Diamondbacks Sign Shelby Miller To Minors Deal
The Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Shelby Miller to a minor league contract, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports. Miller will receive an invitation to Arizona’s big league spring camp.
This will be Miller’s second stint in a D’Backs uniform, as he previously pitched for the team from 2016-18. Miller’s first arrival in Arizona came with much more fanfare in December 2015, as the rebuilding Braves sent Miller and Gabe Speier for Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte, and pitching prospect Aaron Blair. The Diamondbacks viewed Miller as a rotation cornerstone, but fate intervened, as he struggled to a 6.35 ERA over three seasons and 139 innings with the team. Injuries played a large role, particularly a Tommy John surgery that cost him most of the 2017-18 seasons.
Arizona non-tendered Miller after the 2018 season, more or less closing the book on one of the more infamous trades in franchise history. He has since pitched for six more teams at the MLB level, posting a 5.35 ERA in 161 1/3 innings while showing some glimpses of a higher ceiling as a relief pitcher. Miller posted a 1.71 ERA over 42 innings with the Dodgers in 2023 but he couldn’t follow up, as he had a 4.53 ERA in 55 2/3 frames last season after signing a one-year, $3MM deal with the Tigers. Miller didn’t quite make it to the end of the full season, as Detroit designated him for assignment and released him in the final week of regular-season play.
Miller’s big season in Los Angeles involved some good fortune in the form of a .165 BABIP and an 89.3% strand rate. He still had a .215 BABIP with the Tigers last year, but the strand rate plummeted to 60.3%, while his strikeout and homer rates both went in the wrong direction. Miller’s 93.5mph fastball was still a plus pitch, but after a newly-developed splitter led to a lot of success for Miller in 2023, batters figured the pitch out last year and made a lot more loud contact.
The 34-year-old Miller brings some veteran experience to the Diamondbacks’ depth chart, and it would make for a great story if he could make the roster and find some redemption after his previous stint with the team went so poorly. The D’Backs have been looking for relief help for much of the offseason, with Kendall Graveman and Seth Martinez the most prominent additions. Miller is one of several non-roster invites in Arizona’s camp that will be vying for jobs at the back end of the Snakes’ bullpen.
Guardians, John Means “In Advanced Talks” About Contract
The Guardians and free agent southpaw John Means may be nearing an agreement, as MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo hears from sources that the two sides are “in advanced talks.”
Means underwent a Tommy John surgery last June, so it is possible his recovery process might prevent from pitching at all during the 2025 season. It stands to reason that Means and the Guards could be discussing a two-year contract that would pay Means a limited salary in 2025 and then a larger guarantee in 2026 when he would presumably be ready to take on a full workload.
Cleveland re-signed Shane Bieber (coming off a TJ surgery of his own) to something of a similar structure this offseason worth $26MM in guaranteed money, though it is fair to assume Means will be landing less money due to his more checkered recent health history. Means has pitched only 52 1/3 MLB innings since the start of the 2022 due to not one but two different Tommy John procedures.
These injuries brought a sour end to an overall successful seven-season run for Means with the Orioles, as the left-hander posted a 3.68 ERA over 401 innings for the only organization of his professional career. This stint in Baltimore might technically not be over yet since the O’s have had interest in re-signing Means, but Cleveland has now emerged as perhaps a more ardent suitor for Means’ services.
Means wouldn’t be an option for the Guardians until the second half of the season at the absolute earliest, so he could join Bieber as some late-season reinforcements to a rotation that has a few question marks heading into 2025. Luis Ortiz, Slade Cecconi, and swingman Jakob Junis were brought to help bolster a rotation that was average at best last season, though Ortiz is the only one of that trio projected for a rotation spot at the moment. Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Ben Lively, and Triston McKenzie are penciled in as the rest of the starting five, though there figures to be some fluidity as the Guards figure out how to best get the ball to their elite bullpen.
Blue Jays Sign Amir Garrett To Minors Contract
The Blue Jays have signed left-hander Amir Garrett to a minor league deal, according to Johnny Giunta of the Gate 14 Podcast. Garrett will earn a guarantee in the “low seven figures” if he makes Toronto’s active roster, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes. Garrett has been on the open market since last August, when he was released by the Angels.
