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Mariners Acquire Easton McGee From Red Sox

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The Mariners have acquired right-hander Easton McGee from the Red Sox for cash considerations, according to announcements from both teams.

McGee, who turns 25 next month, was originally selected to a big league roster for the first time about six weeks ago, yet is now in his third organization already. A 2016 draft pick of the Rays, he was added to Tampa’s roster at the end of September but quickly designated for assignment after a single appearance. He was claimed by the Red Sox on the final day of the regular season and didn’t get a chance to pitch for them. Though Boston won’t get any contributions from McGee on the field, they will at least get some Seattle cash out of the deal.

McGee has never been a huge strikeout artist but has often succeeded in the minors by inducing a lot of ground balls. His grounder rate has been around 45-50% in most of his minor league seasons, though it dropped to 39.6% over 107 2/3 Triple-A innings in 2022. That led to McGee posting an ERA of 5.43 on the year, though he’d been better than that in previous campaigns. Another thing he has going for him is control, as he’s never posted a walk rate above 4.8%, apart from his rookie ball debut. For reference, the MLB average in 2022 was 8.2%. McGee still has a full slate of options, meaning the Mariners can keep him stashed in the minors as a depth option for the foreseeable future.

Rangers Exercise Option On José Leclerc

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The Rangers announced that they have picked up their option on reliever José Leclerc. He will stick with the team and make a $6MM salary in 2023.

Leclerc had a dominant season in 2018, putting up a 1.56 ERA over 59 appearances while striking out 38.1% of batters faced. That included high leverage work, as he racked up 12 saves and 15 holds that year. It was enough for he and the club to agree to a four-year, $14.75MM extension with a pair of club options for 2023 and 2024. Unfortunately, he scuffled to a 4.33 ERA in 2019 and then missed most of 2020 and 2021 due to Tommy John surgery.

He returned healthy in 2022 and seemed to have a bit of rust at first, posting a 4.37 ERA through early August along with a 20.6% strikeout rate. However, he finished quite strong, posting a 1.44 ERA the rest of the way while striking out 33.7% of batters faced. That also included a return to high leverage situations, with Leclerc earning seven saves and four holds on the season, most of those down the stretch. That latter sample is just 25 innings but more closely resembles his form from 2018.

The Rangers have decided to make a $5.25MM bet that Leclerc’s work over the final couple months of the season can be carried over into 2023. They could have bought him out for $750K but will instead pay him a $6MM salary. If he does indeed stay in strong shape next year, they could retain him again in 2024 with another club option, that one valued at $6.25MM with another $750K buyout.

For the Rangers, their bullpen was middle of the pack, putting up a 3.72 ERA that was 12th in the majors. Matt Moore is set to reach free agency after a successful transition from the rotation to the ’pen, but the club has prevented the relief corps from being further weakened by keeping Leclerc around.

Red Sox, Rob Refsnyder Avoid Arbitration

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The Red Sox have avoided arbitration with outfielder Rob Refsnyder by agreeing to a one-year deal, according to Chad Jennings of The Athletic. Refsnyder will earn a salary of $1.2MM in 2023, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive, and will be able to earn an extra $100K in performance bonuses, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected a slightly higher salary of $1.6MM.

Refsnyder, who turns 32 in March, has bounced around the league for much of his career, spending time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Rangers and Twins. Minnesota non-tendered him after a 2021 season where he hit .245/.325/.338 for a wRC+ of 88.

The Red Sox signed him to a minor league deal and sent him to Triple-A Worcester to start the year. He got a brief bump to the big leagues in April as a COVID “substitute” but didn’t properly get his contract selected until June. With Worcester, he was hitting an incredible .306/.429/.524 for a wRC+ of 155. After his promotion, he was largely able to duplicate those results at the big league level, finishing the year with a batting line of .307/.384/.497 for a wRC+ of 146. He had only six career home runs in over 600 plate appearances coming into the year and doubled that total by adding six more in just 177 trips to the plate.

That’s still a fairly small sample size but it was enough for the Sox to see if he can carry that over into 2023 with a slight bump in pay. Though Refsnyder has played a lot of infield in his career, Boston kept him in the outfield in 2022 and seems likely to keep him there again next year. Enrique Hernandez could play some infield but is also the best in-house option for the regular center field job at the moment. Alex Verdugo should be pencilled into one of the corners, though the club recently declined their mutual option on Tommy Pham.

