Cubs To Sign Colten Brewer
The Cubs are apparently in agreement with Colten Brewer on a contract for 2024, per a post from Brewer’s own Instagram page. It’s not yet clear if the arrangement is a major or minor league pact.
Brewer, 31, was a fourth-round pick by the Pirates in the 2011 draft. After several years in the Pirates and Yankees farm systems, Brewer made his big league debut with the Padres in 2018 though the right-hander struggled to a 5.59 ERA across 11 appearance that first season. From there the right-hander joined the Red Sox, the club with whom he spent most of his time in the majors. In parts of three seasons with Boston, Brewer posted a 4.98 ERA and 5.20 FIP across 81 1/3 innings of work. While he struck out a respectable 20.3% of batters faced during that time while generating a solid 50.4% groundball rate, Brewer walked a whopping 13.3% of batters faced during his time with the Red Sox.
Those control issues led the club to designate Brewer for assignment back in June 2021. He was eventually outrighted to Triple-A and spent the remainder of the season in the minor leagues before signing a minor league deal with the Royals the following offseason but was confined to the minor leagues for the entire 2022 season. During his 18-month stint at the Triple-A level, Brewer put up a relatively pedestrian 4.53 ERA over 57 2/3 innings of work as his walk rate remained over 10%.
That didn’t stop Brewer from landing with the Rays on a minor league deal during the 2022-23 offseason, though he ultimately wouldn’t make it to Opening Day as a member of the organization. The Rays instead got together with the Yankees on a minor trade before the start of the season that shipped Brewer to the Bronx, where he joined the club’s 40-man roster. He put up decent enough results in 8 1/3 innings of work for the big league club with a 4.32 ERA, but was nonetheless designated for assignment in mid-April.
Brewer accepted an outright assignment with the Yankees and pitched exceptionally well in 20 innings with the club’s Triple-A affiliate, posting a 1.35 ERA with a whopping 29.9% strikeout rate. That brief flash of dominance earned Brewer attention from Nippon Professional Baseball’s Hanshin Tigers, and he signed with the club for the remainder of the 2023 season. Though he managed just 12 1/3 innings down the stretch in Japan, the strong numbers continued. Brewer allowed an ERA of just 2.19 across 14 appearances overseas, striking out 30.2% of batters faced while walking 11.3%.
Brewer’s stretch of dominance in the upper minors and abroad last season has seemingly caught the attention of the Cubs. Chicago is among a handful of clubs known to be looking for relief help this winter along with the Cardinals, Rangers, and Astros. Brewer could conceivably bolster the depth of a club that saw the likes of Michael Fulmer and Brad Boxberger depart for free agency. With that being said, the addition of Brewer seems unlikely to take the Cubs out of the relief market given their reported interest in some higher-level arms like former Rays righty Robert Stephenson and veteran closer Liam Hendriks. For now, Brewer figures to enter Spring Training with a shot at a role in the club’s bullpen competing alongside the likes of Daniel Palencia and Jose Cuas.
Reds Designate Austin Wynns For Assignment
The Reds officially announced their signing of right-hander Frankie Montas, with catcher Austin Wynns designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Wynns, 33, was just signed by the Reds to a split deal a couple of weeks ago. He was added to the roster on a deal that will pay him a $950K salary for time spent in the majors and $300K in the minors. Given the nature of that deal and this quick transaction, it seems the club is hoping that Wynns will pass through waivers unclaimed and stick in the minors.
As a player with more than three years of MLB service time, Wynns has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. But since he has less than five years of service, exercising that right would mean leaving the remaining money on the table. Since he is set to get paid decent amount even in Triple-A, he may decide to stay. For reference, the recent collective bargaining agreement signed for minors leaguers included a minimum salary of $35,800 for Triple-A players, well south of what Wynns is set to make.
If all this comes to fruition, the Reds will have an experienced backstop providing them with depth in a non-roster capacity. Wynns has played 232 major league games, having hit .226/.273/.324 in 653 plate appearances. That translates to a wRC+ of just 61, but he’s generally regarded as a solid framer and defender, though stronger with his throwing than his blocking.
The Reds now have just two catchers on their 40-man roster in Tyler Stephenson and Luke Maile. If an injury should occur, perhaps Wynns will be first in line to step up and fill in, though the club also signed P.J. Higgins to a minor league deal.
