Marlins, Jose Iglesias Agree To Minor League Contract
The Marlins are in agreement on a minor league deal with shortstop José Iglesias, report Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). The MVP Sports Group client gets a non-roster invitation to big league camp. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported this afternoon the sides were in discussions.
Iglesias has played parts of 11 seasons at the big league level. He’s spent the bulk of the past decade as a regular shortstop on the strength of his glove, earning an All-Star nod during the 2015 campaign while with the Tigers. Iglesias rated highly as a defender from public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average earlier in his career, but his numbers have turned down in recent years.
DRS has pegged him as a below-average shortstop in each of the past three seasons, with particularly ghastly marks during a 2021 campaign split between the Angels and Red Sox. Statcast hasn’t been quite so bearish but pegged him as an average to slightly below par shortstop of late. At age 33, Iglesias’ best days as a defender appear to be behind him, but he’s continued to play his way into regular work at the infield’s most demanding position.
That included 975 2/3 frames with the Rockies last season. Signed to a $5MM guarantee last offseason, Iglesias spent one year in Denver. He hit .292/.328/.380 over 467 plate appearances. Iglesias only managed three home runs despite playing his home games at the sport’s most hitter-friendly venue. He paired that with a modest 3.6% walk rate that tamped down his on-base percentage, but he continued his career-long track record of putting the ball in play and running a high batting average.
Iglesias kept his strikeouts to a very modest 12% clip and put the bat on the ball with 87.5% of his swings. Both marks were around ten percentage points better than the respective league averages. Iglesias hasn’t struck out in even 15% of his trips to the dish in any season since 2013. The high-singles approach has been a hallmark throughout his career, as he carries a .279/.319/.392 line in a little more than 4000 plate appearances.
Miami has prioritized finding hitters with plus bat-to-ball skills all offseason. The Fish signed Jean Segura to a two-year free agent deal and acquired defending AL batting champion Luis Arraez from Minnesota in the Pablo López trade. Miami agreed to a minor league deal with Yuli Gurriel just minutes before their agreement with Iglesias was reported. Miami made clear before the winter got underway they were seeking batters who could take advantage of the large gaps in their home ballpark with high-contact profiles, and that’s played out in their offseason acquisitions.
Whether it’ll be enough to invigorate an offense that has been the club’s Achilles heel remains to be seen. Gurriel and Iglesias have each come at virtually no acquisition cost, as neither will even secure an immediate roster spot. Both seem to have strong chances of cracking the big league club out of camp as veterans who were among the highest-profile players still unsigned.
If Iglesias got to the MLB level, he’d add an experienced shortstop to a roster that currently is without one. Miami traded de facto team captain Miguel Rojas to the Dodgers in January. The deal brought back shortstop prospect Jacob Amaya but he’s likely ticketed for Triple-A Jacksonville to start the season. The immediate plan is to move utility infielder Joey Wendle — who has just 647 2/3 MLB innings at shortstop over parts of seven years — to the position. Segura is expected to slide to third base, with Arraez moving back to second base in deference to first baseman Garrett Cooper.
Marlins In Agreement With Yuli Gurriel On Minor League Deal
The Marlins and first baseman Yuli Gurriel are in agreement on a deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It’s a non-roster pact, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. At this point, the financials of the deal aren’t known.
Gurriel and the Marlins have been dancing with each other for a few months now. They were first publicly connected to each other in January and further reports have connected to the two sides since then. About a month ago, it was reported that the Marlins offered Gurriel a deal around $2MM but took it off the table when about a week went by without a response. Just a couple of days ago, it was reported that the two sides were still talking, but that Gurriel might have to settle for a minor league deal.
This will be the second MLB organization for Gurriel, who has spent the previous seven seasons with the Astros. He was a solid offensive contributor for the first chunk of that time but has been fairly inconsistent in the past few seasons. From 2017 to 2019, he hit .296/.333/.486 for a wRC+ of 119, indicating he was 19% better than league average in that time. He struggled badly in 2020, finishing with a diminished line of .232/.274/.384, 76 wRC+. He bounced back incredibly in 2021, winning a batting title with a line of .319/.383/.462 and 132 wRC+. But another dip followed in 2022, as he hit .242/.288/.360 for a wRC+ of 85.
The Marlins will be looking for another upturn from Gurriel, who turns 39 in June. Despite the up-and-down nature of his overall production, he’s been quite consistent with his lack of strikeouts, as he he’s only been punched out in 11.2% of his career plate appearances. Last year, that went up to a career-high 12.5% rate, but that was still barely half of the 22.4% league average.
