Yankees Acquire Jon Berti From Marlins, Trade Ben Rortvedt To Rays In Three-Team Deal
The Yankees, Marlins and Rays have come together on a three-team swap just 24 hours before the season is set to commence. Miami is trading infielder Jon Berti to the Yankees, who are sending catcher Ben Rortvedt to the Rays. The Marlins will pick up a pair of outfield prospects in the deal, one from each team: New York’s John Cruz and Tampa Bay’s Shane Sasaki. All three clubs have officially announced the deal.
Berti will give the Yankees an option to open the season at third base, with DJ LeMahieu (bone bruise in foot) and Oswald Peraza (shoulder strain) slated to hit the injured list, and he can back up nearly any spot on the diamond once LeMahieu returns. He’s fresh off a strong .294/.344/.405 batting line (103 wRC+) with seven homers and 16 stolen bases in a career-high 424 plate appearances with the Fish in 2023.
While Berti doesn’t bring any power to the table — last season’s seven homers were a career-high — he’s been a roughly league-average performer at the plate throughout his career thanks to an above-average walk rate, lower-than-average strikeout rate and plus speed that helps him leg out his share of infield hits (and stretch some would-be singles into doubles). Overall, Berti is a career .258/.337/.368 hitter — about 4% worse than league-average (by measure of wRC+) when weighting for the Marlins’ quite pitcher-friendly home environs.
Berti swiped 41 bags in just 102 games back in 2022, and while he ran less often in 2023, that didn’t have anything to do with a drop-off in speed. Statcast ranked Berti in the 95th percentile of MLB players with an average sprint speed of 29.3 feet per second last season.
Defensively, Berti has played every position other than catcher or first base. He’s spent more time at third base than any other position (1050 innings), but he’s also logged 792 innings at second base, 764 innings at shortstop and 577 frames in the outfield (281 in left, 231 in center and 65 in right). Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average agree that he’s been a plus defender at each of third base, shortstop and left field.
Given Berti’s experience at the hot corner and the injuries to both LeMahieu and Peraza, there’s a strong chance that the Yankees’ newest acquisition will start tomorrow’s season opener at third base. He’ll likely be the team’s primary third baseman in the short term, and the versatility that both Berti and LeMahieu bring to the table will give manager Aaron Boone plenty of lineup options once the bone bruise in LeMahieu’s foot mends.
From a financial standpoint, Berti’s contract surely held plenty of appeal to a Yankees club that is a third-time luxury payor who’s in the top tier of penalization. They’re taking a 110% tax on any dollars added to the payroll at this point. Berti is earning $3.6MM in 2024 — the second season of what became a two-year, $5.725MM deal when the Marlins exercised a club option on him for this year. The 2022-26 CBA stipulates that only the remainder of a traded player’s contract is counted for luxury tax purposes, however, so the Yankees will pay the tax on this year’s $3.6MM salary rather than the contract’s $2.86MM AAV. That means Berti will come with $3.96MM worth of taxes, bringing his total expenditure to $7.56MM.
The Rays will get the only other player with big league experience in this three-team swap, though Rortvedt is rather limited in that regard. Formerly a second-round pick of the Twins, Rortvedt is a defensive-minded backstop who landed in the Bronx by way of the 2022 trade that sent him and Josh Donaldson to the Yankees in exchange for Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez.
Rortvedt only appeared in 32 games with the Yankees over his two-year stint with the club, thanks to a series of injuries. An oblique strain limited him during spring training in 2022, and Rortvedt underwent knee surgery that May after beginning the season in the minors. Last spring, he underwent surgery to address an aneurysm in his shoulder that had been contributing to pain and numbness in his hand.
In all, Rortvedt only has 177 big league plate appearances between the Twins and Yankees, and he’s posted a dismal .146/.234/.255 batting line in that time. He hit well in 124 Triple-A plate appearances last year (.286/.395/.505), but Rortvedt is surely being acquired by the Rays because of their belief in his defensive chops.
