Diamondbacks Select Garrett Hampson
TODAY: The Diamondbacks announced that they have selected Hampson’s contract, keeping him in the organization and essentially assuring him of a spot on their Opening Day roster. Walston was transferred to the 60-day injured list in order to make room for Hampson on the 40-man roster.
March 21: Infielder/outfielder Garrett Hampson plans to exercise the upcoming opt-out in his minor league deal with the Diamondbacks, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The opt-out date is tomorrow and the Diamondbacks will then have 48 hours to decide whether to add Hampson to the roster or let him return to free agency.
Hampson is an Article XX(b) free agent, which is any player with at least six years of service who finished the previous season on a major league roster or injured list. Such players have guaranteed opt-out dates on minor league deals signed at least ten days prior to Opening Day. The first of those opt-out dates is five days prior to Opening Day, which will be tomorrow. The others are May 1 and June 1. When a player triggers an opt-out, the club has 48 hours to decide how to respond.
A veteran of seven big league seasons, Hampson has previously suited up for the Rockies, Marlins and Royals. He has generally served as a light-hitting utility player who provides some speed and versatility. His career batting line of .240/.301/.362 translates to a wRC+ of 69, indicating he’s been 31% below average overall. But he’s stolen 64 bases in 79 tries while playing every position except catcher.
He signed a minor league pact with the Snakes in January, a deal which will reportedly pay him $1.5MM if he cracks the big league roster. He’s had a decent showing in camp. His career walk rate is just 7.7% but he’s taken free passes at an 11.4% clip this spring. It’s a small sample of 44 plate appearances but his .289/.386/.368 line is solid, translating to a 107 wRC+.
The Diamondbacks likely need a multi-positional guy like Hampson. Of their four bench spots, one will be taken by a backup catcher, likely José Herrera. Another spot will go to outfielder Randal Grichuk. Of the two remaining bench spots, they will want at least one infielder, ideally one who can cover multiple spots.
On the 40-man roster at present, they have Jordan Lawlar, Blaze Alexander, Tim Tawa and Grae Kessinger. Alexander is out with an oblique strain. Lawlar is one of the top prospects in the league and missed a lot of 2024 due to injuries. The Diamondbacks surely want him playing regularly in Triple-A and optioned him earlier this week. Tawa and Kessinger have also been optioned to Triple-A already. The club could always recall them but it seems they have tipped their hand a bit.
The Diamondbacks also have Ildemaro Vargas in camp as a non-roster invitee. Whether it’s Hampson or Vargas getting a roster spot, the Snakes will need to make room. Blake Walston is out with Tommy John surgery and could be moved to the 60-day injured list to open one spot. If the club wants add both Hampson and Vargas, or perhaps an NRI pitcher like Shelby Miller, they would have to find a way to open another.
Photo courtesy Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images
Royals Outright Nick Pratto, Nelson Velazquez; Phillies Claim Carlos Hernandez
The Royals have cleared three spots on their 40-man roster, according to a report from Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The club placed first baseman Nick Pratto, outfielder Nelson Velazquez, and right-hander Carlos Hernandez on waivers. Hernandez was claimed by the Phillies, while both Pratto and Velazquez cleared waivers and have been outrighted to Triple-A. The Phillies subsequently announced they’ve designated right-hander Tyler Phillips for assignment to make room for Hernandez on the roster.
Hernandez, 28, is a hard-throwing righty who signed with the Royals out of Venezuela and made his pro debut back in 2017. He climbed the minor league ladder before eventually making it to the majors during the 2020 campaign, although his five-appearance cup of coffee was one to forget with a 4.91 ERA and 6.40 FIP in 14 2/3 innings of work. Nonetheless, he served in a swing role for Kansas City the following year and found success in that role, pitching to a 3.68 ERA and 4.08 FIP across 85 2/3 innings of work. That seemed to hint at a fairly bright future in store for the right-hander, but things didn’t work out that way as Hernandez struggled badly over the next two years with a 6.21 ERA in 126 innings of work as he struck out just 19.8% of opponents while walking them at a hefty 11% clip.