In recent years, the Marlins have had good pitching but have been lighter on the offensive side of things. They tried to add some thump to their lineup a year ago by signing Jorge Soler and Avisaíl García, but both players struck out in over 28% of their plate appearances last year. Even though Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a great breakout last year, he also was punched out in 27.4% of his trips to the plate. Other players like Garrett Cooper, Bryan De La Cruz and Jesús Sánchez also struck out more than a quarter of the time.
It seems like the Marlins diagnosed this issue, as they’ve brought in a few players this winter with much better bat-to-ball skills. They signed Jean Segura and his 13.8% career strikeout rate in December, then acquired Luis Arraez and his 8.3% strikeout rate in January. Now with Gurriel added into the mix, that’s three tough-to-strikeout hitters that have been added to the organization in recent months.
Gurriel has played multiple positions in his career but he’s essentially been limited to first base over the past three years. It’s possible that he gets the occasional look elsewhere, but given his age and recent track record, it’s hard to imagine the Marlins giving him extended time at a position other than first base. The club’s best option at that position at the moment is Garrett Cooper, who is an underrated hitter but has struggled to stay healthy. Cooper has hit .274/.348/.440 in his career for a wRC+ of 117, but he’s yet to play 120 games in a season due to health issues. Adding Gurriel would give the club a bit of a safety net in the event that Cooper struggles, or simply allow the club to manage his workload.
If the Marlins are willing to consider Gurriel at other infield positions, he could potentially bolster a group with some uncertainty. In the past eight months, the club has traded their long-time shortstop Miguel Rojas to the Dodgers, non-tendered third baseman Brian Anderson, released first baseman Jesús Aguilar and moved second baseman Chisholm to center field. The club has answers for those positions, though they all come with some level of risk. Segura was signed to play third base despite just 24 career games at that spot. Arraez was acquired to take over at second base, though he was bumped into more of a first base role with Minnesota last year. Then there’s the injury-prone Cooper at first. All of that seemingly leaves Joey Wendle as the shortstop. He’s generally received passable grades at that position but only in a part-time role and he’s now turning 33 in April.
Gurriel has played all of those positions but his nine innings of shortstop experience came back in 2018. His occasional appearances at second base ended in 2019. His time at third is a bit more extensive, but it’s been just two innings over the past three years combined.
If they want to add Gurriel to the MLB roster, the club should have an easy time opening a spot. Max Meyer and Anthony Bender could be moved to the 60-day injured list, since both are going to be out for a while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Twins Sign Andrew Stevenson To Minor League Deal
The Twins have signed outfielder Andrew Stevenson to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.
This will be just the second organization in the career of Stevenson, who turns 29 in June. He was drafted by the Nationals in 2015 and has spent his entire career in that organization thus far. That included 248 major league games from 2017 to 2021, wherein Stevenson hit .248/.322/.365. His 8.2% walk rate was around league average but he also struck out at a 28.1% clip. Overall, his production amounted to a wRC+ of 84, indicating he was 16% below league average.
Stevenson played all three outfield positions in that time and was generally graded well at all three. Looking at his outfield work in aggregate, he posted a +2 from Defensive Runs Saved, +1 from Outs Above Average and +2.7 from Ultimate Zone Rating.
He was outrighted in April of last year and spent the season in Triple-A, having a solid showing at the plate there. He hit 16 home runs and slashed .279/.344/.457 for a 111 wRC+, stealing 39 bases along the way. He didn’t get called back up to the big league squad and reached free agency at season’s end.
Stevenson is a solid depth add with his speed and defense, but he might have trouble cracking the Twins’ roster. They already have Byron Buxton and Michael A. Taylor set to handle center field duties, with a bunch of left-handed hitting options for the corners such as Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, Alex Kirilloff, Nick Gordon, Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner. Kirilloff could be playing first base everyday and Gordon could be in a super utility role, but it’s still a fairly crowded group.
If Stevenson is able to muscle his way in there and crack the roster, he’s out of options, limiting his roster flexibility. However, he does have less than three years of MLB service time, giving the club the ability to retain him for future seasons via arbitration if he breaks out at the plate.
Yankees Sign Nick Ciuffo To Minor League Deal
The Yankees have signed catcher Nick Ciuffo to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.
This is a nice birthday present for Ciuffo, who turns 28 years old today. Originally selected by the Rays in the first round of the 2013 draft, he was a notable prospect in their system for many years after that. Though he was originally considered a well-rounded prospect, he seemed to struggle at the plate when he reached the upper levels of the minors.
