Giants Designate Austin Wynns For Assignment
The Giants today announced their signing of outfielder Michael Conforto, making that deal official. To make room on the 40-man roster, catcher Austin Wynns was designated for assignment.
Wynns, 32, was drafted by the Orioles and was with that organization through the end of the 2021 season. He earned a reputation as a sold defender and game-caller behind the plate but didn’t provide much offensively. He made 331 plate appearances for the O’s over the 2018-2021 period but hit just .216/.255/.326 in that time.
He was outrighted at the end of that 2021 campaign and reached free agency, signing a minor league deal with the Phillies. In June of 2022, he was acquired by the Giants, who optioned Joey Bart to the minors amid his struggles last year. Wynns eventually got into 66 games for the Giants over the final months of the season, with his offensive results showing a bit of improvement. He hit .259/.313/.358 for a wRC+ of 93. It’s possible a .320 batting average on balls in play, much better than the .290 league average, was helping him out a bit though.
This transaction highlights that the Giants will probably look do something else behind the plate. They now only have two catchers on their 40-man roster, one of whom is Bart, who has struck out in 38% of his plate appearances thus far. The other is Blake Sabol, a Rule 5 draftee of the Pirates’ system with no major league experience thus far.
The Giants will now have a week to trade Wynns or pass him through waivers, but he would have the right to reject an outright assignment in the latter scenario. Any player with a previous outright in their career, as Wynns does, has the right to elect free agency on future outrights. Since the Giants will likely look for veteran help behind the plate, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them re-sign Wynns to a minor league deal at that point. However, Wynns will first have to see if any other club is interested in giving him a 40-man roster spot, either through a trade or a waiver claim.
Giants Sign Michael Conforto
Jan. 6: The Giants have formally announced Conforto’s two-year deal. The opt-out provision in his contract is contingent on plate appearances, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports (Twitter link). Conforto will trigger the ability to opt out upon reaching 350 plate appearances.
Dec. 23: The Giants and outfielder Michael Conforto are in agreement on a two-year, $36MM deal. Conforto will be able to opt out after the first season. The deal is pending a physical. He is represented by the Boras Corporation.
Conforto, 30 in March, was arguably the best upside play remaining on the free agent market based on his excellent run of results from 2017 through 2020. However, it’s not without risk for the Giants, as Conforto had a disappointing season in 2021 and then missed the 2022 season entirely due to shoulder surgery.
In that 2017-2020 stretch, Conforto got into 467 games for the Mets and launched 97 home runs. His 24.4% strikeout rate was slightly higher than average but his 12.7% walk rate was well beyond par. His overall offensive output resulted in a batting line of .265/.369/.495, which was 33% above league average by measure of wRC+. That 133 wRC+ was in the top 25 among all qualified hitters in baseball during that time.
In 2021, Conforto’s production dipped, most notably in the power department. He only hit 14 home runs in 125 games after hitting 27 or more in the previous three full seasons. He finished the year with a .232/.344/.384 slash, which was still a bit above average as his wRC+ was 106, but a noticeable drop-off from his prior form. Despite that down year, the Mets felt comfortable extending him an $18.4MM qualifying offer and Conforto felt comfortable rejecting.
He went into free agency looking for a lucrative multi-year offer but didn’t secure it prior to the December 1 lockout. He then injured his shoulder while training during that lockout and eventually required surgery. Given his uncertain health status and attachment to draft pick forfeiture from rejecting the qualifying offer, that scrubbed any chance of him securing a significant contract. Once the draft passed and he was no longer tied to any kind of penalties, there were some rumors of teams considering signing him to a short deal while hoping his shoulder could heal enough to aid a stretch run, but that never materialized.
Conforto then entered this offseason as a high-risk, high-reward play. He’s coming off an entire missed season and a poor showing in 2021, but was one of the best hitters in baseball prior to that. MLBTR predicted he would land a one-year, $15MM deal, hoping to prove his health and return to free agency for a more lucrative deal a year from now. Conforto’s agent, Scott Boras, said that his client would be looking for a two-year deal with an opt-out akin to the one he negotiated between Carlos Rodón and the Giants. The situations were somewhat analogous since Rodón was also an extremely talented player with health concerns. However, he was at least coming off a strong 2021 season when he secured that two-year, $44MM deal with the Giants, so it seemed like Conforto would have to settle for something beneath that given his greater uncertainty. He has now indeed secured the deal he was looking for, with the Giants again proving to be the team willing to give out the desired opt-out. Conforto got a lesser guarantee than Rodón, as expected, but has done quite well for himself in getting a higher salary than predicted.
