Reds Re-Sign Ian Gibaut To Minor League Deal
The Reds brought back reliever Ian Gibaut on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Wasserman client will be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.
Gibaut, 31, has been with Cincinnati for the past two-plus seasons. The Reds claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers halfway through the 2022 campaign. The righty turned in a 4.67 earned run average across 33 appearances for the rest of the season. Cincinnati kept him on the roster and were rewarded with a career-best showing in ’23. Gibaut worked to a 3.33 ERA over a personal-high 75 2/3 frames that year.
His follow-up was ruined by injury. Gibaut battled a nerve issue in his forearm and required surgery in May. The Reds activated him from the 60-day injured list in the final week of the season. Gibaut pitched twice, tossing two innings of one-run ball with a strikeout. Cincinnati decided not to carry him on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason after an injury-wrecked year. They non-tendered him in lieu of an $800K arbitration projection.
Gibaut will get an opportunity to reestablish himself in camp. His velocity was down slightly in his limited MLB work last year. He averaged 93.6 MPH on his fastball after sitting above 95 during the prior season. That’s not surprising coming off an extended layoff related to forearm trouble. If the offseason allows Gibaut to regain some of that life, he could vie for a spot in the middle innings.
The Reds have six relievers who are essentially locks for Opening Day jobs if healthy. Alexis Díaz, Brent Suter, Sam Moll, Tony Santillan, Emilio Pagán and trade pickup Taylor Rogers will all be in Terry Francona’s bullpen. Nick Martinez could be in the rotation or back in a multi-inning relief capacity. Gibaut joins Bryan Shaw and Alex Young as non-roster invitees who have MLB experience. None of those players can be optioned, so if the Reds select any of them onto their 40-man roster, they’d need to stick in the majors or be designated for assignment.
Reds Designate Owen White For Assignment
The Reds announced that they have designated right-hander Owen White for assignment. That opens a roster spot for left-hander Taylor Rogers, who has now been officially acquired from the Giants.
White, 25, has never suited up for the Reds. He was drafted by the Rangers and spent his entire career in that organization until they designated him for assignment last month. The Reds acquired him in early January, sending cash considerations to Texas, but have now quickly bumped him off the roster. He will be in DFA limbo for a week at most, during which time the Reds will see if they can trade him or pass him through waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours so any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.
It’s certainly possible other clubs are interested, just as the Reds were, hoping for a bounceback. White’s recent results haven’t been great but he is not too far removed from being one of the top pitching prospects in the game.
The Rangers took him with a second-round pick in 2018, though Tommy John surgery and the pandemic pushed his professional debut to 2021. Once able to take the hill in the minors, he put up good numbers. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he threw 115 2/3 innings, allowing 3.42 earned runs per nine. His 34.1% strikeout rate was huge, while his 7.5% walk rate was also a strong mark.
He was a consensus top 100 prospect going into 2023 but his stock has been sliding since then. He pitched seven big league innings for the Rangers over the past two years, but allowed 13 earned runs, giving him a nauseating 16.71 ERA at the moment. That’s obviously a tiny sample size but his minor league work has also been unimpressive. In 151 1/3 Triple-A innings over the past two years, he has a 5.41 ERA. That was in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but his 17.4% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate were also rough numbers, suggesting it wasn’t just the environment.
For what it’s worth, the Rangers tried a bullpen move partway through 2024, with some mixed results. In 18 innings over his final 13 appearances of the year, he struck out 25.6% of batters faced. His 5.50 ERA and 12.8% walk rate in that time weren’t good numbers but the uptick in punchouts was maybe something.
White still has one option year remaining, so an acquiring club could perhaps use the 2025 to experiment without having to put him in the big leagues. It’s possible there are some clubs who would like to put him back in a starting role to chase his previous upside or others who would see an intriguing path forward in the bullpen. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll stick with the Reds as non-roster depth. He’ll know in the next week whether that’s his fate or if he’s destined to join a new club yet again.