A veteran of eight MLB seasons, Garrett tossed a career-low 5 1/3 innings in the Show in 2024, as he spent the majority of the season with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate. The southpaw inked a minors deal with the Giants a year ago but was released near the end of Spring Training, and then quickly caught on with Los Angeles on another minor league contract just prior to Opening Day. Selected to the Angels’ active roster at the end of April, Garrett had a 5.06 ERA in his brief stint in Anaheim before he was designated for assignment and released in mid-May, only to soon rejoin the Angels on another minors deal.
Control problems have long plagued Garrett’s career, but he kept the walks in check along enough to deliver some good results out of the Reds’ bullpen during the 2018-20 seasons. It seemed like the former top prospect had carved out a niche for himself as a reliever, but things then went sideways, as Garrett has posted a 5.06 ERA and 15.7% walk rate over 122 2/3 innings since Opening Day 2021.
Garrett’s mid-90’s velocity and strikeout potential is still apparent, as he also has a 27.2% strikeout rate in his last four seasons of big league work. But, his walk rates have only continued to increase, and Garrett has also had trouble keeping the ball in the park. The lefty’s minor league numbers weren’t too promising, as he had a 5.08 ERA in 33 2/3 innings with Triple-A Salt Lake in 2024, though with at least a better (10.6%) walk rate and a strong 28.5K%.
Garrett turns 33 in May, so it remains to be seen if he can truly harness his control at this later stage in his career. If he can limit his walks to even a passable number, the Blue Jays can certainly use such a pitcher in their bullpen mix, particularly since Brendon Little is the only southpaw projected to be part of the relief corps. Easton Lucas, Josh Walker, and another minor league signing in Richard Lovelady are also in Toronto’s camp battling for a potential bullpen spot if the Jays opt to break camp with a second left-handed reliever.
Guardians Sign Jakob Junis
TODAY: The Guardians officially announced Junis’s signing today. Hentges was moved to the 60-day IL as the corresponding move.
February 13: The Guardians and Jakob Junis are in agreement on a one-year, $4.5MM deal, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. The signing is pending a physical for the Wasserman client. Cleveland’s 40-man roster is at capacity, though they can create a spot by placing any of Shane Bieber, David Fry or Sam Hentges on the 60-day injured list.
Junis adds versatility to Stephen Vogt’s pitching staff. The 32-year-old righty has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen throughout his career. He has pitched mostly in multi-inning relief roles over the last two seasons. That has suited him well, as Junis has turned in solid numbers in consecutive years. He pitched to a 3.87 earned run average with a career-best 26.2% strikeout rate across 80 innings for the Giants two seasons ago.
The uptick in strikeouts earned Junis a $7MM guarantee from the Brewers last offseason. Milwaukee intended to give him a rotation opportunity, but he suffered a shoulder impingement during his first start of the season. A scary fluke injury delayed his return from the injured list. A few weeks after the shoulder injury, Junis was struck in the neck by a fly ball while he was jogging in the outfield during batting practice. That necessitated a brief hospitalization.
Fortunately, Junis escaped the incident with no long-term effects. It set him back as he rehabbed the shoulder, though, leading Milwaukee to transfer him to the 60-day IL. The Brewers used him out of the bullpen when he returned towards the end of June. They packaged him alongside outfielder Joey Wiemer to the Reds to land Frankie Montas in a deadline deal.
The Reds initially kept Junis in the bullpen themselves. They stretched him back out as a starter for the season’s final month. While the Reds were essentially out of contention by that point, Junis performed well as a starter. He allowed two or fewer runs in each of his final six appearances (five starts and one long relief outing). He built back to 5-6 inning stints to close the year.
Though the injuries limited him to 67 innings, Junis turned in a career-low 2.69 ERA between the two NL Central clubs. He didn’t sustain his ’23 uptick in whiffs, as his strikeout rate dropped to a 20.2% clip that is more in line with his overall track record. The eight-year MLB veteran has excellent command though. He kept his walks to a career-low 3.2% rate last season and has issued free passes to fewer than 6% of opposing hitters throughout his career.
