Yankees Claim Oscar Gonzalez From Guardians
The Yankees have claimed outfielder Oscar Gonzalez off waivers from the Guardians, reports Jack Curry of YES Network. There wasn’t any public indication that Gonzalez was removed from the Cleveland roster but they evidently tried to pass him through waivers without success. Cleveland’s 40-man roster is now at 39 while the Yankees are at 37.
Gonzalez, 26 in January, is coming off a dismal season in 2023. In 54 big league games, he struck out in 25.6% of his plate appearances while walking at just a 2.8% rate. He hit just two home runs and produced a batting line of .214/.239/.312 for a wRC+ of 49.
That was a big drop from a solid rookie season in 2022, wherein Gonzalez hit 11 home runs in 382 plate appearances. His 3.9% walk rate was still well below average but his strikeout rate was a more manageable 19.6%. He slashed .296/.327/.461 overall for a wRC+ of 125. He also became known to many baseball fans for using the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as his walk-up music.
Despite that strong 2022 campaign, the poor plate discipline is an ongoing issue. He has swung at 49.1% of pitches outside the strike zone in his career, the highest rate among MLB hitters with at least 550 plate appearances over the past two seasons. In 2,734 minor league plate appearances, he has walked in just 109 of them, a 4% rate.
Gonzalez is generally considered a poor defender in an outfield corner and he’s not a huge stolen base threat, so the offense really needs to carry the profile. Chasing pitches off the plate and the resulting lack of walks have always been an issue for him. He hit enough in 2022 to overcome those faults but crashed back to earth in 2023. He clearly fell out of the plans in Cleveland, spending much of this year in the minors and now departing organization completely.
The Yankees are known to be looking for outfield help but Gonzalez is likely to just be a depth pickup. He still has a couple of option years remaining, which means the Yanks can keep him in Triple-A until they need him in the majors, either due to an injury or Gonzalez showing himself to be in good form. While struggling with the Guards last year, he spent a lot of time in Triple-A and hit .287/.323/.496 at that level for a wRC+ of 98.
The Yanks have Aaron Judge in one outfield spot but will likely pursue external additions to fill out a couple more. They have been connected in rumors to players such as Juan Soto of the Padres and free agent Cody Bellinger. How they fare in their pursuits of those players and others will ultimately determine how high Gonzalez is on the depth chart. He figures to be battling players like Everson Pereira, Estevan Florial and Oswaldo Cabrera for playing time as depth outfielders.
Mets Claim Cooper Hummel
The Mets have claimed catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel off waivers from the Mariners, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Seattle had not previously announced that Hummel was being removed from the 40-man roster. The Mets now have 32 players on their 40-man roster, while the Mariners are down to 39.
The waiver claim comes just over a year after the Mariners acquired Hummel from the D-backs in a straight-up swap for former Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis. That deal didn’t pay dividends for either party, as Lewis missed significant time with injuries before being non-tendered, while Hummel spent the bulk of his lone season with the Mariners organization in Triple-A.
Hummel appeared in just 10 big league games and tallied 26 plate appearances as a Mariner. Between that and a brief MLB debut with Arizona in 2022, he’s a .166/.264/.286 hitter in 227 trips to the plate. That said, Hummel enjoyed a strong year with Triple-A Tacoma in 2023, batting .262/.409/.435 with a mammoth 18% walk rate against a 23.3% strikeout rate. He also offers unusual defensive versatility, evidenced by more than 1800 career innings in left field, 1054 innings behind the plate, 508 innings at first base and 296 innings in right field. Hummel has a minor league option remaining as well, so he can be stashed in Syracuse without needing to first pass through waivers.
The 29-year-old Hummel was an 18th-round draft pick of the Brewers back in 2016, when current Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns was running baseball operations in Milwaukee. Stearns traded Hummel to the D-backs in a 2021 swap that netted infielder Eduardo Escobar, and he’s now reacquired the versatile catcher/outfielder as one of his first transactions with his new club.