Since the start of 2018, he’s appeared in 167 minor league games with a batting line of .247/.299/.381, walking in just 6.8% of his plate appearances while striking out at a 28.8% rate. He’s also appeared in 21 major league games over that time, hitting .188/.259/.292 for the Rays and Orioles. Ciuffo spent last year in Triple-A with the White Sox but was punched out in 31.1% of his trips to the plate.
For the Yankees, it was reported last week that they were looking for some some extra depth behind the plate because of a rash of injuries at the position. Ben Rortvedt, Austin Wells and Josh Breaux each suffered injuries that will keep them out of action for at least a few weeks. The Yanks still have their primary catching tandem healthy in Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka, but the latter is participating in the World Baseball Classic and will be away from camp for a while. With all of those absences, it makes sense that they would look to bring in another receiver to help out with all the arms looking to get ready for the season.
If Ciuffo is able to make his way onto the roster at any point, he has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time, meaning he could stick around as depth for a while if the Yankees would like.
Reds Add Chase Anderson To Major League Camp
The Reds’ original minor league deal with Chase Anderson last month did not contain an invite to Major League spring training, but Cincinnati announced today that he’s now been added to big league camp. Furthermore, manager David Bell tells Reds beat writers that Anderson is in the mix for a spot in the big league bullpen or rotation (Twitter link via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com).
Anderson, 35, spent part of the 2022 season in the Reds organization as well, though he was hit hard in 24 innings, yielding 17 runs on 17 hits and 15 walks. He fanned 23 of 103 opponents (22.3%) but posted the worst walk rate of his career as well (14.6%). Anderson was also with the Triple-A affiliates for the Rays and Tigers in 2022, logging a combined 4.50 ERA in 80 innings.
The past three seasons, in general, have been a struggle for Anderson — at least at the MLB level. However, from 2014-19 he was a solid mid-rotation hurler, pitching to a combined 3.94 ERA in 857 innings between the D-backs and the Brewers.
The Reds have traded away most of their established pitchers in recent seasons and are now left with a staff short on experience. The rotation figures to be fronted by three young hurlers who just debuted last year in Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft. The favorites for the final two spots are Luis Cessa and Luke Weaver. The former has primarily been a reliever in the majors and only recently made the switch to the rotation, while the latter has been a starter but struggled so much that he got bumped to a bullpen role last year.
In the bullpen, Tejay Antone and Tony Santillan seem slated to being the season on the injured list, potentially opening up a couple of spots back there. Anderson has been more of a starter than a reliever but could potentially help the Reds out by providing a veteran presence for either role.
Rockies Sign Brad Hand
MARCH 6: The 2024 option would convert into a mutual option if Hand either finishes 25 games or is traded at any point during the upcoming season, reports the Associated Press. Hand could earn an additional $1MM in performance bonuses both this season and during 2024 (if the option is triggered). He’d receive $250K apiece at 40 and 50 appearances and $500K if he gets into 60 games.
MARCH 4: The Rockies announced agreement with reliever Brad Hand on a one-year deal on Saturday. It’s a $2MM guarantee, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter links). The guaranteed money breaks down as a $1.5MM salary in 2023, and then a $500K buyout of a $7MM club option the Rockies hold on Hand’s services for the 2024 season. Another $1MM bonus is available for Hand if he is still in the organization by Opening Day, with Rosenthal noting that means either on the active roster or on the injured list. Hand turns 33 later this month. He is represented by the Wasserman Agency.
Right-hander Tyler Kinley will be placed on the 60-day injured list to create roster space for Hand, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports (Twitter link). Kinley is expected to be out of action until at least midseason after undergoing elbow surgery last June.
Once Hand appears in an official game in the purple pinstripes, it will mark 13 MLB seasons and eight different teams for the veteran southpaw. Hand inked a one-year, $6MM with the Phillies last winter and contributed to the Phils’ push to the NL pennant, delivering a 2.80 ERA over 45 regular-season innings and then a 4.76 ERA in 5 2/3 postseason frames. That small sample size of playoff work was perhaps more reflective of Hand’s overall quality in 2022, as he had a 4.51 SIERA and 4.90 xFIP, and his .297 wOBA was well under his .323 xwOBA. Hand did a very good job of limiting hard contact last year, but with subpar strikeout and walk rates.