Reds Acquire Taylor Rogers
The Reds have acquired left-hander Taylor Rogers and cash considerations from the Giants, per announcements from both clubs. Minor league right-hander Braxton Roxby heads the other way. The cash going to Cincinnati is reportedly $6MM, half of Rogers’ salary this year. The Reds designated right-hander Owen White for assignment to open a 40-man spot.
Rogers, 34, has been one of the better lefty relievers in the league for quite a while now. Dating back to 2016, he has thrown 490 2/3 innings, allowing 3.34 earned runs per nine. He has struck out 28.2% of batters faced, limited walks to a 7% clip and also kept balls in play on the ground at a 46.3% rate.
He has occasionally been deployed as a closer, with a couple of seasons with 30-plus saves, but has mostly been a really good setup guy. He has 98 holds in his career. From 2016 through 2024, only ten pitchers racked up more holds. Héctor Neris is the only guy with both more saves and more holds than Rogers in that span.
The southpaw has spent the past two years with the Giants. He signed a three-year, $33MM deal with that club going into 2023. That was broken up into a $9MM salary in 2023, followed by $12MM in the final two seasons. That signing allowed him to play on the same team as his brother, righty Tyler Rogers.
As a Giant, the left-handed Rogers continued to post good numbers overall. He had a 3.83 ERA in 2023 and dropped that to 2.40 last year. It’s possible that the club saw some yellow flags under the hood last year, however. He averaged 93 miles per hour on his sinker, a career low and the third straight season in which that number dropped. He was at 95.7 mph in 2021 but then went to 94.3 and 93.6 in the next two years. His strikeout rate has also been falling in step, going from 35.7% to 30.7, 29.6 and 25.7% over the past four seasons.
He did still manage a shiny ERA in 2024 but there may have been some luck there. His 81.8% strand rate was well above the 72.1% league average, perhaps why his 3.75 FIP and 3.47 SIERA were both more than a run higher than his ERA. The Giants placed him on waivers in August last year, meaning any club could have just grabbed him if they were willing to take on the remainder of his contract, but no club did.
Those adjusted numbers are still decent, so it’s a sensible pickup for the Reds. Their relievers had a collective 4.09 ERA last year, placing them 18th out of the 30 clubs in the majors. They lost Buck Farmer and Justin Wilson to free agency. They traded Fernando Cruz to the Yankees for catcher Jose Trevino.
Adding to that bullpen has clearly been part of their plans. They have been connected to reliever Carlos Estévez multiple times this offseason but it’s been unclear how much spending capacity they have.
A couple of weeks ago, they signed a new TV deal with Main Street Sports, which prompted president of baseball operations Nick Krall to say that the club could perhaps direct some extra funding into building the roster. In recent days, they have agreed to sign Austin Hays to a $5MM deal and acquire Rogers as well as $6MM of his $12MM salary. They also agreed to a minor league deal with Wade Miley, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery but would make a $2.5MM base salary if he eventually makes the club.
Bringing in Rogers will hopefully upgrade the bullpen and give them a third lefty alongside Brent Suter and Sam Moll. Whether they still have funds available to go after Estévez or any other free agent remains to be seen. RosterResource estimates the club’s payroll at $110MM, about $10MM above last year. As of this writing, that doesn’t include Rogers, so adding in $6MM for him should push them up to a $16MM difference.
For the Giants, they have essentially cut the left-handed portion of their bullpen in half. Rogers and Erik Miller were the only southpaw relievers to toss more than an inning for the club last year, so they are now down to just Miller.
As mentioned, Rogers has been declining in terms of velocity and strikeouts, so perhaps the Giants expected those trends to continue and just wanted to get out now. In the process, they have saved $6MM, which could be redirected towards another part of the roster. RosterResource calculates their competitive balance tax number at $211MM, $30MM below the base threshold of $241MM. They paid the tax last year but it’s unclear if they plan to do so again in 2025. They have been connected to notable free agents such as Pete Alonso and Jack Flaherty this winter, so perhaps the savings could help them land one of those guys or some other free agent of note.