It’s not a guarantee that Wynns will go unclaimed, however. Last year, the Orioles agreed to a split deal with outfielder Jake Cave and similarly tried to pass him through waivers, though the Phillies interrupted those plans by claiming him. If some other club likes the idea of Wynns at a salary barely above the league minimum, perhaps they will grab him. Wynns is out of options and can’t be sent to the minors without occupying a roster spot.
Red Sox Claim Max Castillo From Royals
The Red Sox announced that they have claimed right-hander Max Castillo off waivers from the Royals. The righty was designated for assignment before the holidays but lingered in DFA limbo for a while since the normal seven-day window is paused between Christmas and New Year’s. Boston’s 40-man roster is now at 40, though their deal with Lucas Giolito has not yet been made official.
Castillo, 25 in May, has 59 2/3 innings of major league experience to this point in his career. He has a 5.43 earned run average in that time, having stuck out 18.1% of batters faced, walked 9.3% and kept 44.7% of balls in play on the ground.
Acquired from the Blue Jays alongside Samad Taylor in the Whit Merrifield trade, Castillo spent most of 2023 in Triple-A Omaha. He threw 116 innings at that level with a 4.58 ERA, 19.2% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 38.8% ground ball rate.
Castillo still has an option year left, so he’ll give the Sox some extra rotation depth for now. The Boston rotation currently projects to feature some combination of Giolito, Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock but Castillo will give them another arm and can be kept in Worcester. Pivetta is an impending free agent and Giolito can opt out of his deal after 2024 as well. That creates some long-term uncertainty though the Sox have been connected to free agents like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery. Perhaps the club will convert Castillo to relief at some point to see if that unlocks another gear. Castillo still has less than a year of service time, giving him the club plenty of cheap control if he takes a step forward.
Reds Sign Frankie Montas
The Reds announced that they have signed righty Frankie Montas, to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2025. It’s reportedly a $16MM deal for Montas, who is represented by the Boras Corporation. He’ll make $14MM this year with a $2MM buyout on a $20MM mutual option.
With Nick Martinez signed to a two-year, $26MM deal last month, Montas is the second Boras client to join Cincinnati’s rotation mix. While Martinez might still factor into the Reds’ bullpen plans, Montas is more of a clear-cut starter, assuming that he is back to full health after a lost 2023 season.
The Reds’ projected rotation of Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft, and Nick Lodolo have a lot of potential but also a lot of injury questions and not a lot of big league experience. As a result, the Reds were known to be looking for starting pitching help this winter, and have been linked to a wide array of names on both the free agent and trade fronts. A trade has always seemed to be the likeliest route for pitching help given Cincinnati’s wealth of minor league depth, yet the Reds have also been linked to such free agents as Seth Lugo, Yariel Rodriguez, and old friend Sonny Gray.
Gray’s name might linger in the background of today’s signing, as the Reds would surely love to see Montas replicate Gray as a starter who got back on track in Cincinnati after struggling in the Bronx. After finishing sixth in AL Cy Young Award voting with the A’s in 2021, Montas continued to pitch well in 2022 and was one of the more sought-after pitchers at the trade deadline. Oakland ultimately moved Montas to the Yankees as part of a six-player trade, yet things went haywire for Montas almost as soon as the deal was completed.
Montas struggled to a 6.35 ERA over eight starts and 39 2/3 innings for the Yankees, as he tried to pitch through some shoulder problems that bothered him prior to the trade. He spent some time on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation, which unfortunately set the stage for his nightmare of a 2023 campaign. The right-hander ended up undergoing labrum cleanup surgery in February and pitched in just one game (1 1/3 innings on September 30) last year, at least giving himself some peace of mind health-wise as he entered the offseason.
The Yankees felt good enough about Montas’ shoulder that they had some interest in re-signing him this winter, yet Montas will now head to Cincinnati for a fresh start. His deal almost exactly matched the one-year, $15MM pact that MLB Trade Rumors projected for Montas in our top 50 free agents list, with Montas sitting 44th in the ranking. If $16MM seems high for a pitcher who basically missed an entire season, the price tag speaks to the high cost of pitching, and the possible upside Montas brings if he is back to his old self.