Those struggles were enough to spur a full-time move to the bullpen for Hernandez in 2024, and the results were a clear improvement. On the surface, his numbers looked excellent as he pitched to a 3.30 ERA with a 3.50 FIP in 30 innings of work. With that being said, it can’t be ignored that Hernandez also allowed three unearned runs, struck out just 20.9% of his opponents, and struggled badly at Triple-A when not in the majors with a 5.40 ERA in 26 2/3 innings of work. Most concerning was his walk rate, which ballooned to a career-high 12.4% last year. Those issues left Hernandez without a guaranteed roster spot headed into Spring Training, and with no minor league options left the Royals had no choice but to place him on waivers when his 6.97 ERA in 10 1/3 spring innings did not justify a spot in the club’s bullpen.
That gave the Phillies the opportunity to swoop in an add a high-velocity arm off waivers, though they had to part ways with Phillips in order to do so. The 27-year-old made his big league debut with Philadelphia last season and struggled to a 6.87 ERA in 36 2/3 innings of work split between seven starts and one relief outing. The Phillies will have one week to either trade Phillips or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the club can outright him to the minors as a non-roster depth option. Meanwhile, Hernandez figures to enter the club’s bullpen as a possible long relief option alongside Joe Ross and Taijuan Walker, though the latter could be ticketed for a return to the rotation if Ranger Suarez opens the season on the injured list.
As for Velazquez and Pratto, both are young hitters who have shown promise at points in their careers but have struggled to find consistency at the big league level. Velazquez was acquired from the Cubs at the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for right-hander Jose Cuas and impressed in 40 games down the stretch with the club before stumbling to a lackluster .200/.274/.366 slash line in 64 games last year. Pratto, meanwhile, was the club’s first-round pick in 2017 and once a consensus top-100 prospect, but he’s failed to hit in the majors so far with just a .216/.295/.364 slash line across 144 games at the big league level. Both players will now serve as non-roster depth for the club this year and try to play their way into another big league opportunity at Triple-A.
White Sox Claim Mike Vasil Off Waivers From Rays
The White Sox announced this afternoon that they’ve claimed right-hander Mike Vasil off waivers from the Rays. Right-hander Prelander Berroa was transferred to the 60-day injured list in order to make room for Vasil on the club’s 40-man roster.
Vasil, who celebrated his 25th birthday last week, has had a busy offseason. The longtime Mets farmhand was plucked from the club in the Rule 5 draft by the Phillies but was traded to the Rays for cash considerations shortly thereafter. He spent Spring Training with his newest club in Tampa, posting a 5.91 ERA in 10 2/3 innings of work, but ultimately did not make the club’s Opening Day roster. That led the Rays to place Vasil on waivers. If he had cleared waivers, he would’ve been offered back to the Mets, but instead the White Sox plucked him off the waiver wire and will now bring him into the fold along with all the roster stipulations that pertain to a typical Rule 5 player.
It’s not necessarily a surprise for a rebuilding club like the White Sox to dedicate roster spots to Rule 5 draftees, and some Rule 5 players like Garrett Whitlock and Anthony Santander have gone on to be valuable pieces for their new clubs after being drafted. With that being said, Vasil is coming off a 2024 campaign where he struggled to a 6.04 ERA in 134 innings of work at Triple-A Syracuse while still in the Mets organization. Providing any sort of major league production after struggling that badly at the highest level of the minors the year prior would be impressive in any context, but it would be especially impressive for a player in Vasil’s situation who cannot be optioned to the minor leagues.
With that being said, Vasil’s been viewed as scouts as a likely future starting pitcher capable of eating innings at the back of a rotation for years, and the White Sox are a club that’s clearly in need of innings. Fellow Rule 5 draft pick Shane Smith is also being carried on the club’s roster to open the season, and Smith appears to be in the mix alongside Bryse Wilson for the fifth spot in the club’s rotation behind Davis Martin, Jonathan Cannon, Martin Perez, and Sean Burke. Of that group, only Perez has made more than 21 starts in a big league season before. With so little experience in the club’s rotation mix, having an innings eater like Vasil available to take on spot starts or even carry the load in a long relief role could be quite valuable.
