White Sox Non-Tender Gavin Sheets
6:05pm: The White Sox announced that they have tendered Vaughn a contract for 2025.
3:40pm: The White Sox are not going to tender a contract to first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets, per a report from Robert Murray of FanSided on X. Once official, Chicago’s 40-man roster count will drop to 38.
Sheets, 29 in April, was a second-round pick of the White Sox in 2017. He hit well throughout his minor league career, which made him a notable prospect in the club’s system for a while. Baseball America ranked him as one of their top 15 prospects in four straight years from 2018 to 2021. In the last of those years, he made his major league debut with a splash, hitting 11 home runs in just 54 games. That led to a .250/.324/.506 slash line and 123 wRC+.
But his production has fallen off since then. The Sox have given him 1,255 plate appearances over the past three years but Sheets has hit just .227/.291/.368 in those. That production translates to an 84 wRC+, indicating he’s been 16% worse than league average.
The Sox have had first base largely occupied by José Abreu and then Andrew Vaughn over the past few years. That has forced Sheets to spend more time in the outfield corners, where he’s not considered a strong defender, to put it mildly. In 1,618 innings on the grass, he has -22 Defensive Runs Saved and -13 Outs Above Average.
He crossed three years of service time in 2024, allowing him to qualify for arbitration for the first time. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a salary of $2.6MM next year. Given his performance thus far, it’s unsurprising that the Sox have decided they’re uninterested in bringing him back at that price point.
It’s possible that the two sides could reunite on a deal with a lower salary, but Sheets will now be free to talk to all 30 clubs and assess his options. If he latches on somewhere and gets back on track, he can theoretically be controlled for three more seasons.
The Sox still have Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi, their two highest-paid players, in their outfield mix. They just signed Austin Slater and added him to the group. Zach DeLoach, Oscar Colás, Dominic Fletcher and Corey Julks are also on the roster and should be battling each other for playing time. Vaughn is still the first baseman on paper, though it’s possible that he also winds up non-tendered today.
Blue Jays Non-Tender Jordan Romano
The Blue Jays non-tendered closer Jordan Romano, tweets Jeff Passan of ESPN. The two-time All-Star had been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $7.75MM salary in his final season of arbitration. He goes directly into free agency without landing on waivers.
That lofty projection made Romano one of the more obvious high-profile candidates to be let go. His 2024 season was wrecked by injury. The 31-year-old righty pitched in 15 games, allowing 10 runs over 13 2/3 innings. In early July, he underwent arthroscopic surgery to address an impingement in his throwing elbow. That ultimately proved to be a season ender. While the Jays initially expressed hope that Romano could return in September, they fell out of the playoff race and had little reason to rush him back to action.
The Jays weren’t comfortable risking a near-$8MM salary on a rebound. Romano nevertheless becomes one of the most intriguing buy-low targets for teams looking for bullpen help. He was an elite back-end weapon between 2021-23. Romano has recorded 103 saves over the past four seasons, including consecutive 36-save performances in 2022 and ’23.
He topped 55 innings in each of the three seasons preceding this year and turned in a sub-3.00 ERA showing in each year. From 2021-23, Romano posted a 2.37 earned run average through 186 innings. He struck out more than 30% of opposing hitters against a tolerable 9.2% walk rate.
Toronto already needed to address the bullpen, which ranked 29th in the majors with a 4.82 ERA. Only the Rockies had a more troublesome relief group. Moving on from Romano, while understandable, simply adds to that urgency. The Jays also non-tendered Dillon Tate, opening a second bullpen spot. Erik Swanson and Chad Green project as the top in-house options for leverage work. GM Ross Atkins and his staff will certainly look for at least one, and quite likely multiple, back-end arms during the coming weeks.
Giants, Mike Yastrzemski Avoid Arbitration
The Giants and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski have avoided arbitration, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com on X. He will make $9.25MM in his final season before he is slated to become a free agent. That’s narrowly below the $9.5MM salary projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Yastrzemski, 34, was a borderline non-tender candidate. That’s not so much a reflection of poor play on his part, simply that his salary had climbed to roughly match his value. The Giants could have considered moving on, using the savings to pursue marquee players, with the ability to sign someone roughly around Yastrzemski’s level later in the winter if they missed on the big guys.
