Nationals To Sign Dominic Smith To One-Year Deal
The Nationals and first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith are in agreement on a one-year deal, pending a physical. He will make a $2MM salary with a further $2MM available in performance bonuses. Smith is a client of Roc Nation Sports.
Smith, 28 in June, is a former first round pick, having been selected by the Mets 11th overall in 2013. He went on to earn high praise from prospect evaluators, with Baseball America ranking him one of the top 100 prospects in the game in 2014, 2016 and 2017. He struggled in his first tastes of the majors in 2017 and 2018 but seemed to finally click in 2019. He hit 11 home runs in 89 games and produced a batting line of .282/.355/.525. That production was 34 percent better than league average, as evidenced by his 134 wRC+.
The problem was that 2019 was also the rookie breakout of Pete Alonso, who launched 53 home runs and cemented himself as the first baseman in Queens. That forced Smith to move off first and spend more time in left field, where he’s been ranked as a poor defender. He continued hitting in the shortened 2020 season though, launching 10 home runs in just 50 games and finishing with a line of .316/.377/.616, wRC+ of 166.
The past couple of campaigns have been a struggle, as he played through a partially torn labrum in 2021 and saw his batting line fall to .244/.304/.363 and a wRC+ of 86. In 2022, he struggled at the start of the season while battling J.D. Davis for playing time and was optioned to Triple-A for a time. He finished the year with a batting line of .194/.276/.384 in the majors for a 67 wRC+, but a .284/.367/.472 in the minors for a 122 wRC+.
Smith still could have been retained via arbitration for another couple of seasons, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for an arbitration salary of $4MM in 2023. Instead, the Mets decided it was time to move on and non-tendered him. Smith will now join the Nats at a slightly lower guarantee but still could get to that $4MM figure via the incentives. If he has a successful campaign, the Nats can retain him for 2024 via arbitration, or use the extra year as a selling point in shopping Smith at the deadline.
Perhaps more importantly, Smith has a chance to get a regular job as a first baseman for the first time in years, with Bob Nightengale of USA Today reporting that’s where Smith will be playing. The rebuilding Nationals had Josh Bell at first for 2021 and the first half of 2022, but he went to the Padres in the Juan Soto trade and is now a free agent. The Nats got Luke Voit back in that deal but non-tendered him at season’s end. After Bell’s departure, 30-year-old rookie Joey Meneses got an extended look and mashed 13 home runs in 56 games. He will likely get plenty more at-bats in 2023 but he can also play the outfield corners, or he and Smith could share first base and the designated hitter slot. Jeimer Candelario could be in the mix as well, though he and Carter Kieboom will be jockeying for the third base job.
Since being non-tendered by the Mets, Smith has also garnered interest from the Rays, Royals, Cubs and Padres. If those clubs are still looking to bolster their first base depth charts in the coming weeks, some of the remaining free agents include Voit, Trey Mancini, Eric Hosmer and Brandon Belt.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported that the two sides were in agreement on a one-year deal. Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the financial breakdown.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Red Sox, Rafael Devers Avoid Arbitration
12:30pm: The Red Sox formally announced that Devers has signed a one-year deal for the 2023 season.
11:37am: The Red Sox have agreed to a one-year, $17.5MM contract with third baseman Rafael Devers, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). That’ll avoid an arbitration hearing for Devers’ final season of eligibility but does not extend the team’s control over the All-Star slugger. He’ll be a free agent next offseason. Devers had been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $16.9MM this coming season but will top that mark by $600K. Devers is a client of Rep 1 Baseball.
Devers, 26, has cemented himself as one of the American League’s top hitters over the past several years, hitting at a combined .292/.352/.532 clip with 108 plate appearances in 2228 homers dating back to 2019. Along the way, he’s been named to a pair of All-Star teams and won a Silver Slugger Award.
A long-term extension with Devers has been a priority for Boston’s front office for some time, but a sizable gap between the two parties has remained — and that was before Devers watched several mid-20s free agents ink contracts of 11 or more years in length this offseason. One would imagine that the revitalized trend of contracts reaching or even exceeding ten years in length has only further prompted Devers to ponder what he might be able to earn in an open-market setting.
That said, there’s still ample time for the Red Sox to close the gap in negotiations. The fact that the two parties were able to amicably agree on a one-year compromise without needing to resort to a more contentious arbitration hearing bodes well for the status of talks, to an extent. It also frees the two parties to focus negotiations solely on Devers’ would-be free agent seasons.
Long-term deals of that nature are often left to be discussed in Spring Training, but given Devers’ importance to the Red Sox and the dwindling clock, it’s certainly behoove the front office to take every moment available in order to try to work something out. Boston ostensibly waited until last spring to discuss a long-term pact with Xander Bogaerts but only made an unrealistic one-year extension offer. They broadcast confidence in their ability to ultimately retain Bogaerts up until the final day that he agreed to terms with the Padres on an 11-year, $280MM contract. Certainly, one would imagine Sox brass hopes to avoid a similar sequence with Devers, who’s four years younger than Bogaerts and thus would be positioned all the more favorably in free agency.