The Rays tend to prioritize defense over offense at the catching position, and over the years Rortvedt has turned himself into a plus defender behind the dish. Baseball America named him the best defensive catcher in the Twins’ system from 2018-20, and the 26-year-old boasts an outstanding 34% caught-stealing rate in his career — including a 39% mark in his limited MLB action. Baseball Prospectus credits him with plus framing marks throughout his time in the minors, and he’s graded well there in the big leagues as well.
Because of all his time on the injured list, Rortvedt has more than two years of big league service time in spite of his minimal playing time. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on Tampa Bay’s roster this season. That means he’s all but certain to open the season splitting time with Rene Pinto behind the dish. Non-roster invitee Alex Jackson, who’d previously been the favorite for the backup job, will instead head to Triple-A Durham. If Rortvedt lasts the whole year, he’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time in the 2024-25 offseason. The Rays can control him through the 2027 season via that process.
Turning the Marlins’ return for Berti, they’ll acquire a pair of outfield prospects — a position that’s regularly been a weakness for them in recent years. Sasaki, 23, was limited by injury to 68 games last season and hasn’t played above High-A. He went unselected in this past December’s Rule 5 Draft. Baseball America still tabbed him 21st in the Rays’ system, touting his 65-grade speed (on the 20-80 scale) and ability to play plus defense in center field or left. He’s a hit-over-power prospect who turned in a strong .301/.375/.465 batting line with seven homers and a dozen steals in 293 plate appearances at High-A last year.
Given his success in High-A last year, Sasaki seems likely to open the 2024 season in Double-A with his new organization. With a strong showing early in the year, a bump to Triple-A or perhaps even to the big leagues could be well within reach. Miami has been looking for a long-term center fielder for years now. Sasaki’s lack of power means he’ll need to continue to draw walks and hit for average in order to profile as a regular, but he at least gives Miami someone with a reasonable chance to become that everyday center fielder they’ve sought — albeit with a perhaps greater chance he settles in as more of a fourth outfielder.
As for Cruz, he’s a much further-off value add to the Marlins organization. The 18-year-old ranked 25th among Yankees prospects at Baseball America and 28th at MLB.com. He’s yet to advance to full-season ball, having spent the 2022 campaign in the Dominican Summer League and the 2023 season with the Yankees Rookie-level complex league affiliate. He’s hit well at both stops, posting a combined .260/.394/.465 batting line with 15 home runs, 19 steals, a huge 16.4% walk rate and a 24.9% strikeout rate.
Scouting reports credit the 6’3″ Cruz with above-average power and speed but raise some questions about swing mechanics and pitch selection at the plate. He’s played primarily center field to this point but could wind up moving to a corner as he continues to fill out his frame. He’s a yearslong project but one with a fair bit of ceiling — as well as a good bit of risk.
Ultimately, it’s a needs-based trade for all teams involved (rather than the more standard swap of a veteran for the best prospects available, regardless of position). The Yankees acquired an affordable and versatile infielder who checks multiple needs: everyday third base option in the short term and backup shortstop option in the long term. The Rays added some needed catching depth and defense without increasing an already franchise-record payroll. The Marlins, who didn’t have regular at-bats for Berti after signing Tim Anderson and acquiring Jake Burger, Nick Gordon and Vidal Brujan via trade over the past several months, moved him and his salary in exchange for a pair of outfield prospects who provide organizational depth and upside at a position of need. Sasaki’s relative proximity to the majors at least creates the possibility that all three clubs will see some MLB benefit from the trade before season’s end.
Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald first reported that Berti had been traded to the Yankees. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Cruz’s inclusion in the deal. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com broke the news that it was a three-team deal with the Rays and that Sasaki was headed to the Marlins as well.
Jackson Stephens Elects Free Agency
March 27: Stephens rejected the outright assignment in favor of free agency, tweets Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
March 26: The Braves have sent right-hander Jackson Stephens outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, with Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution among those to relay the news. Both Toscano and Mark Bowman of MLB.com suggest that the opened roster spot will go to right-hander Jesse Chavez.
Stephens, 30 in May, has been on and off Atlanta’s roster over the past two years. Since he’s out of options, he can’t be easily sent down to the minors, which has resulted in him being frequently getting bumped off the roster but always coming back.