It’s another in a growing series of small-scale depth pickups. Stearns has added Hummel, and infielder Zack Short via waivers while signing free agents Luis Severino, Joey Wendle and Austin Adams to one-year Major League contracts (a nonguaranteed split deal, in the case of Adams). He’s also inked righties Cole Sulser and Kyle Crick to minor league deals this week.
Many Mets fans had visions of larger dealings when owner Steve Cohen finally landed Stearns after years of coveting the former Milwaukee baseball operations leader and have instead voiced frustration at depth moves such as this one. However, the offseason is a marathon and the majority of the major names on the free agent and trade markets alike remain available. Beyond that, the Mets had a whopping 12 vacancies on the 40-man roster not long ago and have been burned by a lack of depth on the pitching front in recent years. The headline-grabbing moves for Mets fans figure to surface as the offseason wears on, but Stearns’ Brewers were also known for aggressively operating around the margins of the 40-man roster and that tendency will likely carry over to his still-nascent tenure in Queens.
Astros Sign Kervin Castro To Minor League Deal
The Astros have signed right-hander Kervin Castro to a minor league deal, per a report from Evan Woodbery of MLive. The righty won’t be a factor in Spring Training since he underwent Tommy John surgery in June.
Castro, 25 in February, has 20 games of major league experience, suiting up for the Giants and Cubs. He tossed a combined 25 2/3 innings in 2021 and 2022 with a 4.91 earned run average, 21.2% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and 40.3% ground ball rate.
He signed a minor league deal with the Tigers for 2023 and made 10 appearances in Triple-A before going under the knife and getting released. As mentioned by Woodbery, it was the second TJS of Castro’s career, as he underwent the procedure as a minor leaguer with the Giants back in 2017. Recovery from a second such procedure tends to be a little more challenging than the first, so it might be difficult for Castro to be a factor even in the latter half of 2024. Given those circumstances, it’s possible this is a two-year minor league deal, though that’s just speculation.
Throughout his time in the minors, Castro has racked up plenty of strikeouts though he’s also had control issues. He’s punched out 26.6% of the 815 batters he’s faced in the minors but given free passes to 10.8% of them. Once he completes his rehab, he could be a long-term depth piece for the Astros. He still has one option year and just a couple of months of major league service time.
Twins Re-Sign Jovani Moran, Ronny Henriquez To Minor League Deals
The Twins have re-signed relievers Jovani Moran and Ronny Henriquez to minor league contracts, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Both were non-tendered a few weeks ago. The left-handed Moran is expected to miss the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery following the ’23 campaign. Henriquez, acquired from the Rangers as part of 2022’s Mitch Garver trade, battled elbow trouble and struggled in 37 Triple-A appearances this past season.
Both pitchers were non-tendered despite being several years from arbitration eligibility. However, the non-tender deadline gives teams the unique opportunity to immediately remove a player from the 40-man roster without needing to pass him through waivers, so the Twins used that chance to clear up some space while retaining hope for this type of minor league re-signing.
Moran, 26, has been a heavily used option for manager Rocco Baldelli over the past two seasons, at times looking like a potential setup man — he logged a 2.21 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate in 40 1/3 innings in 2022 — but also battling inconsistencies stemming from his below-average command. He picked up nine holds for the Twins this past season but struggled to a 5.31 ERA with a diminished 26.1% strikeout rate and an alarming 14.7% walk rate.
Moran looked to have righted the ship, to an extent, after a shaky start to the year before a brutal stretch in July that saw him yield nine runs on seven hits and seven walks in what proved to be his final seven innings of the season. He was placed on the injured list with an always-ominous forearm strain, ultimately going under the knife a couple months later. He’ll miss the 2024 season and look to get back into the mix for a roster spot in 2025.
The 23-year-old Henriquez made his big league debut with the Twins in 2022 and impressed with 11 2/3 innings of 2.31 ERA ball. He fanned 18% of his opponents against a 6% walk rate and kept the ball on the ground at a healthy 52.8% clip while averaging 93.2 mph on his heater. He ranked 19th among Twins prospects at FanGraphs and 23rd at Baseball America before this past season’s elbow troubles derailed his year. Henriquez had multiple IL stints due to elbow inflammation and ultimately pitched to an unsightly 5.64 ERA in 57 Triple-A frames. He’ll likely open the season back in Triple-A St. Paul as a depth option.