Junis sits in the 91-92 MPH range with his sinker and four-seam fastball. He leans most heavily on a low-80s slider. That has given him some trouble with left-handed batters in his career, but he was effective against hitters of either handedness last season. He held lefties to a .218/.238/.406 line while stifling right-handed batters to a .193/.236/.329 slash. That could give Vogt the confidence to plug him into a season-opening rotation role.
For the second straight year, the rotation is Cleveland’s biggest question. Tanner Bibee is the staff ace, at least until Bieber returns from his Tommy John rehab. He’ll likely be followed by some combination of Ben Lively, Gavin Williams and trade pickup Luis Ortiz. Junis could compete with Triston McKenzie, Joey Cantillo, Slade Cecconi and Logan Allen for the fifth starter role. McKenzie is out of options and will likely be on the MLB team in some capacity. Each of Allen, Cantillo and Cecconi have an option remaining and can head to Triple-A Columbus if they don’t earn an Opening Day rotation spot.
The signing pushes Cleveland’s projected payroll to roughly $100MM, according to RosterResource. That’s right in line with last year’s $98MM season-opening payroll and a few million dollars below where they ended the ’24 campaign. They could still have a few million dollars for a depth acquisition or two after winning the division and earning an ALCS berth.
Image courtesy of Imagn.
Rangers Sign Joe Barlow To Minor League Deal
The Rangers announced this morning that they’ve signed right-hander Joe Barlow to a minor league deal. The contract includes an invitation to big league Spring Training.
Barlow, 29, was an 11th-round pick by the Rangers back in 2016 and spent parts of three MLB seasons with the club from 2021 to 2023. He shared closing duties with veteran Ian Kennedy in his rookie season and took over as primary closer for the club the following year, though he ultimately lost the role midway through the 2022 campaign. His removal with the closer role coincided with a severe nosedive in performance. The righty sported a phenomenal career 2.15 ERA with a 22.6% strikeout rate and a 3.79 FIP across 54 1/3 innings when he recorded his final save as the Rangers’ closer in June of 2022, but since then he’s struggled badly with a 5.59 ERA, and 5.96 FIP and a strikeout rate of just 14.6% in 19 1/3 big league innings.
Given those disastrous numbers over the course of nearly a year between him losing the closer job and the trade that brought Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton to Texas at the 2023 trade deadline, it wasn’t exactly a surprise when the Rangers designated Barlow for assignment to make room for the incoming duo on the 40-man roster. Barlow was claimed off waivers by the Royals shortly thereafter but did not make an appearance with the club, pitching in the minors until he was once again designated for assignment in early September. He was eventually outrighted to the minors and signed a minor league deal with the White Sox last year, though he did not receive a call-up to the major leagues.
Barlow’s struggles after being removed from the closer role may have been health-related. He made multiple trips to the injured list due to blisters on his right index finger during the 2022 campaign after losing his job in the ninth inning, and ultimately ended up undergoing offseason surgery to correct two tendons in his right wrist that were causing the blisters. Barlow then made a trip to the IL in early 2023 due to kidney stones. Upon joining the White Sox last season, Barlow spent nearly the whole 2024 campaign on the injured list with just 12 total appearances at Triple-A. In 30 innings of work at Triple-A with Chicago and Kansas City since departing Texas, Barlow has been torched to the tune of an 8.40 ERA with a 10.7% walk rate against a 23.1% strikeout rate.
Barlow will now have the opportunity to prove he’s healthy and work his way back towards the majors in a familiar environment. The Rangers, meanwhile, will hope he can recapture the form he flashed early in his big league career. Even that wouldn’t be enough to close on a team with playoff aspirations like the Rangers have become, but Barlow could still join the deep group of arms the club has added this winter to help in the middle innings like Jacob Webb and Shawn Armstrong.
Nationals Sign Paul DeJong
9:51am: The Nationals have officially announced DeJong’s signing. Right-hander Josiah Gray was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for the infielder on the 40-man roster.
6:54am: The Nationals are in agreement with infielder Paul DeJong on a one-year deal that guarantees him $1MM, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, DeJong’s deal includes $600K in potential incentives. The Nationals’ 40-man roster is full, but the club has multiple candidates for the 60-day IL who can be placed on the shelf to make room for DeJong once the signing becomes official.