He was signed by Atlanta to a minor league deal prior to the 2022 season and had his contract selected that year. He was non-tendered after that campaign but was re-signed in December, only to be outrighted in March. He had his contract selected in September of last year but was outrighted again in November. He signed another major league deal a week later and has lasted on the club’s roster until now.
Amid all of those transactions, he has tossed 65 2/3 innings for Atlanta over the past two years with a 3.56 earned run average. His 20.2% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate are both a bit worse than league average, but he has kept 45.4% of batted balls on the ground while also doing a good job of limiting hard contact and missing barrels. In 2022, when he pitched a far larger sample of innings compared to last year, he was in at least the 82nd percentile in terms of average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate.
Despite that generally solid performance, he continues to pass through waivers unclaimed. A player with a previous career outright has the right to reject another outright assignment and elect free agency, though it seems Stephens is comfortable with Atlanta and might either accept his assignment or quickly re-sign a new deal of some kind.
The club doesn’t need 40-man roster spots, as they are now down to just 36 guys in that department, but they do need an active roster spot if they want to add Chavez. The only guy in their projected bullpen who can be optioned is Dylan Lee, but it seems Atlanta preferred to keep him up with the big league club and remove Stephens from the 40-man. Lee has a 2.95 ERA in his career and keeping him in the majors gives them an even four-four split of righties and lefties.
Chavez, 40, has bounced around the league in recent years but always seems to end up back in Atlanta. Last year, he made 36 appearances for the club with a 1.56 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 51.7% ground ball rate. He signed a minor league deal with the White Sox but posted an 11.57 ERA in a small sample of seven innings. He didn’t make that club’s Opening Day roster and was released, either because he triggered an opt-out or because the club proactively let him loose to pursue other opportunities.
That led to him returning to Atlanta on a minor league deal yesterday and he now seems poised to be on the club’s Opening Day roster.
Rays To Acquire Niko Goodrum, Select Him To 40-Man Roster
The Rays are acquiring utilityman Niko Goodrum from the Twins and will add him to their 40-man roster, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Rays’ interest in Goodrum was first reported yesterday afternoon.
Goodrum had an upward mobility clause in his minor league deal with Minnesota. He triggered that clause, which requires the Twins to gauge interest around the league and see whether another club would be willing to add Goodrum to the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay, in need of infield depth due to injuries, felt it had space and will presumably send cash back to the Twins to acquire Goodrum’s rights and add him to the 40-man roster. Goodrum has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so it’s not a sure thing he’ll go directly onto the Rays’ major league roster.
Goodrum, a veteran switch-hitter who can play just about any position on the diamond, fits the Rays’ typical mold of versatility. His acquisition was surely spurred by injuries to Taylor Walls (recovering from hip surgery) and Jonathan Aranda (who fractured a finger fielding a grounder this week) — to say nothing of the ongoing legal situation surrounding shortstop Wander Franco, whose MLB future is in doubt.
The 32-year-old Goodrum has played in parts of six big league seasons between the Tigers, Astros and Twins — who originally made him a second-round pick back in 2010. Goodrum returned to Minnesota on a minor league pact this winter but didn’t make the Opening Day roster after stumbling to to a .129/.270/.161 slash in 37 spring plate appearances. That ugly performance didn’t deter the Rays, who are surely looking at Goodrum’s versatility, defensive chops and broader track record in making this acquisition.
From 2018-19, Goodrum was a regular with the Tigers. He posted a solid .247/.318/.427 slash in that time while playing solid defense at multiple positions, and for a time he was even Detroit’s primary shortstop. Over those two years, Goodrum tallied 964 plate appearances and swatted 28 homers while swiping 24 bases. His bat tailed off in the three subsequent seasons before a resurgent 2023 showing between the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate (.280/.448/.440) and the Korea Baseball Organization’s Lotte Giants (.295/.373/.387).
Goodrum seems likely to claim a bench spot in Tampa Bay. The Rays had previously looked to be whittling down the competition for their final two spots, but Topkin reported earlier this week that they were mulling some outside acquisitions for a backup infielder and backup catcher. Goodrum, it seems, was part of those deliberations and will now add some optionable depth who can be controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration if he makes a good impression on his new club.