But instead, they will stick with the proverbial bird in the hand, keeping Yas for one more go. Over the past six years, he has proven to be a fairly consistently above-average player, even if he’s something below a true star. In 694 contests, he has slashed .239/.322/.457 for a wRC+ of 112. In each full season, his wRC+ finished somewhere between 99 and 120. His home run total has always been between 15 and 25 in those full campaigns.
On top of that, his defense has been pretty steadily better than par. When combined with his solid work at the plate, he has been worth between 1.5 and 2.5 wins above replacement in each season of his career, per the calculations of FanGraphs.
A solid two-WAR player for $9.25MM is neither a bargain nor an egregious overpay. The Giants are evidently content with that equal value proposition, so Yastrzemski will stick around for one more year, barring a trade. The Giants are reportedly open to a swap, though the return won’t be massive with his salary roughly matching his expected production.
The club has Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos likely to be in the other two outfield slots next year, with Grant McCray, Jerar Encarnación, Marco Luciano, Blake Sabol, Wade Meckler and Luis Matos also in the mix. Perhaps they will pursue other players in the offseason who could make a Yastrzemski seem more possible, or perhaps the club will want to make room some of those incumbent players.
Braves Sign Carlos D. Rodriguez To Non-Guaranteed Contract
2:58 pm: The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli reports that 18 teams expressed interest in signing Rodriguez. That sheds light on why the Braves needed to offer him a 40-man spot to sweeten the deal.
1:17 pm: The Braves have signed outfielder Carlos D. Rodriguez to a non-guaranteed one-year contract, the team announced. While Rodriguez has yet to make his major league debut, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel notes that the deal gives him a spot on Atlanta’s 40-man roster. The Braves have an open 40-man spot, so no corresponding move will be required.
Financial terms of the deal have not yet been announced, but Rodriguez will presumably earn something close to the league minimum salary for the time he spends with the club. Since the contract is not guaranteed, the Braves would not have to continue paying his salary if they decided to cut him from the roster at any point.
Rodriguez, soon to be 24, elected minor league free agency earlier this month. He had been a member of the Brewers organization since he signed with the club as a 16-year-old international free agent in 2017. While never a top prospect (indeed, he was only the second-highest-ranked Carlos Rodriguez on most Brewers prospect lists for the past few years), he played well at Double-A last season, slashing .298/.376/.396 with a 132 wRC+. He stole 15 bases in 19 attempts and walked more often than he struck out. That’s some solid offensive production coming from a primary center fielder, even if most evaluators agree his defense is more good than great.
Then again, Rodriguez struggled after a midseason promotion to Triple-A. He continued to demonstrate excellent contract skills and plate discipline (13.3% walk rate, 8.6% strikeout rate), but he slashed a meager .245/.344/.309 with a 79 wRC+. His promising Double-A number might explain why the Braves were interested, but his poor Triple-A performance shows why the Brewers never added him to their own 40-man roster.
Slightly harder to understand is why the Braves gave Rodriguez a non-guaranteed major league contract instead of signing him to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Rodriguez has no major league experience and struggled badly in a brief stint against Triple-A competition. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him as the no. 34 prospect in Milwaukee’s system entering the 2024 season, describing him as a potential fifth outfielder. Keith Law of The Athletic left Rodriguez off his list of the Brewers’ top prospects this past season, while Baseball America has not included him since 2022.
It’s not as if the Braves are desperate for center fielders, either. Michael Harris II ended the 2024 season on a high note, and, barring injury, he’ll be starting in center field almost every day next season. Jarred Kelenic, Ramón Laureano, and Eli White can also play the position. Luke Williams gives the Braves a fifth healthy outfielder on the 40-man. Once Ronald Acuña Jr. is ready to return, presumably not too long after Opening Day, that will make six outfielders with MLB experience on Atlanta’s 40-man roster.
