Tyler Jay Elects Free Agency
The Mariners announced Tuesday that left-hander Tyler Jay, who was designated for assignment last week, went unclaimed on outright waivers. He’s elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment to the minors. Seattle had claimed Jay off waivers from the Brewers earlier this month.
Selected with the No. 6 overall pick by the Twins back in 2015, Jay was viewed as a polished college arm who could move quickly as a reliever but also had a chance to start. He ranked as one of the Twins’ top prospects — and one of the top prospects in the sport — following that lofty selection, but repeated injury troubles derailed his once-promising trajectory. Jay dealt with continued shoulder and neck injuries throughout his time in the Twins’ system; Jay was at one point evaluated for symptoms believed to be related to thoracic outlet syndrome but wound up avoiding surgery.
Jay was out of affiliated ball entirely and pitching for the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League when he caught the Mets’ attention and landed a minor league deal several years later, in 2023. The Mets gave him his big league debut in 2024 at 30 years old. He wound up splitting time between the Mets and Brewers, allowing four earned runs on nine hits and six walks with six punchouts in 7 2/3 innings of work.
While it was far from a dominant debut showing, Jay pitched quite well in the minors. In 56 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this past season, the lefty notched a tidy 3.02 ERA with a 20.9% strikeout rate and very sharp 5.1% walk rate. He also kept the ball on the ground at a strong 47.3% clip and averaged just 0.64 homers per nine innings pitched.
Jay doesn’t throw especially hard, sitting just over 92 mph with his heater, but it was a nice season in the upper minors for a former top pick who seems to have put a good deal of the health troubles that plagued him early in his professional career behind him. He’ll now head to the market and look to latch on as a depth option for a club, likely one with a more pressing need for left-handed bullpen help (or at least fewer candidates to fill said need) than the Mariners have.
Cubs Designate Matt Festa For Assignment
The Cubs announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Matt Festa for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to new closer Ryan Pressly, whose acquisition from the Astros has now been officially announced by both teams.
A former seventh-round pick by the Rangers, Festa has bounced around the league in journeyman fashion over the past few years. He broke into the majors with a strong rookie showing in a small sample of 8 1/3 innings for the 2018 Mariners and posted terrific Triple-A numbers the following season while also struggling in 22 MLB frames. Tommy John surgery wiped out Festa’s entire 2020 campaign and most of his 2021 season as well.
Festa returned in 2022 to throw 54 solid innings out of the Seattle ‘pen, logging a 4.17 ERA but with a terrific 29.2% strikeout rate against a solid 8.2% walk rate. He’s never been a particularly hard thrower, but that blend of inducing whiffs and limiting walks showed genuine promise. Injuries popped up again in 2023, however. Festa was limited to nine big league innings and just 34 frames in Triple-A. He walked an alarming 27.9% of his opponents in the majors, prompting him to be cut loose from Seattle’s roster at season’s end.
Festa latched on with the Padres on a minor league deal in the offseason. He wound up landing with the Mets and Rangers on subsequent minor league deals and pitching well enough to earn a decent major league look in Texas, where he tossed 22 2/3 innings of 4.17 ERA ball with a 25% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. His lone appearance with the Mets (four runs in one inning) ballooned his ERA to 5.70 on the season, but Festa was a solid enough middle relief arm with the Rangers that the Cubs picked him up for cash earlier this winter when he was designated for assignment by Texas.
The Cubs will now have five days to trade Festa themselves. If there’s no taker, he’ll be placed on outright waivers. He’s been outrighted once in the past, so if Festa does clear, he’ll have the opportunity to elect free agency if he chooses.
Astros Trade Ryan Pressly To Cubs
Jan. 28: The Astros have formally announced the trade.
Jan. 26: After a few days of speculation, Ryan Pressly has agreed to waive his 10-and-5 no-trade protection to okay a deal that will send the veteran reliever from the Astros to the Cubs. Houston will receive right-handed pitching prospect Juan Bello in return, plus the Astros are sending $5.5MM along with Pressly to help the Cubs cover some of the righty’s $14MM salary for the 2025 season. In exchange for agreeing to the deal, Pressly will receive a new no-trade clause, plus an assignment bonus to cover the tax difference in relocating from Texas to Illinois. The trade will become official once the standard medical reviews are complete.