Refsnyder has never been much more than a part-time player, with his 177 plate appearances in 2022 actually his career high. Perhaps he’ll have a chance to carve out an everyday role next year if the Red Sox think his results are sustainable, but it’s also possible they acquire another option at some point this offseason and push Refsnyder into the fourth outfielder. But for now, they’ve got a deal at a modest price point on a guy who showed breakout potential and could be sneaky value.

Orioles Claim Daz Cameron

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The Orioles have claimed outfielder Daz Cameron off waivers from the Tigers, per announcements from both clubs. The Tigers added that infielder Josh Lester went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Toledo.

Cameron, 26 in January, was the No. 37 overall pick by the Astros back in 2015, when current O’s general manager Mike Elias was the scouting director in Houston. The son of three-time Gold Glove winner Mike Cameron, Daz at one point ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at several outlets, including Baseball America and MLB.com, but has endured his share of struggles both in the upper minors and in parts of three big league seasons.

The Tigers acquired Cameron alongside Jake Rogers and Franklin Perez from the Astros in what has become an increasingly lopsided Justin Verlander trade back in 2018. Cameron has logged 73 games with Detroit over the past three seasons but managed only a .201/.266/.330 batting line through 244 trips to the plate. He hasn’t fared all that much better in Triple-A, slashing .236/.324/.398 in 1201 career plate appearances.

Cameron is out of minor league options, so if the Orioles will have to carry him on the Opening Day roster next year or else pass him through waivers at some point between now and then. For the time being, he seemingly bumps fellow righty-swinging outfielder Ryan McKenna (who does have a minor league option remaining) down the depth chart and more squarely back to the Triple-A ranks.

Lester, 28, was a 13th-round pick by Detroit back in 2015 and made his MLB debut in 2022, going hitless with three punchouts in a tiny sample of five plate appearances. He hit for plenty of power in Triple-A this past season, smashing 29 homers and 39 doubles with a .246/.311/.479 batting line in 621 trips to the plate. Lester has experience all over the infield but primarily played first base and in the outfield corners with Toledo in 2022.

James Paxton Exercises Player Option

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The Red Sox announced that lefty James Paxton has triggered his $4MM player option, sticking with the club for 2023.

Paxton, 34, has oscillated back and forth in his career between excellent results and injury setbacks. He was drafted by the Mariners and pitched for them from 2013 to 2018. In those six seasons, he never posted an ERA higher than 3.90 but also never stayed healthy for a full season, topping out at 28 starts and 160 1/3 innings in his last year in Seattle. After being traded to the Yankees prior to 2019, he had another solid season, though again limited by injuries. He made 29 starts for the Yanks and tossed 150 2/3 innings, posting an ERA of 3.82.

The injury issues have only gotten worse since then, as the lefty was limited to just five starts and 20 1/3 innings in 2020 due to a left flexor strain. He reached free agency after that campaign and signed a deal to return to Seattle for 2021. He made only one appearance, throwing just 1 1/3 innings, before being shut down and eventually requiring Tommy John surgery.

Going into 2022, his status was uncertain. He was definitely going to miss some time, but it was possible he could be recovered from the TJS in time to contribute to a team down the stretch. He and the Sox agreed to a convoluted deal that reflected that uncertainty. Paxton earned a $6MM salary in 2022, with the convoluted part coming after that. First, the Red Sox would have to decide whether or not to trigger a two-year club option that would pay Paxton $26MM, with a $13MM salary in both 2023 and 2024. If they declined, Paxton would have the ability to trigger a one-year, $4MM option for 2023.

That structure seemed to take into account the wide variance of potential outcomes. If Paxton were able to return and show some of his previous excellent results, the Sox would be rewarded for taking the gamble by getting to lock him down for another two years. If things went the other way, their obligations would be significantly less but Paxton had a safety net in there for himself.

The latter scenario was what ended up happening in 2022, as Paxton suffered a lat strain during his rehab and never made it back to the active roster. Now the southpaw is in the position of having missed an entire season as well as only logging 21 2/3 innings over the past three seasons combined. That made it a fairly easy call for Boston to turn down their option as opposed to committing to Paxton for another two years. That decision was indeed confirmed on Monday.

