Mariners, Colin Moran Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent corner infielder Colin Moran, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (Twitter link). He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training.
Moran, 30, spent the 2022 season with the Reds after signing a one-year deal in early March. Cincinnati, however, cut the former Astro and Pirate loose after he appeared in 42 games and posted a lackluster .211/.305/.376 batting line in 128 plate appearances.
In parts of four seasons with the Pirates (2018-21), Moran was a roughly average hitter, turning in a combined .269/.331/.419 batting line with 44 home runs, 71 doubles and a pair of triples in 1527 plate appearances. At times, particularly in the shortened 2020 season, it’s looked as though the former No. 6 overall draft pick might have more in the tank.
Moran posted a massive 91.9 mph average exit velocity in 2020 and put a whopping 47.2% of his batted balls in play at 95 mph or more. He belted 10 home runs in just 200 plate appearances that season and posted career-best marks in slugging percentage (.472) and ISO (.225). That now looks like an outlier, however, as his batted-ball data since that time has fallen back in line with his solid but unspectacular career rates.
The Mariners have a pair of right-handed-hitting corner infielders in third baseman Eugenio Suarez and first baseman Ty France. Both rank among the Mariners’ most productive hitters and are likely to be in the lineup regardless of matchup, but Moran could feasibly make the club as a bench option and spell either in the case of injury or on days where the Mariners want to load up as many lefties as possible against a right-hander with particularly pronounced platoon splits. He could also step into the lineup at designated hitter from time to time.
Moran has been primarily a first baseman and designated hitter over the past two seasons, but he has more than 2000 career innings at the hot corner and has still spent more time there than anywhere else on the diamond. If he doesn’t crack the Opening Day roster and if his deal doesn’t contain a spring opt-out (relatively common for veterans of this status), he could head to Triple-A Tacoma and give the Mariners some depth.
Royals, Matt Beaty Agree To Minor League Deal
The Royals are in agreement on a minor league contract with first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Beaty, a client of the Ballengee Group, will be invited to Major League Spring Training.
Beaty, 29, has spent his entire career to date in the National League West. A 12th-round pick by the Dodgers back in 2015, he made his debut with Los Angeles four years later and appeared in the Majors with the Dodgers each season from 2019-21. The Dodgers designated Beaty for assignment and traded him to the Padres last winter, but Beaty appeared in just 20 games and took only 47 plate appearances with San Diego.
The 2022 season proved to be the least productive of Beaty’s big league career, although small-sample caveats obviously apply. In those 47 trips to the plate, he went 4-for-43 with a double and a triple. That’s a far cry from Beaty’s generally solid production in three years with L.A., which saw him post a combined .262/.333/.425 batting line in 556 plate appearances. On the whole, Beaty is a .249/.320/.405 hitter in 603 Major League plate appearances, and he carries a solid .290/.383/.407 batting line in 435 plate appearances at the Triple-A level as well.
Defensively, Beaty has experience at all four corner positions, though he’s barely played any third base over the past few years. He’s primarily a first baseman and left fielder at this juncture, and given that he, like Kansas City first basemen Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto, swings left-handed, he’ll likely have a hard time getting into the lineup at first base.
The outfield mix in Kansas City is far less settled, however. Michael A. Taylor will reprise his role as the everyday center fielder, barring a trade, but the corner-outfield picture is fairly muddy at present. Veteran Hunter Dozier could mix in on occasion, and the Royals also have younger options in the form of Kyle Isbel, Edward Olivares and prospects Drew Waters and Nate Eaton all on the 40-man roster. Each of Eaton, Dozier and Olivares bats right-handed, while Isbel is a lefty and Waters is a switch-hitter.
There’s perhaps room for Beaty to find his way into that crowded mix — particularly if the Royals are more bullish on his ability to return to the hot corner on occasion. If he doesn’t crack the big league roster this spring, he’ll likely head to Triple-A Omaha and give the Royals some depth with a pretty decent track record both in Triple-A and the Majors — last year’s dismal results with the Friars notwithstanding.
Marlins To Sign Johnny Cueto
The Marlins are in agreement with free agent right-hander Johnny Cueto, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Cueto, a client of Primo Sports Group, will be guaranteed $8.5MM on a one-year deal with a club option for the 2024 season, per Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald (Twitter link). That’ll be paid out in the form of a $6MM salary for the upcoming season, plus a $2.5MM buyout on a $10.5MM option for a second year. If the Fish pick up that option, Cueto would earn $16.5MM over the next two seasons.