All things considered, Hand’s 2022 advanced metrics weren’t far removed — or in some cases were worse — than his 2021 metrics, though he had a lot more good fortune with that 2.80 ERA as opposed to his 3.90 mark with the Nationals, Mets, and Blue Jays in 2021. (MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald recently took a deeper dive into Hand’s 2022 performance.) Hand was also a lot better at keeping the ball in the park with the Phillies — he allowed only two homers in his 45 frames last year, after giving up nine long balls over 64 2/3 innings in 2021.
The soft contact and ability to keep the ball in the park is naturally of interest for a team that plays in Coors Field, and the Rockies ended up acquiring Hand after a relatively quiet offseason in terms of publicly-known interest. The Cubs and Twins were both linked to Hand over the last month, though in general, the market for left-handed relief pitching was mostly pretty slow after an initial flurry prior to Christmas. Only in recent weeks has the ice started to thaw, as names like Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore, and (just earlier today) Will Smith have now come off the board.
Speaking of quiet offseasons, the Rockies haven’t done a whole lot of note this winter, much to the consternation of fans who saw the club lose 94 games in 2022. Colorado has done a fair amount of work in the bullpen, at least, as Hand joins such names as Pierce Johnson, Nick Mears, and fellow left-handers Brent Suter and Ty Blach and Fernando Abad. Since Blach and Abad were minor league signings, Hand’s deal might push one or both of those other lefties out of consideration for spot on the Opening Day roster.
The club option also gives Colorado some control over Hand’s future if he does fully regain his past form. Hand was one of the better relievers in the sport when pitching with San Diego and Cleveland from 2016-20, and naturally the Rockies saw him often back in his Padres days. Since Johnson, Suter, and Dinelson Lamet are all slated for free agency after the 2023 season, the Rockies could keep at least one pitcher in the fold by exercising Hand’s option, if he pitches well enough to make that $6.5MM decision a wise one for the Rox.
Mariners Release Nick Margevicius
The Mariners announced today that left-hander Nick Margevicius has been released. Their spring camp is now down to 71 players.
Margevicius, 27 in June, once seemed like he was on a path to being a useful big league starter but has been held back by injuries in recent years. Originally drafted by the Padres, that club made the aggressive move of adding Margevicius to their Opening Day roster in 2019. At that time, the lefty had yet to pitch above High-A but he was coming off a strong season in the lower levels of the farm. He posted a 3.60 ERA in 135 minor league innings in 2018, striking out 26% of batters and walking just 3%.
Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much to be excited about since that time. Margevicius had a 6.79 ERA in his first major league season and got put on waivers prior to the 2020 campaign. The Mariners claimed him and then saw him put up a respectable 4.57 ERA in 2020. But he tossed 12 innings for the club early in 2021 before requiring surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in May, wiping out the latter parts of that season.
He was able to return to the mound last year but struggled in his first few Triple-A outings and got designated for assignment in May. He cleared waivers and was outrighted, sticking with the M’s in a non-roster capacity. He eventually tossed 49 Triple-A innings last year but with a 7.53 ERA. He was surely victimized by a bit of bad luck, as he allowed a .422 batting average on balls in play and had a 61.4% strand rate, but his 5.49 FIP and 5.80 xFIP were still quite high.
It seems the M’s would prefer to get a look at some other arms in camp and have let Margevicius go to explore other opportunities. If he can latch on with a different organization, perhaps he can get into a better groove now that he’s further removed from his surgery. If he eventually earns himself a roster spot, he still has an option remaining and less than three years of MLB service time.
Tigers Sign Trevor Rosenthal To Minor League Deal
TODAY: Rosenthal will earn $2MM if he makes the Tigers’ active roster, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Up to $2MM more is also available in incentive bonuses.
MARCH 4: The Tigers have added veteran reliever Trevor Rosenthal on a minor league deal, the team announced. The deal includes an invite to big league spring training. It’s the second stint in Detroit for Rosenthal, who made ten appearances for the team in 2019.
Injuries have kept Rosenthal out of the past two MLB seasons, with the former All Star last appearing in 2020 for the Royals and Padres. That year, Rosenthal worked to a 1.90 ERA across 23 2/3 innings for both teams. Thoracic outlet syndrome kept him out of the 2021 season when he was on the books of the Athletics taking home an $11MM salary. The Giants signed him in 2022, but he was flipped to the Brewers for Tristan Peters while he was still rehabbing. He tossed two innings of relief on a rehab assignment for the Brewers before sustaining a lat injury that ended his 2022 season.