Marlins To Acquire Burch Smith, Select Him To 40-Man Roster
Right-hander Burch Smith has exercised an upward mobility clause in his minor league contract with the Rays and will sign a major league contract with the Marlins, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Upward mobility clauses allow players on minor league deals to gauge interest from other teams on a set date. If there’s interest from another club in adding said player to the 40-man roster, his current club must either add him to its own 40-man roster or allow him to join that new team. In this instance, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Smith is being traded to the Marlins in exchange for what are surely nominal cash considerations.
It seems the Rays weren’t willing to add to Smith to their own 40-man at this time, so he’ll instead join the Miami organization. The Fish already have an open spot on their 40-man roster at the moment after placing righty Huascar Brazoban on the restricted list yesterday while he works through a visa issue. Smith does have a minor league option remaining, so while he’ll go on Miami’s 40-man, it’s not a given that he’ll begin the season in the majors. He’ll earn at a $1MM rate in the big leagues with the Marlins and can pick up another $250K of incentives, per Sherman.
Smith, 34 next month, has more than four years of MLB service time and has also spent time pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and in the Korea Baseball Organization. He last appeared in the majors in 2021, when he tossed 43 1/3 innings for the A’s but scuffled to a 5.40 ERA. The right-hander has at times shown flashes of potential in the big leagues but has yet to establish himself as a consistent contributor despite stints with the Padres, Royals, Brewers, Giants and A’s. He carries a 6.03 ERA in 191 MLB frames.
Lack of MLB success notwithstanding, Smith has drawn interest from clubs throughout his career due to strong minor league numbers and encouraging traits on several of his pitches. Even though his career 21.3% strikeout rate is a bit shy of league-average, he’s previously posted above-average swinging-strike rates that could be viewed as a portent for more punchouts. Smith yielded five runs in 5 1/3 spring frames with Tampa Bay, but he notched a huge 17.6% swinging-strike rate in camp, which perhaps piqued Miami’s interest.
Though Smith has never thrown an MLB pitch for the Rays, this spring marked his second stint with the club. He went from the Padres to the Rays back 2014 as part of the three-team blockbuster that more famously sent Wil Myers to San Diego and Trea Turner to Washington. The Rays lost him in the Rule 5 Draft the following year, but current Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix was part of Tampa Bay’s front office at the time the Rays originally acquired Smith.
Smith will give the Marlins some optionable depth to step into Brazoban’s recently vacated spot on the 40-man roster. Miami also has righty JT Chargois and nearly an entire rotation’s worth of quality starting pitchers — Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera — on the injured list to begin the season.
Blue Jays Option Yariel Rodriguez
The Blue Jays have optioned right-hander Yariel Rodriguez to Triple-A Buffalo to open the season, as noted by Francys Romero. Romero adds that Rodriguez is expected to make two or three starts at the level to continue building up before the club will look to add him to the major league roster.
Rodriguez, 27, officially signed a five-year deal with Toronto back in February after reaching an agreement the month prior. The righty entered the offseason as one of the winter’s most unusual free agents. He began his career as a starting pitcher in Cuba but upon moving overseas to pitch in Japan, he converted to relief where he dominated to the tune of a 1.15 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate in 56 appearances during a breakout 2022 season, his third year with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s NPB. Prior to the start of the 2023 campaign, Rodriguez represented Cuba in the World Baseball Classic and made a return to starting. He pitched to solid results during the tournament but did not report to the Dragons after it came to a close, instead heading to the Dominican Republic to pursue a future in MLB.
The Dragons eventually granted Rodriguez his release last fall and he was declared a free agent by MLB shortly thereafter. Given his unusual path to the majors, evaluations of Rodriguez varied considerably even by the standards of an international free agent looking for his first stateside contract. The Blue Jays wound up being the team to take a chance on Rodriguez, surely enticed by his youth and dominant 2022 season. Entering camp, Rodriguez figure to have a chance to battle with right-hander Alek Manoah for the fifth spot in the club’s rotation behind Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Bassitt.