Despite Conforto’s uncertain status, he still proved to be quite popular this offseason. The Rangers, Blue Jays, Mets, Rockies, Cubs, Marlins, Mariners and Astros were all connected to him at various points in the offseason. Some of those clubs ended up addressing their outfields with other players, but those that still have designs on upgrades will find limited options remaining on the open market. Some of the top unsigned free agent outfielders are Jurickson Profar, David Peralta, Trey Mancini and AJ Pollock.
For the Giants, they went into this offseason looking to be aggressive. They followed up their 107-win campaign in 2021 with a disappointing 81-81 finish in 2022. Since their future payroll was fairly wide open and they were looking for significant improvements, they were frequently connected to marquee free agents such as Aaron Judge and the “big four” shortstops: Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi did little to temper expectations, telling media at the beginning of the offseason that “from a financial standpoint, there would be nobody that would be out of our capability.”
The early stages of the club’s offseason seemed to orbit around their pursuit of Judge and the club reportedly offered him a contract of $360MM, but he eventually secured that same guarantee from the Yankees and accepted. The Giants then pivoted to Correa and agreed to a 13-year, $350MM deal, though that ended up falling through in unprecedented fashion. The Giants flagged something in Correa’s medical that gave them pause, later reported to be his right leg, postponing the official signing just as it was to be announced. Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Correa had even begun house shopping with his family in the area. But the health concerns were enough that they allowed him to walk away from the pact, freeing him to secure a 12-year, $315MM deal with the Mets shortly thereafter.
Since all of the other top free agents were already off the board, there were no remaining avenues for the Giants to make the big splash that many expected. By turning to Conforto, they arguably did the best they could among the remaining free agents. However, there’s a certain absurdity to the club walking into a public relations nightmare by letting Correa slip away at the last second, only to see their two biggest free agent splashes be Conforto, who missed the entire 2022 season, and Mitch Haniger, who has only twice played 100 games in a season due to various injuries.
Regardless of the optics, the Giants were reportedly looking to add two outfielders this offseason and have accomplished that. Conforto has played center field in the past but not since 2019 and he wasn’t graded well there at that time. The Giants will most likely be looking at Conforto and Haniger in the corners, leaving center field to Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater. That will likely push LaMonte Wade Jr. into spending more time at first base, potentially platooning with J.D. Davis, where the club will be facing the loss of Brandon Belt.
Assuming an even distribution of the money, this contract brings the club’s payroll up to $181MM, per Roster Resource. That’s well beyond last year’s Opening Day payroll of $154MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, though they’ve gone above $200MM in the past. Their $197MM competitive balance tax calculation is also well shy of the $233MM luxury tax threshold. That could leave them room to maneuver if they have their eyes on further additions.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported the two sides were in agreement on a two-year, $36MM deal. Buster Olney of ESPN first noted the opt-out provision.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Reed Garrett Elects Free Agency
The Nationals announced that reliever Reed Garrett, who was designated for assignment last month, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Rochester. Since he had previously been outrighted in his career, he had the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency. The announcement from the Nats indicated that he has indeed done so and is now a free agent.
Garrett, 30, was a Rangers draftee but got selected by the Tigers in the 2018 Rule 5 draft. He got into 13 games for the Tigers in 2019 through the middle of May but posted an 8.22 ERA and was returned to the Rangers. He then spent the next couple of years pitching for the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, posting a solid 3.46 ERA over 106 2/3 innings there.
He attempted a return to North America for 2022, signing a minor league deal with the Nats. He pitched well enough in the minors to get selected back to the club’s roster but didn’t manage to perform well in the big leagues. In seven appearances for the Nats last year, he posted a 6.75 ERA while walking more hitters than he struck out. In 47 1/3 Triple-A innings, his ERA was a much nicer 3.04 while striking out 27% of batters faced, walking 9% of them and getting grounders on 47.4% of balls in play.
Garrett will now head into the open market in search of his next opportunity. He did post solid results in Triple-A last year but that wasn’t enough for any club to put in a waiver claim and commit a roster spot to him. That means he will likely be looking for a minor league deal in the coming weeks.