Montas showed flashes of his quality in posting a 3.13 ERA over 161 innings for Oakland during the 2018-19 seasons, yet the latter season was cut short by an 80-game PED suspension. He also struggled during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign before delivering his first full top-tier season in 2021, with a 3.37 ERA and solidly above-average strikeout and walk rates over 187 innings.
Naturally there’s some risk for the Reds in this deal, as $16MM is a big expenditure for a team with a mid-level payroll and Montas isn’t a sure thing. However, the risk is at least somewhat reduced as just a one-year splurge, plus Montas might have some extra value if he does return to his old form. Should Montas pitch well, the Reds could issue him a qualifying offer next winter, and thus net a compensatory draft pick if Montas signed elsewhere. Or, of course, Montas and the Reds might end up working out a longer-term contract themselves depending on how things play out in 2024.
Cincinnati’s payroll sits just under the $103MM mark after this signing, according to Roster Resource. Considering that the Reds topped the $126MM payroll mark as recently as 2021 before their brief rebuild period, president of baseball operations Nick Krall might have a bit of extra spending capacity in what has already been a busy winter. In addition to Montas and Martinez, the Reds also signed Jeimer Candelario to a three-year, $45MM deal, and reliever Emilio Pagan for two years and $16MM. Cincinnati already emerged from its rebuild with an 82-win season in 2023 and now looks to challenge for the NL Central title, with these veteran signings buoying the club’s exciting core of young talent.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post (links to X) first reported the deal and that Montas would receive somewhere in the range of $15MM-$16MM on the one-year deal. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale added that the salary was indeed $16MM. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com relayed the full financial breakdown.
Braves, Red Sox Trade Chris Sale For Vaughn Grissom
The Braves and Red Sox have agreed to a major trade, as left-hander Chris Sale will head to Atlanta in exchange for infield prospect Vaughn Grissom, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. The Sox will also include $17MM in the deal to help cover Sale’s $27.5MM salary for the 2024 season, as per the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. Sale had a full no-trade clause that he has waived to facilitate the move.
The surprising move ends Sale’s tumultuous run in Boston after seven years and six seasons, as Sale missed all of the 2020 campaign. After acquiring Sale as part of a blockbuster deal with the White Sox in December 2016, Sale pitched brilliantly in his first two seasons at Fenway, twice finishing in the top four in AL Cy Young Award voting and playing a big role in Boston’s World Series title in 2018.
Since 2019 was the last year of Sale’s previous contract, the Red Sox were aggressive in locking up their ace, signing him to a five-year, $145MM extension covering the 2020-24 seasons, with a $20MM club option for the 2025 campaign. Unfortunately, this extension has proven to be a big misfire, as Sale started to run into injury problems even late in the 2018 campaign. He was shut down in August 2019 with elbow inflammation and received a PRP injection, yet that elbow issue was only the harbinger for the Tommy John surgery that cost Sale his entire 2020 season and most of his 2021 campaign.
The bad injury luck continued over the last two seasons, as Sale was sidelined by a wide array of maladies including a stress reaction in his ribs, a fractured finger, a broken wrist (suffered in a bicycle accident), and a stress reaction in his shoulder blade. Sale tossed only 48 1/3 innings total in 2021-22, while rebounding to some extent to pitch 102 2/3 frames last season.
Sale’s 93.9mph fastball velocity in 2023 slightly topped his career average, while his strikeout, walk, and hard-hit ball rates were all well above the league average. While the southpaw may never get back to his past elite form, Sale’s 2023 performance at least indicated that he still has a good deal left in the tank as he enters his age-35 season, provided that he can just stay on the field.
This is exactly what the Braves are counting on from Sale as a third or even a fourth starter, behind Max Fried, Spencer Strider, and Charlie Morton in the team’s rotation. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos is counting in Sale’s upside to bolster the pitching staff, and Atlanta’s collection of younger arms (AJ Smith-Shawver, Dylan Dodd, Huascar Ynoa, Darius Vines, and top prospect Hurston Waldrep) and swingman Reynaldo Lopez can provide extra depth should Sale or anyone else in the rotation need time on the injured list.
In typical Anthopoulos fashion, this particular trade came out of nowhere, even if the Braves were known to be looking for some pitching help. Atlanta made a strong bid for Aaron Nola before he re-signed with the Phillies, and such free agent and trade targets as Tyler Glasnow, Dylan Cease, Sonny Gray, and Seth Lugo were also linked to the Braves on the rumor mill.