That, unfortunately, did not come to pass for Rodriguez, as back spasms delayed the start to his Spring Training. Manoah and top prospect Rickey Tiedemann were also delayed this spring by injuries, and so the fifth spot in the rotation will instead go to right-hander Bowden Francis while Manoah begins the season on the injured list and both Rodriguez and Tiedemann head to Triple-A to continue ramping up for the season. Rodriguez made just two appearances with the Jays this spring, striking out three while allowing two hits, a home run, and three walks in five innings of work. Once Rodriguez has finished shaking off the rust associated with his lengthy layoff last year, the Blue Jays figure to make a decision regarding whether he’ll make his big league debut as a member of the club’s starting rotation or as part of the relief corps.
Mariners Release Brian Anderson
The Mariners have released third baseman Brian Anderson, as is reflected in the transactions log of the veteran’s MLB.com player profile.
Anderson, 31 next month, was a third-round pick by the Marlins back in 2014 and made his MLB debut with the club three seasons later. The 2017 campaign saw Anderson kick off his MLB career with a 25-game cup of coffee. He held his own in 95 trips to the plate, hitting .262/.337/.369 with a 92 wRC+ that was just below league average. He became a regular with the club the following season, and quickly established himself as one of the more reliable bats in a Marlins lineup lacking in thump. From 2018 to 2020, Anderson slashed .266/.350/.436 with 42 home runs and 74 doubles in 341 games while splitting time between third base and right field with the Marlins. That performance was worth a wRC+ of 115, which was good for 11th among all qualified third baseman during that three year period while his 7.2 fWAR ranked 12th.
Unfortunately, Anderson would find his career derailed by injuries in 2021 as he missed nearly four month with oblique and shoulder issues. While he managed to appear in 67 games in between stints on the injured list, Anderson posted pedestrian numbers when he was healthy enough to take the field, hitting .249/.337/.378 with just 7 home runs and 9 doubles in 264 trips to the plate. Those injuries woes continued in 2022, as he missed two months of time across three trips to the injured list for shoulder and back issues while posting a career-worst .222/.311/.346 slash line in 98 games with the club.
Those struggles with injuries and ineffectiveness over the 2021 and ’22 seasons led the Marlins to non-tender Anderson that November, making him a free agent for the first time in his career. The infielder then signed a one-year deal with the Brewers prior to the 2023 season but saw his struggles continue even as he managed to avoid the injured list for most of the campaign. In 361 trips to the plate with Milwaukee last year, Anderson hit just .226/.310/.368 with a wRC+ of 85. That weak performance led the club to designate Anderson for assignment just before the regular season came to an end, sending him back to the free agent market for the second time in as many seasons.
Anderson’s second trip through free agency wasn’t as kind as his first. He didn’t find a major league deal this winter and instead had to settle for a minor league pact with the Mariners back in February, with whom he figured to compete for playing time at the hot corner with Luis Urias and Josh Rojas. Anderson made the most of his time in camp with Seattle, slashing a solid .250/.344/.536 in 32 trips to the plate this spring, though it evidently wasn’t enough to earn the 30-year-old a spot on the Mariners’ Opening Day roster. Now that he’s been cut loose from his deal with Seattle, Anderson figures to search for a fresh minor league deal in free agency, perhaps with a club that can offer him a more clear path to playing time either at third base or in the outfield.
Mets Release Phil Bickford
The Mets released right-hander Phil Bickford this afternoon, as is reflected on the transactions log on the hurler’s MLB.com player profile.
Bickford, 28, was drafted in the first round twice during his days as an amateur; he was first picked tenth overall by the Blue Jays in the 2013 draft before ultimately signing with the Giants after being selected 18th overall in 2015. Bickford was shipped to the Brewers in a deal that landed the Giants southpaw Will Smith just one year after being drafted. He’d remain in the Brewers’ farm system until 2020, when he made his big league debut with a single appearance that saw him give up four runs in one inning of work. Bickford’s struggles in Milwaukee continued the following season as he once again received a call-up that lasted just one inning, this time allowing two runs on two hits, a walk, and a hit batsmen.
The right-hander would leave Milwaukee with a career 27.00 ERA at the big league level, but upon being claimed off waivers by the Dodgers in May of 2021 quickly began to turn his career around. The right-hander finished the 2021 campaign with a fantastic 2.50 ERA and a solid 3.57 FIP in 56 appearances with Los Angeles. That standout performance earned him a more permanent role in the club’s bullpen, though he’d come back down to Earth somewhat over the next two seasons with a rather pedestrian 4.84 ERA and 4.36 FIP in 121 appearances.