Of course, they are also adding some young talent in the form of Roxby. 26 in March, Roxby was signed by the Reds as an undrafted free agent in 2020. Due to the pandemic, that year featured a truncated draft of just five rounds.
Exclusively a reliever in his career thus far, Roxby has thrown 169 2/3 innings across multiple levels over the past four years with a 4.30 ERA. His 10.4% walk rate is a bit high but his 30.6% strikeout rate quite strong. Back in April, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him as the #38 prospect in the Cincinnati system, noting that he’s a sidearming righty with two breaking balls. Geoff Pontes and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America highlighted Roxby ahead of the 2023 Rule 5 draft but he didn’t get selected that year nor in 2024.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Rogers-Roxby swap. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com first reported the $6MM heading to the Reds.
Tigers Designate Alex Faedo For Assignment
The Tigers have designated right-hander Alex Faedo for assignment, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to newly signed reliever Tommy Kahnle, whose one-year deal has been made official.
Faedo, 29, was the 18th overall pick back in 2017. The former Florida Gators standout has pitched in each of the past three seasons with Detroit but has yet to solidify himself in either the rotation or the bullpen. He’s coming off a decent showing spent mostly in relief, wherein he pitched 57 1/3 innings with a 3.61 ERA but shakier rate stats. Faedo punched out a roughly average 22.4% of opponents but issued walks at a rough 11.4% clip. He was also tagged for 1.41 homers per nine frames and benefited both from a .265 average on balls in play and especially a sky-high 83.1% strand rate, neither of which is likely to be repeated over a larger sample.
That said, there were some positives. The 94 mph Faedo averaged on his four-seamer was a career-best, and his 14.4% swinging-strike rate was excellent. He’s also upped his grounder rate in each of his big league seasons, though it still sits about three percentage points shy of league-average. Faedo did a fine job avoiding hard contact in 2024, and his slider generated excellent results; in the 82 plate appearances he finished off with that pitch, opponents posted an awful .171/.280/.314 batting line, and Statcast credited the offering with a paltry .269 expected wOBA (a nice followup to 2023’s .255 xwOBA).
Faedo is out of minor league options heading into the 2025 season. That put him at a disadvantage relative to other arms on the fringes of a Tigers roster that has turned over from rebuilder to win-now club, thanks in no small part to a magical playoff run spurred by their torrid hot streak down the stretch in 2024.
Faedo was no longer in the rotation mix, and the addition of Kahnle alongside Beau Brieske, Jason Foley, Will Vest and Tyler Holton in the late-inning mix leaves three other spots. One will likely be filled by Kenta Maeda, who’s still signed for $10MM this season. That leaves only two spots to divide up between Brant Hurter, Sean Guenther, Brenan Hanifee, Alex Lange, Mason Englert, Keider Montero and others.
If Faedo goes unclaimed on waivers, he can be sent outright to Triple-A and still compete for one of those final two spots. But as a former first-round pick with a sharp slider and encouraging swing-and-miss abilities, it wouldn’t at all be a surprise to see him land with another team. The Tigers have five days to trade him. At that point he’d need to be placed on waivers (a 48-hour process in their own right) to ensure an outcome within the one-week window for his DFA resolution.
Pirates Win Arbitration Hearing Over Johan Oviedo
The Pirates won their arbitration hearing against right-hander Johan Oviedo, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’ll be paid the $850K figure submitted by the team for the upcoming season, rather than the $1.15MM figure he and his camp submitted.
