Rays Grant Charlie Culberson His Release
The Rays announced Friday that they’ve granted infielder/outfielder Charlie Culberson his release. He’s now a free agent. Culberson had an out clause in his contract this weekend and had likely been informed he would not make the club.
It’s been a tough spring for the veteran utilityman, as Culberson has gone just 4-for-24 without an extra base hit. He’s walked three times but also fanned in nine of his 28 plate appearances. Overall, he’s hitting .167/.286/.167 in this spring’s tiny sample of work.
Culberson, 34 in a few weeks, has spent the past two seasons with the Rangers, hitting a combined .246/.292/.373 in 395 trips to the plate. He’s the quintessential “jack of all trades, master of none,” having appeared at every position on the diamond other than center field and catcher over the course of a decade-long career in the Majors. That includes 7 1/3 innings on the mound, during which time he’s rather shockingly allowed just one earned run (albeit with three walks and only one strikeout).
While a career .248/.293/.386 batting line isn’t much to look at, Culberson has more impressive platoon splits. Through 582 plate appearances versus southpaws, he’s a .285/.313/.431 hitter with 11 homers, 37 doubles and five triples.
D-backs To Release Jeurys Familia
The Diamondbacks are set to release veteran reliever Jeurys Familia, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Familia is one of a few dozen veterans with an opt-out in his contract tomorrow but had been informed by the club that he would not make the Opening Day roster. They’ll cut him loose a day early and give him some extra time to latch on with a new organization.
Familia, 33, had a strong spring showing with Arizona, pitching six innings of one-run ball with just three hits and one walk against four strikeouts. Those sharp results apparently weren’t enough to sway the Snakes into putting him on the Opening Day roster, so he’ll instead return to the free-agent market in search of an opportunity with another club in need of some bullpen help.
Solid as Familia was this spring, he’s coming off the worst season of his career. In 44 1/3 innings between the Phillies and Red Sox, Familia was tagged for an ugly 6.09 ERA. His 20.1% strikeout rate was the second-lowest mark he’s posted in a full season, as was his 10.7% swinging-strike rate. Familia’s 10.8% walk rate was well north of the league average, and his 95.6 mph average fastball velocity was a personal-low for the former Mets closer.
Familia did have a nice season as recently as 2021 (3.94 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate in 59 1/3 innings), and his broader track record at the MLB level is impressive overall. The 2016 All-Star boasts a 3.51 ERA, 125 saves, 70 holds and a 24.4% strikeout rate in 543 big league frames.
Kevin Plawecki Will Not Make Pirates’ Roster
Veteran catcher Kevin Plawecki, who’s been in camp with the Pirates this spring as a non-roster invitee, has been informed he won’t make the club, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. The catcher’s locker has been emptied out, and John Perrotto of Pittsburgh Baseball Now writes that Plawecki will exercise the opt-out clause in his contract. Plawecki has an opt-out afforded to him as an Article XX(B) free agent (that is, a player with six-plus years of service who ended the preceding season on a Major League roster or injured list). The formal date for that opt-out is tomorrow, but it’s possible the Bucs gave him the courtesy of allowing him to step away sooner in order to have more time to search for a new opportunity.
Plawecki, 32, went 4-for-17 with a pair of doubles, no walks and two strikeouts in limited time with the Pirates this spring. He’s coming off a 2022 season in which he batted .220/.286/.286 with eight doubles in 186 plate appearances between the Red Sox and Rangers.
A veteran of eight big league seasons, Plawecki is a lifetime .235/.313/.341 hitter in the Majors. He’s primarily operated as a backup throughout his career. Plawecki drew plus grades for his defense and framing early in his career, but his framing has been closer to average over the past couple years and Statcast has dinged his blocking skills as below-average in that time. Plawecki has a strong reputation both in the clubhouse and for his work with pitchers; both Nathan Eovaldi and Rich Hill expressed frustration and disappointment to WEEI’s Rob Bradford last year following the Red Sox’ decision to release Plawecki late in the year.
For the Pirates, subtracting Plawecki from camp likely means either Tyler Heineman or Jason Delay will be the backup to starter Austin Hedges. Neither has hit particularly well this spring — Heineman is 1-for-17, Delay is 2-for-12 — but both appeared in at least 52 games with Pittsburgh last season and are already familiar with the pitching staff. Neither player is currently on the 40-man roster.