Rockies Claim Nick Mears
The Rockies claimed right-hander Nick Mears off waivers from the Rangers, the teams announced Friday. Texas designated Mears for assignment earlier in the week in order to open a roster spot for newly signed Nathan Eovaldi. Colorado had a pair of open spots on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move isn’t necessary. Their 40-man roster is now at 39 players.
Mears, 26, has spent his entire pro career until this offseason in the Pirates organization. He’s begun to bounce around the DFA circuit a bit now, going from Pittsburgh, to Texas, to Colorado by way of waiver claim. The 6’2″ righty averages 96 mph with his heater but has struggled to a 4.75 ERA in 30 1/3 innings at the MLB level, dating back to 2020.
Mears’ career 9.5 K/9 in the Majors looks appealing but is a good example of why strikeout percentage tells a better story than K/9; because Mears has walked so many hitters (14.9%), his overall strikeout percentage is actually below the league average for relievers, at 22.7%. Mears throws hard, though, has strong numbers up through the Double-A level and has a minor league option remaining, so he’ll give the Rockies some optionable depth in the bullpen for the coming season if he makes it to Opening Day on their 40-man roster.
The Rockies have at least four bullpen spots locked down, with closer Daniel Bard signed through 2024 and Pierce Johnson (signed earlier this offseason), Brent Suter (claimed from the Brewers) and Dinelson Lamet all ineligible to optioned to the minors. Righty Justin Lawrence is also out of minor league options, though given his struggles over the past couple seasons, he can’t be viewed as a lock to break camp with the club in 2023.
Red Sox Designate Darwinzon Hernandez For Assignment
The Red Sox have designated left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez for assignment, per a team announcement. He’ll be the corresponding 40-man roster move to accommodate the newly signed Justin Turner, whose previously reported contract is now official.
Hernandez, 26, both misses bats and piles up walks in droves. He’s fanned 32.3% of his opponents over the life of 85 1/3 big league innings but has also walked a whopping 17.7% of the batters he’s faced. Despite that dearth of command, he was able to notch a tidy 3.17 ERA in 48 1/3 innings from 2020-21, but Hernandez was rocked for 17 runs (16 earned) in just 6 2/3 innings at the big league level this past season. Overall, he owns a 5.06 ERA in the Majors.
Despite his struggles to locate his pitches, Hernandez is a 26-year-old lefty who’s averaged just north of 95 mph on his fastball and avoided hard contact quite nicely when opponents put the ball in play against him (with the exception of 2022’s small sample). Hernandez also has a minor league option remaining, which could further broaden his appeal to other teams.
The Red Sox will have a week to trade Hernandez or attempt to pass him through outright waivers, which would allow them to keep him in the organization without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to the hard-throwing but command-challenged southpaw.
Twins Claim Oliver Ortega, Designate Blayne Enlow
The Twins announced that they have claimed right-hander Oliver Ortega off waivers from the Angels. Ortega had been designated for assignment last month. To create a spot for him on their roster, the Twins designated fellow righty Blayne Enlow for assignment.
Ortega, 26, will now join a new organization for the first time, having spent his entire professional career with the Angels thus far. He was selected to the club’s roster in September of 2021 and made eight appearances in his MLB debut that year, posting a 4.82 ERA.
In 2022, he spent the year oscillating between the majors and minors, throwing 34 innings in the bigs and 25 2/3 in Triple-A. That time in the majors came with solid strikeout and ground ball rates of 22.3% and 49.5%, respectively, but his 12.2% walk rate was on the high side. He managed to keep his ERA to a manageable 3.71 level, but a .297 batting average on balls in play might have helped. In the minors, his strikeout rate was an exact match for his MLB work, coming in at 22.3%. His 44.3% ground ball rate was a bit lower but still strong and his 6.6% walk rate was significantly better. However, a .392 BABIP helped push his Triple-A ERA to 5.96. Ortega still has a couple of option years, allowing him to serve as a versatile depth piece for the Twins. He’s averaged over 96 mph on his fastball in his major league action thus far and could be a useful contributor if he can lower that walk rate.
As for Enlow, who turns 24 in March, he was a highly-ranked prospect going into the 2017 draft but he went undrafted over the first two rounds due to a perceived strong commitment to Louisiana State University. The Twins grabbed him in the third round and were able to get him to sign by going well over slot, giving Enlow a $2MM bonus compared to a $755,400 slot value. The Twins were able to pull that off by signing their first overall pick, Royce Lewis, for about $1MM under his own slot value.