Oviedo, 27 in March, missed the entire 2024 season following Tommy John surgery. Prior to that injury, he’d stepped up and solidified himself as a viable fourth starter in Pittsburgh’s rotation. The right-hander, acquired from the division-rival Cardinals in the trade sending Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton to St. Louis, posted a 4.15 ERA in 39 starts from 2022-23, totaling 208 1/3 innings. That included a 2023 campaign in which he tied Mitch Keller for the team lead with 32 starts and finished second (also to Keller) with 177 2/3 innings pitched.
The composition of the Pirates’ rotation has changed greatly since Oviedo went under the knife. Ballyhooed prospects Paul Skenes and Jared Jones have made their big league debuts and cemented themselves in the team’s plans — Skenes in particular. The 2023 No. 1 overall pick burst onto the scene with 133 innings of 1.96 ERA ball last year, winning National League Rookie of the Year honors and finishing the season as a Cy Young finalist. Skenes, Jones and Keller now make up an enviable top three and are joined by southpaw Bailey Falter, who had something of a breakout himself last year (142 1/3 innings, 4.43 ERA).
Oviedo will head into the 2025 season as a favorite for the fifth spot in the rotation, but he may have to earn that with a healthy and effective spring showing, as he still has a minor league option remaining. The Bucs are deep in starting pitching talent, with prospects Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft already on the 40-man roster and a pair of even more highly regarded arms — Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington — not on the 40-man but ticketed for Triple-A work to begin the season.
This was Oviedo’s first trip through the arbitration process. His camp surely sought a seven-figure payday based on the solid nature of his work pre-injury, but they faced a notable roadblock in that endeavor after Oviedo’s injury cost him the entirety of his platform season. He’ll remain under team control via arbitration through the 2027 campaign.
Dodgers, Alex Vesia Avoid Arbitration
The Dodgers and lefty reliever Alex Vesia have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $2.3MM deal with a club option for the 2026 season, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Vesia had filed at $2.35MM, while the Dodgers countered with a $2.05MM figure. Vesia comes out well ahead of the midpoint between those two figures and above the $1.9MM projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. He was the Dodgers’ lone pending arbitration case, so they’ve now avoided the need for any arb hearings in 2025.
Vesia’s deal pays him $2.25MM in 2025, with the additional $50K guarantee coming in the form of the buyout on a $3.55MM option for 2026, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. Via a series of performance-based escalators, he can boost the value of that option by $175K, to $3.725MM.
The 28-year-old Vesia (29 in April) has been a key late-inning presence for Los Angeles since coming over from the Marlins alongside righty Kyle Hurt in a Feb. 2021 trade that sent Dylan Floro to Miami. He’s pitched 210 1/3 innings of 2.57 ERA ball for L.A. and picked up 47 holds and eight saves along the way. That includes a career-best showing in 2024, when he notched a minuscule 1.76 earned run average, collected five saves and 13 holds, and fanned 33.1% of his opponents (against an ugly 12.5% walk rate, granted).
The 2024-25 offseason marks Vesia’s second trip through the arbitration process. He picks up a hearty 130% raise on last year’s even $1MM salary. By tacking on a club option for the 2026 campaign, the Dodgers have both potentially bought out his final two seasons of arbitration eligibility and also, at least in a technical sense, adhered to the prominent “file and trial” approach to arbitration by the vast majority of teams in the league in recent years (which is to say, once figures are exchanged/filed, talks on one-year deals are halted).
The presence of the option is notable in that it technically makes Vesia’s contract a multi-year deal, even if the second season isn’t guaranteed. Because there’s an option on it, the agreement can’t be used as a comp in future arbitration negotiations on one-year deals with similar players — either by the Dodgers or the other teams in the league.
Tigers Sign Tommy Kahnle
The Tigers are adding to one of their primary strengths from the 2024 season, announcing the signing of veteran right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle to a one-year, $7.75MM contract. Detroit designated Alex Faedo for assignment in a corresponding move. Kahnle is represented by the Ballengee Group.
