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Diamondbacks Outright Humberto Castellanos, Tyler Zuber, Buddy Kennedy

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November 11: The Diamondbacks announced that they have outrighted Castellanos and Zuber, as well as infielder Buddy Kennedy.

November 10: The Diamondbacks announced a batch of roster moves today, reinstating five players from the 60-day injured list. They are infielders Nick Ahmed and Emmanuel Rivera, left-hander Tyler Gilbert, along with right-handers Humberto Castellanos and Tyler Zuber. Those latter two names have also been designated for assignment. That leaves the club’s 40-man roster at exactly 40.

Starting today and until Spring Training, there is no injured list. That means that most teams around the league are facing roster crunches as players on the 60-day IL have to retake their roster spots. The D-Backs reinstated these five but also had to designate a couple of them in order to get their roster down to an even 40.

Zuber, 28 in June, was just claimed off waivers from the Royals a couple of weeks ago. The fact that Arizona has quickly put him back into DFA limbo perhaps suggests that their plan in claiming him has been to pass him through waivers and hang onto his rights. He missed all of 2022 due to a shoulder impingement but recently began throwing again. When he was last healthy in 2021, he had poor results in the majors but put up a 2.83 ERA in Triple-A with a 37.1% strikeout rate, though an unfortunate 13.8% walk rate. If he clears waivers, the D-Backs can try to help him with his control but without Zuber taking up a roster spot.

As for Castellanos, 25 in April, he made 11 appearances for the Snakes in 2022, including nine starts. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in August and is likely to miss the entire 2023 season.

Rockies Re-Sign José Ureña

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The Rockies and right-hander José Ureña are in agreement on a contract for 2023. It’s a one-year, $3.5MM guarantee that comes in the form of a $3MM salary for 2022 along with a $500K buyout on a $4MM club option for 2024.

Ureña, 31, is a veteran who has appeared in each of the past eight MLB seasons. The first six of those were with the Marlins and the seventh was with the Tigers, with the righty generally soaking up innings by inducing a fair amount of ground balls. In 2022, he began the year with the Brewers but was let go in May after just four relief appearances. He latched on with the Rockies on a minor league deal and made it up to their big league team by July. He eventually made 17 starts for Colorado and continued in his usual low-strikeout, high-grounder fashion. He logged 89 1/3 innings with a 5.14 ERA, 15.2% strikeout rate, 9.6% walk rate and 50.3% ground ball rate, with all of those being pretty close to his career marks.

Since Coors Field is notorious for its offense-forward environment, Ureña was likely better than that ERA indicates. All of the advanced metrics were a bit kinder, as he had a 4.53 FIP, 4.46 xFIP and 4.83 SIERA. Those still aren’t amazing numbers, but the Rockies often have trouble convincing pitchers to make Denver their home. As the season was winding down, reports emerged that both he and the club were happy with their arrangement and were interested in a reunion. Giving the mutual affection and constant need for arms in Colorado, signing up for another year at a modest price point seems to be a good fit for all parties.

By bringing back Ureña, the club adds a reliable veteran to a rotation that has a lot of uncertainty at the moment. Germán Márquez and Kyle Freeland should have two spots spoken for, with Ureña now taking a third. There’s not much guaranteed beyond that right now though. Antonio Senzatela should enter the mix at some point, though he was diagnosed with a torn ACL in August. At the time, the estimated recovery period was given as 6-8 months, meaning Senzatela could miss a chunk of the beginning of the season. There are other options to fill out the back, such as Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner and Noah Davis. In the case of Davis, he is unproven as he has just a single inning of MLB experience at this point. Gomber and Feltner are a bit more established, though they each posted ERAs above 5.50 in 2022.

Given that uncertainty, this signing should only be the beginning of the steps the Rockies take to address their rotation before Opening Day. They might not be well-positioned to be huge players in the free agent pitching market, given their payroll. Roster Resource estimates that today’s signing pushes next year’s outlay to $157MM. The franchise record for an Opening Day figure is $131MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, meaning they are already almost $30MM into uncharted waters here. Given those circumstances, and the fact that free agent pitchers are usually loath to voluntary make Coors Field their home, the next moves could come via other means or might be similarly modest.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that the two sides were in agreement. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first had that it was a major league deal and that it was worth $3.5MM (Twitter links). Thomas Harding of MLB.com first reported the club option for 2024. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported the $3MM salary for 2023, $4MM figure for the option and $500K number for the buyout (Twitter links).

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Cubs Outright Esteban Quiroz, Jared Young

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The Cubs announced that infielders Esteban Quiroz and Jared Young have cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa.