DeJong, 31, was a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2015 and rose through the minors quickly to make his big league debut in 2017 at the age of 23. DeJong looked quite good in his first season in the majors, slashing .285/.325/.532 (123 wRC+) and clubbing 25 homers in just 108 games while splitting time between shortstop and second base. DeJong finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting to Cody Bellinger that year, and by the time 2018 rolled around he had established himself as the Cardinals’ everyday shortstop.
Prior to DeJong’s second season with St. Louis, the sides agreed to a six-year extension that ran through the 2023 season with club options for 2024 and ’25 that guaranteed him $26MM. Over the next two seasons, DeJong clubbed 49 homers in 274 games but hit just .237/.316/.440 (102 wRC+) overall as the .349 BABIP that sustained his star-caliber rookie season crashed down to a below average .271 BABIP. Even as his bat fell to something closer to league average, however, DeJong’s strong work on defense was enough to justify his extension and place in the Cardinals’ lineup as an everyday fixture.
DeJong’s offense continued to take a tumble from there, however. While his defense remained respectable, DeJong hit just .200/.273/.352 (72 wRC+) from 2020 to 2023, and ultimately found himself bouncing between the Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Giants in the final guaranteed year of his contract extension. DeJong eventually signed with the White Sox on a one-year, $1.75MM deal last winter, hoping to rebuild his value while taking over for Tim Anderson as the regular shortstop on the south side of Chicago. 2024 turned into a solid rebound season for DeJong, as he ultimately posted a decent .227/.276/.427 (95 wRC+) slash line with 24 homers in 139 games, his best power output in half a decade. DeJong split his season between the White Sox and Royals. He moved to third base in deference to Bobby Witt Jr. upon being dealt to Kansas City and proved to be a superlative defender at the position despite his glove work at shortstop hovering around the league average.
Now that DeJong is set to join the Nationals for the 2025 season, it seems likely he’ll serve as the club’s everyday third baseman. It’s a role that previously seemed likely to go to a platoon of Jose Tena and Amed Rosario, but Tena’s career wRC+ of just 80 does not inspire confidence in him as a starting caliber player while Rosario has the versatility to move around the infield and outfield as needed while playing primarily against left-handed pitchers. It’s possible Rosario could even be tasked with spelling DeJong against some lefties, as while both veterans are right-handed hitters Rosario is a career .298/.337/.460 hitter against southpaws while DeJong actually has reverse splits both for his career and in 2024. In addition to likely serving as the club’s primary third baseman, DeJong gives the Nationals a viable backup to CJ Abrams at shortstop with better defense at the position than either Abrams or Rosario.
The signing should significantly raise the floor for the Nationals on the infield, offering the club a solid defender at third base who has enough pop in his bat to provide 20 homers a year in spite of below-average on-base ability. That’s an undeniably useful player for a Nationals club that saw its third basemen finish third from the bottom in both wRC+ (67) and fWAR (-0.4) last year. DeJong should be able to easily clear both of those benchmarks, and in doing so allow the club to be patient with top third base prospect Brady House as he establishes himself against Triple-A pitchers this season with an eye toward making his big league debut later this year. Once House is ready to take over at the hot corner, DeJong could become impressive bench depth for the Nationals or a potential trade piece over the summer, depending on where the club is in the standings at that point.
Angels Sign Kenley Jansen
TODAY: Jansen’s deal with the Angels is now official, as is the club’s deal with Yoan Moncada. Anthony Rendon and Robert Stephenson were transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster.
FEBRUARY 11: The Angels are reportedly in agreement with Kenley Jansen on a one-year, $10MM contract. The Wasserman client will step into the closer’s role and give manager Ron Washington an established option in the ninth inning.
The 37-year-old Jansen is coming off yet another fine season of closing, having finished 38 games and tallied 27 saves for the 2024 Red Sox. He notched a 3.29 earned run average, fanned 28.4% of his opponents and posted a 9.2% walk rate in 54 2/3 frames during the second of his two years in Boston.
