Giants Place Tommy La Stella On Release Waivers
The Giants have placed infielder Tommy La Stella on release waivers, per a team announcement. La Stella, who was designated for assignment late last month, will become a free agent upon clearing. That’s a foregone conclusion, as any team that claimed him would also need to claim the remaining $11.5MM on his contract. Once he’s a free agent, La Stella would only cost a new team the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the Major League roster, however. The Giants would remain on the hook for the remainder of that $11.5MM salary.
La Stella’s placement on release waivers puts an end to a three-year, $18.75MM deal that didn’t pan out at all in the manner the Giants had hoped. At the time of the contract, La Stella was a 31-year-old coming off a four-year platform in which he’d posted a hearty .284/.358/.441 batting line while showing plenty of defensive versatility and elite bat-to-ball skills. For a team like the Giants, that constructs rosters with a heavy focus on positional flexibility, adding La Stella as a viable option at several different spots on the diamond was an appealing move.
Injuries and poor performance, however, torpedoed any value the Giants might’ve hoped to get from the deal. La Stella posted a respectable but diminished .250/.308/.405 batting line in 2021 (93 wRC+) but missed half the season due to a tear in his hamstring. His 2022 season was interrupted by an Achilles injury, a stint on the Covid-related injured list and neck spasms. The extent to which the health troubles impacted La Stella’s performance can’t be known, but the end result was a combined .245/.297/.80 slash in 437 plate appearances with San Francisco.
La Stella’s strikeout rate remained one of the lowest in the game at 12.8%, but that was still considerably higher than the 7.3% strikeout rate he posted in 2020-21. Meanwhile, his walk rate dropped to 6.6% — a notable dip from the 8.6% he’d posted in the two preceding seasons (and the 9.4% mark he’d tallied in the aforementioned 2017-20 stretch).
Once La Stella clears waivers, he’ll add a left-handed bat to the free-agent market — a low-cost option that could be of interest to teams in search of infield help and/or left-handed bats. Teams like the White Sox, Blue Jays, Rays, Tigers, Orioles and Red Sox are among some speculative candidates to take a league-minimum flier on a player with La Stella’s track record.
Blue Jays Claim Junior Fernández From Yankees
The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Junior Fernández off waivers from the Yankees, according to announcements from both clubs. Fernandez had been designated for assignment last month.
Fernandez, 26 in March, has spent most of his career as a Cardinal thus far, making his major league debut with them in 2019. He struggled to a 6.62 ERA over 34 appearances in the 2019-2021 stretch, striking out just 19.8% of batters faced in that time while walking 13.8% of them. His results in 2022 were a bit better, as he posted a 2.93 ERA with the Cards, but still only punching out 17.1% of batters and giving free passes to 11.4% of them.
2022 was the last option year for Fernandez, meaning he could no longer be easily shuffled between the majors and minors going forward. Coupled with the disappointing results, that seemed to bump him out of the plans in St. Louis, as they designated him for assignment in September. The Pirates claimed him and put him into three games down the stretch before sending him into DFA limbo again.
Despite the tepid results, there are reasons that the Yankees claimed him from the Pirates in November and the Jays have now claimed him from the Yanks. He averaged 98.8 mph on his four-seamer this year and 98.7 mph on his sinker. Per Statcast, that puts his velocity in the 98th percentile among qualified pitchers. He’s been better at getting punchouts in the minors but without improved results overall. Over the past two years, he’s thrown 58 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 5.22 ERA, despite striking out 27.1% of batters faced. His control issues have also been present in the minors, as he walked 10.4% of Triple-A hitters faced in that two-year span.
The Jays seem to be willing to take a shot on the high-octane stuff and will see if they can find a way to harness it. If they succeed in that regard, they can retain Fernández for the foreseeable future, since he’s yet to crack the two-year mark in terms of major league service time.
Braves Outright Hoy Park
The Braves announced that infielder Hoy Park has been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett. He had been designated for assignment last week.
Park, 27 in April, has been bouncing around the league over the past couple of seasons. Originally a Yankee farmhand, he got out to a blistering start in 2021. In 48 Triple-A games, he hit .327/.475/.567 for a wRC+ of 180. On the heels of that torrid stretch, he went to Pittsburgh in the deal that sent Clay Holmes to the Yankees.
Unfortunately, his performance since that deal has made that hot streak look like a mirage. He hit .195/.297/.336 in 45 games for the Pirates after the deal in 2021. In 2022, he spent most of his time in Triple-A, getting into 89 games and hitting just .225/.332/.354 for a wRC+ of 86. He also got into 23 big league games but slashed a meager .216/.276/.373, 79 wRC+.