White Sox Release Brandon Drury
The White Sox announced this morning that they’ve released infielder Brandon Drury. As an article XX(B) free agent, Drury had the opportunity to opt out and test free agency this weekend if he was not added to Chicago’s 40-man roster. Notably, Scott Merkin of MLB.com was among those to note yesterday that the infielder recently suffered a thumb fracture, which left him poised to miss the beginning of the season.
Drury, 32, suffered through a brutal season with the Angels last year where he hit just .169/.242/.228 in 97 games, which led him to sign a minor league deal with the White Sox last month. Drury’s time in camp with Chicago could hardly have gone better, however, and his incredible .410/.439/.821 slash line in 41 trips to the plate this spring seemingly made him a lock for the club’s Opening Day roster until his aforementioned fractured thumb threw those plans off course. It’s surely a frustrating situation for both Drury himself and the White Sox, with Chicago now poised to rely on some combination of Lenyn Sosa, Josh Rojas, Nick Maton, and Jacob Amaya up the middle with Drury no longer in the fold, though top prospect Colson Montgomery could force himself into the lineup at some point this year.
As for Drury, he’ll return to free agency coming off that phenomenal spring performance in hopes of catching on with another club with whom he can rehab his thumb injury and eventually return to lineup. Prior to his disastrous 2024 season, Drury enjoyed a solid stretch of three seasons with the Mets, Reds, Padres, and Angels where he slashed .263/.313/.493 with a wRC+ of 118 in 314 games, showing he can provide above average offensive production while handling either second or third base when he’s on. Whether or not he’ll be able to return to that quality production in 2025 once his thumb has healed remains to be seen, but it would hardly be a shock to see a club in need of infield depth offer him an opportunity in the coming days.
The Brewers are one example of a club that’s thin at third base, while the Astros could theoretically use some extra depth at the keystone after moving Jose Altuve to left field. The Yankees are also known to be in the market to upgrade their infield mix, while teams like the Mets and Twins have suffered injuries to key infield pieces this spring. Any of those clubs could be at least speculative fits for Drury’s services, though assuming he’s willing to take another non-roster deal it’s not hard to imagine a number of clubs being able to find playing time for him at Triple-A as a versatile depth option.
Royals Release Ross Stripling, Luke Maile
The Royals announced this morning that they’ve granted both right-hander Ross Stripling and catcher Luke Maile their release. Both players had opt-out opportunities in their contracts as Article XX(B) free agents and requested their release if not added to the club’s active roster.
Stripling, 35, is the more well-known player of the two. He debuted back in 2016 with the Dodgers and excelled in a swing role with the club for four seasons, posting a 3.51 ERA (115 ERA+) and 3.60 FIP in 387 innings split between 52 starts and 84 relief appearances from 2016 to 2019. That impressive stretch included an All-Star appearance in 2018, and established Stripling as one of the game’s premiere swing men. Unfortunately, things came off the rails somewhat for Stripling over the next two seasons, as he was traded to the Blue Jays partway through the shortened 2020 season and surrendered a 5.14 ERA with a 5.52 FIP in 150 2/3 innings of work.
The right-hander returned to form during his age-32 season with Toronto in 2022, posting a strong 3.01 ERA in 134 1/3 innings of work that came primarily out of the rotation with a similarly strong 3.11 FIP. Unfortunately, that return to form proved to be something of a flash in the pan, as Stripling pitched poorly in each of the past two seasons after returning to California and pitching in the Bay Area. Between the Giants and Athletics the past two seasons, Stripling surrendered a 5.68 ERA and 4.57 FIP in 174 1/3 innings of work. That included a worryingly low 12.9% strikeout rate in 85 1/3 innings for Oakland last year.
Given those struggles, it was no surprise when Stripling had to settle for a minor league deal with Kansas City. Unfortunately for Stripling, he surrendered 14 runs (13 earned) on 17 hits (including five homers) and one walk during his eight innings of work this spring. That disastrous performance, in conjunction with a fairly deep arsenal of starting-caliber arms in the fold with the Royals, left Stripling without much of a path back to the majors. He’ll now search for a better opportunity elsewhere, though it’s likely he’ll need to prove himself at Triple-A before getting a big league opportunity at this point.