Because Sale’s extension the Red Sox contained $10MM of deferred money per season, he’ll cost the Braves merely $500K in actual salary in 2024. Even without the deferral involved, a one-year, $10.5MM deal for Sale as a free agent would’ve been a reasonable or even a slight bargain price for a pitcher with his track record. It could perhaps be argued that the Braves might have been better off finding such a pitcher on the free agent market rather than trade away a promising young player like Grissom, but it is also fair to note that such a rotation upgrade might not have existed at a $10.5MM price tag. Or, dealing for a pitcher like Cease, Corbin Burnes, Shane Bieber, or other still-available trade candidates might’ve cost Atlanta lot more than only Grissom.
Sale’s $20MM club option for 2025 shouldn’t be discounted either, as the Braves might consider exercising that option if Sale pitched well. The $20MM figure matches what Morton is earning this season, and since Morton has flirted with retirement over the last few years, Sale could potentially step in as Atlanta’s veteran rotation arm if Morton does hang up his cleats next winter. Sale’s $20MM club option is actually a vesting option that becomes guaranteed if he finishes the year healthy, and finished in the top 10 in NL Cy Young Award voting.
Anthopoulos and team chairman Terry McGuirk weren’t kidding last November when they said that the Braves planned to keep increasing payroll. The Braves’ $203MM Opening Day payroll from 2023 was already a club record, and Roster Resource now projects a payroll just shy of $241MM for the 2024 squad. After topping the luxury tax barrier for the first time in 2023, the Braves’ estimated $280MM tax number now soars over the third penalty tier of $277MM, so they’ll face increasingly hefty overages as second-time payors. Passing the third tier means that Atlanta’s top pick in the 2024 draft will now drop 10 spots, and they’ll face the standard tax penalties related to qualified free agents and the international bonus pool.
This doesn’t appear to be much of a deterrent for an Atlanta club that has been swimming in extra revenues since the opening of Truist Park and its neighboring ballpark village project known as The Battery. The Braves have used this money to lock up several members of its roster on contract extensions, and this young core has already delivered the 2021 World Series championships and six straight NL East crowns.
The outlook hasn’t been as rosy at Fenway Park, as the Red Sox have been very inconsistent since that 2018 title. On the heels of consecutive last-place finishes in the AL East, Craig Breslow replaced Chaim Bloom as the team’s chief baseball officer, and Breslow now has his first true blockbuster trade as a front office executive.
Starting pitching has been a known need for the Red Sox all winter, and Boston just signed Lucas Giolito yesterday to help address the rotation mix. While moving Sale diminishes from the number of available arms, the trade does free up some money to help make other moves, and the Sox simply might’ve wanted a more reliable starting pitching option than the injury-plagued Sale. Plus, adding six years of team control over a promising player like Grissom is a nice return for the Sox at the cost of $17MM.
Grissom immediately fills Boston’s need for second base help. An 11th-round pick for Atlanta in the 2019 draft, Grissom has torn up minor league pitching during his four seasons in the Braves’ farm system and quickly got himself on the radar for a big league call-up. Grissom hit .291/.353/.440 over 156 plate appearances in 2022, though followed up with a more modest .659 OPS in just 80 PA last season. Given a chance at the everyday shortstop job, Grissom fell behind Orlando Arcia on the depth chart, and ultimately spent most the season at Triple-A since the Braves wanted him to play regularly rather than ride the bench.
Grissom has spent much of his minor league career as a shortstop, yet there has been some question about his long-term viability at the position. Moving to second base or third base was difficult on a Braves team with Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley already in place, so Grissom had been getting some reps as an outfielder as a possible candidate to fill the club’s left field vacancy. However, the acquisition of Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners also seemed to close that door.
No such position blocks exist in Boston, as the Red Sox might well just install Grissom as their Opening Day second baseman. He fits Breslow’s preferred add of a right-handed hitter, and Grissom’s glovework could or should work out well at the less-demanding second base position. Getting Grissom in the fold could now relegate Enmanuel Valdez, Pablo Reyes, or Rob Refsnyder to pure backup duty or perhaps even as trade chips, while Ceddanne Rafaela now looks even likelier to be used as an outfielder (and Rafaela might yet be a trade candidate himself).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Orioles Sign Michael Perez, Albert Suarez To Minor League Deals
The Orioles announced seven minor league deals this afternoon, with catcher Michael Perez and right-hander Albert Suarez standing out as the only two with previous major league experience.