The Pirates designated him for assignment in November and then flipped him to the Red Sox for prospect Inmer Lobo, only for Boston to send Park back into DFA limbo again a few weeks later. The Sox then flipped him to Atlanta for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Atlanta then designated him for assignment again, with Park having now cleared waivers.
Despite the tepid offense over the past season and a half, Park continues to get interest due to his defensive versatility and speed. He regularly posts double-digit steal totals and can play all three outfield slots as well as the three positions left of first base. If his bat can even take a little step forward to be average-ish, he could be a valuable contributor.
Reds Release Mike Moustakas
The Reds have announced that infield Mike Moustakas has been released. He was recently designated for assignment when the club signed catcher Curt Casali.
The fact that Moustakas has been released was the expected outcome when he was sent into DFA limbo last month. He still has one year and $22MM remaining on his contract, which comes in the form of an $18MM salary and a $4MM buyout on a club option for 2024. Since Moustakas has been injured and/or underperforming for the past couple of seasons, no team was going to take that off Cincinnati’s hands.
Moustakas, now 34, parlayed a strong run of success with the Royals and Brewers into a four-year, $64MM deal with the Reds going into 2020. The first season of the deal went fine enough, as Moustakas hit .230/.331/.468 for a wRC+ of 105. However, the past two seasons have been disappointing, with Moustakas battling various injuries, including a heel contusion and a calf strain, and struggling to produce when on the field. He played just 62 games in 2021 and 78 in 2022, hitting a combined .211/.289/.356 for a wRC+ of 73.
With the Reds starting another rebuild recently, they will be focused on giving opportunities to younger players who can be part of the next competitive window. Jonathan India will get the bulk of playing time at second base while Spencer Steer should get an extended audition at third base. That nudged Moustakas out of his two primary positions. He’s also played a bit of first base, but the Reds will have Joey Votto there and Tyler Stephenson could also be in the mix to keep his bat in the lineup while Curt Casali and Luke Maile handle the catching duties. Given all that, they decided to let Moustakas move on and try to find an opportunity elsewhere.
Moustakas will now be free to sign with any team, with the Reds on the hook for his remaining salary. Any other club that signs him would only be responsible for the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount being subtracted from what the Reds pay. A similar situation recently played out with Moose’s former teammate in Kansas City, as Eric Hosmer was released by the Red Sox and seems to be joining the Cubs. The Padres will still be on the hook for Hosmer’s salary, making it a fairly low-risk gamble for the Cubs. Moustakas will look for a similar opportunity, joining a free agent market that also includes infielders such as Josh Harrison, César Hernández and Brian Anderson.
Orioles Claim Lewin Diaz, Designate Ryan O’Hearn For Assignment
The Orioles have claimed Lewin Diaz off waivers from the Braves and designated first baseman Ryan O’Hearn for assignment in a corresponding move, according to a team announcement.
It’s the second time this offseason that the O’s have claimed Diaz off waivers. It’s a bit surprising to see them designate O’Hearn as the corresponding move, given that he was only acquired from the Royals a couple days ago, though the O’s also surely expect that O’Hearn would accept an outright assignment if they can pass him through waivers, as rejecting it in favor of free agency would mean forfeiting his $1.4MM salary. That salary could even help the O’s get O’Hearn through waivers, at which point they’d be able to have both lefty-hitting first basemen in the organization as depth options.
To call this a tumultuous offseason for Diaz would be an understatement. He’s been designated for assignment by four different clubs and claimed off waivers four times — twice by the Orioles now. Although he’s just a .181/.227/.340 hitter in 343 Major League plate appearances, Diaz is a 26-year-old former top prospect with above-average power who is also arguably the best defensive first baseman in the Majors. It’s led teams to continue to pluck him off waivers — the O’s, Pirates and Braves have all done so — though the general hope by the claiming team seems to be that it can succeed at passing him through waivers and retaining him as a depth piece without committing a 40-man spot.
To this point, that hasn’t happened yet, which surely makes for a frustrating situation for the player. Diaz surely would prefer to know where he’ll be reporting to Spring Training and where he might call home next season, but the offseason carousel hasn’t allowed that to happen. Given that the O’s are still looking to make some additions to their 40-man roster, it’s eminently plausible that a subsequent move — be it the signing of a veteran pitcher or another waiver claim in the coming weeks — will again push Diaz into DFA limbo. Even if he makes it to Spring Training, Diaz is out of minor league options, so the Orioles will need to carry him on the Opening Day roster or once again attempt to pass him through waivers.