As for Maile, the 34-year-old signed on with the Royals last month on a minor league pact and has done quite well for himself this spring, with a .333/.391/.571 slash line in ten games. With that being said, Maile’s status as a veteran of nine MLB seasons who has never hit much makes a strong spring performance unlikely to move the needle in clubs’ evaluations of him, and the Royals are set up well behind the plate with their current combination of Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin. That led Maile to depart the club in search of another opportunity today, and it’s not hard to imagine him finding one. Maile is fairly well-regarded as a defensive option behind the plate, and profiles as a serviceable second or third catcher for a big league club. With players like Tyler Stephenson and Sean Murphy having suffered injuries this spring, it’s not hard to imagine Maile finding a job with a club prior to Opening Day even after he hit just .210/.291/.331 in 127 games with the Reds over the past two seasons.
Red Sox Release Adam Ottavino
The Red Sox announced this morning that they’ve released right-hander Adam Ottavino. The veteran triggered an opt-out clause in his contract prompting the release, as noted by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. Meanwhile, Cotillo reports that veteran southpaw Matt Moore does not plan to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract and will remain with the organization at Triple-A Worcester. In other roster news, Alex Cora told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) yesterday that Masataka Yoshida will begin the season on the injured list as he builds up his throwing program.
Ottavino, 39, is a veteran of 14 MLB seasons who previously pitched for the Red Sox back in 2021. He provided the Red Sox with decent middle relief work that year, pitching to a 4.21 ERA with a 3.96 FIP in 62 innings of work. He’s spent three seasons since then in Queens with the Mets, and that three-year stint generally went quite well for both sides as he posted a 3.14 ERA and 3.66 FIP in 183 1/3 frames, picking up 16 saves and striking out 27.6% of opponents along the way. Unfortunately, Ottavino’s results declined with the club as time went on, and his work with the Mets last year was rather pedestrian.
In 56 innings of work last year, Ottavino managed an ERA of just 4.34, 9% worse than league average by ERA+. His peripheral numbers remained solid, as he posted a 3.67 FIP and struck out 28.6% of his opponents, but that still wasn’t enough for any of the league’s 30 clubs to overlook his age and lackluster production last year to offer him a major league deal. That led him to settle for a minor league pact with the Red Sox back in February. Camp hasn’t gone especially well for Ottavino, however, as he’s allowed six runs in just five innings and surrendered free passes to five of the 25 batters he’s faced. Those struggles were enough to keep him out of the Red Sox Opening Day bullpen, and now Ottavino will have the opportunity to survey the open market for a more direct path to playing in the majors for his 15th season.
As for Moore, the southpaw enjoyed back-to-back dominant relief seasons in 2022 and ’23 but the wheels came off for the 35-year-old in 2024. In 48 1/3 innings of work with the Angels last year, Moore posted a lackluster 5.03 ERA with an even uglier 6.17 FIP as he allowed 11 homers in just 51 appearances and walked 12.4% of opponents as his strikeout rate fell below 20%. It was a brutal performance all around, but the tantalizing upside the veteran showed when he posted a 2.20 ERA and 3.29 FIP in 126 2/3 innings of work in the two years prior was enough to earn Moore a minor league pact with the Red Sox this winter. He’s pitched reasonably well in Spring Training with three scoreless innings, but has gotten only those three innings of work in this spring and will head to Triple-A to build up in hopes of cracking the big league roster later in the year. As an Article XX(B) free agent, Moore will have additional opportunities to opt out on both May 1 and June 1 if not added to the club’s roster by those dates.
As for Yoshida, the veteran came into camp this spring battling for his roster spot despite there being three years remaining on his five-year, $90MM contract with the club. Yoshida battled thumb and shoulder issues last year and ultimately ended up undergoing labrum surgery back in October, which Yoshida is still recovering from. While Yoshida is well enough to hit at this point, Rafael Devers now figures to serve as the club’s incumbent DH with Alex Bregman taking over at the hot corner, meaning Yoshida won’t be able to play for the Red Sox until he’s healthy enough to play left field. That’s led to the club’s plan to start him on the injured list this year and send him to Triple-A Worcester on a rehab assignment, where he’ll be able to build up his arm strength over the course of a 20-day rehab assignment. Given that plan, it seems as though Yoshida should be expected back with the Red Sox in Boston at some point in late April, barring any setbacks.