Pressly has been considered a trade candidate for much of the offseason, and probably even as far back as August, when he hit the minimum number of appearances to trigger the vesting option in his contract. Initially a two-year, $30MM extension, Pressly gained a third year and an extra $14MM by making 124 appearances over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, blowing past the vesting threshold of 110 appearances. While the Astros obviously valued the right-hander highly simply by dint of that frequent usage, Houston has been operating with fairly limited payroll space this winter, making a $14MM salary for a reliever entering his age-36 season seem a little pricey for their budget.
We already saw evidence of the Astros’ financial maneuverings in another major trade with the Cubs, when Kyle Tucker was sent to Wrigleyville for a trade package of Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and prospect Cam Smith. Like Pressly, Tucker was controlled just through the 2025 season, and he’ll be making $16.5MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility. The Astros have already used some of the savings from the Tucker and Pressly trades in signing Christian Walker to a three-year, $60MM deal, and today’s deal will surely add more fuel to the speculation that a reunion might be possible between Houston and Alex Bregman.
RosterResource estimates the Astros’ 2025 payroll at roughly $217.6MM, with a luxury tax number of $236.3M. This represents a drop from the Astros’ $244MM payroll and $262MM tax number in 2024, dropping Houston under the tax threshold by a bit less than $5MM. Owner Jim Crane indicated that the Astros would be willing to spend at their 2024 levels under the right circumstances, so re-signing Bregman remains at least a possibility, now that more money has been cleared off the books.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported three days ago that a Cubs/Pressly trade was “on the verge” of being finalized, though some late hurdles emerged, such as some apparent late interest from the Tigers and Blue Jays. Pressly ultimately held the final say given his no-trade protection, and it seems as though he chose Chicago over Detroit as his next landing spot.
Today’s news officially ends Pressly’s very successful run in Houston, which began when the Astros acquired the righty from the Twins at the 2018 trade deadline. Pressly posted a 2.81 ERA, 30.9% strikeout rate, and 6.16% walk rate over 333 innings for the Astros, somewhat flying under the radar as one of the more effective relievers in baseball. Beyond his regular-season work, Pressly posted a 2.78 ERA in 45 1/3 postseason innings for Houston, playing a big role in the club’s postseason success.
Initially used as a setup man, Pressly stepped into the closer’s role in 2020 and excelled as the team’s chief ninth-inning option, but the Astros still opted to sign Josh Hader to a five-year, $95MM contract last winter. With Hader on board, Pressly was moved back to setup work last season, but he’ll now be Chicago’s top saves candidate, which Nightengale said was one of the assurances Pressly received in order to get him to approve the trade.
Rookie Porter Hodge pitched well after becoming the Cubs’ closer last year, and while Hodge is probably still viewed as the closer of the future, Pressly brings much more experience and a longer track record of quality. Hodge will certainly still be used in high-leverage situations, and Pressly’s addition bumps everyone in the Cubs bullpen down a spot on the depth chart to strengthen the entire relief corps.
Pressly is the most prominent new face in a Cubs bullpen that has also added Eli Morgan and Caleb Thielbar to the mix this offseason. Relief pitching was a clear need for the Cubs given how injuries greatly hampered their pen down the stretch last season, though the acquisitions still reflect Jed Hoyer’s preference of not over-investing in the relief market. The Cubs did try to make a big splash as the runners-up to signing Tanner Scott, but with Scott off the board, Chicago pivoted away from another long-term options like Carlos Estevez to instead take on Pressly, who is a free agent next winter. Some more moves might be coming, as The Athletic’s Chandler Rome, Patrick Mooney, and Sahadev Sharma report that the Cubs remain interested in adding to their relief corps even after acquiring Pressly.
The bottom-line results were still solid for Pressly in 2024, though there were some red flags in age-35 campaign. Pressly’s strikeout, walk, and whiff rates were only slightly above league average, representing significant dropoff from his numbers in both categories just a season ago. On the plus side, Pressly continued to generate grounders at a strong 48.8% rate, and his ability to keep the ball on the ground has long helped the right-hander counter-act his penchant for allowing hard contact. Pressly also again was the among the league leaders in curveball and fastball spin rates, continuing his career-long run of elite spin.