As for O’Hearn, he was traded from Kansas City to Baltimore following his first DFA, so he’s yet to even hit the waiver wire once. The 29-year-old turned heads as a rookie in 2018 when he debuted with a thunderous .262/.333/.597 batting line and a dozen homers in 170 plate appearances, but he’s never come close to those levels again. Over the past four seasons, O’Hearn is a .211/.282/.351 hitter who’s fanned in 26.9% of his plate appearances. His struggles are particularly pronounced against left-handed pitching, but he’s been sub-par against righties as well.
The Orioles’ hope in acquiring O’Hearn could simply be that a change of scenery and the league’s new limitations on infield shifts will help O’Hearn get more out of his pull-happy approach at the plate. He consistently rates among the league’s best in terms of exit velocity and hard contact — never more so than in 2022. This past season, even while posting an ugly .239/.290/.321 slash, O’Hearn averaged 92.1 mph off the bat and launched 48% of his batted balls at a velocity of at least 95 mph.
Baltimore has been seeking lefty hitters who can help out at first base throughout the offseason, and at least for the time being, they’ve snagged a pair of them — likely with the ultimate hope of stashing both in Triple-A without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to either.
Blue Jays Re-Sign Casey Lawrence To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays have signed right-hander Casey Lawrence to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.
Lawrence, 35, was also signed to a minor league deal by the Jays for some pitching depth in 2022. He eventually had his contract selected and threw 18 innings over six appearances but posted a 7.50 ERA in that time. He spent most of the year in Triple-A, where things went much better. Over 23 starts and 126 innings for the Bisons, he had a 2.79 ERA with a 21.9% strikeout rate, 3.5% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate. He was outrighted off the roster in November but is now back in the organization without taking up a roster spot.
For the Jays, their rotation currently projects to feature Kevin Gausman, Alek Manoah, Chris Bassitt and José Berríos in the first four spots, with Yusei Kikuchi and Mitch White candidates for the fifth. By adding Lawrence on a minor league pact, they’ve added another depth option to join Nate Pearson, Thomas Hatch, Yosver Zulueta and Bowden Francis.
Lawrence is now out of options and can no longer be easily shuffled between the majors and minors if he makes his way back onto the 40-man. He has just over one year of service time, meaning that he could be retained cheaply for the foreseeable future if earns and continues to hang onto a roster spot.
Padres, Wilmer Font Agree To Minor League Deal
The Padres are in agreement on a minor league contract with free-agent righty Wilmer Font, MLBTR has learned. He’ll be in Major League Spring Training and compete for a roster spot. Font is repped by the OL Baseball Group.
Font, 32, has spent the past two seasons pitching with the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization and has thrown quite well overseas. After spending parts of five big league seasons oscillating between Triple-A and the Majors in a swingman role, he cemented himself as one of the top starting pitchers for a Landers club that won the Korean Series in 2022.
Over the past two seasons, Font owns a 3.03 ERA with a 24.5% strikeout rate against a terrific 5.9% walk rate. Font, who averaged 95.1 mph on his heater during his last big league campaign in 2020, also induced grounders at a healthy 53% clip during his time in the KBO.
Given Font’s strong showing as a starting pitcher in South Korea, he’ll give the Friars some depth at the back of their rotation, where they’re facing some uncertainty. The hope is that Nick Martinez, who served as a swingman in 2022 and spent more time in the ‘pen than in the rotation, can hold down the fourth spot on the starting staff for the bulk of the season. Longtime Mets righty Seth Lugo, who was a starter earlier in his career but has worked as a bullpen arm in recent seasons, was signed with the idea that he’ll return to a starting role on in San Diego.
Martinez pitched just 106 1/3 innings in 2022, though, and Lugo logged only 65 innings as a full-time reliever, so it’s sensible to bring some depth with the potential to cover innings. Font racked up 184 innings over 28 starts in the KBO in 2022 — an average of nearly 6 2/3 innings per outing — so he’s more than capable of eating up innings in Triple-A and jumping into a big league rotation if he handles himself well in the minors. He could also break camp in a long relief role if he shows well in Spring Training, and it’s worth noting that the Padres used a six-man rotation early in the 2022 season, which opens that door if Font forces his way into the equation.
Font will join lefties Adrian Morejon, Ryan Weathers and Jay Groome, plus righties Pedro Avila, Reiss Knehr, Julio Teheran and Aaron Brooks in comprising a wealth of rotation depth for San Diego. Each of Morejon, Weathers, Groome, Avila and Knehr is already on the 40-man roster, which could give them a leg up over Font when it comes to finding their way to the big leagues, but Font’s 2021-22 run in the KBO was genuinely impressive and should position him for a big league look at some point, so long as he’s able to pitch reasonably well early in his Padres tenure.
Twins Agree To Minor League Deal With Tony Wolters
The Twins and free-agent catcher Tony Wolters are in agreement on a minor league contract, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Wolters, a client of the VC Sports Group, will presumably receive an invitation to Major League Spring Training.