Kahnle, 35, has been oft-injured in recent years but when healthy has been one of the top setup arms in the sport on a rate basis. He’s only pitched 97 frames dating back to 2020, but 83 of those innings have come over the past two seasons. And, since 2020, he touts a pristine 2.41 ERA with a 28% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate. He’s been placed into 38 save situations and tallied 32 holds and four saves along the way, only being saddled with two blown saves in that span.
Though Kahnle is right-handed, he carries neutral platoon splits because he possesses one of the game’s best changeups. That helps him mitigate damage against lefties, and the pitch is effective enough for him to use in right-on-right settings as well. He’s held fellow righties to a .206/.307/.343 slash in his career and seen lefties hit him at a similar .215/.295/.359 pace.
Because his changeup is so effective, Kahnle has taken the already frequent use of the pitch to new heights over the past three years. Since 2022, he’s thrown his changeup a comical 74.6% of the time on the mound. He famously threw 61 consecutive changeups as the Yankees progressed through the postseason this year. It’s hard to blame him for leaning on the pitch so heavily; opponents have slashed just .175/.236/.287 against Kahnle’s changeup in his career — including an even worse .157/.227/.264 slash in 2024.
Kahnle adds a seasoned setup arm to a Tigers relief corps on which manager A.J. Hinch leaned heavily down the stretch. Late in the season, Detroit was typically only using Tarik Skubal and Reese Olson as starters, following that duo with a series of bullpen games where any pitcher could be called upon at any time. The addition of Kahnle might add a bit more order and structure to what Hinch termed “pitching chaos.” Detroit doesn’t have a set closer at the moment, but Kahnle’s experience in high-leverage spots should put him in that mix along with Beau Brieske and Jason Foley, who paced the team with 28 saves in 2024.
With Kahnle, Brieske, Foley, Tyler Holton and Will Vest likely to handle late-inning work, the Tigers’ bullpen is largely taking shape. They’ll have Kenta Maeda in a long role as he looks to potentially pitch his way back into the rotation mix. Sean Guenther, Brenan Hanifee, Brant Hurter and former closer Alex Lange will be in the mix for innings as well.
The $7.75MM guarantee on Kahnle’s deal will take the Tigers to a payroll just shy of $119MM. That stands as an increase of roughly $15MM over the team’s 2024 levels but still sits nowhere close to the franchise-record $200MM mark reached under late owner Mike Ilitch (whose son, Chris, is now the team’s chairman and CEO).
The Tigers have recently been connected to seasoned late-inning relievers, specifically names with closing experience. They’ve also been prominently involved in third baseman Alex Bregman‘s market. Given that interest, it would stand to reason there’s at least room for one more bullpen addition if the team prefers — the cost of Kahnle plus a second reliever would still fall well shy of even one year of Bregman’s salary — though it’s unclear whether the team has earmarked some potential funds for the longtime Houston third baseman or if the deal with Kahnle is the start of a pivot in a new direction.
The Tigers have added three free agents this offseason, though none has inked a deal longer than a year in length. Right-hander Alex Cobb and infielder Gleyber Torres both agreed to one-year deals with a $15MM guarantee.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the two sides were close to a deal. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic added that it’d be for one year. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the finalized agreement and the $7.75MM guarantee.
Reds, Wade Miley Agree To Minor League Deal
The Reds and veteran lefty Wade Miley have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The O’Connell Sports Management client will earn a prorated $2.5MM base salary in the big leagues and can bump that to $4MM via innings-based incentives, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Miley, who’s on the mend from Tommy John surgery performed late last April, is aiming for a return in mid-to-late May. That’d mark a roughly 13-month recovery window if he’s able to do so. (Nightengale also adds that there’s a June 1 opt-out, though that’s standard for any Article XX(B) free agent who signs a minor league contract; Miley will also have opt-outs five days prior to Opening Day and on May 1, but he’ll still be rehabbing at both points.)