As for Houston’s bullpen, the Astros figure to be on the lookout for some bullpen help to fill the void left behind from Pressly’s departure. Depending again on how much GM Dana Brown has available to spend, the team could pursue some lower-cost arms, or perhaps make more of a bigger strike if Bregman indeed goes elsewhere and the Astros won’t be adding another major long-term salary. Bryan Abreu, Tayler Scott, Kaleb Ort, and Bryan King project as the top setup or high-leverage options in front of Hader in Houston’s current pen.
Bello (who turns 21 in April) was an international signing for Chicago during the 2022 signing period, and he had a 3.21 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate, and 7.7% walk rate in 89 2/3 innings for the Cubs’ A-ball affiliate in Myrtle Beach last season. While not ranked amongst the Cubs’ top 30 prospects by either MLB Pipeline or Baseball America, BA’s scouting report cites his four-pitch arsenal and increased ability to find strikeouts with several of his offerings. “He fits the Astros’ organizational philosophy of developing pitchers with three or more secondaries to play off of their fastball,” according to BA’s write-up.
The Athletic’s Chandler Rome was the first to report that Pressly agreed to the trade, and that at least one prospect was heading to Houston from Chicago. ESPN’s Jeff Passan added the detail that the Astros would be covering some salary, with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reporting the $5.5MM dollar figure. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reported Bello’s involvement in the trade package. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman had the additional details about Pressly’s new no-trade protection, as well as the assignment bonus.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Pirates, Ryan Borucki Agree To Minor League Deal
The Pirates have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent lefty Ryan Borucki, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Borucki, a client of ISE Baseball, will earn a $1.15MM base salary (with additional incentives available) if he makes the big league roster. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.
This will be Borucki’s third straight season in Pittsburgh. The Bucs originally signed the former Blue Jays southpaw to a minor league deal prior to the 2023 season. He was selected to the big league roster that May and stuck through the end of the 2024 season.
Borucki was excellent during his first season as a Pirate, logging 40 1/3 innings from the point of his original call to the majors that season and turning in a sharp 2.45 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate against a superlative 2.6% walk rate. He kept the ball on the ground at a better-than-average 45.9% clip, only allowed 0.89 HR/9 and was effective against both lefties (.149/.230/.254) and righties (.213/.224/.373).
Health troubles ruined Borucki’s 2024 campaign, however. He agreed to a $1.6MM deal avoiding arbitration, but a triceps issue limited him to only 11 innings. He opened the year with three shutout frames (five strikeouts, no walks) before being tagged for two runs in one-third of an inning and promptly heading to the injured list for what wound up being nearly five months. Upon returning in September, Borucki was roughed up for seven runs in 7 2/3 innings. He finished out the season with an ugly 7.36 earned run average in that small sample of 11 injury-marred innings.
Now back with the Bucs, Borucki will head to camp and look to work his way back into the team’s bullpen plans. The Pirates have added a pair of low-cost left-handed bullpen options this winter in Caleb Ferguson ($3MM) and Tim Mayza (just yesterday, at $1.15MM). They also have out-of-options former top prospect Joey Wentz, whom they picked up on a waiver claim and who pitched quite well for them in 12 innings down the stretch last year.
Borucki is the only veteran lefty who’ll be in camp on as a non-roster invitee. As such, in the event of injuries and/or significant struggles from that trio of southpaws on the 40-man roster, he could be one of the first men up — particularly since he’s already familiar with the organization and the bulk of the coaching staff.
Giants, Jake Lamb Agree To Minor League Contract
The Giants are signing Jake Lamb to a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The CAA client gets an invitation to big league camp. He’d earn a $1MM base salary if he makes the MLB roster.
Lamb spent the 2024 season in Triple-A as a member of the Pittsburgh organization. He tallied 414 plate appearances and had a roughly average .264/.350/.393 line with seven home runs. It was a step down from his minor league production from the preceding season. Lamb had combined for a .289/.420/.454 slash in 85 Triple-A contests between the Yankees and Angels two years ago. He earned a brief MLB call from the Halos, appearing in 19 games.
Last season was the first since 2013 in which Lamb did not get to the majors. He’s best known for his early-career run as an everyday third baseman in Arizona. Lamb was an All-Star in 2017 and combined for 59 homers between 2016-17. He hasn’t reached 250 big league plate appearances in a season since then. The lefty batter has appeared for seven different clubs going back to 2018. He has a .205/.306/.359 slash in nearly 900 trips to the plate over that time.