Enlow has been considered one of the better prospects in Minnesota’s system ever since, with Baseball America having him as high as #8 in 2019 and 2020. Unfortunately, the past few years have stalled his progress. The minor leagues were canceled entirely in 2020 and then Enlow required Tommy John surgery after just three starts in 2021. He missed the remainder of that year but was added to the club’s 40-man in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He returned to the mound in May of 2022 and was able to throw 57 1/3 Double-A innings last year. He posted a 4.40 ERA in that time with a 24.8% strikeout rate but an 11.6% walk rate.
The club will now have one week to trade Enlow or pass him through waivers. He’s had a rough few years but could still find interest from other clubs. He’s still young and has a couple of option years remaining. Baseball America notes that he can touch 97 mph with his fastball and has three secondary offerings. For a club looking for extra pitching depth, they may be attracted to Enlow’s arsenal and prospect pedigree.
Tigers Outright Four Players
The Tigers announced that four of their players have cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Toledo. They are left-hander Zach Logue, right-hander Ángel De Jesus, catcher Mario Feliciano and infielder Andy Ibáñez. Logue and De Jesus were designated for assignment last month. The Tigers had not previously announced that either Feliciano or Ibanez had been placed on waivers. Detroit’s 40-man roster is now at 38 players.
Logue, 27 in April, looked like a potential back-of-the-rotation starter this time last season, when he was one of four players traded from Toronto to Oakland in the Matt Chapman deal. He made his big league debut with the A’s, starting ten games and adding another four appearances out of the bullpen. The former ninth-round pick got out to a nice start, pitching to a 2.04 ERA in his first 17 2/3 innings, but the wheels came off shortly thereafter.
The Mariners torched Logue for seven runs on May 23, and from that point through season’s end he yielded 39 runs in 39 1/3 big league innings. Things didn’t go any better during a disastrous Triple-A run that saw Logue record an ERA north of 8.00. Oakland designated Logue for assignment last month, and the Tigers picked him up via waiver claim. They can now keep him in the organization without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him.
Grisly as those results are, Logue is a reasonably young lefty who sported a 3.32 ERA through 17 Triple-A starts as recently as 2021. He also has a pair of minor league options remaining, so if he pitches his way back into 40-man consideration, he’ll give the Tigers some rotation depth with a good bit of flexibility.
De Jesus, 25, also made his big league debut in 2022, tossing 12 2/3 innings out of the Detroit ‘pen. He yielded only three runs on nine hits and four walks in that time, though De Jesus also fanned just seven hitters (13%) while benefiting from a .179 average on balls in play during that tiny sample. He spent the bulk of the 2022 season with Triple-A Toledo, where he notched a 4.15 ERA in 47 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. De Jesus has never ranked among the Tigers’ top prospects but does have a lengthy track record of solid results in the minors.
The 24-year-old Feliciano, like Logue, was claimed off waivers by the Tigers this season (although from the Brewers, not the A’s). He’s appeared in three big league games with Milwaukee and gone 1-for-4 in that time. Feliciano spent the vast majority of the 2022 season in Triple-A Nashville, batting .274/.326/.386 with six homers in 311 trips to the plate. Feliciano has plus bat-to-ball skills, evidence by a 16% strikeout rate in Triple-A, but he rarely walks and is regarded as a sub-par defender behind the plate.
Ibanez, 29, is yet another offseason waiver claim, coming over from the Rangers in early November. Once a prospect of some note when he originally left Cuba, Ibanez has spent parts of two seasons in the big leagues with Texas. He hit fairly well in 2021 (.277/.321/.435) but cratered with a .218/.273/.277 batting line in 128 plate appearances this past season. The dip in production carried over to Triple-A as well, but on the whole, the 29-year-old Ibanez has a solid .288/.358/.456 batting line in just shy of 1500 plate appearances at the minor leagues’ top level. He’s primarily a second baseman and third basemen but also has brief experience at first base, shortstop and in left field.
Kohei Arihara To Sign With NPB’s SoftBank Hawks
Former Rangers righty Kohei Arihara is returning to Japan for the 2023 season and will sign with the SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball, per reports from Japanese outlets The Manichi and Sports Hochi. Prior to his two-year MLB run in Texas, Arihara had spent six seasons with NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters.