Just before the trade deadline last year, Bickford found himself shipped to the Mets alongside southpaw Adam Kolarek. Bickford entered his first offseason as a Met eligible for arbitration as a Super Two player, and New York tendered the righty a contract early in the season amid questions regarding the club’s bullpen depth. The sides were unable to reach an agreement prior to the deadline to exchange arbitration figures back in January, leaving them in line for a hearing the following month. Bickford’s camp submitted a $900K figure, while the Mets countered at $815K.
While Bickford ultimately won that case, going to an arbitration hearing in the first place meant that his salary for the 2024 season wasn’t fully guaranteed. The Mets cut Bickford from their 40-man roster last week and have now released the righty rather than assigning him outright to the minor leagues. As a consequence, Tim Healey of Newsday notes that the club now only owes Bickford 45 days of termination pay, which he adds works out to $217K. Not only will that save the club $683K in salary that would have been paid to Bickford this season, but when the club is taxed at a 110% rate on all spending beyond the highest luxury tax threshold of $297MM at the end of the season, they’ll have saved just over $700K in taxes thanks to their decision to cut Bickford as well, bringing the total savings to nearly $1.5MM.
It’s a similar situation to the one former Giants infielder J.D. Davis faced earlier this month when he was squeezed off the roster by the club’s signing of third baseman Matt Chapman. The Davis move stirred up controversy around the sport, and it’s unclear whether or not the veteran infielder will file a grievance against the Giants over the situation. That being said, Bickford’s case for pursuing a similar course of action may not be as strong as Davis’s. While the current CBA states that players can be cut “for failure to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability” if their contract was awarded via an arbitration hearing, neither Bickford’s 5.79 ERA across 4 2/3 innings of work this spring nor his 4.62 ERA in 25 appearances with the club down the stretch last year make a bulletproof argument for his abilities as a big league regular.
Looking ahead, Bickfor will now hit the free agent market for the first time in his career and figures to receive plenty of interest thanks to his solid work over three seasons with the Dodgers, though his overall lack of results at the big league level could leave him limited to only minor league offers. Meanwhile, the Mets will enter the season with the likes of Jorge Lopez, Drew Smith, and Michael Tonkin to cover the middle innings for their bullpen, with the likes of right-hander Shintaro Fujinami and lefty Josh Walker among the club’s depth options.
Marlins Place Huascar Brazobán On Restricted List Due To Visa Issue
The Marlins announced to members of their beat, including Craig Mish of The Miami Herald, that right-hander Huascar Brazobán has been placed on the restricted list. The righty has not been able to secure a visa to enter the United States and missed all of Spring Training. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.
Brazobán, 34, has pitched 90 2/3 innings for the Marlins over the past two years with a 3.77 earned run average. He has a 26.4% strikeout rate in his career, 13.1% walk rate and 51.1% ground ball rate. He has earned 17 holds for the club in that time.
The visa issue is unfortunate for the righty, as he won’t accrue major league service time or pay for as long as he is on the restricted list. For the Marlins, it deprives them of one of their pitchers but it will give them an extra roster spot to use in the meantime.
Angels To Select Miguel Sanó
Angels manager Ron Washington informed reporters, including Greg Beacham of The Associated Press, that corner infielder Miguel Sanó has made the club’s Opening Day roster. Sanó was in camp on a minor league deal and will require a corresponding move to be added to the 40-man roster.
Sanó, 31 in May, had a lengthy run as one of the most potent sluggers in the game but is coming off two mostly lost seasons. He hit 161 home runs with the Twins from 2015 to 2021, a mark that put him in the top 25 among all major league hitters for that stretch. He struck out in 36.5% of his plate appearances during that time but also drew walks at an 11.6% rate. His .238/.329/.491 batting line over that seven-year period translated to a wRC+ of 118, indicating he was 18% better than league average.