As he enters his age-34 season, Lamb has mostly moved off the hot corner. He didn’t play third base at all last season. He spent most of his time at first base or designated hitter and made a handful of starts in right field. He’ll vie for a spot on the San Francisco bench. The Giants have lefty-swinging LaMonte Wade Jr. penciled in at first base. They don’t have a set answer at designated hitter. Lamb hasn’t hit enough in recent seasons to play there regularly, but he could play his way into a rotational role with a strong showing in camp and/or at Triple-A Sacramento.
Reds, Aaron Wilkerson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Reds are in agreement with right-hander Aaron Wilkerson on a minor league contract, reports Jon Morosi of the MLB Network. Wilkerson returns to the affiliated ranks after spending a season and a half in Korea.
A former Red Sox minor leaguer, Wilkerson reached the majors with the Brewers in 2017. He pitched parts of three seasons with Milwaukee, allowing a 6.88 ERA across 35 1/3 innings. After the Brewers outrighted him from their 40-man roster, Wilkerson moved to the foreign ranks. He spent a season with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. He returned stateside on a minor league contract with the Athletics in 2023. The A’s granted him his release after 14 Triple-A appearances so he could sign on with the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization.
Wilkerson spent a season and a half with the Giants. He posted a 2.26 ERA over 13 starts during the second half of the ’23 season. That earned him a new deal for the 2024 campaign. Wilkerson took the ball 32 times and put up a 3.84 ERA through 196 2/3 innings. He struck out 20.5% of opposing hitters against a 3.3% walk percentage.
The Giants added Tucker Davidson and re-signed Charlie Barnes to serve as their foreign-born pitchers for the upcoming season. That made it apparent that Wilkerson would not return to the team. (KBO clubs are limited to two foreign pitchers and three non-Korean players overall.) Wilkerson is likely to open the season as rotation or long relief depth for the Reds at Triple-A Louisville.
Tristan Gray Elects Free Agency
4:21pm: Gray has indeed opted free agency. He can now sign with any club.
2:04pm: Pirates infielder Tristan Gray cleared waivers following last week’s DFA, MLBTR has learned. As a player with a prior outright assignment, he’ll have the option of rejecting a second outright in favor of free agency, if he chooses to do so. If he accepts an outright assignment, he’d likely be assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis and be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.
Gray, 29 in March, landed with the Bucs back on Halloween when they claimed him off waivers from the A’s. Over the past calendar year, Gray has signed as a minor league free agent with the Marlins, been selected to the majors, and claimed off waivers by the A’s and Pirates.
The Pirates were Gray’s original organization, selecting him in the 13th round back in 2017. He was traded to the Rays less than a year later as part of the deal bringing outfielder Corey Dickerson to Pittsburgh. He went on to spend parts of six seasons the Rays organization, briefly making his MLB debut with Tampa Bay in 2023. He only appeared in two games and tallied five plate appearances, but Gray made the most of that tiny look when he popped his first big league homer off righty Jorge Lopez. Gray totaled 31 plate appearances between the Marlins and A’s in 2024 and went 3-for-28 with a double.
While he hasn’t hit much in a tiny big league sample, Gray has shown plenty of pop in the upper minors. He swatted 33 homers with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A club in 2022 and connected on another 30 in 2023. He’s played in parts of four seasons in Triple-A and posted a combined .238/.306/.472 batting line.
Gray has played all four infield positions in his professional career, though shortstop has been the most frequent, with 2477 innings there. The Marlins and A’s played him at the corners exclusively in 2024, however. Overall, Gray has 1439 professional innings at third base, 1312 at second base and 911 at first base. He’s a versatile left-handed bat with some platoon issues and strikeout concerns but plenty of pop and a better-than-average walk rate in each of the past two Triple-A campaigns.
MLBTR originally reported that Gray had already been assigned outright to Triple-A, which is not accurate. We regret the error.
Rangers Sign Jesse Chavez, Cody Thomas To Minor League Deals
The Rangers announced that they have signed right-hander Jesse Chavez and outfielder Cody Thomas to minor league deals. They also announces previously-reported pacts for righty David Buchanan and catcher Chad Wallach. Chavez is represented by Apex Baseball and Thomas by Octagon. Both of them will be in big league camp as non-roster invitees.