However extension talks play out, there’s benefit to the Red Sox in securing this cost certainty on Devers sooner than later. With Devers’ salary locked in, the Sox are now projected for an Opening Day payroll just shy of $187MM, per Roster Resource. Their projected $212.6MM luxury-tax ledger sits more than $20MM shy of the $233MM first tier of penalization. Boston quite arguably still has needs behind the plate, in the rotation and on the bench, and knowing the exact price point on Devers helps chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and his staff gain a better picture of just how many resources are available before any concerns pertaining to the luxury tax — if they exist at all — need to be considered. Boston would be a second-time luxury offender upon exceeding the tax threshold in 2023.
Tigers, Andrew Knapp Agree To Minor League Deal
The Tigers are in agreement on a minor league contract with Andrew Knapp, as first reported by Complete Baseball News. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press further reports that Knapp’s minor league deal contains an invite to Major League Spring Training. Knapp is repped by Apex Baseball.
The 2022 season was a rough one for Knapp, who posted just a .128/.239/.154 batting line while splitting time between the Pirates, Mariners and Giants. That came in a tiny sample of just 46 plate appearances, however, and his combined .245/.313/.486 output in 230 Triple-A plate appearances between the Mariners and Giants was far better. Current Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris was still with the Giants as their general manager when Knapp signed a minor league deal with San Francisco last July.
Knapp, a former second-round pick (Phillies, 2013), has racked up more than five years of big league service while spending parts of six seasons in the Majors. He’s a career .209/.310/.313 hitter in the big leagues and a .257/.328/.415 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons. Knapp has struggled with a 19% caught-stealing rate and sub-par framing metrics in the Majors, but he’s nabbed 31% of those who’ve attempted to steal against him in the minors — including a strong 8-for-18 showing (44%) in Triple-A Sacramento in 2022.
The Tigers currently have Eric Haase and Jake Rogers as their primary catching options, though Haase has struggled defensively himself and Rogers missed the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery. Detroit also picked up Mario Feliciano off waivers from the Brewers last month and is still hopeful that 2020 second-round pick Dillon Dingler can force his way into the picture eventually. Dingler hit .238/.333/.419 (107 wRC+) in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting in 2022.
Brewers, Alex Claudio Agree To Minor League Deal
The Brewers have agreed to a minor league contract with left-handed reliever Alex Claudio, tweets Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The MDR Sports Management client will be invited to Major League Spring Training.
It’s a reunion between the Brewers and Claudio, who spent the 2019-20 seasons pitching out of manager Craig Counsell’s bullpen. The now-30-year-old southpaw (31 later this month) pitched to a 4.11 ERA with a 17% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 54.9% ground-ball rate in 81 innings during that time but stumbled to a 5.51 ERA in 32 2/3 frames with the Angels in 2021. Claudio spent the 2022 season with the Mets, tossing 3 1/3 shutout innings at the MLB level but otherwise pitching the remainder of the season in Triple-A Syracuse. The veteran lefty was effective in that hitter-friendly setting, logging a 3.91 ERA in 48 1/3 innings.
Overall, Claudio has spent parts of nine seasons in the big leagues and tallied more than six years of MLB service time. He sports a lifetime 3.60 ERA in 347 2/3 innings, and while his 17% strikeout rate is well south of the league average, his 6.5% walk rate and, in particular, his 59.8% ground-ball rate are both demonstrably better than that of the average MLB hurler.
The three-batter minimum has hurt pitchers of Claudio’s ilk, as he carries pronounced platoon splits that make him an unpalatable option against right-handed opponents. Lefties have flailed away at just a .210/.255/.335 pace against Claudio over the years, but right-handed opponents have tattooed him to the tune of a .302/.357/.440 batting line.
As things stand, Hoby Milner is the only left-handed bullpen option on the Brewers’ 40-man roster — assuming prospect Ethan Small continues to work as a starting pitcher in the upper minors. Eric Lauer and Aaron Ashby, the only other two lefties on the roster, are both ticketed for rotation work next year. As such, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Brewers bring in some more veterans in this mold on non-roster deals between now and Spring Training. It’s also possible that Milwaukee could make a late play to add a more established southpaw to pair with Milner. Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore, Zack Britton and Brad Hand all remain unsigned in free agency, and the trade market of course presents further options.
Padres, Eric Hanhold Agree To Minor League Deal
The Padres signed righty Eric Hanhold to a minor league contract last month, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. He’ll be assigned to Triple-A El Paso.