Cueto, who’ll pitch next season at age 37, began his career with the Reds in 2008 and was among the best pitchers in baseball for them from 2011 to 2015, when he was dealt to the Royals midseason in exchange for Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed. The highlight of Cueto’s tenure in Cincinnati was the 2014 season, when he led the NL in innings pitched (243 2/3) and strikeouts (242) while also posting a sterling 2.25 ERA (163 ERA+) en route to his first All-Star appearance and a second-place finish in Cy Young award voting.
Cueto went on to win a World Series with the Royals in 2015 before departing for free agency, where he eventually landed with the Giants on a six-year, $130MM deal. In the first year of his deal with San Francisco, Cueto was excellent. An ERA of 2.79 (144 ERA+) with a FIP of 2.95 over 219 2/3 innings led him to his second All-Star appearance and a fourth-place finish in Cy Young award voting as the Giants secured a spot in the Wild Card game, defeating the Mets in a one-game playoff before falling to the Cubs in the NLDS.
While the contract appeared to be a resounding success after the first year, things quickly took a turn as Cueto began to struggle to stay on the field. From 2017 until the end of his Giants tenure in 2021, Cueto posted a 4.38 ERA (95 ERA+) and 4.47 FIP in just 394 1/3 innings while spending time on the injured list in each of those seasons except for the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Given his injury history and the fact that his numbers were closer to those of a back-end starter than the dominant ace he once was, Cueto settled for a minor-league deal with the White Sox in 2022 — albeit one with a notable base salary of $4.2MM (quite a bit higher than most minor league deals).
That deal worked out phenomenally for the White Sox, as Cueto posted a resurgent season in 2022 and looked like a bit more like his old self as he posted a 3.35 ERA (118 ERA+) and and 3.79 FIP across 24 starts and 158 1/3 innings. While Cueto no longer struck batters out at an above-average rate as he did in the prime of his career, he maintained his excellent control, posting a 5.1% walk rate that ranked in the 88th percentile of all MLB hurlers, per Statcast. Despite Cueto’s resurgent season, however, there’s reason to think regression could be on the way in 2023. Cueto’s homer-to-flyball rate dropped considerably from a 12% rate in 2021 to a 7.7% rate in 2022. While changes to the pitching environment could factor into this, Cueto’s mark in 2022 was below even his career 10.4% mark — even as he gave up barreled balls at his highest rate since 2019.
Despite these concerns, Cueto should still be a quality arm for the Marlins in 2023. He joins a Miami rotation already overflowing with options: ace Sandy Alcantara is followed by Pablo Lopez, Jesus Luzardo, Trevor Rogers, Edward Cabrera, and Braxton Garrett in addition to Cueto.
That’s also not including young arms who could contribute in the future, such as Sixto Sanchez, Eury Perez, Jake Eder and Max Meyer. Tommy John surgery has sidelined both Eder (Aug. 2021) and Meyer (July 2022) recently, and Sanchez has dealt with recurring shoulder troubles. Still, that trio are all fairly well regarded, while Perez is arguably the top pitching prospect in the sport at this point.
Rumors have swirled throughout the offseason of the Marlins dealing from their deep stable of rotation players, and signing Cueto provides them with additional depth in the rotation in order to more comfortably make those deals. Currently, the Marlins are reported to be listening to offers on four members of the rotation: Lopez, Rogers, Cabrera and Luzardo. With plenty of teams still looking to add to their rotation this offseason, including the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cardinals, and Padres, signing one of the best remaining starters on the free agent market has surely strengthened Miami’s position in trade talks.
With Cueto now in place, the Marlins’ projected payroll is up to about $106MM, per Roster Resource. That’d represent the team’s highest mark since trotting out a franchise-record $117MM Opening Day payroll back in 2017, though it’s of course still one of the smaller financial outlays of any team in the sport. It also bears mentioning that a trade from that stable of young starters could reduce the total expenditure; Lopez is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $5.6MM in 2023. Luzardo is projected to earn $2MM. Rogers and Cabrera are not yet arbitration-eligible.
The Padres and Reds are among the clubs that have shown interest in Cueto this winter previously. The starting options on the free agent market this offseason are quickly dwindling, but Michael Wacha and Zack Greinke still offer the ability to solidify a club’s rotation. Otherwise, rotation upgrades likely would need to come from the trade market, where the Marlins seem to hold the majority of the cards.