That put the onus on Paxton to decide whether or not to lock in a $4MM guarantee for 2023. On the one hand, after three straight effectively lost seasons, it’s probably difficult to turn down cash on the barrel like that. On the other hand, Paxton got himself a $10MM guarantee last offseason when it was known that he was going to miss at least part of the year. In the end, he decided to opt for the proverbial bird in the hand as opposed to seeing what other creative deals he could find on the open market.

This decision could potentially work out for both parties in 2023, given the uncertainty in the Boston rotation. Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill have just become free agents, leaving some big holes in the rotation. Chris Sale declined his opt-out and will remain with the club next year, though he’s tough to rely on right now. Similar to Paxton, various injuries have limited him to 48 1/3 total innings over the past three seasons. He will surely have a role but might not be able to log over 200 frames like he has done in the past. That leaves Nick Pivetta as the most reliable member for next year, with some wild card options like Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock and Brayan Bello in the mix.

With all of that uncertainty, it’s likely that Paxton will be given a chance to make some starts and re-establish his health before returning to the open market a year from now. For the Sox, they will get a high-risk, high-reward roll of the dice that would certainly be worth the modest $4MM figure if Paxton’s health can cooperate.

Orioles Decline Club Option On Jordan Lyles

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12:55pm: The Orioles confirmed that Lyles’ option has indeed been declined.

12:47pm: The Orioles have declined their $11MM club option on Jordan Lyles, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’ll instead be paid a $1MM buyout and become a free agent.

Despite coming off a pair of rough seasons in Texas, Lyles landed a surprisingly strong $7MM guarantee with Baltimore just prior to the league’s implementation of last winter’s 99-day lockout. The veteran righty, who just turned 32 a couple weeks ago, gave the O’s everything they could’ve reasonably hoped for and generally succeeded in turning that modest investment into a bargain.

Through a team-high 179 innings, Lyles posted a 4.42 ERA with an 18.6% strikeout rate, a strong 6.7% walk rate and a 40.2% ground-ball rate. The innings were particularly vital for a Baltimore club that was generally relying on young, unproven arms who cycled through the other four rotation spots behind Lyles. The stability he provided the team every fifth day both helped to spare the bullpen and to more effectively manage some of the workloads of an otherwise largely untested group of rotation candidates.

As MLBTR’s Anthony Franco explored recently, that steadying performance gave the team genuine cause to contemplate picking up Lyles’ option. While a net $10MM commitment (when accounting for the buyout) in the first week of the offseason would be aggressive for a pitcher who’s typically been more of a back-of-the-rotation arm, the O’s are still lacking in rotation certainty and have already pledged to increase payroll in 2023. Doling out a one-year pact to a veteran righty who drew heaps from a young staff that considered him a mentor and clubhouse leader might’ve been a defensible decision — particularly if Lyles were able to replicate his 2022 performance.

Instead, Lyles will return to the open market, likely in search of a multi-year commitment this time around. It stands to reason that, after landing a $7MM guarantee on the heels of a pair of dismal seasons with the Rangers, he might indeed be able to land a two-year deal with a vastly better performance now under his belt. It’s also possible that Lyles could yet return to the O’s — perhaps at a lower annual rate. Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun tweets that the Orioles issued a statement that while they preferred to let the pitching market develop rather than exercise Lyles’ option at this time, they’ll remain in touch with him and will not rule out a return at a later date.

Though he’s just 32 years old, Lyles already has more than 11 years of Major League service time under his belt. Selected by the Astros with the No. 38 overall pick back in 2008, he ranked among the sport’s top pitching prospects during his minor league days and ascended to the Majors before he’d even turned 21. It’s arguable that the ’Stros rushed him to the Majors, as he never really found his footing early on and still has a career track record featuring more valleys than peaks.

Still, Lyles had success with the Padres in 2018, with the Brewers in 2018-19, and now with the Orioles in 2022. He’s been a durable source of solid innings for the bulk of the past five seasons, which should make him an appealing option for teams that, as the 2022 Orioles were, are on the lookout for a veteran rotation stabilizer with a good chance to make 30-plus starts and generally keep the team in the game.  That may not sound like a glamorous role, but average innings have value — and teams pay for them every offseason.