Perez, was a fifth-round pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2011 draft but didn’t make his major league debut until 2018 as a member of the Rays. Perez spent three seasons in Tampa backing up Wilson Ramos and, later, Mike Zunino. Those three seasons saw Perez get into just 84 games total, where he slashed a meager .221/.286/.314 in 228 trips to the plate. That weak performance eventually led the club to designate Perez for assignment as they sought to revamp their catching corps following their AL pennant-winning 2020 season.
Perez then returned to the NL to serve as the backup to Jacob Stallings in Pittsburgh for the 2021 season after being claimed off waivers from the Rays. While Perez appeared in a career-high 70 games for the Pirates in 2021, he only managed an anemic .143/.221/.290 slash line in 231 plate appearances. Despite that weak performance, Perez remained with Pittsburgh to start the 2022 season before eventually being traded to the Mets just before the trade deadline that summer.
The Mets eventually designated Perez for assignment in October before reuniting with him on a minor league deal later in the offseason. Perez then managed to secure a spot on the 40-man roster back in May following the placements of Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido on the injured list, but the veteran journeyman appeared in just three games for the Mets throughout the year, as he spent most of his 2023 campaign at the Triple-A level. The Mets ultimately outrighted Perez off the roster when the offseason arrived, and he departed for minor league free agency.
Now in Baltimore, Perez figures to act as non-roster depth for the Orioles behind the club’s catching tandem of Adley Rutschman and James McCann alongside fellow minor league signing David Banuelos, who has no major league experience but slashed an impressive .270/.369/.526 at the Double-A level for the Twins last year.
As for Suarez, the 34-year-old right-hander last appeared in the major leagues in 2017 as a member of the Giants. For his career, the righty sports a 4.51 ERA and 4.40 FIP across 115 2/3 innings of work in the majors. Since then, Suarez briefly appeared with the Diamondbacks at the Triple-A level before trying his luck overseas. The righty managed a 3.00 ERA in 162 innings of work in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball before moving on to the Korea Baseball Organization, where he pitched for the Samsung Lions for two years. In that time, Suarez appeared in 49 games for the Lions, 48 of them starts. The righty struck out 19.4% of batters faced while posting a 3.04 ERA in 281 2/3 innings of work for the Lions before ultimately being released to make room for right-hander Taylor Widener back in August.
After half a decade overseas, Suarez is now returning to stateside ball as a member of the Orioles organization, where he figures to serve as non-roster pitching depth who could pitch both out of the rotation or in the bullpen. It’s a role he shares with Tucker Davidson, who the club outrighted to the minor leagues earlier this offseason. Suarez figures to compete alongside the likes of Davidson, Mike Baumann, and Bruce Zimmermann for a role on the big league club this spring.
White Sox Designate Carlos Perez For Assignment
The White Sox have designated catcher Carlos Perez for assignment, the team announced. The move creates roster space for Chris Flexen, whose one-year, $1.75MM deal with Chicago is now official.
Not to be confused with older brother Carlos Eduardo Perez (also a catcher and a veteran of five MLB seasons), Carlos Jesus Perez is a 27-year-old backstop who was an international signing for the White Sox back in 2014. Perez has hit .264/.314/.389 over 2402 career plate appearances in Chicago’s minor league system, and he has played in 34 games for the Sox at the Major League level over the last two seasons. Over his small sample size of 71 trips to the plate in the Show, Perez has hit .209/.254/.343 with one home run.
Catcher has been a target area for the Sox this winter, as Martin Maldonado and Max Stassi were both acquired to bolster the team’s depth behind the plate. With Korey Lee also on the roster, top prospect Edgar Quero perhaps in line for a big league debut in 2024, and Chuckie Robinson recently signed to a minor league deal, Perez is now the odd man out.
The White Sox could keep him in the organization as even more depth if he clears waivers and is outrighted off the 40-man roster, but with a number of catchers already on board, Chicago might opt to just release Perez entirely. Since teams are constantly looking for catching help, Perez might not have much trouble landing with another club on a minor league deal heading into Spring Training.