Jose Miguel Fernandez Signs With Mexican League’s Saraperos De Saltillo
The Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican League announced this afternoon they’ve signed infielder José Miguel Fernández for the 2023 season. The left-handed hitter heads to Mexico after four seasons in South Korea.
Fernández, a native of Cuba, was a high-profile player in the Serie Nacional throughout his 20’s. He eventually defected and signed with the Dodgers, topping out at Triple-A. After being released by the Dodgers, he signed with the Angels going into the 2018 season. The left-handed hitter played well in Triple-A and earned an MLB call midseason, where he hit .267/.309/.388 over 36 games.
After that season, the Halos designated Fernández for assignment. He cleared waivers and then turned his attention overseas, signing with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Doosan Bears. That proved a fruitful signing for the Bears, as Fernández broke in with a .344/.409/.483 showing. He’d return to the Bears on a series of one-year deals in each of the ensuing three offseasons.
Fernández reached base at a .391 clip or better in each of his first three years, walking more often than he struck out in each season. He connected on at least 15 home runs in those seasons. The 2022 campaign was more of a struggle, though. Fernández hit only six homers. He still batted above .300 but his .353 on-base percentage was the lowest of his time in the KBO, as was his .400 slugging mark.
All told, Fernández hit .328/.391/.457 over four KBO seasons. He’ll now make the jump to the Mexican League for his age-35 campaign, his 15th year of professional baseball.
Reds, Henry Ramos Agree To Minor League Deal
The Reds are in agreement with outfielder Henry Ramos on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.
Ramos has a bit of big league experience. He debuted as a September call-up for the Diamondbacks in 2021, earning the nod after a .371/.439/.582 showing at Triple-A Reno. He appeared in 18 games for the Snakes at season’s end, hitting .200/.255/.300 across 55 trips to the plate. Arizona ran him through outright waivers at the start of that offseason, and he qualified for minor league free agency.
The switch-hitting outfielder parlayed his big Triple-A showing into an opportunity in South Korea. Ramos signed with the KBO’s KT Wiz but didn’t hold his spot on the roster for long. He got out to a .250/.304/.417 start through 18 contests before fracturing a toe on his right foot. The Wiz released him to facilitate the signing of former Blue Jays outfielder Anthony Alford in May. Ramos didn’t sign anywhere else for the rest of the season but returned in the Puerto Rican winter league this offseason.
The 30-year-old will get some reps in Spring Training and seems likely to open next season at Triple-A Louisville. Ramos can cover all three outfield positions and carries a .297/.350/.471 line in a bit less than 1400 career plate appearances at the top minor league level. The Reds seem likely to open with Nick Senzel in center field, with TJ Friedl, Stuart Fairchild and rookie Michael Siani among the other options on the 40-man roster.
Angels Designate Austin Warren For Assignment
The Angels announced they’re designated reliever Austin Warren for assignment. The move creates a spot on the 40-man roster for outfielder Brett Phillips, who has officially signed his one-year free agent contract.
Warren, 27 next month, first secured a spot on the 40-man in July 2021. The righty has worked as a depth reliever in the year and a half since then. He pitched 16 times as a rookie, posting a 1.77 ERA with quality peripherals through his first 20 1/3 MLB innings. He earned some higher-leverage work down the stretch but didn’t manage to build off that solid initial look in 2022.
The UNC-Wilmington product made 14 big league appearances last season. He allowed 10 runs in 16 innings this time around, striking out just 12.9% of opposing hitters. After inducing grounders on more than 53% of batted balls as a rookie, he saw that mark fall to a pedestrian 37.7% last season. As a result, Warren spent more time at Triple-A Salt Lake.
He tossed 34 frames over 27 outings of relief for the Bees. Warren posted a 2.12 ERA with a 54.3% ground-ball percentage over that stretch, faring much better than in his limited MLB work. He still didn’t miss many bats, though, striking out 20.7% of opponents against a lofty 11.7% walk percentage.
The Halos will now have a week to trade Warren or look to run him through waivers. He has two minor league option years remaining, so any team willing to devote him a spot on the 40-man roster could keep him in Triple-A for a couple seasons. Warren has never previously been waived and has less than three years of major league service, meaning the Halos would be able to keep him in the organization on an outright assignment if he goes unclaimed on waivers.