Chavez, 41, has already written a lengthy baseball story. He debuted in the big leagues back in 2008 and has appeared in each season since then, suiting up for nine different clubs, having multiple stints with many of them.
That includes the Rangers. Chavez was drafted by Texas way back in 2002, but was traded to the Pirates prior to making it to the majors. He eventually found his way back to the Rangers, signing with them going into 2018, though he was traded to the Cubs that summer. Going into 2019, he came back to Texas yet again, signing a two-year deal at that time.
Despite his age, he has proven himself still capable of getting major league hitters out. He spent 2024 with Atlanta and tossed 63 1/3 innings over 46 appearances. He allowed 3.13 earned runs per nine frames, though there may have been a bit of luck there. His 20.8% strikeout rate was subpar but his .279 batting average on balls in play and 80.3% strand rate were both on the fortunate side, which is why his 4.43 FIP and 3.81 SIERA were higher than his ERA.
There’s no real harm in the Rangers bringing aboard an old friend via a minor league deal. The club has been trying to remake its bullpen while dealing with some notable financial restraints. Kirby Yates, David Robertson, José Leclerc and Andrew Chafin all hit free agency after last year, but the club has been a bit frugal in replacing them since it seems they want to stay under the competitive balance tax.
They acquired Robert Garcia, who has not yet qualified for arbitration, in the Nathaniel Lowe trade. They’ve also given one-year pacts to Chris Martin, Jacob Webb, Shawn Armstrong, and Hoby Milner, with no one in that group getting more than $5.5MM. It’s unclear what kind of salary Chavez would make if selected to the big league roster, but it’s likely not huge, so he provides the club with yet another modestly-priced addition to the relief group.
Thomas, 30, got into 29 games with the Athletics over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He hit .250/.308/.333 in those but was outrighted off the roster and became a free agent going into 2024. He headed to Asia last year to play for the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He went hitless in 18 at-bats and was mostly kept on the farm by the Buffaloes, slashing .263/.335/.324 in 79 games in the minors.
Orioles Sign Dylan Carlson, Designate Jacob Amaya For Assignment
The Orioles announced that they have signed outfielder Dylan Carlson to a one-year deal. The ALIGND Sports Agency client will reportedly make $975K with a $25K bonus for getting to 200 plate appearances. Infielder Jacob Amaya has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Carlson, 26, has seen his stock slide in recent years. That includes a very rough showing in 2024. Between the Cardinals and Rays last year, he stepped to the plate 265 times but struck out in 28.3% of those appearances and hit just .209/.287/.277 for a wRC+ of 67. The Rays could have retained him via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a $2.7MM salary, but they non-tendered him instead.
It’s been a steep drop from a few years ago. Carlson was selected by the Cardinals with the 33rd overall pick in 2016 and he performed well in his first professional games. Baseball America ranked him as one of the ten best prospects in the entire league in both 2020 and 2021.
In the latter of those two years, he seemed to be on his way to delivering on that prospect hype. He got into 149 games for the Cards in 2021, hitting 18 home runs and slashing .266/.343/.437 for a 111 wRC+. He also got some decent marks for his glovework, leading FanGraphs to credit him with 2.4 wins above replacement on the year. Since he was only 22 years old at the time, it would have been fair to consider that just the beginning.
Unfortunately, his production has trended down since then, perhaps due to a lack of health. A left hamstring strain sent him to the injured list, followed by a later stint for a left thumb sprain. He played 128 games with a .236/.316/.380 line and 98 wRC+. In 2023, left ankle issues were the culprit, sending him to the IL multiple times and eventually requiring surgery. He hit .219/.318/.333 for a wRC+ of 84, getting into just 76 games. In 2024, a left AC joint sprain put him on the IL to start the year. As mentioned earlier, he went on to have a poor season and got sent to free agency.
For the O’s, they probably aren’t expecting much out of Carlson except to fill a fourth outfielder role. They have Cedric Mullins, Tyler O’Neill and Colton Cowser likely to be their regular trio on the grass. Even if someone in that group gets hurt, they have Heston Kjerstad as an option to step up. He still has options remaining and could perhaps be ticketed for everyday at-bats in Triple-A until he’s needed in the majors. The designated hitter slot will probably be shared by first basemen Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn.