Braves Sign Jesse Chavez To Minor League Deal
Fans in Atlanta have been reunited with an old friend today, as veteran right-hander Jesse Chavez signed with the Braves on a minor league deal this morning as relayed by David O’Brien of The Athletic. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports that Chavez is in the mix for a spot on the club’s Opening Day roster, with the final spot on the club’s pitching staff seemingly likely to come down to either him or youngster AJ Smith-Shawver.
Chavez, 41, will now have the opportunity to suit up for the Braves in a fifth consecutive big league season. The journeyman reliever was drafted by the Cubs in the 39th round of the 2001 draft but did not sign, only to then be drafted in the 42nd round of the 2002 draft by the Rangers. He kicked off his career in the majors with the Pirates back in 2008 at the age of 24, and since then he’s pitched for nine clubs across 17 big league seasons. The veteran journeyman struggled a great deal early in his career, with a 5.99 ERA in his first 156 big league outings, but he improved with time to become a roughly average middle relief arm in his early to mid 30s with a 4.18 ERA in 755 2/3 innings of work from 2013 to 2020.
The righty’s most notable step forward, however, came in Atlanta. More than a decade after he made his Braves debut (he made 28 appearances for the club back in 2010), Chavez returned to Georgia in 2021 and dominated to the tune of a 2.14 ERA in 33 2/3 innings of work with an even better 2.01 FIP. He went on to pitch 6 1/3 scoreless innings during the club’s run to the World Series, and since then he’s remained a fixture of Atlanta’s pitching staff even as stints with the Cubs, White Sox, and Angels have either seen him depart the organization without making a big league appearance or struggle in a brief stint at the big league level. All of those forays into other organizations have ended in him returning to Atlanta, and it appears this winter’s minor league deal with the Rangers was no different as the veteran was released on Friday prior to his reunion with Atlanta.
Now that he’s back with the Braves organization, it would hardly be a surprise to see him return to the big league roster given that he’s posted a sterling 2.53 ERA over the past four seasons while pitching in the club’s uniform. To crack the Opening Day roster, the veteran will need to beat out Smith-Shawver. The 22-year-old has looked quite good this spring, with a 3.94 ERA and a 28.2% strikeout rate in 16 innings of work. Those big strikeout numbers have gotten the attention of the club’s brass and appear to have even entered him into the conversation for starts alongside Grant Holmes and Ian Anderson behind the club’s regular starters Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Reynaldo Lopez. Chavez won’t be in the mix for starts, but if the club opts to round out its rotation with Anderson and Holmes he could slide into a long relief role with the club as Smith-Shawver heads to Triple-A.
Rockies To Release Jake Woodford
According to a report from MLBTR’s Steve Adams yesterday evening, right-hander Jake Woodford has opted out of his minor league deal with the Rockies and Colorado is expected to grant the righty his release so that he can pursue other opportunities.
Woodford, 28, was a first rounder selected by the Cardinals in 2015 but did not make his big league debut until 2020. The right-hander’s first stint in the majors left something to be desired, as he struggled to a 5.57 ERA across 21 frames, but he remained an up-and-down swingman for the club for four seasons in total. Woodford managed to get some solid results for the Cardinals from 2021-22, as he pitched to a 3.26 ERA (121 ERA+) with a 3.93 FIP in 116 innings of work. He struck out just 15.4% of opponents faced during that time against a 7.5% walk rate, though he made up for his lack of strikeout stuff and pinpoint command in part thanks to a strong 45.8% groundball rate.
The righty’s shaky peripherals proved to be a problem for him during the 2023 campaign, however, as he posted a lackluster 6.23 ERA with a 6.61 FIP over 47 2/3 innings of work. His strikeout rate dipped to 13.1%, his walk rate ballooned to 9.1%, and even his excellent 51.2% groundball rate wasn’t enough to make up for the excessive free passes and minimal punchouts. Woodford’s considerable struggles with the Cardinals led the club to non-tender him last winter, though he eventually caught on with the White Sox on a minor league deal.