Then again, perhaps the Braves are planning to non-tender Laureano or White today. They could also be looking ahead and preparing to DFA an outfielder during the regular season once Acuña needs a spot on the active roster. In that case, it’s easier to see why they’d appreciate having an optionable outfielder like Rodriguez. Of the current group, only Harris and Kelenic have minor league options remaining. That still doesn’t explain why the Braves didn’t just sign Rodriguez to a minor league deal, but it’s not as if this non-guaranteed arrangement is any riskier for the team. It seems like the Braves simply identified the player they liked and made the necessary offer to bring him aboard.
Phillies To Non-Tender Austin Hays
The Phillies have informed outfielder Austin Hays that they will not tender him a contract before tonight’s deadline, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. He’ll immediately become a free agent without having to first clear waivers. He’d been projected for a $6.4MM salary by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Hays, 29, spent his entire career with the Orioles before being traded to the Phils in exchange for Seranthony Dominguez and Cristian Pache a few days before the 2024 trade deadline. The Phillies hoped that Hays, who’d battled injuries in the season’s first half, could rebound with better health and solidify their outfield mix down the stretch. That’s not how things played out, however. Hays suffered a strained hamstring a couple weeks after the trade and only briefly returned before hitting the shelf with a kidney infection that took a significant toll on his body. He only took 80 plate appearances with Philadelphia and batted just .256/.275/.397 in that small sample.
All told, Hays endured three IL stints in 2024, missing time with that kidney infection, hamstring strain and a calf strain that shelved him for three weeks from late April to mid-May. His combined .255/.303/.396 slash between the two clubs was arguably the worst production of his big league career.
While injuries clearly hampered Hays’ 2024 campaign, he’s still only a season removed from an All-Star season. Hays turned in a nice .275/.325/.444 slash with 16 home runs and quality glovework in left field as recently as 2023. He’s long been the type of player who thrives in platoon settings and merely holds his own against same-handed opponents, but paired with his defensive acumen that’s enough for him to have been a solid regular in Baltimore. Hays is a lifetime .277/.331/.469 hitter against lefties (120 wRC+) and a .254/.304/.415 hitter against fellow righties (99 wRC+).
Teams seeking a low-cost, right-handed bat to plug into their outfield mix figure to have interest in Hays. Many non-tendered players ultimately sign minor league deals, but Hays was a notable enough contributor with the O’s from 2021-23 that he ought to find a one-year deal in free agency, presumably a price south of his projected arbitration salary.
The Phillies, meanwhile, were already known to be in the market for outfield help. Hays was a likely non-tender candidate for some time now, though they opted not to make the move before today — presumably gauging the market for potential trade partners. Philadelphia’s outfield includes Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas and Nick Castellanos, but the Phils are interested in adding a bat to the outfield and either going with a Marsh/Rojas platoon in the other spot or giving Marsh a larger role if he can handle lefties better than in the past. The Phillies are planning to meet with Juan Soto and will surely be connected to a variety of other targets both on the open market and trade market.
Mets Sign Jakson Reetz To Minor League Deal
The Mets announced Friday that they’ve signed catcher Jakson Reetz to a minor league deal. He’s been invited to major league spring training. Reetz is a client of Warner Sports Management.
Reetz, 28, spent the 2024 season in the Giants organization. He appeared in only six big league games, homering once in 15 plate appearances, but spent the majority of his season in Triple-A. That marked his second straight year with the Giants’ top affiliate in Sacramento. He slashed .254/.368/.431 with five round-trippers and 20 doubles in 58 games/235 plate appearances.
A third-round pick by the Nationals back in 2014, Reetz once ranked among Washington’s top 10-20 prospects but has settled into journeyman status. He’s played for four different organizations in the past four years, spending time with the Nats, Royals, Brewers, Giants and now the Mets. Reetz popped 22 homers in just 63 games for the Brewers’ Double-A affiliate in 2022, but he sports a more tepid .241/.338/.467 slash in parts of four Triple-A seasons.
The Mets currently have Francisco Alvarez and non-tender candidate Luis Torrens atop their catching depth chart. Former first-round pick Kevin Parada has seen his stock drop since being drafted 11th overall out of Georgia Tech in 2022, as he’s yet to show any offensive production above the High-A level. Parada spent the 2024 season in Double-A and hit just .214/.304/.359 in 114 games — only a moderate improvement over the .185/.250/.389 slash he posted in 60 plate appearances there late in the 2023 season.