Originally drafted in the 21st round of the 2009 draft by the Cardinals, Rosenthal worked as a starter coming up through the minors. Yet he never made a start for St Louis, and instead quickly established himself as one of the most dominant relievers in the game after making his debut in 2012. Between 2012-15, Rosenthal amassed 96 saves and worked to a 2.66 ERA over 237 innings.
While he was still punching out batters at an elite rate in 2016, a jump in his walk rate ultimately led to a decline in numbers, and between 2016-17 Rosenthal worked to a 3.89 ERA and ultimately lost the closer role. Tommy John surgery ruled him out of the entire 2018 season, and he struggled mightily in his return pitching to a 13.50 ERA over 15 1/3 innings for the Nationals and Tigers.
That was followed by a quality sample of work in 2020, before the aforementioned injuries saw him miss the next two seasons. With that in mind, it makes it quite hard to work out exactly what the Tigers are getting in Rosenthal this year. The key thing is there does seem to be a fair bit of upside here, and if Rosenthal can work his way back into anything resembling his 2020 form, the Tigers could have a nice trade chip on their hands by the summer deadline.
Rockies To Sign Mike Moustakas
12:02PM: Moustakas isn’t being considered for second base duty, Harding tweets. In other Twitter links, Harding shared some comments from Moustakas, who said “I finally feel good” in the wake of his injuries, and he didn’t want to sign anywhere until he was closer to full health. The Moose was non-committal about the idea of accepting a minor league assignment to Triple-A if he didn’t make the Rockies’ Opening Day roster, saying “that’s something we’ll talk about if it happens.”
8:44AM: The Rockies have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran infielder Mike Moustakas, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports (Twitter link). Moustakas is represented by the Boras Corporation, and he became a free agent after being released by the Reds in early January.
Assuming Moustakas makes Colorado’s roster, the Rockies will only owe him the Major League minimum salary. The Reds will be responsible for the rest of the $22MM salary Moustakas is slated to earn in 2023, as per the four-year, $64MM deal he signed with Cincinnati during the 2019-20 offseason. The Moose will earn $18MM in salary, and the Reds are also on the hook for a $4MM buyout of a $20MM club option for the 2024 season.
It makes for a pretty low-risk experiment for a Rockies team that is suddenly short on infielders, given how Brendan Rodgers seems likely to miss most or all of the 2023 season while recovering from a dislocated shoulder. With surgery a distinct possibility for Rodgers, Colorado was aiming to fill his second base spot by moving Ryan McMahon over from third base, except Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that Moustakas is now being tabbed to fill in at the keystone. This plan would allow the Rox to keep McMahon at third base, and keep second-year players Nolan Jones and Elehuris Montero (who were lined up to take over at the hot corner) in backup roles.
Moustakas has played 613 2/3 big league innings as a second baseman, almost entirely in 2019-20 with the Brewers and Reds. While he was a passable option at the position, public defensive metrics rated Moustakas below average, with a -0.9 UZR/150, -4 Defensive Runs Saved, and -2 Outs Above Average. There isn’t an easy way for Rodgers to be replaced, naturally, but it represents something of a curious move for Colorado to target Moustakas as an answer given how other more experienced middle infielders were available in free agency, or on the trade market.
That said, Moustakas comes at a far lesser financial cost than most other options, and it could be that Colorado simply didn’t want too much of a lineup shuffle given McMahon’s defensive prowess at third base. With Opening Day still weeks away, the Rockies’ plans might yet still change, as Moustakas can theoretically fit at several other spots around the infield. His left-handed bat might factor into the Rockies’ plans at first base and DH, since C.J. Cron and Sean Bouchard are both right-handed hitters.
While Moustakas is a good fit on paper, however, it remains to be seen what version of the Moose the Rockies are getting as he enters his age-34 season. Moustakas was plagued by injuries (a heel contusion and a calf strain) over his last two years in Cincinnati, resulting in a mediocre .212/.289/.356 slash line in 491 plate appearances since the start of the 2021 season. With those two sub-replacement level seasons cratering his trade value, the Reds opted to simply release Moustakas heading into the final guaranteed year of his contract, eating his salary and opening up more playing time as Cincinnati continues its rebuild.
Prior to those injury-shortened 2021-22 seasons, Moustakas was a solid performer for the Royals, Brewers, and Reds from 2015-20, hitting .262/.326/.490 with 138 homers over 2707 plate appearances (good for a 113 wRC+). The Moose was named to three All-Star games during that stretch, and he was also a big part of Kansas City’s World Series championship team in 2015.