Unfortunately, 2024 did not go much better for Woodford than 2023 had. The right-hander made two spot starts on the south side of Chicago but was torched for 15 hits and ten runs in 8 1/3 innings of work before being designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and elected free agency before eventually catching on with the Pirates on a minor league deal and making it back to the majors shortly after the trade deadline. The right-hander ended up making seven appearances (five starts) for Pittsburgh, and while he struggled once again to a 7.09 ERA his peripheral numbers improved somewhat. His strikeout rate ticked back up to 15.7% while he held opponents to a minuscule 3.3% walk rate, though those improvements came at the cost of a groundball rate that sat at just 38.9%.
Woodford was eventually outrighted off the Pirates’ roster late last season and went on to elect minor league free agency, where he landed with the Rockies on a minor league deal. Colorado intended to give Woodford a look as a potential starter, though he did not make the club’s rotation out of camp after struggling to a 5.25 ERA in 12 spring innings of work. Despite that lackluster performance, it’s not hard to imagine a club short on rotation depth taking a chance on Woodford and seeing what he can do for them at the Triple-A level on a minor league deal. After all, many pitching-needy clubs could find interest in his solid career 45.1% groundball rate, and his ability to shuffle between the rotation and bullpen as needed offers flexibility.
Guardians, Rockies Swap Nolan Jones, Tyler Freeman
The Guardians and Rockies have reached a deal that sent outfielder Nolan Jones to Cleveland in exchange for infielder/outfielder Tyler Freeman, according to a report from Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The deal has subsequently been announced.
The deal represents a homecoming for Jones, who was a second-round pick by Cleveland in 2016 and made his MLB debut with the club in 2022 before being traded to Colorado in a deal that brought back Juan Brito in November of that year. Jones went on to finish fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting that year as he posted 3.8 fWAR/4.3 bWAR for the Rockies, slugging 20 homers and swiping 20 bases while splitting time between the outfield corners and first base. In all, Jones slashed .297/.389/.542 that season, which even in the inflated offensive environment Coors Field provides was good for an excellent 137 wRC+. Meanwhile, Brito has yet to make his big league debut for the Guardians but posted a strong .256/.365/.443 line in 144 games at Triple-A for the club last year.
As impressive as Jones’s first year in Colorado was, however, he suffered a significant sophomore slump in his second year with the club. Back issues limited him to just 79 games, and when he was healthy enough to take the field he was ineffective with a lackluster .227/.321/.320 slash line. While a downturn in production should have always been expected relative to his 2023 campaign given Jones’s unbelievable .400 BABIP that year, Jones’s lost power production was something of a shock. After barreling up a whopping 15.7% of his batted balls in 2023, that number cratered to just 5.9% last year despite his overall rate of hard hit batted balls increasing from 40.9% to 44.4%. That came primarily from a massive spike in groundball rate, as Jones hit 52.7% of his batted balls on the ground last year, ten points higher than the year prior. That left him to club just three homers last year and enter his age-27 campaign with plenty of questions about what his production would look like this year.
Those questions will now be answered back in Cleveland, where Jones now appears likely to have the opportunity to lock down the club’s regular right field job, which to this point appeared likely to be filled by Will Brennan. Jones offers more proven upside than Brennan, 27, who posted roughly league average offensive numbers in a platoon role with the Guardians last year. Brennan, unlike Jones, has options remaining and can be sent to Triple-A as depth for the coming season. Should he replace Brennan on the roster, Jones could share time in right field with right-handed slugger Jhonkensy Noel if the Guardians want to spell him against left-handed pitchers, though Johnathan Rodriguez is another option on the 40-man roster.