Nationals Re-Sign Sean Doolittle To Minor League Contract

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November 9: Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post has relayed the financials of Doolittle’s deal on Twitter. The lefty will make a $1.5MM salary if he makes the team with various incentives available based on games pitched. He’ll earn an extra $100K for getting into 6, 10 and 14 games, $150K at 18, 22, 26 and 30, $200K for 34, 38 and 42, then $250K for 46, 54 and 58.

November 6: The Nationals have just announced a Minor League contract with veteran reliever Sean Doolittle. The agreement includes an invitation to 2023 Major League Spring Training. The lefty had recently expressed his desire to pitch in 2023 and welcomed a return to Washington.

Doolittle returned for a fifth season with the Nationals in 2022 after spending the 2021 season with the Reds and the Mariners. However, the 36-year-old dealt with an elbow sprain in mid-April and only appeared in six games, throwing 5 1/3 scoreless innings and allowing only one of the seventeen batters he faced to reach base. While working his way back from the issue, the lefty experienced a setback that forced him to undergo an internal brace procedure in mid-July to repair damage to the UCL in his throwing elbow. The internal brace procedure came with an expected five-to-six-month recovery timetable, so there is hope that Doolittle will be ready by the start of Spring Training.

As a team, the Nationals had a roughly average bullpen, pitching to a collective solid 3.84 ERA (15th lowest), a low 21.5% strikeout rate (25th lowest), and a good 8.6% walk rate (11th lowest). However, as discussed in MLBTR’s Offseason Outlook, the Nationals were likely candidates to add to their bullpen, with Erasmo Ramirez and Steve Cishek entering free agency and Tanner Rainey likely to miss most or all of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery.

With the Nats in the midst of a rebuild and ownership exploring a sale of the team, Doolittle represents a low-risk high-reward relief pitcher that may be flipped for prospects at the 2023 Trade Deadline.

Cardinals Acquire Jose Fermin From Guardians

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The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired minor league infielder Jose Fermin from the Guardians in exchange for cash. Fermin has been selected to the 40-man roster in St. Louis, the team added. The Cardinals also reinstated righties Alex Reyes and Drew VerHagen from the 60-day injured list, bringing their 40-man roster to a total of 38 players.

Fermin, 24 in March, spent the 2022 season with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate and batted .215/.336/.322 with just a 13.9% strikeout rate against a 12.7% walk rate. He’s hit just 22 home runs in 415 minor league games and 1687 plate appearances, which underscores the lack of power that scouting reports on Fermin have emphasized. He stole 28 bases in just 105 games as recently as 2019, but Fermin only swiped nine bags in 90 games and 330 plate appearances in Triple-A this year.

While Fermin played plenty of shortstop early in his minor league run with Cleveland, he was deployed exclusively at second base and third base in 2022. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote prior to the 2022 season that Fermin rarely swings and misses but “lacks passable big league physicality and is a better fit at second base than shortstop.”

For the Cardinals, Fermin will give them a right-handed hitter with experience at three infield positions and solid bat-to-ball skills. Fermin would’ve been eligible to be selected in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, but St. Louis obviously saw enough in him that they preemptively made a move to acquire him and add him to the 40-man roster. This is the first time Fermin has been selected to a 40-man, so he’ll have a full slate of three minor league option years — assuming he sticks on their roster for that long, anyhow.

The moves to reinstate Reyes and VerHagen were a formality. Reyes missed the entire 2022 season due to shoulder surgery and has now managed just 145 innings in the Majors since making his debut back in 2016. He’ll be in line to earn a projected $2.8MM in arbitration this winter, and the Cardinals will likely have to weigh non-tendering the once-vaunted prospect.

VerHagen, meanwhile, missed time with shoulder and hip impingements in 2022 and didn’t pitch after being placed on the injured list on July 17. Signed to a two-year, $5.5MM deal in March — the first post-lockout, Major League free-agent signing for fans of random MLB trivia — the 32-year-old VerHagen was unable to replicate the success he’d found pitching overseas in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. In 21 2/3 innings with the Cardinals, he logged a 6.65 ERA with a 17% strikeout rate against a bloated 13.2% walk rate. He’s owed $3MM next season.