It’s the second stint with the Reds for Miley. He also pitched in Cincinnati from 2020-21, signing a two-year, $15MM contract with the Reds in the 2019-20 offseason. The Reds don’t have a glaring rotation need, as they’re currently expected to deploy Hunter Greene, Brady Singer, Nick Lodolo, Nick Martinez and Andrew Abbott — with prospects like Rhett Lowder, Chase Petty and Connor Phillips all climbing the ranks as well. However, injuries are an inevitability for any pitching staff, and Miley could provide some veteran reinforcement at about the one-third mark of the 2025 season.
Miley, 38, made only two starts with the Brewers in 2024 before requiring elbow surgery. Emotional at the time, the southpaw said he’d take some time to determine whether he wanted to return to pitching or whether the torn elbow ligament would effectively end his career. In late December, Miley made clear that he indeed planned to return to the mound and hoped to do so as a member of the Brewers, with whom he’d spent the past two seasons. However, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Miley’s shortlist of clubs for which he’d pitch also included his other two most-recent employers — the Reds and the Cubs — and that Cincinnati put together a more compelling contract structure for the southpaw.
The last mostly healthy season for Miley came with Milwaukee in 2023, when he tallied 120 1/3 innings and posted a tidy 3.14 earned run average along the way. He posted just a 16.1% strikeout rate, one of the lowest in the league, and surely benefited from a .234 average on balls in play. However, Miley also displayed good command (7.8% walk rate), kept the ball on the ground at a solid clip (46.3%) and continued a careerlong trend of inducing weak contact far more often than most pitchers.
Miley has never missed many bats. Earlier in his career, he was the consummate crafty left-hander/innings eater, making 30-plus appearances each season from 2012-17. Late in that stretch, however, his career looked to be on the downswing. His already pedestrian fastball velocity dipped to just over 91 mph on average, and he was tagged for a 5.37 ERA and 5.61 ERA in consecutive seasons in 2016-17.
Miley’s career had a second act beginning with a minor league pact in Milwaukee back in 2018. Since that time, he’s only reached 100 innings three times in seven years but has been better than ever on a rate basis. Dating back to 2018, he’s tossed 589 2/3 frames with a 3.46 ERA between the Brewers, Astros, Cubs and Reds.
Pirates Designate Elvis Alvarado For Assignment
The Pirates announced Wednesday that they’ve designated right-hander Elvis Alvarado for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to infielder/outfielder Adam Frazier, whose previously reported one-year deal to return to his original organization has now been formally announced by the team.
Alvarado, 26 next month, has yet to make his big league debut. He signed the with Pirates as a free agent just over six weeks ago but did so on a split major league deal, giving him separate salaries in the majors and minors (paid out in prorated fashion based on where he’s pitching). Today’s DFA doesn’t necessarily preclude him from pitching in the majors, but he’ll first have to clear waivers and, if he does, pitch his way onto the MLB roster either this spring or at some point during the regular season.
Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Nationals, Alvarado has also pitched with the Mariners, Tigers and Marlins organizations. He spent the bulk of the 2024 campaign with Miami’s Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville, where he logged a 2.79 ERA and fanned a whopping 33.1% of his opponents in 48 1/3 innings pitched. However, command issues that Alvarado had experienced in the lower minors and looked to have moved past instead resurfaced; he issued a free pass to a glaring 17.8% of his opponents and plunked five of the 214 batters he faced as well. Overall, 20.1% of his opponents reached base without putting a ball in play.
Alvarado has a major fastball, averaging a blazing 98 mph on the pitch last season and coupling it with an 86.6 mph slider (on average) and 96.1 mph sinker (on average). He threw that heater nearly three quarters of the time, generally overpowering opponents with the pitch but also displaying scattershot command of the strike zone.