Pirates Release Thomas Hatch To Pursue Overseas Opportunity
The Pirates have released right-hander Thomas Hatch, as reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. A Korean-language report from IS Plus suggested Hatch had received interest from teams in both NPB and the KBO and is likely to sign with the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan. Hatch had occupied a spot on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster. His release will drop that tally to 36.
Pittsburgh snagged Hatch off waivers from the Blue Jays in early August. The 29-year-old occupied a depth role down the stretch, logging 22 2/3 innings over 12 appearances. He posted a 4.03 ERA despite a modest 17% strikeout rate. Paired with six MLB appearances for the Jays earlier in the season, Hatch tossed 28 2/3 innings of 4.26 ERA ball — his largest big league workload to date.
Originally a third-round pick of the Cubs in 2016, Hatch landed with the Jays at the ’19 deadline in a trade that sent veteran reliever David Phelps to Chicago. The Oklahoma State product debuted in the majors the following year and saw some big league action in each of the past four seasons. He has allowed 4.96 earned runs per nine in 69 career innings.
Hatch would have been out of minor league option years going into 2024. He’d likely have had a tenuous hold on a bullpen spot in Pittsburgh and could well have found himself on outright waivers at some point over the offseason. Instead, he should lock in a guaranteed salary — quite likely one north of the $740K MLB minimum — and could position himself for other major league opportunities in future offseasons. Hatch throws in the mid 90s and owns a reasonable 4.49 ERA over parts of three Triple-A campaigns, making him an attractive target for evaluators in Japan and Korea.
NPB’s Hanshin Tigers Sign Javy Guerra, Re-Sign Sheldon Neuse
The Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced this week that they’ve signed right-hander Javy Guerra for the 2024 season (Japanese language link via Yahoo Japan). Hanshin has also re-signed infielder Sheldon Neuse and right-hander Jeremy Beasley, per the team’s web site. It’ll be the second season with the Tigers for both former big leaguers and Guerra’s first overseas.
Guerra, 28, once ranked as one of the top prospects in all of baseball while rising through the Red Sox and Padres systems as a shortstop. After struggling at the plate as he climbed the minor league ladder, however, he moved to the mound and has now appeared in each of the past five big league seasons, splitting time between the Padres, Rays and Brewers. Guerra is one of the game’s hardest throwers, averaging 98 mph on his heater and at times climbing into triple digits, but he’s battled significant command issues that have hampered his results.
In 63 MLB innings, Guerra has walked 14.3% of his opponents. He hasn’t balanced that out with the type of gaudy strikeout rate one might imagine either, setting down just 15% of his opponents on strikes. The poor command of his power repertoire has contributed to an ugly 6.43 ERA in the big leagues, but Guerra sports a career 2.87 ERA, 28% strikeout rate and far more palatable 9.6% walk rate in 78 1/3 Triple-A innings across two seasons. He’ll look to match that form more closely with the Tigers. And, at 28 years of age, if Guerra can harness his power arsenal in NPB and improve his command, he’s young enough to parlay this stint into a big league return down the road.
As for Neuse, he’ll be a familiar name for fans of the A’s, Dodgers and perhaps the Nationals (who selected him in the second round of the 2016 draft and traded him to Oakland alongside Jesus Luzardo for both Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle). The now-28-year-old infielder hit .212/.262/.296 in parts of three seasons between Oakland and Los Angeles (420 plate appearances) and turned in a .240/.295/.328 batting line with Hanshin last season.
As for Beasley, the 28-year-old pitched 24 2/3 innings of 5.84 ERA ball between the D-backs and Blue Jays from 2020-22. He tossed 41 innings for the Tigers’ top-level club in 2023 (plus 44 innings with their minor league squad) and handled himself quite nicely, logging a 2.20 ERA with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate in that time.