While staying healthy is naturally the key to any hope for a rebound season, Moustakas’ move to Coors Field might help reinvigorate his bat. The new defensive rules would seemingly help given how Moustakas faced shifts 81 percent of the time in 2022, though his production against shifts (in the Statcast era) has fluctuated heavily, with some seasons of better production hitting into shifts than against a regular fielding alignment. If anything, the new defensive rules might put more pressure on Moustakas from a second base perspective, as he’ll now be asked to cover more ground in the field.
The Rockies have now made two veteran additions in as many days, between the Moustakas signing and their one-year deal yesterday with left-handed reliever Brad Hand. It’s a quick pivot for the team, who learned earlier this week about Rodgers and the strong possibility that reliever Lucas Gilbreath will need Tommy John surgery.
Rangers Sign Will Smith
8:49AM: Smith will earn $1.5MM in guaranteed money, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Up to $2.5MM in bonus money is also available, related to incentives based on total appearances and games finished, indicating that Smith might indeed get some consideration for a closer role.
8:03AM: The Rangers announced that veteran left-hander Will Smith has been signed to a one-year, Major League contract. Infielder Mark Mathias has been designated for assignment to create space for Smith on the roster.
After spending the latter portion of the 2022 season with the World Series champion Astros, Smith now joins the Lone Star State’s other team. The Braves traded Smith to Houston at the trade deadline, which seemed to get the veteran on track after a rough start to the season. Smith posted a 3.27 ERA over 22 innings with the Astros, and cut down drastically on the walks and home runs that plagued him earlier in the year with Atlanta.
Though he didn’t pitch for the Astros in the postseason, Smith still earned his second consecutive championship ring, after also being part of Atlanta’s World Series-winning squad in 2021. The veteran lefty now joins a Rangers team that hasn’t had a winning season since 2016, but has invested heavily over the last two offseasons to upgrade the roster. Bruce Bochy was hired as manager this winter to further bolster the club, and Smith is certainly familiar with his new skipper, having played under Bochy with the Giants from 2016-19.
As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted in January, Smith’s move to Houston saw him make some changes in pitch usage and mechanics. The southpaw’s success in the wake of those changes might’ve answered any doubts over whether or not Smith had anything left in the tank at age 33, and addressed concerns over his below-average walk and hard-hit ball rates for the season as a whole. That said, there is probably also a reason why Smith remained unsigned until March 4, and there wasn’t even much public buzz about his market until a few weeks ago, when teams like the Tigers and Cubs reportedly showed interest.
For the Rangers, their need for left-handed bullpen depth increased when Brett Martin underwent shoulder surgery in January, as Martin might end up missing the entirety of the 2023 campaign. Smith joins Brock Burke as the primary left-handed weapons in the Texas bullpen, with Smith probably likely to take a more traditional relief role while Burke returns as a multi-inning pitcher. Taylor Hearn and minor league signings Danny Duffy and Joe Palumbo are also in camp, and Smith’s acquisition might squeeze one of the non-roster invitees out of a shot at the Opening Day roster.
Since Smith was a regular closer as recently as the 2021 season, it isn’t out of the question that the Rangers are eyeing him for another late-game role. Texas is hopeful that Jose Leclerc or Jonathan Hernandez can fill late-game roles now that they’re fully healthy, but adding a veteran arm like Smith is also a shrewd depth move. Smith pitched as a closer under Bochy in San Francisco in 2018-19, so the manager might opt to lean on a familiar face if the Rangers do choose to go with a set closer rather than a committee.
Texas acquired Mathias as part of the deadline deal that sent Matt Bush to the Brewers last August, and Mathias ended up appearing in 24 games as the Rangers played out the string. In the small sample size of 74 plate appearances, Mathias hit very well (a .277/.365/.554 slash line), so that hot streak and his multi-positional ability gave the 28-year-old some hope of catching on with Texas in a utility role this season. That scenario is still a possibility if Mathias can clear waivers, but with Robbie Grossman recently signed to bolster the outfield mix, the Rangers might prefer to see what the likes of Ezequiel Duran or Josh Smith can do as backup infielders.
Mathias has played in parts of two MLB seasons, with Milwaukee and Texas. Originally a third-round pick for Cleveland in the 2015 draft, Mathis has a strong .286/.377/.466 slash line over 715 career PA at the Triple-A level, so between that production and his spurt of offense with the Rangers last year, a club looking for utility help might be tempted to make a waiver claim.