Mariners Release Leonys Martin
The Mariners announced last night that outfielder Leonys Martin, who’d been in camp on a minor league deal, has been released. He’s once again a free agent.
Martin, 35, hasn’t played in the Majors since 2019, spending the past three and a half seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He returned to the Mariners organization, for whom he played in 2016-17, in hopes of securing a roster spot this spring. The veteran center fielder had a decent showing in a limited sample of 24 plate appearances, going 5-for-19 with a double, three walks and nine strikeouts in 24 plate appearances (.263/.375/.316).
Through his first two and a half seasons in NPB, Martin hit for a low average but got on base at a high clip and hit for plenty of power, evidenced by a .233/.363/.494 batting line in 1175 plate appearances. His production cratered in his age-34 campaign this past season, however, as Martin batted just .163/.293/.317 in 266 trips to the plate.
Martin’s most recent productive Major League season came back in 2018, so it’s fair to wonder whether another opportunity with a new organization will present itself. That said, he was solid for much of his time in Japan and has a long track record as a premium outfield defender and baserunner. Those skills have helped him offset the tepid .244/.301/.367 batting line (81 wRC+) he’s put together through 2792 plate appearances across parts of nine MLB seasons.
Cubs Trade Esteban Quiroz To Phillies
The Phillies acquired infielder Esteban Quiroz from the Cubs in exchange for cash, according to announcements from both teams. Philadelphia has assigned Quiroz to minor league camp.
Quiroz, 31, made his big league debut with Chicago last season and hit .275/.370/.275 in 47 trips to the plate. He’s a career .259/.385/.495 hitter in 776 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, where he’s played primarily second base but has also seen action at third base and in the outfield corners. The Cubs outrighted Quiroz off the 40-man roster back in November, but was in camp with them as a non-roster invitee this spring.
It’s a depth move for the Phillies, who’ll be Quiroz’s fifth organization in six years. The well-traveled infielder didn’t sign with an affiliated club until his age-26 season, when the Padres plucked him from the Mexican League. Quiroz is a left-handed bat who draws walks at a prolific rate (15.3%) and strikes out at a slightly below-average clip (21.1%) in the minors. He’s swatted 34 homers in 204 Triple-A games and can give the Phils some depth at multiple positions.
Tigers Sign Jose Alvarez To Minor League Deal
The Tigers have signed left-hander Jose Alvarez to a minor league contract, per the transactions log at MiLB.com. He won’t pitch this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, though Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press writes that the club will help Alvarez oversee his recovery and rehabilitation with an eye toward the 2024 campaign. Alvarez is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.
The 33-year-old Alvarez is a known commodity to Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris, who was the Giants’ general manager during Alvarez’s two-year stint in San Francisco from 2021-22. He was outstanding for the Giants in ’21, pitching to a 2.37 ERA with a well below-average 15.8% strikeout rate but strong walk and ground-ball rates of 7.1% and 50.5%, respectively. His 2022 season was cut short by arm troubles that led to his subsequent Tommy John surgery, and prior to going on the shelf Alvarez was tagged for an ugly 5.28 ERA.
Alvarez actually made his Major League debut with the Tigers nearly a decade ago, in 2013, but he was tagged for a 5.82 ERA in 38 2/3 innings that season. The Tigers traded him to the Angels in exchange for Andrew Romine the following offseason, and Alvarez would eventually establish himself as a quality big league reliever in Anaheim.
From 2014-21, Alvarez racked up 366 2/3 innings of 3.14 ERA ball with a 20.2% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate, 46.8% grounder rate, 70 holds and three saves. He’s held lefties to a .238/.288/.365 slash in his career, and while righties have posted a strong .270 average and .340 OBP against him, they haven’t hit for much power (.399 slugging, .129 ISO). Alvarez has always thrived in terms of limiting hard contact, yielding just an 86.3 mph average exit velocity and a feeble 30% hard-hit rate dating back to 2015, when Statcast first began tracking such measures. He’s never yielded an average exit velocity of even 87 mph. Last year’s league average was 88.6 mph.
Ryan Lavarnway Announces Retirement
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Veteran catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who spent parts of 10 seasons in the Majors and 15 seasons in pro ball overall, announced his retirement on Wednesday in a thoughtful and poignant piece at The Athletic. Fans of any team are encouraged to read through Lavarnway’s piece, which deftly details the trials and tribulations of a prototypical journeyman who overcame a self-admitted lack of athleticism in large part due to a “sixth tool” — being “really, really good at not quitting.”