Giants Re-Sign Thomas Szapucki To Minor League Deal
The Giants have re-signed left-hander Thomas Szapucki to a minor league deal, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The club had just non-tendered him a couple of weeks ago. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento for the time being.
Szapucki, now 27, didn’t pitch in any official capacity in 2023. He experienced some elbow discomfort in the spring which eventually led to surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome in May. He stayed on the 60-day injured list all year until he was non-tendered a couple of weeks back. That sent him into free agency without him being exposed to waivers, which allowed the Giants to re-sign him.
Prior to the lost season, Szapucki had appeared in 12 major league games between the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He was with the Mets until coming to the Giants as part of the Darin Ruf trade. He has an 8.68 earned run average in that time, though that’s obviously a very small sample. In Triple-A in 2022, he tossed 72 1/3 innings with a 3.11 ERA and 33.7% strikeout rate.
His health will be a factor going forward, as the track record for pitchers who have dealt with TOS is mixed. Merrill Kelly bounced back without seeming to miss a beat, whereas pitchers like Stephen Strasburg, Matt Harvey and Joe Ross weren’t so lucky. Back in July, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post looked at that disparity and highlighted that there are two different types of TOS. Kelly had venous TOS whereas Strasburg had neurogenic TOS.
The Giants will be hoping that Szapucki can get back to health and back in form. He showed big strikeout stuff in the minors in 2022, which is surely part of the reason why they acquired him from the Mets, for whom he was a top 5-20 prospect on his way up to the big leagues. If the southpaw can earn his way back onto the roster, he still has an option season and just over a year of service time.
Mets Sign Joey Wendle To Major League Deal
November 30: Wendle passed his physical and the deal is now official, per Andy Martino of SNY. Wendle can also earn an extra $500K in bonuses, per Joel Sherman of The New York Post, with $100K for getting to 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450 plate appearances.
November 29: A few hours after agreeing to terms with Luis Severino, the Mets have added infield depth. New York is reportedly in agreement with Joey Wendle on a one-year, $2MM guarantee. The deal also contains performance bonuses for the Excel Sports Management client.
Wendle, 34 next April, has spent the last two years in the NL East as a member of the Marlins. His tenure with the Fish didn’t go as planned. Miami acquired the left-handed hitter from the Rays over the 2021-22 offseason. He’d had a solid four-year run in Tampa Bay, hitting .274/.330/.414 and earning an All-Star nod in his final season. Miami installed him as their primary third baseman for the ’22 season.
His offensive numbers took a sharp downward turn. Wendle hit .259/.297/.360 with only three home runs through 371 trips to the plate. Miami brought in Jean Segura to play third base last offseason but kept Wendle in the Opening Day lineup, kicking him up the defensive spectrum. After trading Miguel Rojas to the Dodgers, the Marlins turned to Wendle as their primary shortstop.
Wendle had an even tougher year. He hit .212/.248/.306 over 318 plate appearances. He connected on only two homers while his strikeout rate jumped from 13.5% to a nearly average 21.1% clip. Of the 293 hitters with 300+ trips to the plate, none had a lower on-base percentage than Wendle. His slugging mark was ninth-lowest among that group. The Fish stuck by Wendle as their primary shortstop, although he struggled significantly down the stretch. He hit .142/.176/.201 in the season’s second half.
To his credit, Wendle handled his more demanding defensive responsibilities. He logged a career-high 754 1/3 innings at shortstop, no small feat for a player in his age-33 season. Defensive Runs Saved rated him highly, estimating he was six runs above average at the position. Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric was more bearish, grading him three runs below par.
Barring injury, Francisco Lindor will take almost every shortstop inning next season. Wendle can handle a utility role off the bench. Public defensive metrics have always graded Wendle highly at second base and pegged him as a solid defender at the hot corner. As a defense-first lefty hitter with the ability to handle multiple infield spots, he’s more or less a direct replacement for Luis Guillorme. The Mets non-tendered the latter two weeks ago.