That will likely leave Carlson and Daz Cameron in bench/depth roles. Carlson has played all three outfield spots in his career, with mixed reviews. Defensive Runs Saved considers him to have been slightly above average on the whole, though Outs Above Average has him a bit below par.
Based on his past prospect pedigree, there’s theoretically some upside there since Carlson is still young, though he will need to stay healthy and find a path to some regular playing time. If that comes to pass, Carlson can be retained for 2026 via arbitration. He also has a full slate of options, so it’s possible the O’s send him to the minors to try and get him back on track that way. His service time is at four years and 104 days, putting him 68 days of the five-year mark. Once he gets to that line, he can’t be optioned without his consent.
Amaya, 26, was just claimed off waivers earlier this month. The O’s have a penchant for grabbing guys off the wire and then trying to pass them through at a later date, so it’s not especially surprising to see that happen here.
The young infielder is considered to be stronger as a fielder than as a hitter. He has plenty of experience with the middle infield positions, as well as some time at third base, generally impressing prospect evaluators. He has hit .182/.222/.195 in 81 major league plate appearances. That’s a tiny sample size but his minor league work has also been subpar. Over the past two years, he stepped to the plate 868 times on the farm and hit .241/.332/.379 for a wRC+ of 80.
He exhausted his final option in 2024. As his out-of-options status was nearing, he started to bounce around the league. He was designated for assignment by the Marlins in March and traded to the Astros. Houston put him on waivers in August, which led the White Sox to make a claim, though they subsequently lost him to the O’s this month.
Amaya heads back to DFA limbo and will know his fate within a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any possibility of a trade would need to be explored in the next five days. Based on his past few DFAs, he’s probably headed for the waiver wire again in the coming days. If he clears this time, the O’s will retain him as some infield depth but without him taking up a roster spot.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post had the financial terms.
Marlins Sign Albert Almora Jr. To Minor League Deal
The Marlins announced a slate of non-roster invitees to major league spring training Monday morning, and in doing so revealed that they’ve inked outfielder Albert Almora Jr. to a minor league contract.
Now 30 years old, Almora was once one of the top prospects in the game during his rise through the Cubs’ system. The No. 6 overall pick back in 2012, Almora spent the better part of a half decade dotting top-100 lists around the industry due to his combination of standout tools in high school and excellent grades for makeup, leadership and other intangible elements of the game. He tore through the lower minors and reached the big leagues as a 22-year-old for a 2016 Cubs team that went on to win the World Series. Almora was a bench player during that postseason run and didn’t collect a hit, but he still got into nine games as a late-inning defensive replacement thanks to his prowess in the outfield.
In 2016-17, Almora indeed looked ticketed for a prominent role in the Cubs’ future. He didn’t immediately break out as a star but posted a better-than-average .292/.330/.448 slash in the majors over 440 plate appearances between those two seasons — his age-22 and age-23 campaigns. Even in 2018, when his offense (namely, his power output) took a step back, Almora hit .286/.323/.378 and drew flat-out elite defensive grades in center field (12 Defensive Runs Saved and 12 Outs Above Average alike). His bat tanked in 2019, however, and he hasn’t returned to even a semi-regular MLB role since.
Almora hit just .236/.271/.381 during 2019, which is even more anemic when considering that was the year of a clearly juiced MLB ball. By measure of wRC+, he was 38% worse than an average hitter that season. From 2019-22, Almora has posted a .219/.265/.344 slash in 686 trips to the plate at the MLB level.
Almora didn’t play at all during the 2023 season but spent the 2024 campaign with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate, slashing .292/.349/.438 (97 wRC+) with nine homers and 20 steals in 576 plate appearances. His 7.3% walk rate was below average, but his 14.1% strikeout rate demonstrated that his consistently excellent contact skills remain intact.
Miami has next to no certainty in its outfield mix, where Jesus Sanchez, Kyle Stowers, Derek Hill, Griffin Conine, Dane Myers and Victor Mesa Jr. are the only outfielders on the 40-man roster. Sanchez is the only one who’s established himself at all in the majors, but he’s a corner bat with roughly average offense. Almora will have to play his way into a roster spot, but given the dearth of center field options on the 40-man roster, he’ll garner some consideration if he shows well in spring or in Jacksonville early in the season.