White Sox Sign Chris Flexen To One-Year Deal
The White Sox are reportedly in agreement with right-hander Chris Flexen on a one-year, $1.75MM guarantee. There are an additional $1MM in incentives available for the O’Connell Sports Management client.
Flexen lands a big league deal despite a frustrating 2023 campaign. The 29-year-old opened the season in long relief with the Mariners, starting four of 17 appearances. He couldn’t find any rhythm, battling significant home run issues en route to a 7.71 ERA in 42 innings. The M’s designated him for assignment in early July, trading him to the Mets alongside reliever Trevor Gott.
New York only wanted Gott from that deal, agreeing to assume the nearly $4MM remaining on Flexen’s $8MM contract in the process. The Mets immediately released him. Flexen signed a minor league deal with Colorado and returned to the majors after two starts in Triple-A.
Making seven of 12 starts at Coors Field is a tough assignment for a pitcher looking for a rebound opportunity. Flexen continued to struggle (both at home and in his five road outings), posting a 6.27 ERA over 60 1/3 innings as a Rockie. Between Seattle and Colorado, he allowed a 6.86 ERA through 102 1/3 frames. Among pitchers to reach 100 innings, only Adam Wainwright and Joey Wentz allowed earned runs at a higher rate. The longball was the biggest contributor, as his 2.20 home runs per nine was the highest in the majors.
Flexen returned to free agency at season’s end despite having less than six years of MLB service. That’s common for players who sign a major league deal after a stint in a foreign pro league, as he did during the 2020-21 offseason after one year in the Korea Baseball Organization. Flexen will be a free agent again next winter despite still not reaching the six-year threshold.
It’s difficult to find many positives in Flexen’s 2023 performance, but he was an effective pitcher for Seattle over the preceding two years. Initially signed to a two-year, $4.5MM guarantee by Seattle, Flexen combined for a 3.66 ERA while starting 53 of his 64 appearances. His 16.5% strikeout rate over that stretch was well below-average, but he limited walks and did a much better job keeping the ball in the park. Flexen looked like a serviceable back-end starter two seasons ago.
The Sox will take a low-cost flier on a rebound, continuing an offseason of inexpensive depth pickups for first-year general manager Chris Getz. The Sox have also signed Tim Hill and Paul DeJong to one-year deals and agreed to terms with Martín Maldonado on a $4MM pact. Chicago rolled the dice on veteran catcher Max Stassi in a trade that paid his salary down to the league minimum. Their only multi-year pickup thus far was a two-year, $15MM deal for KBO returnee Erick Fedde.
Fedde has a rotation spot secure. Dylan Cease would be the Opening Day starter if the Sox don’t trade him this offseason. Michael Kopech and Michael Soroka project for middle-of-the-rotation roles, while Jared Shuster, Jesse Scholtens and Touki Toussaint could battle for jobs at the back end. Flexen steps into that fifth starter/long relief competition.
Chicago’s payroll is up to roughly $150MM, according to Roster Resource. That’s nowhere near last year’s $181MM Opening Day mark, although the Sox might not match that spending level as they rework the team. The 40-man roster is at capacity, so they’ll need to make two corresponding moves when they finalize the unofficial pickups of Flexen and Maldonado.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported the White Sox and Flexen had agreed to a one-year deal. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported the $1.75MM guarantee and $1MM in performance bonuses.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Cubs Sign Joe Hudson To Minor League Deal
The Cubs have signed catcher Joe Hudson to a minor league deal with an invitation to major league Spring Training, per Eric Treuden of Jays Journal.
Hudson, 33 in May, has 18 games of major league experience to this point in his career. Those games were scattered between the 2018 Angels, 2019 Cardinals and 2020 Mariners. He hit a combined .167/.219/.200 in a small sample of 33 plate appearances, though he’s generally been considered strong on defense.
His offense has been better in the minors, including a batting line of .230/.330/.398 across five different seasons at the Triple-A level. That includes a 2023 stint with the Braves on a minor league deal, wherein he got into 69 Triple-A contests. He struck out in 29% of his trips to the plate this year but also drew walks in 16.2% of them, leading to a slash of .232/.371/.395 for the year and a 99 wRC+.