A $2MM guarantee brings the Mets’ payroll projection around $276MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. Their competitive balance tax number jumps a little north of $289MM. New York is within the third tier of luxury penalization, roughly $8MM below the $297MM mark that represents the fourth and final tier. Given remaining needs on the pitching staff and in the corner outfield, they seem likely to surpass that threshold by the time the offseason concludes.
Since they’re presently in the third tier and have paid the luxury tax in each of the past two seasons, the Mets are charged a 95% rate on their expenditures. Adding Wendle comes with $1.9MM in taxes, bringing the total cost to $3.9MM. If/when they pass the $297MM figure, they’d be taxed at a staggering 110% rate on each additional dollar spent.
Andy Martino of SNY first reported the Mets were in discussions with Wendle. Robert Murray of FanSided was first to report an agreement had been reached. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the approximate $2MM base salary and the presence of unspecified performance bonuses. Joel Sherman of the New York Post pegged the guarantee at exactly $2MM.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Marlins Sign Kyle Tyler To Minor League Deal
The Marlins have signed right-hander Kyle Tyler to a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The righty, who is represented by Nello Gamberdino, will receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.
Tyler, 27 in December, spent 2023 with the Mariners on a minor league deal. He made 27 Double-A appearances on the year, including 26 starts, tossing 135 innings with a 5.60 earned run average. He struck out 22.3% of batters faced, walked 9.4% and kept 42.8% of balls in play on the ground. He didn’t get much help from a .351 batting average on balls in play or 63.6% strand rate, which is why his 4.47 FIP was more than a run better than his ERA.
Prior to this year, he had made seven major league appearances, five with the Angels in 2021 and two with the Padres last year. He had a 2.20 ERA in a tiny sample of 16 1/3 innings. Over that same two-year stretch, he tossed 111 1/3 innings in the minors with a 4.12 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate.
By signing Tyler, the Marlins add a bit of non-roster depth for their pitching staff. Their once-vaunted pitching surplus has been thinned a bit in recent years, after they traded away Pablo López and Jake Eder while Sandy Alcantara is going to miss all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. It was reported earlier today that the club is still getting interest in their young starters, so Tyler gives them a fallback if they make a move or another injury creates a need. Tyler still has a couple of options and less than a year of service time, giving him the potential to be a long-term depth piece with roster flexibility if he manages to get onto the club’s 40-man.
Mets Sign Austin Adams To Major League Deal
The Mets have signed right-hander Austin Adams to a one-year, major league deal, per a report from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Per Will Sammon of The Athletic, it’s a non-guaranteed split contract, meaning Adams will earn different salaries if he’s in the majors or in the minors.
Adams, 33 in May, started the 2023 season with the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal. He had his contract selected in May and made 24 appearances for the club with an earned run average of 5.71. He likely deserved better than that, as he struck out 27.2% of batter faced while walking 9.9%. His .333 batting average on balls in play and 61.6% strand rate were both on the unlucky side of league average, leading to a 3.72 FIP and 3.72 SIERA.
After those 24 appearances, Adams suffered a fractured right ankle and landed on the 60-day injured list in August. The Diamondbacks outrighted him off the roster in November and Adams elected free agency, which allowed him to sign this deal with the Mets.
Over his big league career, which dates back to 2017, Adams has generally racked up strikeouts but also had serious control problems. He has punched out 33.1% of opponents faced while walking 14.6% of them. In 2021, his control problems reached absurd levels when he hit 24 batters with pitches in just 52 2/3 innings pitched. His 9.9% walk rate in 2023 was actually his career best, even though it was higher than the 9.5% league average for relievers on the year.
Adams is just shy of five years of service time, meaning the Mets can utilize him as part of their bullpen in 2024 and, if they so choose, retain him via arbitration for 2025. After the disappointment of 2023, the club has mostly kept themselves to small additions so far this winter, giving one-year deals to Luis Severino, Joey Wendle and now Adams.
The Mets traded away Dominic Leone and David Robertson from their bullpen during the 2023 season, then Adam Ottavino opted out of his deal. Adams can jump into the relief mix and improve the depth.