Those 27 saves pushed him up to 447 in his career, placing him fourth all-time behind Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith. Jansen isn’t going to run down Rivera (652) and Hoffman (601), but he’s 31 saves behind Smith’s 478 — a number that seems plenty attainable, perhaps even this year. Craig Kimbrel and his 440 saves aren’t far behind, but after last season’s struggles, it’s an open question whether Kimbrel will find his way back to regular closing work this year. Jansen, meanwhile, seems like a lock to serve as the Angels’ primary closer. He reportedly drew interest from other clubs with set ninth-inning options, including the Mets, but preferred to sign in a spot that afforded him more save opportunities.
Jansen isn’t the near-automatic ninth-inning powerhouse he was earlier in his career with the Dodgers, but he’s still sporting a 3.42 ERA over the past three seasons and has never turned in a single-season ERA worse than the 3.71 he logged during 2019’s juiced-ball campaign.
The 92.2 mph Jansen averaged on his cutter last year is right in line with his average mark from 2018-23, when he posted a combined 3.45 ERA and fanned just over 30% of his opponents. He allowed a career-high level of contact within the strike zone, but his 82.6% rate in that regard was still nearly three percentage points better than average — and Jansen still induced whiffs on pitches off the plate at a strong rate.
Even though Jansen isn’t an elite reliever anymore, he’s a very good one who should help to deepen a Halos bullpen that lacked experience. Lefties Brock Burke, Jose Quijada and Jose Suarez all have four-plus years of MLB service. No other Angels reliever had even two years of service, prior to today’s agreement with Jansen.
Flamethrowing righty Ben Joyce, MLB’s hardest-throwing pitcher, had been slated for closing duties with the Angels. He’ll now drop down to a setup role that allows him to gain some more experience while giving Washington the flexibility to use his most dynamic arm in the highest-leverage situations a game presents (without feeling tempted to “save” him for the ninth inning). Joyce, a 2022 third-rounder, averaged a comical 102.1 mph on his four-seamer last year and has run the pitch up to 105 mph at times.
As a rookie in 2023, Joyce walked nearly 19% of his opponents in a small sample of 10 innings. He made significant gains in 2024, pitching 34 2/3 big league innings with a 2.08 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. Joyce piled up grounders at a massive 58.9% clip and tallied four saves and eight holds. His 13.7% swinging-strike rate and unmatched velocity suggest there are more strikeouts in the tank as he continues to develop.
Jansen, Joyce and that previously mentioned trio of lefties will now anchor the Angel bullpen. Ryan Zeferjahn put himself in good position to win a spot this spring with a terrific 17-inning debut in 2024, but he’ll need to solidify that job during camp.
There’s a good chance the Angels will continue shopping in the relief market. They’ve reportedly been on the hunt for multiple bullpen arms, so they still feel there’s at least one spot that could yet be filled. It’s unlikely that any subsequent additions will be on the same eight-figure scale as Jansen, unless the Angels opt to double down on high-end, late-30s relievers and make a push for David Robertson. Regardless, general manager Perry Minasian should have the budget available to pursue just about any bullpen help he likes.
As things stand, the Angels project for a payroll just north of $202MM with roughly $220MM of luxury obligations, per RosterResource. That leaves them more than $10MM shy of the franchise record for Opening Day cash payroll and about $21MM shy of the $241MM luxury tax threshold.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that the Angels were signing Jansen. The Post’s Joel Sherman had the one-year, $10MM guarantee.
Angels Sign Yoan Moncada
TODAY: Moncada’s deal with the Angels is now official, as is the club’s deal with Kenley Jansen. Anthony Rendon and Robert Stephenson were transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster.
FEBRUARY 11: The Angels are reportedly in agreement with third baseman Yoán Moncada on a one-year, $5MM deal. The signing is pending a physical for the Quality Control Sports client. The Angels will need to create a 40-man roster spot once it is finalized.
Moncada, 30 in May, is looking for a rebound after a disappointing end to his eight seasons with the White Sox. The former top prospect had an up-and-down tenure in Chicago. He earned down-ballot MVP support during his best year, a 2019 season in which he hit .315/.367/.548 with a career-high 25 home runs. The Sox signed Moncada to a $70MM extension the following spring, believing he’d cemented himself as a core piece coming out of their rebuild.