Now 30 years old, Arihara’s brief time in the Majors was tanked by health woes. Originally signed to a two-year, $6.2MM contract, the right-hander posted a 2.21 ERA through his first four big league starts in Texas. His velocity dropped more than two miles per hour over his next four outings, however, and Arihara was shelled for 16 runs over a period of 8 1/3 innings before heading to the injured list. The Rangers discovered an aneurysm in his shoulder that required immediate surgery which sidelined him more than three months. At the time, GM Chris Young noted that it was “a very serious condition if it’s not treated, and we’re very fortunate that this was caught early and we didn’t continue to push it with [Arihara].”
Arihara returned late in the 2021 season but pitched just a dozen innings in September. The Rangers removed him from the 40-man roster over the winter. He remained with the organization in 2022 and spent the bulk of his season with Triple-A Round Rock, though Texas did call on him for 20 Major League frames late in the summer. Arihara allowed 21 runs in those 20 innings, although a staggering 11 of them came in one outing against the Blue Jays where the Rangers seemingly left him on the mound in hopes of sparing the bullpen and designated him for assignment the next day.
All in all, Arihara tossed just 60 2/3 Major League innings for the Rangers in his time with the team. He’ll head back to his native Japan and look to further build upon what was a solid NPB career prior to his MLB audition. In 836 innings with the Fighters, Arihara notched a 3.74 ERA with an 18% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate. He was particularly sharp in his final two pre-Rangers seasons, logging a 2.91 ERA through 297 innings in 2019-20.
Diamondbacks Designate Edwin Uceta For Assignment
The Diamondbacks announced their previously-reported deal with Evan Longoria, making it official. To create space for him on the 40-man roster, right-hander Edwin Uceta was designated for assignment.
Uceta landed in the desert last offseason as a waiver claim from the division rival Dodgers. He held his spot on the 40-man roster for the 2022 campaign as a depth reliever. The righty pitched in the majors 10 times, tallying 17 innings. Uceta allowed 12 runs (11 earned) with 13 strikeouts and seven walks in that relatively small-sample look.
The 24-year-old spent more of the year with Triple-A Reno, where he tossed 50 innings across 28 appearances. Uceta managed a 4.86 ERA there, a respectable mark considering Reno plays in the hitter’s haven of the Pacific Coast League. He struck out an excellent 32.7% of batters faced for the Aces but walked a very high 14% of opponents.
Uceta hasn’t had any issues missing bats throughout his career. He’s generated swinging strikes on a solid 11.3% of his total offerings over 37 1/3 MLB innings. He racked up whiffs on nearly 17% of pitches for Reno last season. Yet he’s paired that quality stuff with inconsistent control as he’s reached the upper levels. The walks have kept him carving out a consistent role in an MLB bullpen to date.
Arizona will have a week to trade Uceta or try to run him through waivers. He still has less than one year of major league service, so he’s at least two seasons away from reaching arbitration. He also has one minor league option year remaining, meaning another club willing to carry him on the 40-man roster could stash him in Triple-A for another season.
Cubs Sign Dom Nuñez To Minor League Deal
The Cubs have signed catcher Dom Nuñez to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. MLBTR has confirmed the pact and that the backstop will receive an invite to major league Spring Training.
Nuñez, who turns 28 this month, has spent the vast majority of his career with the Rockies. They selected him in the sixth round of the 2013 draft and he worked his way up to the majors to make his debut in 2019. Nuñez is generally considered a solid defender but hasn’t provided too much at the plate. He’s played in 111 MLB games over the past four years, striking out in 34% of his plate appearances but walking at a solid 12.4% clip. His career batting line currently sits at .180/.280/.373.
The only portion of his career that wasn’t spent with the Rockies was very brief. The Giants claimed him off waivers November 9 of 2022, only to designate him for assignment and non-tender him one week later. He elected free agency and will now jump to the Cubs’ organization.
The Cubs currently have three catchers on their 40-man roster, with Tucker Barnhart and Yan Gomes slated to the share the catching role on the big league roster. Prospect Miguel Amaya is also on the roster but he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021. He returned to action last year but was limited to just 40 minor league games and has yet to reach Triple-A. Nuñez will give the club an experienced depth option to be called upon if an injury creates a need at the big league level.