Wolters, 30, was the Rockies’ primary catcher for several years, logging 320 games behind the dish in Colorado from 2017-20 and appearing in 77% of the team’s games between the 2019 season and shortened 2020 campaign. The former third-round pick was long touted for his plus defense, which helped him to offset a lack of offensive prowess. Wolters hit .259/.327/.395 as a rookie in 2016 (although that was just a 77 wRC+ after accounting for Coors Field), but he’s mustered only a .229/.320/.295 output in 1036 plate appearances since that time.
Wolters has spent the past two seasons with the Cubs and Dodgers, respectively, but only appeared in 14 games with the Cubs in ’21 and two games with the Dodgers in ’22. He posted decent Triple-A numbers between the two teams in 2021 (.240/.348/.385 in 260 plate appearances) but limped to a .230/.321/.284 line in 234 trips to the plate with the Dodgers’ top minor league affiliate in 2022.
As noted, however, Wolters has long been a glove-first option behind the plate. He’s thrown out 31% of runners who’ve attempted to steal against him in his career, comfortably better than the league average, has plus framing marks on the whole, and has amassed 24 Defensive Runs Saved in 2827 innings behind the plate.
The Twins signed Christian Vazquez to a three-year, $30MM contract earlier in the offseason, and he’s expected to split time with incumbent Ryan Jeffers behind the dish, comprising Minnesota’s top catching tandem. However, the Twins are thin on catching depth in the upper minors, so Wolters will provide some defensive-minded insurance in the event of an injury at the MLB level.
Rangers, Kyle Funkhouser Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rangers and right-handed reliever Kyle Funkhouser are in agreement on a minor-league contract, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The Boras Corporation client will presumably receive an invite to major league Spring Training.
Funkhouser, who is headed into his age 29 season, was an effective member of the Tigers bullpen in 2021, when he posted a 3.42 ERA (124 ERA+) in 68 1/3 innings of work. His arsenal has four pitches, including a sinker and four-seamer that both averaged 96 mph in 2021 in addition to a 87 mph slider and a rarely used changeup. Despite his impressive velocity, Funkhouser struck batters out at just a 21.1% rate in 2021.
Though his strikeout rate was below-average and his 12.8% walk rate was downright troubling, Funkhouser seemed set to reprise this role in 2022 nonetheless. This was in part due to an excellent 53.1% groundball rate that helped him settle in among the best in the game at avoiding the barrel of the bat (92nd percentile opponents’ barrel rate, per Statcast). Unfortunately, Funkhouser suffered a right shoulder strain that kept him from pitching at all in 2022. That contributed to the Tigers designating him for assignment in November, after which point Funkhouser elected free agency to search for his next opportunity.
That opportunity will come in Texas, where Funkhouser will likely compete with the likes of Josh Sborz, Taylor Hearn, John King, and Dane Dunning for a spot in the Opening Day bullpen. While Texas has a handful of quality options for the late innings, such as Jose Leclerc, Brock Burke, Jonathan Hernandez, Joe Barlow and Brett Martin, Funkhouser adds some depth to a bullpen that lost Matt Moore to free agency and Matt Bush in a deadline trade with the Brewers last July. If he doesn’t crack the Opening Day roster, he can head to Triple-A Round Rock and serve as a depth option in the event of an injury.
Renato Nunez Signs With Mexican League’s Toros De Tijuana
The Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League announced this afternoon they’ve signed corner infielder Renato Núñez for the 2023 season. It’ll be the first stint in Mexico for the 28-year-old, who played in the majors from 2016-21.
Núñez suited up for four different MLB teams. He’s best known for his time with the Orioles, where he logged over 1000 plate appearances between 2018-20. Núñez popped 31 home runs in 2019 and another 12 longballs during the abbreviated 2020 season, bringing some right-handed power to the organization. That came with fairly modest on-base numbers and a spotty defensive profile, however, and Baltimore cut him loose over the 2020-21 offseason.
The Venezuela native signed with the Tigers for 2021. He only managed a .189/.218/.472 line through 14 contests with Detroit and was twice outrighted off their 40-man roster. A subsequent minor league contract with the Brewers didn’t result in a big league opportunity. Núñez concluded the campaign with a .245/.308/.452 line across 307 career MLB games.
Last offseason, he made the jump to Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Núñez signed on with the Nippon-Ham Fighters and split the 2022 season between the top level and their minor league affiliate. He hit well over 31 minor league games but mustered only a .174/.228/.299 line through 63 NPB contests. That proved to be his lone season with the Fighters.
Núñez is now a couple seasons removed from offensive productivity. He’s still relatively young and has some power upside. He’ll try to get back on track in a hitter-friendly environment in the Mexican League.