That is not how things have played out. Moncada slumped to a .225/.320/.385 showing in 2020. That looked like a short-season aberration the following year, as he posted a strong .263/.375/.412 slash across 144 games. Moncada’s bat hit another sharp decline thereafter. He combined for a .234/.288/.386 line in nearly 800 plate appearances over the next two seasons. His final year in Chicago was tanked by injury. Moncada suffered a significant left adductor (groin) strain two weeks into the year. He was immediately ruled out for 3-6 months. Moncada didn’t return to the active roster until the middle of September.
By that point, the White Sox were playing out the string on the worst season in modern history. It was a foregone conclusion that they’d buy Moncada out for $5MM instead of a $25MM club option. The Sox had little reason to put him back in the lineup. He only made one appearance as a pinch-runner in the final two weeks. His season ended with 12 games and 45 plate appearances.
Moncada is now three years removed from his last strong season. At his best, he has shown above-average power and speed with a patient offensive approach. Moncada took walks at an excellent 13.6% clip back in 2021. He takes a lot of called strikes as well, so he has punched out in 29.2% of his career plate appearances. He’s a .254/.331/.424 hitter in more than 3100 major league plate appearances.
After playing second base during his first two seasons, Moncada kicked to third base in 2019. He hasn’t played anywhere other than the hot corner over the past six years. That’ll very likely be his home with the Halos. General manager Perry Minasian said at the beginning of the offseason that the Angels were not committed to giving that job back to Anthony Rendon. He’s likely headed to the bench as he enters the sixth season of his seven-year free agent deal. Luis Rengifo can take the majority of the playing time at second base, while the Halos acquired Jorge Soler to serve as their primary designated hitter.
This is the Angels’ first move of consequence in months. They were the league’s most active team in the offseason’s first few weeks. They pulled off the Soler trade while signing Kyle Hendricks, Travis d’Arnaud and Yusei Kikuchi before Thanksgiving. They had not made a major league free agent pickup since finalizing the Kikuchi deal. They’ve added a few veteran infielders on minor league contracts, including Moncada’s longtime Sox teammate Tim Anderson. With Zach Neto questionable for Opening Day following postseason shoulder surgery, Anderson could compete with free agent signee Kevin Newman for the season-opening shortstop job. The Angels may have Moncada and Anderson on the left side of their infield for at least a few weeks.
Moncada was also tied to the Blue Jays, Mariners and Cubs at points this offseason. Francys Romero reports that the Cubs made a one-year offer worth around $3MM. Moncada declined and came out $2MM ahead with the Angels. (Chicago has signed Jon Berti to serve as a multi-positional infielder and is likely to turn third base over to top prospect Matt Shaw.) This pushes the Angels payroll to approximately $193MM, as calculated by RosterResource. They’re at $210MM in luxury tax commitments, a little more than $30MM below the lowest threshold.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the $5MM agreement. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Twins Sign Ty France
TODAY: The Twins officially announced France’s deal.
FEBRUARY 11: The Twins are in agreement with infielder Ty France on a one-year contract, pending a physical. It’s a non-guaranteed major league deal that places the Equity Baseball client on the 40-man roster and reportedly pays him at a $1MM rate if he breaks camp with the team. France will fill the roster spot that was recently vacated when Minnesota placed lefty Brent Headrick on waivers and lost him to the Yankees.
France, 30, was an All-Star with the Mariners in 2022 but has seen his production dip over the past two seasons. From 2020-22, the former Padres farmhand mashed at a .285/.355/.443 clip despite playing his home games in perhaps the most pitcher-friendly setting in MLB: Seattle’s T-Mobile Park. Weighting for that disadvantage, wRC+ pegged him at 29% better than average with the bat.
The 2023 season brought about a downturn, but France was still slightly better than average in the box, batting .250/.337/.366. He declined further in 2024, however, hitting just .234/.305/.365. That came despite a midsummer DFA from the Mariners and subsequent landing with the Reds, who play in one of MLB’s top hitters’ parks. It was only 195 plate appearances, but the change in venue didn’t bring about a return to form for France, who’ll now look to bounce back with the Twins.