Quiroz, 31 in February, played in the Mexican League for years and didn’t sign with an affiliated ball club until he was almost 26. He spent time in the organizations of the Red Sox, Padres and Rays before coming to the Cubs in the Harold Ramirez trade. He was selected to the big league roster in September and was able to make his MLB debut as the season was winding down. He hit .275/.370/275 for a wRC+ of 95 over 14 games in that brief audition.

Young, 27, was selected by the Cubs in the 15th round of the 2017 draft. Like Quiroz, he was promoted to the big leagues in September and got a brief MLB audition. He got into six games and hit .263/.364/.368 for a wRC+ of 113 in that small sample. He walked in 13.6% of his plate appearances but struck out in 31.8% of them.

Players have the right to reject outrights assignments if they have three years of MLB service time or have previously been outrighted in their career. Since neither player qualifies, they will remain in the Cubs’ organization as depth but without taking up a roster spot.

Dodgers Close To Re-Signing Clayton Kershaw

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November 11: Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the deal is actually close to $20MM.

November 10: Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers are nearing an agreement on a one-year deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Earlier today, the Dodgers decided against issuing Kershaw a qualifying offer, but it’ll be a moot point anyway now, with the 34-year-old set to return to LA for a 16th season. Mike DiGiovanna adds that the deal will be “close” to the $17MM deal Kershaw signed last winter.

While his days of utter dominance may be behind him, Kershaw turned in another elite season in 2022, throwing 126 1/3 innings of 2.28 ERA ball. For the second-straight season, injuries limited Kershaw to 22 starts, and he made two separate trips to the IL this season with lower back problems. When healthy though, he was very effective posting a 27.8% strikeout rate alongside his usual immaculate walk rates. While his fastball velocity is down considerably since his prime, Kershaw has shown his incredible skill to be able to alter his usage and lean more heavily on his slider to maintain his highly successful numbers as he’s aged.

It’s hard to imagine Kershaw in any other uniform but Dodger blue, and while there’s often been reports of possibly looking to return to his hometown of Dallas and sign for the Rangers, it’s no real surprise to see him staying in LA. By doing so he’ll move closer to ticking off more milestones along his Hall of Fame career. His 12 pitching wins in 2022 take him to 197 in his career, so he’ll certainly notch up win number 200 next season. While pitching wins are largely irrelevant when assessing a player’s ability, it is a notable milestone and one to take a tremendous amount of pride in, and Kershaw will be just the fourth active pitcher to reach 200 behind Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and Max Scherzer. He’s also 193 strikeouts shy of 3,000. That mark is less likely to be reached in 2023, given Kershaw hasn’t reached 190 in a season since posting 202 in 2017.

The milestones are just reward for a player who has been a mainstay atop some dominant Dodger rotations decade or so. Drafted seventh overall out of high school in 2006, Kershaw would make his Dodgers debut as a 20-year-old in 2008. Just a year later Kershaw would begin a staggering run of dominance in which he’d post ten-straight seasons with a sub-3 ERA. In fact, his rookie year was the only year he posted an ERA over four, and there were only two other seasons where it was over three. It was between 2011-17 that Kershaw was at his absolute best though. During that period he won three Cy Young awards (and never finished outside the top-five), one MVP, led the league in ERA in five times, and posted one 300 strikeout campaign.

The rotation was set to be an area of focus for the Dodgers this winter as Tyler Anderson, Andrew Heaney and Kershaw all headed for free agency, with Anderson the only one to receive a qualifying offer. Kershaw will slot back in alongside Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and Tony Gonsolin to form the core of a very strong rotation. Dustin May, Ryan Pepiot are both internal candidates to fill out the rotation, but it’s more likely the Dodgers seek another arm to solidify the backend. That decision may well be made for them in fact, as there’s at least a decent chance that Anderson opts to accept the qualifying offer and return to the Dodgers on a one year, $19.65MM deal.

Rangers Outright Jesus Tinoco

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The Rangers announced they’ve outrighted pitcher Jesus Tinoco to Triple-A Round Rock. Following that and a bundle of other moves involving the Rangers, their 40-man roster now sits at 34.

Tinoco, 27, tossed 20 2/3 innings of 2.18 ERA ball in 2022 across two stints in the big leagues with the Rangers. On the surface, those are excellent numbers but Tinoco had an opponent’s BABIP of just .189, and a LOB rate of 89.1%, suggesting there was a fair bit of regression due for the Venezuelan. He also threw 44 innings out of the bullpen at Triple-A, striking out batters 28.5% of the time and walking 9.5% of them on the way to a 3.27 ERA.

Tinoco was originally signed by the Blue Jays back in 2011. He was traded to the Rockies as part of the Troy Tulowitzki deal in 2015, and wound up making his major league debut in 2019 there. That was the start of a period of bouncing around the league a bit, as the Rockies would deal him to the Marlins in August of 2020, only to claim him back just a few weeks later. He was released by the Rockies at the end of the 2021 season, and latched on with the Rangers. All told, Tinoco has pitched to a 4.05 ERA across 66 2/3 innings in the big leagues.

