3 innings. The underlying metrics weren’t nearly as rosy, as Peralta posted a just a 14.4% strikeout rate against a 9.5% walk rate. He kept more than half his batted balls on the ground, but metrics like FIP (4.94) and SIERA (5.27) don’t paint an especially optimistic portrait.
That’s likely a large reason that, in spite of a glowing 2021 ERA, Peralta had to settle for a nonguaranteed contract in free agency. That said, while Peralta isn’t promised a roster spot, he ought to have a decent chance at making the roster after making a good impression on the organization last year.
The Tigers’ Opening Day rotation figures to included Eduardo Rodriguez, Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, but things are less certain thereafter. Righty Matt Manning, a longtime top prospect, was hit hard in his MLB debut last year but will still have a chance to win a spot. Prospects Joey Wentz and Alex Faedo could eventually be options, but both are returning from Tommy John surgery.
It’s quite possible that the Tigers will add another veteran starter to join the ranks, thus pushing Peralta and Manning into a competition for the fifth spot on the staff. For the time being, Peralta seemingly has a better chance at cracking the roster than your average non-roster player in Spring Training.
Yankees To Re-Sign Anthony Rizzo
The Yankees have settled on a first baseman, reportedly agreeing to terms with Anthony Rizzo on a two-year, $32MM guarantee. The deal pays the Sports One Athlete Management client $16MM salaries annually and gives him the opportunity to opt out after the 2022 campaign. The contract is pending a physical.
Rizzo will be returning to the Bronx, where he finished the 2021 season. New York acquired him from the Cubs in advance of the trade deadline, and he hit .249/.340/.428 in 200 plate appearances in pinstripes down the stretch. That was more or less in line with the .248/.346/.446 mark he’d put up in 376 trips to the plate with Chicago over the season’s first couple months.
It was the second straight season of reasonable but unexciting production for Rizzo. He’d posted a .222/.342/.414 line during the shortened 2020 campaign. Going back two seasons, he owns a .240/.343/.432 mark over 819 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+, that production checks in nine percentage points above the league average hitter’s. It’s actually a bit below the standard (.254/.335/.455, 113 wRC+) set by first basemen around the league.
It’s been a rather sharp downturn for Rizzo as he’s entered his 30’s. He broke out with the Cubs in 2014, his age-24 campaign. Over the next six seasons, he never posted a wRC+ below 126. Overall, Rizzo hit .284/.388/.513 between 2014-19, with his 141 wRC+ in that stretch tying for twelfth among 375 qualified hitters.
Rizzo was a lineup anchor for the Cubs as they emerged from their rebuild, and he was also highly-regarded for his leadership and presence in the clubhouse. That combination made him perhaps the face of the Cubs’ most successful run in over a century. He appeared in three consecutive All-Star games from 2014-16, finishing in the top ten in NL MVP voting each season. Rizzo played a key role on Chicago’s curse-breaking World Series winner in 2016, and he remained highly productive for three years beyond that even as the team never recaptured that level of postseason success.
The Yankees would be thrilled with their investment if he were to recapture anything near that form next season. Yet there’s clearly some trepidation around the league regarding Rizzo’s back-to-back relative down years. Just 12 months ago, Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of the Athletic reported that the Cubs had put a five-year, $70MM extension offer on the table. Rizzo declined Chicago’s overture, preferring to bet on himself after his middle-of-the-road 2020 season. After continuing to produce at a similar level over a full schedule in 2021, though, he essentially finds himself accepting a pillow contract and betting on a bounceback once again.
To be sure, Rizzo still does a lot of things well. He continues to boast an enviable combination of contact and raw power. Rizzo’s 81.5% contact rate and 15.1% strikeout percentage last season were both well better than average; so too were his 90.1 MPH average exit velocity and 41.1% hard contact rate. That neither Rizzo’s bat-to-ball skills nor his bat speed have evaporated lend hope he may again find some of his old form.
It’s also possible that forthcoming rules changes could aid Rizzo as he ages (albeit not during the upcoming season). The left-handed hitter has become more pull-oriented over the past two seasons than he’d been throughout his career. Not coincidentally, he has faced a higher rate of defensive shifts that have contributed to lackluster results on balls in play. Rizzo’s .246 batting average on balls in play since the start of 2020 ranks 108th out of 114 qualified hitters. That may continue to be an issue this year, but it’s expected MLB will implement restrictions on defensive shifting beginning with the 2023 campaign.