At his best, France has shown 20-homer pop with plenty of doubles and good bat-to-ball skills. Last year’s decline was in part due to a 21.6% strikeout rate, but from 2021-23, France kept that number down to 16.4%. He doesn’t walk much (career 6.5%), but his contact skills and line-drive approach have typically propped up his batting average and led to solid on-base marks.
Defensively, France has experience at first base, second base and third base, though he’s not a strong option at any of the three spots. From 2021-22, he looked to be improving considerably at first base, drawing positive marks from Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average alike. Those grades slipped in 2023, and defensive metrics panned him as one of the worst defenders in the sport this past season.
Notably, France did miss time with a fractured heel; it stands to reason that could’ve hobbled him at the time of the injury in June and lingered throughout the season. At the time of the injury, France was hitting .251/.329/.403 (117 wRC+). His strikeout rate was up, but the results were still strong overall. Upon reinstatement from the IL just 11 days later, France fell into a deep swoon and batted .220/.285/.336 in a sample of 298 plate appearances.
Adding some right-handed depth to the lineup has been a priority for the Twins this winter. They recently brought in Harrison Bader to both back up Byron Buxton in center field and to serve as a platoon option with lefty-swinging corner outfielders Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner. France adds a second right-handed bat, one who’ll either supplant Jose Miranda as the favorite for reps at first base or perhaps just slot into a multi-player rotation between the infield corners and designated hitter.
Carlos Correa will be the Twins’ primary shortstop, but the rest of the infield is fluid. Royce Lewis is in line for regular time at third base, but the Twins have at least worked him out at second base as well. That’s in part because top prospect Brooks Lee — a natural shortstop — is seen as a better defender than Lewis at the hot corner. The presence of Lewis and Lee has pushed Miranda from third base to first base. The Twins also have second baseman/first baseman Edouard Julien in the mix, though the former top-100 prospect is looking to rebound from a down year at the plate in 2024. Utilityman Willi Castro can play virtually any spot on the diamond. The additions of France and Bader will likely push former top prospect Austin Martin from a bench role to a regular job in Triple-A.
Adding France into the mix only gives the Twins more options and safeguards against potential injury. Speculatively, that depth could also come into play in preparation for a late-offseason trade, though president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said recently that after focusing heavily on the trade market throughout the winter, the Twins saw more paths to upgrade in free agency. That didn’t appear to be in the cards for much of the winter, as the Twins have been up against a serious payroll crunch with the team up for sale, but it seems ownership recently gave the green light to upping the 2025 budget on a series of short-term deals. The Twins have added France, Bader ($6.25MM) and Danny Coulombe ($3MM) in the past week alone.
Phil Miller of the Star Tribune was first on the signing.
Twins Sign Erasmo Ramirez To Minor League Deal
The Twins have signed right-hander Erasmo Ramirez to a minor league contract, the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale reports. Ramirez’s deal includes an invitation to Minnesota’s big league spring camp.
Ramirez has played for six different teams at the MLB level over his 12 seasons in the Show, with two different stints with the Rays accounting for 377 1/3 of his 849 career innings. The second of those stints ended when Ramirez elected free agency last October, following a season that saw him post a 4.35 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. Tampa Bay twice designated Ramirez for assignment and outrighted him off its 40-man roster over the course of the 2024 campaign, with Ramirez both times choosing to remain in the organization rather than testing free agency.
A starter and a swingman earlier in his career, the 34-year-old Ramirez has now settled into a role as a multi-inning reliever, though with plenty of ups and downs in his performance. He seemingly got his career back on track with a 2.92 ERA in 86 1/3 innings with the Nationals in 2022, only to follow that year up with an ugly 6.41 ERA in 60 1/3 frames with Washington and Tampa in 2023. His 2024 numbers represent something of a middle ground between those previous two seasons, but Ramirez benefited from a tiny .136 BABIP, and he allowed five homers in that small sample size of 20 2/3 innings.
Ramirez brings plenty of experience and innings-eating capability to the table, so he could be a useful pitcher for the Twins to keep around as a Triple-A depth option. The Twins have a fair number of in-house bullpen options ahead of him on the depth chart, however, and Ramirez could possibly exercise his contract’s opt-out clause before Opening Day if he doesn’t feel he’ll get a clear opportunity for playing time in Minnesota.