Padres Select Pedro Avila, Outright Austin Adams

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The Padres announced they’ve selected right-hander Pedro Avila onto the 40-man roster. The move keeps him from reaching minor league free agency this evening. San Diego also announced that reliever Austin Adams went unclaimed on waivers and elected free agency.

Avila has spent a fair bit of time on the Friars 40-man roster, but he’s barely pitched at the MLB level. He has just four career appearances, although they’ve been spread over three seasons. This year consisted of two MLB relief appearances before the Friars outrighted him to Triple-A El Paso in June. He spent the rest of the year there, starting 24 of 30 outings and working to a 4.58 ERA over 112 innings in a hitter-friendly environment. He punched out an above-average 26.1% of opponents against a slightly elevated 10.3% walk percentage.

The Padres clearly value Avila enough to keep him from departing to kick off the offseason, although it remains to be seen if he’ll hold his roster spot all winter. He still has a minor league option year remaining, so the Pads can shuttle him between San Diego and El Paso as rotation depth if he keeps his 40-man spot.

Adams only made two relief appearances this year before being shut down with a forearm strain. He underwent flexor surgery in August and appears unlikely to be ready for the start of the 2023 campaign. The Padres never looked likely to tender him a projected $1MM arbitration contract as a result. The 31-year-old had a 4.10 ERA with a 31.5% strikeout percentage in 2021 and will be a depth option for teams once he’s healthy.

Pirates Outright Six Players

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The Pirates have outrighted Peter Solomon, Beau Sulser, Jason Delay, Blake Cederlind, Eric Stout and Zack Collins off their 40-man roster, per a team announcement. Both Stout and Collins have elected free agency. The made the moves after reinstating Canaan Smith-Njigba, Colin Holderman, Yerry De Los Santos, Cederlind and Max Kranick off the 60-day IL.

Solomon, 26, was claimed off waivers from the Astros in September. He never made it to the majors in Pittsburgh, staying at Triple-A for his brief stint with the Bucs. Across both team’s Triple-A affiliates he threw 109 2/3 innings of 5.58 ERA ball, striking out eight batters per nine innings and walking 4.4. He did make it to the majors in 2021 for the Astros, throwing 14 innings of 1.29 ERA ball, although that was held together by an 88.9% LOB rate.

Sulser was a tenth round draft pick in 2017, and made it to the majors for the first time in 2022. He had a 3.72 ERA across 9 2/3 innings in Pittsburgh, before the Orioles claimed him off waivers in May. There, he spent much of the year in the minors but threw 12 2/3 innings of 3.55 ERA ball in the bigs. Altogether, Sulser would strike out 19.1% of major league batters and walk 9.1% in 2022.

The Pirates used no fewer than eight catchers in 2022, and despite Delay spending the first few months of the season at Triple-A, he wound up as their starter by season’s end and his 57 games at catcher were the most on the team. Across those appearances, he hit just .213/.265/.271 with one home run. The bat was never Delay’s strength, and he does grade out well defensively behind the plate.

Cederlind came through the Pirates system as a strong relief pitcher, but injuries have derailed his career in recently. After making his major league debut in 2020 and tossing four innings out of Pittsburgh’s bullpen he underwent Tommy John surgery in early 2021. That is never a quick recovery, but Cederlind had to undergo a second surgery this year to remove loose bodies from his elbow, and as such never pitched in either 2021 or 2022.

Pittsburgh purchased Stout from the Cubs midway through the 2022 campaign, and wound up throwing 18 2/3 innings out of their bullpen. His 5.79 ERA doesn’t show much promise, and Stout will need to find a way to limit the walks, after he gave up 15 free passes this season in Pittsburgh.

The sixth man to be outrighted was Collins, a former top-100 prospect out of the White Sox system. It never worked out for the catcher in Chicago, and the White Sox shipped him to the Blue Jays for Reese McGuire at the start of the season. He struggled there, hitting .194/.266/.417 with four home runs across 79 plate appearances. The Pirates claimed him off waivers in September, but he picked up just a solitary hit across 29 plate appearances.

After these moves, and Pittsburgh’s earlier acquisition of first baseman Ji-Man Choi from the Rays, their 40-man roster is full.

Terrance Gore Elects Free Agency

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The Mets announced to reporters, including Mike Puma of The New York Post, that outfielder Terrance Gore was outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse. However, he has rejected that assignment and elected free agency, a right he has as a player with previous outrights in his career.

Gore, 32 in June, is a veteran of eight MLB seasons at this point, though he’s primarily been used as a pinch runner and defensive replacement. Over those eight seasons, he’s appeared in just 112 games and has been allowed to take just 85 plate appearances. In that time, he’s produced a career batting line of .216/.310/.270 for a wRC+ of 61. However, he has 43 stolen bases in his career, just over half the number of plate appearances he’s been given.