However one feels about Rizzo’s long-term projection at the plate, there’s not as much question about the value he brings on the other side of the ball. He’s a four-time Gold Glove Award winner who was unanimously well-regarded by public defensive metrics up through 2020. Defensive Runs Saved felt he dropped off in that regard last year, but Statcast’s Outs Above Average remained bullish on his work. Rizzo seems a fairly definitive upgrade with the glove over incumbent first baseman Luke Voit, who has always been a bat-first player — even relative to the lower defensive standards of the position.
With Rizzo back in the fold, it stands to reason Voit’s name will come up in trade talks over the coming weeks. They could coexist as a first base/designated hitter pairing on many rosters, but the Yankees don’t have many DH at-bats to spare. They’ve leaned heavily on the position to keep Giancarlo Stanton from having to shoulder too significant a workload in the outfield. Even if Stanton were capable of assuming more defensive responsibilities than he has in the recent past, New York already has a projected starting outfield of Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge.
More broadly, it has become apparent in recent months the Yankees weren’t fully committed to Voit, the 2020 MLB home run leader. They traded for Rizzo at the deadline, then reportedly came close to pulling the trigger on a subsequent deal that would’ve shipped Voit out over the summer. That never came to fruition, but the Yankees were again tied to bigger names at first base this offseason. New York was in contact with the A’s about Matt Olson before Oakland traded him to the Braves. More recently, they were considered among the top handful of suitors for Olson’s predecessor in Atlanta.
With Rizzo returning to the Bronx, it no longer seems the Yankees will be in that Freddie Freeman mix. The Braves have already moved on to Olson, leaving Freeman’s future home one of the most fascinating remaining storylines of the offseason. Recent reports have generally cast the Dodgers as the leading contender for the 2020 NL MVP, with the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Padres reported to be on the outskirts of his market.
Wherever he ends up, Freeman is sure to command a deal much loftier than the one the Yankees are guaranteeing Rizzo. New York has been wary of making a long-term commitment to free agents this winter, with the desire to work out an extension with Judge seemingly looming over the offseason calculus. Yet the recent trade for Josh Donaldson and today’s agreement with Rizzo solidify that the Yankees will exceed the competitive balance tax threshold in 2022 after dipping below the marker last season.
After today’s agreement, New York has around $244MM in real payroll and $258MM in CBT obligations on the books this year, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. (Luxury tax calculations are determined by summing contracts’ average annual values and player benefits as opposed to looking strictly at actual year-over-year salaries). They’ll pay a 20% fee on every dollar spent between $230MM and $250MM, as well as a 32% tax on every dollar between $250MM and $270MM. They’d face even higher penalties for exceeding $270MM and $290MM, and it’s not clear how far owner Hal Steinbrenner and the front office are willing to push things this season.
New York will see the salaries of both Aroldis Chapman ($16MM) and Zack Britton ($14MM) come off the books after this year. Judge and Gallo, both of whom have lofty projected arbitration tallies in 2022, will be hitting free agency. There should be decent long-term maneuverability for general manager Brian Cashman and his staff. How much more they’ll do in the short term remains to be seen, but a Voit trade at least looks like a very plausible next step as they try to round out the 2022 roster.
Jordan Brown first reported the Yankees and Rizzo were in agreement on a two-year, $32MM guarantee with an opt-out after 2022. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported he’ll be paid flat salaries of $16MM in each year.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Jose Martinez Signs With Mexican League’s Acereros De Monclova
Jose Martinez has joined the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League, according to a team announcement.
Martinez broke into the big leagues in 2016 and built a reputation as a bat-first player. Though his defense at first base and in the outfield corners was clearly lacking, he could certainly hit. Spending 2016 to 2019 with the Cardinals, he played 398 games and got 1,288 plate appearances, hitting .298/.363/.458, wRC+ of 122.
Prior to the 2020 season, the Cardinals traded Martinez, Randy Arozarena and a draft pick to the Rays for Matthew Liberatore, Edgardo Rodriguez and a draft pick. His production slipped a bit in the pandemic-shortened season, as he hit .239/.329/.388 for the Rays, before being dealt to the Cubs and not hitting at all in ten games there, finishing the season with a line of .182/.265/.295.
After the Cubs non-tendered him, he was signed by the Mets for the 2021 campaign. Unfortunately, he collided with an umpire in a Spring Training game, suffered a torn meniscus in his knee and never made it back to the big leagues. The club outrighted him at the end of the year.
This is the latest in a string of former big leaguers who have joined up with the Acereros. The club has also signed Josh Reddick, Pablo Sandoval and Keon Broxton in recent weeks.
Braves Sign Collin McHugh
The Braves have announced that they’ve signed right-hander Collin McHugh to a two-year deal with a $10MM guarantee. The 34-year-old will make $4MM this year and $5MM next year. There’s also a $6MM club option for 2024 with a $1MM buyout.