Angels Sign Brett Phillips To Major League Deal
5:50pm: The Angels have now announced the move, making it official.
5:30pm: The Angels and outfielder Brett Phillips are in agreement on a one-year major league deal that will see him make $1.2MM. Phillips is a client of O’Connell Sports Management.
Phillips, 29 in May, has seen big league action in each of the past six seasons, spending time with the Brewers, Royals, Rays and Orioles. Though he’s never really been a huge threat at the plate, he’s provided value to those clubs with his defense and speed. His best season to date was 2021 with the Rays, where he hit 13 home runs and stole 14 bases. He struck out in a massive 38.7% of his plate appearances but also walked in 11.3% of them. He finished the year with a batting line of .206/.300/.427 and a wRC+ of 103, indicating he was 3% better than league average at the plate. He also got excellent grades for his glovework and was considered to be worth 2.3 wins above replacement by FanGraphs.
Unfortunately, the flaws in his game were a bit more exposed in 2022. His strikeout rate, which was already incredibly high, ticked north to 41.8% while his walk rate dipped to 7.1%. His batting line last year was .144/.217/.249, leading to an untenable wRC+ of 38. That frustrating season including getting designated for assignment by the Rays in August, which led to a trade to the Orioles. They outrighted him off the roster in August, but Phillips reached free agency at season’s end.
Phillips certainly has some drawbacks but there are plenty of admirable attributes as well. Statcast places his sprint speed in the 88th percentile, his outfield jump in the 99th and his arm strength in the 97th. That speed might be more useful this year with the new rules that are designed to encourage more base stealing. The limits on defensive shifts might also give him a boost at the plate since he was shifted on 88% of his plate appearances last year.
The Angels will likely be looking to implement Phillips in a part-time role off the bench, coming in for pinch running and defensive substitutions. The primary outfield should consist of Mike Trout in center flanked by Hunter Renfroe and Taylor Ward in the corners with Shohei Ohtani serving as the designated hitter most nights. The club also has Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell as outfield options on its 40-man roster, but both of them have struggled at the major league level thus far and each has an option year remaining, allowing them to be sent to the minors as depth if they don’t earn their way into larger roles.
Phillips is the latest in a series of moves that the Angels have made to improve the support for their star players. Despite having Trout and Ohtani and other stars over the years, the club has failed to live up to expectations due to shortcomings elsewhere on the roster, especially when injuries have tested their depth. The club has signed Tyler Anderson to helped their rotation and Carlos Estévez to bolster the bullpen. On the position player side, they traded for Renfroe and Gio Urshela while signing Brandon Drury and now Phillips.
Phillips doesn’t have any options, meaning he’ll have to stick on the roster or else be designated for assignment. However, he has just over three years of MLB service time and can be retained for future seasons via arbitration if he has a solid campaign for the Halos. This deal brings their payroll to around $206MM, per the calculations of Roster Resource, and a competitive balance tax calculation of $221MM. That payroll figure would be a franchise record, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, eclipsing the $189MM mark from last year. The CBT number puts them about $12MM shy of the lowest luxury tax threshold, which will be $233MM this year.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Phillips and the Angels were in agreement. Jon Heyman of The New York Post first added the $1.2MM salary.
Tigers Sign Chasen Shreve To Minor League Deal
The Tigers have signed left-hander Chasen Shreve to a minor league deal with an invitation to major league Spring Training. Shreve, a client of CAA Sports, can make up to $2MM if he’s in the majors. That comes in the form of a salary of $1.25MM if he makes it to the majors, with several incentives available based on innings pitched. He will get another $75K for getting to 20, 30, 35 and 40 innings pitched, $100K for 45 and 50 innings and $125K at 55 and 60 innings.
Shreve, 32, has pitched in the past nine major league seasons, spending time with the Braves, Yankees, Cardinals, Mets and Pirates. For his career, he’s made 317 appearances with a 3.87 ERA, striking out a strong 25.6% of batters faced and getting grounders at a fairly average 41% clip. His 11.4% walk rate is on the high side, but he’s largely been able to work around that.
In 2022, he signed a minor league deal with the Mets and was selected to their Opening Day roster. Unfortunately, Shreve posted a 6.49 ERA in 25 games and was released by the club in July. There are reasons to suspect bad fortune played a significant role and that Chasen deserved much better. His 25.4% strikeout rate was still strong and his 8.8% walk rate was actually better than many of his other seasons. A low 62.9% strand rate probably helped push his ERA northwards, as did 20.7% of his fly balls going over the fence. The advanced metrics were much more fond of his work last year, including a 5.01 FIP, 3.68 xFIP and 3.42 SIERA.