He was selected to the Mets’ roster at the end of August and continued to serve in that kind of a role. He got into just 10 games, making just eight plate appearances, but was still able to swipe three bags in that time. However, he hit .143 in those trips to the plate and struck out 37.5% of the time without earning a walk.

Brewers Acquire Payton Henry From Marlins

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The Brewers have acquired catcher Payton Henry from the Marlins, per team announcements. Minor league outfielder Reminton Batista is headed back to Miami. The Fish used the vacated 40-man roster spot to select the contract of left-hander Sean Reynolds.

Henry, 25, made the Marlins major league roster out of spring training but only appeared in 15 games before being optioned back to Triple-A on May 26. He went just 4-for-28 – all singles – with eight strikeouts in that small sample. He injured himself not long after returning to the minors, requiring surgery on his thumb and spending around two months out. He returned in early August and hit .239/.325/.324 with a single home run across 83 plate appearances.

Henry was actually drafted by the Brewers in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, but was flipped to the Marlins in 2021 in a deadline deal for John Curtiss. His prospect reports rated him as a solid defender with good raw power but lacking in the hitting department. He did display that home run power early on in the minors with Milwaukee, but it dropped off after reaching the Double-A level. The Brewers have Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson on their major league roster, and given Henry has minor league options remaining, he figures to join them as catching depth in 2023.

Going back the other is Batista, a 17-year-old outfield prospect out of the Dominican Republic. He hit .252/.348/.333 for the Brewers affiliate in the Dominican Summer League. He didn’t show much power, but did swipe 18 bags across 46 games.

The trade allows the Marlins to add Reynolds to the 40-man roster, protecting him from the Rule 5 draft. Reynolds was drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, and initially started his career as a hitter, but he never had much success and he’s been pitching as a reliever in their system since 2021. He struck out 33.6% of batters against a 12.1% walk rate on the way to a 3.25 ERA across 27 2/3 innings at High-A in 2022. He struggled a bit once promoted to Double-A, seeing his strikeout rate dip to 25.2% and tossing 24 2/3 innings of 5.11 ERA. Given it’s only his second season pitching in their system, the Marlins clearly believe there’s enough potential here that’s it worth having him occupy a 40-man spot to avoid losing him to other teams in next month’s Rule 5 draft.

Nick Martinez Opts Out Of Padres Contract

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Right-hander Nick Martinez has exercised an opt-out clause in his contract with the Padres and is now a free agent, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune (Twitter link). Martinez originally signed a four-year, $25.5MM contract on the heels of a breakout in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. That contract paid him a $2MM signing bonus and $4MM salary in 2022, and he’ll also receive a $1.5MM buyout on what’s technically a 2023 player option.

In essence, Martinez is opting out of a remaining three years and $18MM, although Robert Murray of FanSided tweets that he and the Padres have been discussing a restructured deal in recent days, so it’s possible a reunion could come together before long.

This morning, Dennis Lin of the Athletic reported that one idea under consideration in those negotiations would’ve been to remove future opt-out possibilities from Martinez’s deal. The four-year guarantee he signed upon coming over from NPB afforded him opt-out chances after each season, giving the former Ranger hurler plenty of long-term contractual leverage. Now that he’s triggered the first of those clauses, he’d have to renegotiate an entirely new deal — presumably one that pays him more than the $18MM he bypassed this evening.

San Diego president of baseball operations A.J. Preller acknowledged to Lin that Martinez would prefer to work as a starting pitcher. He started 10 games this year but otherwise came out of the bullpen 37 times. He fared better in relief and Lin writes that some within the organization believe he’s better suited for such a role, but giving Martinez at least the opportunity to crack the rotation could aid San Diego’s efforts to keep him around for the next few seasons. The Friars have Joe Musgrove under contract for five years, but Blake Snell and Yu Darvish are headed into the final seasons of their respective deals. Meanwhile, Sean Manaea and Mike Clevinger are now free agents.

Now that he’s officially a free agent, Martinez and his reps at Octagon can field offers from a number of teams. Others could more definitively promise him a rotation opportunity. Martinez posted a 4.30 ERA with a 20.4% strikeout rate and an elevated 11.7% walk percentage through his ten starts. He had an excellent 2.67 ERA in 54 innings out of the bullpen, although his improved performance in shorter stints wasn’t tied to any kind of huge uptick in his raw stuff. Rather, Martinez was a much better strike-thrower in those situations, only walking 6.4% of opponents.

Martinez joins a deep class of starters capable of stepping into the middle or back of a rotation. Others in a similar tier include his now former teammate Clevinger, Michael Wacha, Ross Stripling and Jose Quintana.

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