Lavarnway, 35, was a sixth-round pick by the Red Sox in 2008 and was twice named the organization’s minor league offensive player of the year. He’s twice suited up for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and played 25 games with the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox.
Lavarnway never cemented himself as a regular in the big leagues despite hitting his way into being a prospect of some note with the Sox. The well-traveled backstop writes that he wore 18 different uniforms over his career and was optioned, traded, claimed on waivers or released a combined 26 times throughout his career. Along the way, he appeared for the Red Sox, Pirates, Braves, Athletics, Marlins, Reds, Indians and Orioles.
While he never topped 46 big league games or 166 big league plate appearances in a season, Lavarnway saw a total of 165 MLB games and 486 trips to the plate, during which he batted .217/.272/.345 with nine homers. He wound up accruing more than three years of Major League service time throughout his many MLB stints. Lavarnway also spent parts of 11 seasons in Triple-A, where he was a combined .267/.360/.432 hitter with 79 more homers in 2580 plate appearances. Best wishes to Lavarnway in whatever next step he pursues.
Rockies Sign Jurickson Profar
March 21: The Rockies officially announced today that they have signed Profar to a one-year deal. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, left-hander Lucas Gilbreath was transferred to the 60-day injured list. The southpaw underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month and will miss the entire season.
March 19: The Rockies are in agreement with free agent outfielder Jurickson Profar, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Profar will be guaranteed $7.75MM but can get the total up to $8.75MM with 400 plate appearances. The deal is pending a physical.
Profar, 30, has had an up-and-down career but is coming off arguably the best season of his career. Though his power is fairly modest, he has a good eye and strong bat-to-ball skills. His 11.1% walk rate and 15.7% strikeout rate this year were both a few percentage points better than league averages. Along with his 15 home runs, that led to a .243/.331/.391 batting line and a 110 wRC+, indicating the switch-hitter was 10% better than the league average hitter overall.
Defensively, though he’s played all over the diamond in his career, the Padres kept him exclusively in left field last year. That consistency may have suited him, as he was given a +2 grade from Defensive Runs Saved and a +1.1 from Ultimate Zone Rating, though Outs Above Average was less enthused and gave him a mark of -5. Taking his whole season together, FanGraphs considered him to be worth 2.5 wins above replacement, the highest tally of his career thus far.
Going into the 2021 season, the Padres had signed Profar to a three-year, $21MM deal that afforded him the opportunity to opt out after each season. The first year of the deal didn’t go well, as Profar hit just four homers while being bounced around the field in a utility capacity. He declined to trigger his first opt-out and stuck with the Friars for 2022, before having a much better campaign in the second year. Going into the 2022-23 offseason, he had just one year remaining on his deal, valued at $7.5MM. He decided to go for the $1MM buyout and become a free agent, leaving $6.5MM on the table.
Profar continued to linger on the open market for months, the last of MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents that was still available until now. Recent reporting had suggested he had been trying to get $10MM per season, but that apparently didn’t materialize based on the fact that he remained unattached for so long. He’ll now settle for a deal a bit below that, though he’ll still end up making a bit more money than if he had just stayed with the Padres.
For the Rockies, they have some question marks in their outfield, as Sean Bouchard recently underwent biceps surgery that could keep him out all year while Randal Grichuk is going to miss the first few weeks of the season due to sports hernia surgery. That leaves Kris Bryant, Yonathan Daza and Charlie Blackmon as the primary options, though Blackmon made more starts at designated hitter last year and seems likely to do the same going forward, especially considering that his 2022 was ended by knee surgery. Daza should have center field spoken for until Grichuk returns, at which point they could split the duties there as they did in 2022. Like Profar, Bryant settled in as a full-time left fielder last year, despite lengthy time on the infield earlier in his career. When Grichuk went down earlier in the spring, Bryant began spending more time in right, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com. That seems to suggest that he could yield left to Profar while splitting right field and the designated hitter spot with Blackmon. Bryant was limited by injury to only 42 games last year, making it sensible to add another corner outfielder into the mix and perhaps reduce his workload on the grass a bit. Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette reports that the plan is indeed for Bryant to be in right with Blackmon primarily serving as the designated hitter.