It’s possible that this deal for Shreve was referenced by Detroit’s president of baseball operations Scott Harris this weekend. After the club traded Gregory Soto to the Phillies, Harris spoke to reporters and said the club was looking to bolster their left-handed relief options in the wake of that deal. “We are hard at work on” this new acquisition, Harris said. “It may not be a major league deal, but [it’s] someone we’re excited about.”
After the Soto deal, the club is fairly short on left-handed relievers. Eduardo Rodriguez, Tarik Skubal, Matthew Boyd and Joey Wentz will likely all be starting, leaving Tyler Alexander as the lone southpaw relief option. Even Alexander is more of a swingman, having started 42 of his 95 games thus far in his big league career. It makes plenty of sense that the Tigers would look to add a lefty reliever who has past success. The club isn’t seen as an especially likely contender in 2023 after they had such dismal results in 2022. If Shreve can make the team, he can provide a veteran stabilizing force in the ‘pen while also potentially turning into a midseason trade candidate.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that Shreve and the Tigers were in agreement on a minor league deal that could see him earn $2MM in the majors. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press added that the deal had been signed and also provided the specific breakdown of the financials.
Dodgers Sign David Freitas To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers and catcher David Freitas have signed a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The client of PSI Sports Management will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.
Freitas, 34 in March, played in the majors for three straight years beginning in 2017. He got into 59 games over that stretch, suiting up for the Braves, Mariners and Brewers. His career batting line is currently .200/.268/.288. In 2020, he didn’t play in the regular season but was recalled by the Brewers to take a spot on their postseason roster, striking out in his sole plate appearance.
Though Freitas hasn’t done much in the majors, he got opportunities based on his strong work in the minors. In 2019, he hit 12 home runs in 91 Triple-A games and produced a slash line of .381/.461/.561 for a wRC+ of 154. That minor league work was enough to get him a chance to play in Korea in 2021, as he was signed by the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes. However, he struggled to a .259/.297/.374 line and was put on waivers in June. He signed with the Rays in August and hit .245/.364/.434 in 16 games for their Triple-A team down the stretch. Last year, Freitas signed a minors deal with the Yanks but was released after hitting .239/.310/.345 in 36 Triple-A games.
The Dodgers have Will Smith and Austin Barnes handling the catching duties at the major league level, but the only other backstop on the 40-man is Diego Cartaya. He’s one of the most highly-regarded prospects in the league but he has yet to reach Double-A. The addition of Freitas gives the club a veteran depth option without using a roster spot. If he’s able to make his way back onto the roster, he’s out of options but has just over a year of service time. Should his bat finally break out at the big league level, the Dodgers could keep him around for the foreseeable future.
Braves Sign Ryder Jones To Minor League Deal
2:45pm: Jones will be attempting a move to the mound, a switch he recently announced on Instagram. Hat tip to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Jones has just a single inning pitched in affiliated ball but was a two-way player in high school.
1:34pm: The Braves have signed infielder Ryder Jones to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Jones will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training, though no official announcement has been made.
Jones, 29 in June, has 58 games of major league experience, all with the Giants. 53 of those were in 2017 and then five more the following year, but a dislocated knee ended that latter season. He hit just .184/.250/.316 in those seasons, was outrighted in 2019 and hasn’t been able to make it back to the big leagues since.
Ryder has previously had strong Triple-A results but struggled in 2022. After signing a minor league deal with the White Sox, he got into 67 games for the Charlotte Knights but produced a batting line of .196/.269/.318 while striking out in 32.6% of his plate appearances.
Jones will look to get back on track with his new club. If he does so, he can provide some infield depth, primarily at the corners. He did play three innings at second base last year and pitched an inning of mop-up duty, but otherwise lined up mostly at first and third base. Atlanta has Matt Olson and Austin Riley firmly cemented in those positions at the big league level but they don’t have many depth infielders on the 40-man. Vaughn Grissom and Orlando Arcia could be battling for the shortstop job, with Braden Shewmake also on hand as another middle infielder. Jones gives them an option for the corners that has struggled in recent years but at least has big league experience. If he earns his way back onto the roster, he still has an option and less than one year of MLB service time.