Reetz will add some experienced catching depth to compete for a backup role in spring training or to serve as a depth option in Triple-A. If he indeed heads to Syracuse, he could be the next man up in the event of an injury on the MLB staff, so the Mets don’t feel obligated to rush Parada when his development is clearly still a work in progress. With such little certainty beyond Alvarez, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Mets add further catching depth throughout the offseason.
Nationals Avoid Arbitration With Mason Thompson
The Nationals announced they’ve avoided arbitration with reliever Mason Thompson. The team did not reveal salary terms. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected him for an $800K salary that is marginally above the $760K league minimum.
Thomspon, who turns 27 in February, underwent Tommy John surgery early in Spring Training. He obviously missed the entire season but could return relatively early in 2025. A former Padres draftee, Thompson went to the Nats at the 2021 deadline in the trade that sent veteran reliever Daniel Hudson to San Diego. Thompson made 102 appearances for Washington between 2021-23. He posted a 4.57 earned run average with a middling 17.8% strikeout rate.
This was the first of the righty’s three seasons of arbitration eligibility. Washington had a nine-player arbitration class before waiving Ildemaro Vargas. Catcher Riley Adams and relievers Derek Law and Tanner Rainey are potential non-tender candidates before tomorrow evening’s deadline.
Mets Agree To Minor League Deals With Joey Meneses, Hobie Harris
The Mets are in agreement with first baseman Joey Meneses and reliever Hobie Harris on minor league deals. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported (X link) the Meneses deal, while MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported the Harris addition (on X). Meneses is a client of the MAS+ Agency; Harris is represented by Gaeta Sports Management.
Both players are former Nationals. The 32-year-old Meneses spent two and a half seasons in Washington. He had a monster showing in a limited sample as a rookie in 2022, hitting .324/.367/.563 in 56 games. The rebuilding Nats gave him two seasons to see if he could build off that surprising debut, but he hasn’t maintained anything near that form. Meneses was a roughly league average hitter in ’23, turning in a .275/.321/.401 slash with 13 homers over 154 contests. His numbers declined sharply again this year, as he finished with a .231/.291/.302 mark and a trio of home runs across 313 plate appearances.
The Nats waived Meneses at season’s end. He elected minor league free agency after going unclaimed. He’ll need to earn his way back to the big leagues. Meneses will battle for a job as a right-handed bench bat. Mark Vientos will lock down one corner infield spot. That could come at first base if the Mets allow Pete Alonso to walk. Vientos could move back to the hot corner if the Mets re-sign Alonso. Jesse Winker also hit free agency, so there could be a path to some at-bats at designated hitter depending on how the offseason plays out.
Harris, 31, has limited big league experience. He pitched in 16 games for the Nats in 2023, allowing 12 runs over 19 1/3 innings. Harris issued 13 walks and managed just nine strikeouts in that brief stint. The Pittsburgh product pitched in Triple-A with the Twins this past season. He allowed nearly seven earned runs per nine through 54 1/3 innings. Harris has struggled in the upper minors in consecutive years. He can run his fastball into the 94-95 MPH range and missed bats on an impressive 14.6% of his offerings this year, though. That was enough for the Mets to bring him aboard as minor league bullpen depth.
Guardians, Triston McKenzie Avoid Arbitration
The Guardians and right-hander Triston McKenzie have agreed to a deal to avoid arbitration, reports Robert Murray of FanSided on X. The Octagon client will make a salary of $1.95MM in 2025.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected McKenzie for a salary of $2.4MM next year, but he’ll actually come up shy of that number. That’s usually the case for deals agreed to at this part of the calendar.
Friday evening is the deadline for clubs to decide whether or not to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players. The two sides will still have plenty of time to negotiate the figures but clubs sometimes offer “take it or leave it” style deals ahead of the deadline for players that are borderline cases to be tendered in the first place. Such “pre-tender” deals often come in below projections, as the club is essentially telling the player to take a lower salary or else be non-tendered and sent into free agency.