The Pirates will have five days to trade Alvarado. He’d have to be placed on waivers at that point, as waivers are a 48-hour process and the DFA window lasts only seven days. If he’s not traded, that split contract he signed will make it likelier that he’s able to pass through waivers. Most teams likely weren’t willing to commit a 40-man spot to Alvarado — and those that were may not have offered as compelling a package in terms of minor league salary. If he does clear, he’ll likely be in camp as a non-roster invitee and hope to impress enough to get a big league bullpen job.
Pirates Sign Adam Frazier
Jan. 29: The Pirates formally announced their reunion with Frazier this morning.
Jan. 28: Adam Frazier is headed back to the Pirates. The McKinnis Sports client is reportedly in agreement with his old club on a one-year, $1.525MM contract. The team has yet to announce the signing.
Frazier, now 33 years old, had a strong six-year run with the Buccos to begin his career, slashing a combined .283/.346/.420 in 2232 plate appearances while posting quality overall defensive grades at both second base and in left field.
That stretch culminated with a huge .324/.388/.448 slash in the first half of the ’21 season, with Frazier logging a career-low 10.7% strikeout rate along the way. That resulted in an All-Star nod for Frazier and helped ramp up trade interest while the Pirates operated as deadline sellers. The Padres wound up acquiring Frazier, who was controllable through the 2022 season, in exchange for outfielder Jack Suwinski, utilityman Tucupita Marcano and righty Michell Miliano.
Things didn’t pan out for Frazier in San Diego, however, and he’s never gotten his bat back on track. While he hit for a decent average down the stretch with the Friars, his walk rate and already limited power output tumbled. In 211 plate appearances, he batted .267/.327/.335 — about 13% worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+. Rather than pay him a raise in arbitration that winter, the Padres traded him to the Mariners, where his offensive struggles continued.
In three and a half seasons since leaving the Pirates, Frazier has suited up for the Padres, Mariners, Orioles and Royals. That covers a span of 1562 plate appearances, during which Frazier sports a tepid .236/.301/.336 batting line (82 wRC+). His 2024 season in Kansas City was the worst of his career; he batted only .202/.282/.294 in 294 plate appearances with the Royals last year and fanned in a career-worst 20.1% of his plate appearances.
Though his offense has continued to flounder, Frazier posted solid defensive grades at second base and in the outfield corners last year. His strikeout rate may have been a career-high but was still a couple percentage points lower than league-average, while his 7.5% walk rate was within one percentage point of average. The Pirates have not only a righty-heavy bench mix but more broadly a roster and lineup that skews right-handed. Oneil Cruz, Spencer Horwitz and switch-hitting Bryan Reynolds are the only lefty bats assured of frequent playing time in Pittsburgh. Frazier will give the Pirates a familiar face and a contact-oriented left-handed bat to slot into the bench group.
With Pittsburgh still facing uncertainty at both second base and in right field, Frazier is a cheap backup plan at either spot. He’s not going to be Plan A for the Pirates at either position, but he can step in at second base if a group of infielders including Nick Yorke, Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo and Liover Peguero struggle and force versatile Isiah Kiner-Falefa into regular work at shortstop. Reynolds is locked into one outfield corner, but the other options on the 40-man roster right now include Suwinski (who struggled immensely in 2024), Billy Cook and out-of-options Joshua Palacios.
Frazier is the latest in a characteristically budget-friendly string of free agent signings for the Pirates. Pittsburgh has brought franchise icon Andrew McCutchen back on another one-year, $5MM contract — his third straight $5MM deal with the Bucs — which stands as their largest financial expenditure of the winter. The Pirates have also added lefties Caleb Ferguson ($3MM) and Tim Mayza ($1.15MM) on one-year deals, although Mayza’s deal was just agreed to yesterday and has yet to be formally announced by the team. RosterResource currently projects an $80.5MM payroll, including Frazier and Mayza, with about $104MM of CBT obligations. The Pirates have long been rumored to be seeking a corner outfield upgrade but have yet to bring in any outside help to fill that glaring need.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the Pirates were in agreement with Frazier on a major league deal. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com had the $1.525MM salary.