McHugh struggled in his first taste of MLB action with the Mets and Rockies, but then established himself as a quality starter with the Astros. From 2014 to 2017, he made 102 starts, throwing 606 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.70, 22.3% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate. In that last year, he missed the first half of the season with arm injuries, but returned in July to make 12 starts and appear in two playoff games out of the bullpen, as the Astros went on to win the 2017 World Series.
From there, McHugh transitioned into a bullpen role and found immediate success, frequently pitching more than one inning. In 2018, he got into 58 games and threw 72 1/3 innings with an ERA of 1.99, 33.2% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. In 2019, he tried returning to the rotation, making eight starts at the beginning of the season. That experiment didn’t go well, as he had an ERA of 6.37 in that time. But after transitioning back to the ‘pen, he got things back on track, throwing 33 2/3 innings over the remainder of the season with a 2.67 ERA.
However, despite those positive results, 2019 finished with yet another arm injury as his last appearance was in August. In 2020, he signed on with the Red Sox but the elbow issues lingered and he ended up opting out of the entire season. The Rays signed him to a $1.8MM deal for 2021, which turned into a tremendous bounceback season for McHugh. Despite multiple trips to the IL, he got into 37 games and logged 64 innings with a 1.55 ERA, 30% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate.
For the defending World Series champion Braves, their bullpen took a hit at the end of the season, as Richard Rodriguez, Josh Tomlin, Jesse Chavez and Chris Martin hit free agency, with Chavez and Martin both signing with the Cubs in recent days. McHugh will try to compensate for those losses, slotting into the bullpen next to other high-leverage options such as Will Smith, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson and A.J. Minter. The club will also be hoping for Kirby Yates, who missed last year due to Tommy John surgery, to join this group at some point.
Rays Re-Sign Cody Reed To Minor League Deal
The Rays announced this evening they’ve re-signed reliever Cody Reed to a minor league contract with an invitation to MLB Spring Training. Tampa Bay had outrighted him off their 40-man roster in November, at which point he elected free agency.
Reed has to pitch his way back onto the Rays’ big league club, but he’s appeared in the majors in each of the past six seasons. Originally a Royals draftee, Reed was traded to the Reds as part of the 2015 Johnny Cueto deal. He blossomed into one of the game’s top pitching prospects during his days with Cincinnati, but he never found consistent success in their rotation.
The left-hander debuted with ten starts for the Reds in 2016, but he was hit hard to the tune of a 7.36 ERA. He bounced on and off the roster over the next couple seasons, generally performing alright with Triple-A Louisville but never carrying that over into MLB success. The Reds moved him to the bullpen full-time in 2019, but he couldn’t carve out a permanent big league role there either. Cincinnati designated him for assignment in 2020, and Tampa Bay acquired him for pitching prospect Riley O’Brien.
Reed made 12 appearances with the Rays last season, allowing five runs in 9 2/3 innings. He struck out seven batters against six walks while dealing with a velocity drop, as his average fastball fell from the 94-95 MPH range to just north of 92 MPH. That may have been attributable to poor health, as Reed was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and underwent surgery in early June. That ended his season, but it was reported at the time of his surgery that he should be a full-go for Spring Training.
All told, Reed owns a 5.22 ERA in 136 1/3 career innings at the big league level. That’s inflated by his rough numbers as a starter, as he has a 2.77 mark in 47 relief appearances. Even when isolating to his performance out of the bullpen, Reed’s strikeout and walk numbers (21.5% and 13.7%, respectively) aren’t good. Yet he’s induced ground-balls at a huge 54.7% clip and held left-handed hitters to a .237/.329/.321 line as a reliever. He could again emerge as a situational option for skipper Kevin Cash if he’s now recovered from the thoracic outlet procedure.
Mariners, Mike Ford Agree To Minor League Contract
The Mariners are in agreement on a minor league deal with first baseman Mike Ford, as was first reported by MLB Transactions Daily (on Twitter). Ford has since confirmed the agreement on Instagram.
It’ll technically be Ford’s second stint with Seattle, as the M’s selected him out of the Yankees organization in the Rule 5 draft over the 2017-18 offseason. He partook in Spring Training with the Mariners but ultimately failed to crack the roster. Seattle returned him to New York a few days before Opening Day, and he spent that year with the Yankees’ top affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Ford would eventually get a big league look, though, as he was selected to New York’s MLB roster in April 2019. The left-handed hitter played in 50 games as a rookie and had an excellent showing. He popped 12 home runs in 163 plate appearances, posting a cumulative .259/.350/.559 slash line. He hasn’t managed to follow up on that strong start to his big league career, though. Over the past two years, he’s combined for just a .134/.250/.276 mark in 156 trips to the plate.