Astros’ Will Smith, Trey Mancini Become Free Agents

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Left-hander Will Smith and first baseman Trey Mancini were both included on the MLBPA’s latest update of players reaching free agency, indicating that the options on their contracts with the Astros weren’t picked up. In Smith’s case, that means the team declined a $13MM club option in favor of a $1MM buyout. Mancini, meanwhile, had a $10MM mutual option with a $250K buyout. It’s not clear yet whether Mancini or the team declined their end of that arrangement, but the result is the same: Mancini will become a free agent for the first time in his career.

Smith, acquired in a deadline swap that sent veteran righty Jake Odorizzi to the Braves, was a buy-low pickup for the ’Stros that paid dividends down the stretch. Smith, 33, carried a 4.38 ERA, career-worst 12.3% walk rate and a grisly 1.70 HR/9 at the time of the trade but immediately righted the ship in Houston. In 22 innings as an Astro, Smith logged a 3.27 ERA with a 26.7% strikeout rate and a vastly improved 4.4% walk rate.

While Smith didn’t pitch for Houston in the postseason, the benefit to the trade isn’t limited to the regular season. By flipping Odorizzi to the Braves, the Astros dodged a potentially pricey player option. Odorizzi’s workload boosted the value of his 2023 player option to $12.5MM, although a $6.25MM buyout might be hefty enough that he’ll still opt to return to free agency. Regardless, Houston isn’t on the hook for that potential outcome, which is a plus for them given that they already possess at least five big league starters for the 2023 season — Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy — and likely hope to retain Justin Verlander.

As for Mancini, his stint with the ’Stros will be short-lived and go down as something of a disappointment. The longtime Orioles slugger has been one of the game’s feel-good stories over the past two seasons, in the wake of his inspirational return from a Stage 3 colon cancer diagnosis in 2020. He was a productive hitter in his season and a half with Baltimore following that comeback, slashing .260/.334/.421 with 31 home runs, 49 doubles and a pair of triples in 1017 plate appearances.

Mancini was in something of a slump at the time of the trade to Houston, however, and he never managed to hit his way out of that lull. Inconsistent playing time may have played a role, but Mancini’s .176/.258/.364 batting line as an Astro is clearly sub-par. He also fanned at a 26.3% clip in Houston — considerably higher than the roughly 22% clip he’d logged in the two-plus prior seasons. That said, Mancini did mash eight home runs in 186 plate appearances, so he at least provided the ’Stros with some occasional thump, even if the overall results were miles from his career .265/.330/.457 output.

The Astros are still waiting on what will be far and away their most important option decision —  that of Verlander. The 2023 Cy Young favorite has a $25MM player option for the 2023 season that he’s widely expected to decline, though it certainly remains possible that  the two parties explore a reunion at what would figure to be much heavier terms.

Drew Smyly Declines Mutual Option With Cubs

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Drew Smyly declined his end of a $10MM mutual option in his contract with the Cubs, as Jordan Bastian of MLB.com was among those to relay (on Twitter). He’ll collect a $1MM buyout and head back to free agency.

It’s virtually a formality that every mutual option will be declined by one side, and Smyly’s decision doesn’t register as much of a surprise. He’s likely to look for a multi-year deal this winter. The veteran southpaw is coming off a decent season for Chicago, pitching to a 3.47 ERA through 106 1/3 innings over 22 starts. His 20.4% strikeout rate was a hair below average, but he only walked 5.8% of opposing hitters and had a solid 12.4% swinging strike rate.

Smyly and the Cubs reportedly kicked around extension talks last month. Obviously, nothing has come to fruition, but Bastian notes the Cubs are still interested in keeping the 33-year-old around. They’ll retain exclusive negotiating rights through Thursday evening, but it looks likely the Frontline client will soon be in contact with other clubs with no extension in place.

Chicago doesn’t have a ton of certainty behind Marcus Stroman in their season-opening rotation. Kyle Hendricks figures to assume a spot if healthy; he’s yet to begin a throwing program after his 2022 season was cut short by a capsule tear in his throwing shoulder, although the Cubs aren’t concerned about his availability for Spring Training. Justin Steele looks like a rotation lock, but Chicago’s likely to seek upgrades over Adrian Sampson and Keegan Thompson at the back end. Even if they manage to retain Smyly, they figure to explore a deep starting pitching free agent class.

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