But knee issues severely hampered him in 2022, as he was able to get into just 20 games and hit just .083/.211/.133 when in the lineup. The Twins opted for a $3MM buyout instead of a $14MM club option for 2023, sending him to free agency. He didn’t sign anywhere last summer and instead focused on his health, telling reporters a few weeks ago that he had lost 58 pounds since his last big league game.
He played some winter ball with Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Republic a few months ago, hitting a couple of home runs in 27 games. That was enough for the Angels to give him a minor league deal and he has looked to be in decent form during the spring, with three homers in his 57 plate appearances.
It seems that was enough to get Sanó onto the roster and there are a few different ways he could factor into the club’s plans. Third baseman Anthony Rendon has dealt with a number of injuries, having not played 60 games in a season since 2019. Sanó hasn’t played the hot corner since 2021 and not regularly since 2019, but he did play it here in camp and could perhaps spell Rendon on occasion.
The Angels also have an inexperienced first baseman, as Nolan Schanuel was just drafted last summer. The Halos rushed him up to the majors last year, so he does have 29 big league games under his belt, but only 51 professional games total. He was also much better against righties last year, so perhaps Sanó can shield him from southpaws. Sanó has even splits in his career, 115 wRC+ against both righties and lefties, but he could factor in there nonetheless. Schanuel had 118 wRC+ against righties and 93 against lefties in his brief major league debut last year.
The club also doesn’t have a strict designated hitter, as Shohei Ohtani has been in that role for most of the past six years. Ohtani signed with the Dodgers and the Halos didn’t sign a pure DH-type to replace him, though they were connected to J.D. Martinez before he signed with the Mets.
Perhaps they will be rotating various players through that spot this year, with oft-injured veterans like Rendon or Mike Trout perhaps getting some more time as the DH, but Sanó could be plugged in from time to time as well. Lefty-swinging outfielder Mickey Moniak has a brutal line of .174/.202/.233 against southpaws in his career, so there could be pinch-hitting opportunities there.
How it plays out remains to be seen but it’s a nice story for a guy who has clearly worked hard to get over his recent struggles and get back to the majors. If he gets even part of the way back to the form he showed from 2015 to 2021, it will be a steal for the Halos.
White Sox Outright Touki Toussaint
The White Sox announced that right-hander Touki Toussaint cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Charlotte. The righty had been designated for assignment on the weekend when the club signed outfielder Kevin Pillar.
Toussaint, 28 in June, was claimed off waivers from the Guardians in June of last year. The Sox traded away many of their best pitchers last summer, with the trades of Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito creating two holes in the rotation. Toussaint helped fill in those gaps, tossing 83 1/3 innings for the Sox last year with a 4.97 earned run average.
Even though that was a fairly competent performance, Toussaint’s lack of control was a red flag, as it has been throughout his career. He was once a first-round draft pick, getting selected 16th overall by the Diamondbacks in 2014, and also a top 100 prospect as a minor leaguer. But his consistently high walk rates have prevented him from truly securing a big league job for any meaningful stretch of time.
With the Sox last year, his 22.7% strikeout rate and 49.5% ground ball rate were both pretty close to league average, but he gave free passes to 14.2% of batters that came to the plate. The average walk rate for major league starters was 7.9% last year, so Toussaint was almost double that. He’s walked 14% of batters faced in his career overall, which has played a large part in him not establishing himself in the bigs. He had never previously logged more than 50 innings in a season until he got to 87 last year.
He came into camp with a White Sox club that had a lot of question marks on its pitching staff, but he didn’t do much to take a step forward and answer those questions. He tossed 7 2/3 innings over six appearances, issuing an eye-popping 11 walks while striking out just two batters and getting charged with 11 earned runs.
Since he’s out of options, the Sox had to either keep him on the active roster or remove him from the 40-man entirely. They decided for the latter and no other club was willing to give him a roster spot either.
Toussaint can technically reject this outright assignment but it’s unlikely he will. A player with at least three years of major league service time can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency but requires five years of service to both elect free agency and retain their salary. Toussaint is at three years and 71 days, meaning he would have to walk away from his salary in order to hit the open market.
He and the club avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.3MM salary for this year, so he’ll likely want to hang onto that. Assuming he accepts his assignment, he’ll report to the Knights and look to work his way back to the majors.