Amidst those recent struggles, the Yankees designated Ford for assignment last June. He was traded to the Rays but didn’t appear in the majors before Tampa Bay designated him themselves two months later. The Nationals claimed him off waivers and stashed him in Triple-A for the rest of the season. He struggled to a .202/.284/.337 line with their top affiliate, though, and never earned a big league call in the nation’s capital. Washington non-tendered the Princeton product at the end of the season.
Ford now needs to try and play his way back onto a 40-man roster. He’ll get a look in Seattle, which is set to open the year with Ty France at first base. Former top prospect Evan White remains on the 40-man but seems likely to start the season in Triple-A, where he’ll need to right the ship offensively. The 29-year-old Ford, owner of a .258/.350/.488 line in parts of four years at the minors’ highest level, adds some experienced depth to that first base/designated hitter group in camp.
Red Sox To Sign Jake Diekman
March 15: Diekman’s deal with the Sox is a two-year, $8MM arrangement, according to Cotillo (Twitter thread). He’ll earn $3.5MM in both 2022 and 2023. The Sox hold a $4MM club option for the 2024 season, which comes with a $1MM buyout.
March 13: For the second time today, the Red Sox are adding a lefty to the bullpen. Boston and Jake Diekman are close to agreeing to terms, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). The deal is “believed to be a multi-year deal” though the exact terms are not yet clear.
Diekman is one of the top bullpen arms available on the market. The now-35-year-old was lights out for the A’s during the pandemic-shortened 2020. He appeared in 21 games, posting a microscopic 0.42 ERA/2.72 FIP spanning 21 1/3 innings, numbers-driven at least in part by an uncharacteristically high 61.6 percent groundball rate. For comparison, he posted a 34.8 percent groundball rate last year and owns a 47.9 percent rate in that department for his career.
The 10-year veteran initially came to Oakland mid-season in 2019 in a deal with the Royals that netted KC a pair of minor leaguers. He continued to be effective for the A’s last season, though not quite at the surreal level of 2020. He tossed 60 2/3 innings over 67 outings with a 3.86 ERA/4.46 FIP while notching seven saves and 14 holds. He also blew seven saves.
With a 31.7 percent strikeout rate, he differentiates himself from the other lefties in Boston’s pen with his ability to miss bats. In so doing, Diekman becomes the top southpaw in a Boston pen that added Matt Strahm earlier today.
Beyond their new pair, the BoSox can call on Josh Taylor, Darwinzon Hernandez, and Austin Davis as potential southpaws out of the bullpen. Diekman is by far the most established of the bunch, however. He’s sure to team with Garrett Whitlock in the late game mix for manager Alex Cora.
Mets To Sign Mike Montgomery To Minor League Deal
4:01 pm: If Montgomery cracks the big league team, he’ll earn a salary of $1.1MM, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
1:56 pm: Left-handed pitcher Mike Montgomery is signing a minor league deal with the Mets, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal is pending a physical and presumably comes with an invitation to big league camp.
Montgomery and the Mets also connected on a minor league deal a year ago, but he never cracked the roster. He opted out and ended up signing another minor league deal with the Yankees, which he also opted out of, before heading to Korea. He made 11 starts for the Samsung Lions, putting up an ERA of 5.37.
The southpaw spent the previous six seasons in the majors, appearing in 183 games from 2015 to 2020, making 70 starts and logging 541 innings with the Mariners, Cubs and Royals. His career ERA is 3.84, though it hovered around 5.00 in 2019 and 2020. His career strikeout rate is 18%, along with a walk rate of 8.8%. The highlight of that period, however, was Montgomery recording the final out of the 2016 World Series for the Cubs.
Now 32, Montgomery has worked both out of the rotation and bullpen in his career, meaning he could function as depth in either capacity for the Mets. The rotation is strong on paper but comes with loads of uncertainty. Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt and Carlos Carrasco figure to be the front four, though they all dealt with injuries last year to varying degrees. Taijuan Walker underwent knee surgery in January and may not be ready for Opening Day. If any of that core five need to miss time, the club could also turn to Tylor Megill, David Peterson, Jordan Yamamoto, Sean Reid-Foley or Yennsy Diaz, who are all on the 40-man roster.
The path to a job in the bullpen is much more open, however, as the club doesn’t really have a lefty on the roster projected to be part of the relief corps. Alex Claudio was signed to a minor league deal in January and would likely be Montgomery’s chief competition in that respect. The Mets could continue this wild offseason with another addition, though there aren’t many high profile lefties remaining on the free agent market, with Andrew Chafin and Tony Watson perhaps being the most notable.