As for the Rockies, they’ll be parting with Jones to bring in Freeman, a versatile utility bat with the ability to play quality defense all over the diamond but minimal offensive potential. A career 83 wRC+ hitter who slashed .209/.305/.321 (84 wRC+) in 118 games with the Guardians last year, Freeman spent the majority of his time in center field but also got brief looks at shortstop, third base, and second base throughout the season. With Brenton Doyle locked in as the everyday center fielder in Colorado, it seems likely that Freeman will be tasked with a more regular return to the dirt in 2025. While a utility role off the bench could be in Freeman’s future given the presence of Ezequiel Tovar at shortstop and Ryan McMahon at third base, an injury to Thairo Estrada earlier this week opened up regular playing time at the keystone for at least the start of the season. Given that, it seems likely that Freeman will either serve as the Rockies’ regular second baseman or split time with veteran utility man Kyle Farmer at the position while Estrada recovers from the broken wrist that figures to sideline him for four to eight weeks.
Freeman was projected to be part of the Guardians’ bench mix come Opening Day, likely serving as a backup center field option behind Lane Thomas as well as a potential platoon partner for either Brennan or Kyle Manzardo. It’s possible a more regular outfielder like Rodriguez or Angel Martinez could be asked to take on that role, but one potentially intriguing candidate to join the club’s roster would be Brito himself. Brito is mostly an infielder with the vast majority of his time in the minors spent at second base, but he got a look in right field last year and could be an intriguing addition to the club’s bench mix as long as they believe in Lane Thomas as a legitimate everyday option in center field.
Guardians Extend Tanner Bibee
The Guardians have signed Tanner Bibee to a five-year contract extension that includes a club option for the 2030 season, according to MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins. The Athletic’s Zack Meisel (multiple links) reports that Bibee will receive at least $48MM in guaranteed money. As per Meisel, the contract breaks down as a $2MM signing bonus and a $3MM salary this season, $4MM in 2026, $7MM in 2027, $10MM in 2028, $21MM in 2029, and then Cleveland holds a $21MM club option for 2030 with a $1MM buyout.
Bibee just turned 26 earlier this month, so he gets a late birthday present in the form of a life-changing contract. Bibee has exactly two years of MLB service time, and his $48MM deal ranks as the third-most money ever given to a pitcher with between two years and two years and 171 days of service time. The 2025 season was Bibee’s final pre-arbitration year, so the extension covers all three of his arb-eligible years and at least one of his free agent years.
A fifth-round pick out of Cal State Fullerton in the 2021 draft, Bibee quickly became the latest quality arm to emerge from Cleveland’s pitching development factory. Bibee attracted top-100 prospect attention entering the 2023 season, and he immediately delivered on that potential by posting a 2.98 ERA in 142 innings with the Guardians. That performance earned him a second-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting, and subsequently a full year of service time, as per the rules of the league’s Prospect Promotion Incentive plan.
There was no sophomore slump in the follow-up, as Bibee had a 3.47 ERA in 173 2/3 frames last season, with improved strikeout and walk rates from his rookie year. Bibee also got his first turn on the postseason stage, with a 3.45 ERA in 15 2/3 innings during the Guards’ run to the ALCS. Perhaps the only minor red flag was that Bibee (an average velocity pitcher) saw his fastball drop off rather drastically in effectiveness from 2023 to 2024, but that was balanced out by his cutter becoming an even more effective pitch.
Bibee becomes the latest in a decades-long line of quality players the Cleveland organization has signed to early-career extensions. Identifying and locking up talent has been perhaps the key plank of the team’s success over the years, given how the smaller-market Guardians rarely sign their players to secondary contracts or big free agent deals. Jose Ramirez is a rare example of a Guardians player who did ink a second extension to remain in the Cleve, and Ramirez and Bibee are now the only Guards players signed to guaranteed money beyond the 2026 season. The Guardians do have some control over Emmanuel Clase and Trevor Stephan in the form of club options covering their 2027 and 2028 seasons, as per the terms of their own extensions.
If Ramirez is the cornerstone of the position-player mix, Bibee now has a similar status as the key figure of the Guardians’ rotation for the remainder of the decade. Bibee already stepped up as a pillar of stability in what was an uncharacteristically so-so year for the Cleveland rotation as a whole, and he’ll look to again be the ace of a staff that includes Ben Lively, Logan Allen, Gavin Williams, and new arrival Luis Ortiz. Longtime ace Shane Bieber re-signed with the Guards in December and is expected to return around midseason once he fully recovers from Tommy John surgery.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images