The Cubs are a bit thin at the catcher position, with Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya the only two currently on the 40-man roster. Amaya has just 53 games of major league experience while Gomes is going into his age-36 season. Hudson and Jorge Alfaro, who also signed a minor league deal with the Cubs this offseason, will provide the team with some experienced non-roster depth.
Blue Jays Sign Isiah Kiner-Falefa
The Blue Jays have signed Isiah Kiner-Falefa, per a club announcement. It’s a two-year, $15MM deal, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray (X link), with another $1MM available in incentives. Kiner-Falefa is represented by ALIGND.
Kiner-Falefa won a Gold Glove as the Rangers’ regular third baseman in 2020, but he hasn’t since played much time at the hot corner, since Texas used him primarily at shortstop in 2021 and the Yankees did the same in 2022. This past season saw New York shift IKF all around the diamond since Anthony Volpe took over as the everyday shortstop, with Kiner-Falefa racking up a lot of playing time in center field (278 1/3 innings), left field (248 innings), back at third base (240 1/3 innings), right field (40 innings), shortstop (eight innings) and a lone inning as a second baseman. The public defensive metrics were mixed on his outfield work, but Kiner-Falefa graded pretty well as an infielder, particularly in his return to third base.
With Matt Chapman a free agent, it would seem like the Blue Jays could install Kiner-Falefa as their regular third base option for the time being, giving the club at least a glove-first starter if either Chapman signs elsewhere or if a more clear-cut starter can’t be found. That said, IKF is probably less of a Chapman replacement than he is a replacement for Whit Merrifield, another right-handed hitter who was deployed regularly as a second base and in the outfield. Kiner-Falefa adds even more versatility since Merrifield played very little third base and no shortstop.
IKF is also a better defensive fit at third base than any of Toronto’s incumbent crop of infielders, such as Cavan Biggio, Davis Schneider, Santiago Espinal, or Ernie Clement. Biggio is the only left-handed bat in that group, so it stands to reason the Jays might trade one of the righty-swingers now that Kiner-Falefa is on board. Adding a more experienced Major Leaguer also gives the Blue Jays more flexibility in giving more minor league evaluation time to top prospects Orelvis Martinez or Addison Barger, who should both be in the Show at some point in 2024 and could factor into the infield picture (particularly at third base).
While Kiner-Falefa may work from a depth and glovework perspective, however, he doesn’t represent much or any help to the Blue Jays’ larger need for offense. Kiner-Falefa hit .242/.306/.340 over 361 plate appearances with the Yankees last season, essentially matching his .261/.314/.346 slash line over 2415 career PA at the big league level. This translates to an 81 wRC+ — tied for the fourth-lowest total of any player with more than 2000 PA since the start of the 2018 season.
The lack of offense has limited Kiner-Falefa to 3.8 fWAR over his six Major League seasons, despite his defensive contributions. He rarely strikes out, yet this contact-hitting approach rarely yields hard contact, and he has little power to speak of with only 26 career home runs.
A two-year, $15MM contract seems like a pretty nice score for Kiner-Falefa with this lack of offense in mind, yet there was still quite a bit of interest in the utilityman on the open market. The Brewers, Dodgers, Marlins, and Yankees were all linked to Kiner-Falefa on the rumor mill, and Toronto’s own interest in IKF was first cited by Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi earlier this month.
Between Kiner-Falefa today and yesterday’s agreement with Kevin Kiermaier, the Blue Jays have sprung into action after a rather quiet offseason caused by the team’s focus on chasing Shohei Ohtani. The Jays remained at least speculatively linked to a number of other players besides Ohtani, of course, as GM Ross Atkins’ front office routinely checks in on basically every available free agent or trade target as a matter of due diligence. While Kiner-Falefa and Kiermaier should help preserve the Jays’ excellent defense from 2023, some offensive pop seems necessary, whether at DH or to further bolster the infield or outfield picture.
As per Roster Resource, the Jays’ 2024 payroll projects to be just shy of the $230MM mark with Kiner-Falefa now on the books. This leaves a bit of space remaining before Toronto hits the $237MM luxury tax threshold, though that isn’t really a barrier considering that the Blue Jays exceeded the tax line (for the first time in franchise history) last season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images