Though Profar is coming off a decent year, there’s still some risk here for the Rockies, given his inconsistency. Once one of the top prospects in the sport, shoulder injuries kept him from appearing in the big leagues at all in 2014 or 2015. In the next two campaigns, he was healthy but struggled to establish himself in sporadic playing time. He finally had a decent season in 2018 but the Rangers quickly sold high, trading him to Oakland. Unfortunately, he seemed to battle “the yips” with his new team, as he made 11 throwing errors from second base in 2019 and got flipped to San Diego. He was solid enough in the shortened 2020 campaign to earn himself a three-year deal but, as mentioned, struggled in the first before rebounding in the second.
The Rockies will be hoping that another year of having a consistent left field position will allow him to be less mercurial at the plate. It’s also possible that playing in Coors Field will suit him well, given the famously thin atmosphere and large outfield. Perhaps those conditions will allow Profar to launch a few more home runs or simply spray the ball all over the outfield, given his low-strikeout approach. With just 11 days until Opening Day, it might be fair to expect that a player signing now would need a spring ramp-up and wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day. However, Profar might be a different case since he was recently representing the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.
The Rockies were already running a franchise-high payroll and this deal will nudge them a bit further into that territory. Roster Resource now pegs their spending at $170MM for the season, well beyond their previous high of $145MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. However, it’s possible that the final tally ends up below that, as most observers aren’t expecting the Rockies to be contenders this year. Players like Profar, Grichuk and C.J. Cron are impending free agents and make decent salaries, perhaps leading to them becoming trade chips this summer if the Rockies don’t become surprise competitors. Then again, the Rockies have also surprised many onlookers, and their own players, by their lack of trade deadline activity, so that’s no guarantee.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Braves Option Vaughn Grissom, Braden Shewmake
The Braves will option infielders Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake to Triple-A, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Both had been in line for the Opening Day shortstop job in Atlanta, but it seems that will now go to Orlando Arcia. David O’Brien of The Athletic relays that Arcia will get the starting gig with Ehire Adrianza as the utility infielder. Adrianza is not currently on the 40-man roster. The Braves subsequently announced the moves as part of a larger batch of roster cuts, including outfielders Jordan Luplow, Eli White and right-hander Nick Anderson.
The Braves went into this offseason with a shortstop vacancy for the first time in years, as Dansby Swanson has held down that job since late 2016. Swanson reached free agency this offseason and was considered one of the “Big Four” shortstops, alongside Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts. Despite that robust class of shortstops, Atlanta seemingly had little interest in either re-signing Swanson or going after anyone else. Eventually, the offseason came and went with the club’s big move being the trade for catcher Sean Murphy, who was later extended.
It seemed the club was satisfied with its internal shortstop options, with Grissom and Arcia the favorites for the role. Grissom had made his debut last year when he was just 21 years old, largely filling in at second base for the injured Ozzie Albies. He hit well in his first 156 plate appearances, producing a batting line of .291/.353/.440 for a wRC+ of 121. However, that may have been buoyed by a red hot start, as he hit .347/.398/.558 through September 7 but just .174/.264/.196 after.
Nonetheless, it was an encouraging start for such a young player and the club seemed to be a big believer in his abilities. Though he largely played second in his MLB debut, he was a shortstop in the minors. But that didn’t mean moving back to the other side of the bag was an obvious choice, as prospect evaluators had long raised questions about his ability to stick at short. It seems the club decided it was worth pursuing regardless of those concerns, as they tasked coach Ron Washington with working on Grissom’s shortstop defense this offseason. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos discussed the situation in January, after Swanson had signed with the Cubs.
“I can see how the scouting community might have questions about Vaughn. I had questions about Vaughn when I first saw him,” Anthopoulos said (link via Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “And I’ve been wrong plenty of times. The difference is we have a guy in Ron Washington who’s unbelievable with this stuff. He wouldn’t just say something to say it. … And, look, we don’t know how Vaughn’s going to hit. He’s got to earn the job. Orlando Arcia can do it, too. But Wash really believes in Vaughn. We believe in Vaughn, too, but we’re going to go with who we think the expert in that area is, and I don’t know anybody better in the game than Ron.”
For most of the winter, it seemed it would be a two-horse race for the job between Grissom and Arcia, but there was a late charge from Shewmake. It was reported just yesterday that Shewmake’s hot spring was making things interesting. His prospect profile was essentially the inverse of Grissom’s, as his glovework is graded much stronger than his bat. But he hit .323/.382/.452 in spring action and seemed to give himself some momentum to take the job.