It’s a remarkable position for McKenzie to be in, considering how things looked just two years ago. By the end of the 2022 season, he had thrown 344 2/3 innings with a 3.68 earned run average. He had struck out 27% of batters faced while giving out walks just 8.1% of the time. With the Guardians having a tremendous reputation for finding and developing starting pitching, it seemed as though they had found yet another rotation building block.
But McKenzie has had a rough time since then. He was injured for much of 2023, first due to a right teres major strain. He came off the IL and made a pair of starts but went right back on the shelf, that time due to a sprain in the ulnar collateral ligament of his throwing elbow. He opted for non-surgical rehab and was able to come back for two more starts late in the year.
Any hopes for a bounceback in 2024 were quickly dashed. His velocity was down and he clearly wasn’t in a good space mentally. While he wasn’t in pain, he did say in mid-April that the possibility of re-injuring himself was weighing on his mind. He was optioned to the minors in June after having made 16 starts with a 5.11 ERA. His 21.8% strikeout rate and 14.4% walk rate were both far worse than his previous work. He posted a 5.23 ERA at the Triple-A the rest of the way with roughly similar strikeout and walk rates of 23.5% and 13.9% respectively.
Despite the strong form he showed earlier in his career, the injury-wrecked season followed by a dismal performance in 2024 made McKenzie a non-tender candidate, but the two sides will instead reunite. It’s an understandable gambit for the Guards to take. Even for a lower-spending club like them, $1.95MM is almost nothing by MLB standards. If McKenzie can bounce back at all in 2025, he’d be well worth that price. They would also be able to retain him via arbitration again in 2026, so there could be a further payoff if McKenzie can put his recent rough stretch in the past.
McKenzie is now out of options, so the club won’t be able to easily send him to Triple-A again if that bounceback doesn’t come. But given their current roster, there could be a path for him to stick around. Their rotation is in rough shape, an unusual position for the club to be in. Apart from Tanner Bibee, there’s not much they can bank on. Ben Lively had a good year but is a journeyman who’s about to turn 33. Gavin Williams was hurt for much of 2024 and finished with a 4.86 ERA. Joey Cantillo has less than 40 innings in the majors and a track record of terrible control in the minors. Logan Allen had a 5.73 ERA for the year.
Offseason moves could reshape that rotation but McKenzie could earn a role in there if he looks good in the spring. Or perhaps a bullpen move would be an option, as McKenzie’s last three Triple-A appearances in 2024 were in relief. Either way, it’s a modest bet for the club to make with a decent chance at a nice payout. For McKenzie, he can put a bit more money in the bank while staying in familiar environs and not have to spend his winter sweating about finding a new job.
Rangers Sign Caleb Boushley To Minor League Deal
The Rangers have signed right-hander Caleb Boushley to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Round Rock for now but will presumably receive an invite to major league spring training.
Boushley, 31, has a small amount of major league experience. He made one appearance for the Brewers last year and two for the Twins this year. He has thrown 6 1/3 innings in the big leagues, allowing three earned runs.
He has naturally had a larger body of work in the minors. Over the past three years, he has made 80 Triple-A appearances, including 77 starts. In his 397 1/3 frames, he has a 4.55 earned run average, 18.4% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate.
He was outrighted off the Twins’ roster in September and was able to elect free agency at season’s end, which has led to this deal with Texas. The Rangers have plenty of rotation uncertainty, having recently lost Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Max Scherzer and José Ureña to free agency. They have interest in bringing back some guys from that group but they are reportedly planning to duck under the competitive balance tax next year, which could lead to some budgetary constraints this winter.
On paper, the current rotation includes Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, Dane Dunning, Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter and others, though there are plenty of question marks in that group. deGrom and Mahle returned from Tommy John surgery in 2024 but each of them made just three major league starts this year. Gray and Bradford missed decent chunks of the 2024 season as well. Dunning has been deployed as more of a depth/swing guy and could be a non-tender candidate. Rocker and Leiter each have less than 40 innings of major league experience.
Boushley will give the club a bit of non-roster depth. Even if he doesn’t earn a job out of camp, the Rangers might need a spot start or long reliever as the season goes along. Should Boushley get on the 40-man roster at some point, he still has options and could be freely moved to Round Rock and back, though a player can only be optioned five times in one season.