However, it now seems that neither of the youngsters will get the job, at least here at the end of spring. With Grissom and Shewmake both getting optioned today, it seems they’ve decided to go with the veteran in Arcia. Though he is more established, with 642 games of major league experience, there’s still risk with the 28-year-old. He’s coming off a fairly solid season as the club’s utility infielder, hitting .244/.316/.416 for a wRC+ of 104. However, the rest of his work at the plate is less impressive, as he had hit .242/.293/.363 coming into the year for a wRC+ of 70. He also hasn’t had a full-time shortstop gig since 2019, when defensive metrics gave him poor reviews and he was pushed into a utility role over the past three years.
This is merely a temporary move and the club could quickly call up Grissom or Shewmake early on in the season. However, it’s still a surprising result given the club’s recent history. They’ve shown a strong willingness to be aggressive with their young players, with both Grissom and Michael Harris II skipping Triple-A last year, going straight from Double-A to the bigs. The club then avoided free agents all winter, seeming to have little interest in either the marquee players or even a modest deal for someone like Elvis Andrus. It seems they’ve decided Grissom and Shewmake need more time and are now left with Arcia as their top option at short, at least for the time being.
The move could have service time implications for the younger players, as Shewmake’s clock has yet to start ticking and Grissom has a tally of 57 days. Whether either of them can reach the one-year mark this season will depend upon how long they eventually spend in the minors. It’s possible to earn a full year of service time even while spending time in the minors if a youngster finishes in the top two of Rookie of the Year balloting, but they also have to appear at least two preseason Top 100 prospect lists at Baseball America, ESPN or MLB Pipeline. Neither Grissom or Shewmake are on any of those three lists at the moment.
With Arcia securing the starting gig, Adrianza will apparently need to be added to the roster to take the backup infield job. He hit just .175/.264/.206 last year but is capable of playing any position other than catcher.
Turning to the other moves, Luplow and White were both in contention for a job backing up the starting outfield trio of Ronald Acuña Jr., Eddie Rosario and Harris. They seem to have been bumped out of that contest, at least for Opening Day. That perhaps will allow Sam Hilliard and Kevin Pillar to secure jobs on the bench. Nick Anderson was in the running for a bullpen job but will start the season in the minors.
Atlanta will need to make some roster moves in the wake of all this, but they may have already gotten a head start on that. Neither of Adrianza or Pillar are on the roster and it looks like the fifth starter job will go to one of Dylan Dodd or Jared Shuster, with neither of them being on the roster either. However, they recently opened a couple of spots when they lost Dennis Santana on waivers to the Twins and outrighted Jackson Stephens. They can also open a couple more by transferring Huascar Ynoa and Tyler Matzek to the 60-day IL, with both pitchers likely out for the season due to Tommy John surgery.
Phillies Acquire Jordan Qsar From Rays
The Phillies have acquired outfielder Jordan Qsar from the Rays, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The Phillies are sending cash considerations the other way, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
Qsar, 27, will jump to just the second organization of his career, as he’s spent it all with the Rays until now. That club selected him in the 25th round of the 2018 draft. Since then, Qsar has moved his way up the minor league ladder, showing some power and on-base ability, but also huge strikeout numbers.
Last year, Qsar split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, getting into 102 games between those two levels. In his 411 plate appearances, he hit 17 home runs and walked at a 10.7% clip but also got punched out at a 38.2% rate. His combined batting line was .227/.321/.452, leading to a wRC+ of 101, indicating he was a hair above average. He also swiped 11 bags on the season.
Qsar got a non-roster invite to spring with the Rays but has struggled mightily. In 31 plate appearances, he’s struck out 14 times, a 45.2% rate. His batting line is .192/.323/.192, which includes five walks, a 16.1% rate. Spring performance aside, the Phils evidently still like the power and on-base potential Qsar brings and have brought him aboard.
The Phillies are likely to have an outfield of Brandon Marsh in center, flanked by Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos in the corners. With Bryce Harper out of action until midseason due to Tommy John surgery, the designated hitter spot is open, with Schwarber and Castellanos perhaps seeing some time there. Jake Cave and Dalton Guthrie could be in the mix for a fourth outfielder role, with the 40-man roster also featuring Simon Muzziotti, Jhailyn Ortiz and Johan Rojas. Qsar will give the club some non-roster depth alongside that group, having played all three spots in his career.