Hanhold didn’t pitch in MLB last year. Claimed off waivers by the Pirates from the Orioles last offseason, he was passed through waivers by Pittsburgh in Spring Training. Hanhold accepted an assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis and wound up spending the whole season there. Working solely in relief, he posted a solid 3.40 ERA across 53 innings. His 21.2% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk percentage were each a bit worse than average, but he racked up ground balls at an excellent 62.7% clip.
The University of Florida product did reach the highest level the prior season. Hanhold came out of the bullpen 10 times with Baltimore in 2021, allowing nine runs in 10 1/3 innings. He’d also garnered a cup of coffee three years before with the Mets. Between the two clubs, the 29-year-old has tallied 12 2/3 major league frames. He’s allowed 11 runs (10 earned) with eight strikeouts and four walks over that stretch.
Despite last year’s fairly impressive minor league showing, Hanhold never got an MLB look in Pittsburgh. At season’s end, he qualified for minor league free agency. He figures to open next season with the Chihuahuas as a bullpen depth option. Through parts of four Triple-A campaigns, Hanhold owns a 4.60 ERA with a 20.1% strikeout percentage.
Rockies, Matt Carasiti Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rockies signed reliever Matt Carasiti to a minor league contract last month, according to an announcement from the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.
Carasiti, 31, began his career with the Colorado organization more than a decade ago. A sixth-round draftee in 2012, he debuted in the majors four years later. Carasiti pitched to a 9.19 ERA through 19 appearances for the Rox in 2016. Colorado dealt him to the Cubs the following year, although he never played in the majors with Chicago. Carasiti made the jump to Japan after the 2017 campaign before returning to the U.S. in 2019. He briefly suited up with the Mariners that season, logging 9 2/3 frames in his most recent MLB action to date.
Signed by the Giants to a minor league deal over the 2019-20 offseason, Carasiti underwent Tommy John surgery that spring. He didn’t pitch in either of the next two seasons before returning to the San Francisco organization on a new non-roster pact heading into 2022. The St. John’s product pitched half the season at Triple-A Sacramento, allowing an 8.62 ERA over 21 2/3 innings before being released in July.
Not long after, Carasiti made the jump to the Atlantic League. He caught on with the Ducks and pitched 11 1/3 innings of four-run ball down the stretch. He struck out 14 against just four walks, evidently impressing Colorado evaluators along the way. He’ll get a look in camp and seems likely to open the 2023 campaign with Triple-A Albuquerque as bullpen depth.
Nationals To Sign Michael Chavis To Minor League Deal
The Nationals and infielder Michael Chavis are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. Chavis will receive an invitation to major league Spring Training and will earn a $1MM salary if he cracks the roster, with a further $500K available in incentives. If he’s not in the majors by June 1, he can opt out and return to free agency.
Chavis, 27, was a first round pick of the Red Sox in 2014 and a highly-touted prospect while in the minors. Baseball America ranked him the #85 prospect in the league in 2018. He drew plaudits for his power stroke but also concerns for his extremely aggressive approach that led to few walks and many strikeouts.
Chavis made his major league debut in 2019 and those concerns have largely proved prescient. He’s gone down on strikes in 31.7% of his plate appearances thus far in 309 major league games while earning free passes just 5.4% of the time. Those numbers are both well south of the typical league averages, which were a 22.4% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate in 2022. The power has still been present, to be fair, as Chavis has 40 home runs to this point.
He was traded to the Pirates at the deadline in 2021 but didn’t do enough to stay in Pittsburgh’s plans. He hit .229/.265/.389 in 129 games in 2022 while striking out in 29.6% of his trips to the plate and walking in just 4.5% of them. That production was 20% below league average, as evidenced by his 80 wRC+. The Bucs designated him for assignment and outrighted him in September, with Chavis then reaching free agency at season’s end.
For the Nationals, they were the worst team in baseball in 2022 and are likely a few years away from returning to contention. Though Chavis has struggled in the big leagues thus far, he’s a former first round draft pick and top 100 prospect, a fairly sensible player for them to target and hope for a breakout. He’s also hit .279/.357/.547 in the minor leagues going back to the start of 2018, amounting to a wRC+ of 141. If he could bridge the gap between his minor league and major league results, even in a small way, he could turn into a valuable player.
Defensively, Chavis has played the three non-shortstop infield positions as well as the outfield corners in the majors, though he’s spent more time at first base than those other spots. The Nats are set to run out a fairly young and inexperienced infield in the upcoming season, with Joey Meneses at first, Luis Garcia at second, CJ Abrams at shortstop and Carter Kieboom a possibility at third. Jeimer Candelario was brought in for some insurance at the corners, though he’s an impending free agent and could be a midseason trade candidate.
The club seems to be taking a volume approach to adding infield depth, as they retained Ildemaro Vargas and claimed Jeter Downs off waivers. They also inked minor league deals with Matt Adams, Erick Mejia, Franklin Barreto and now Chavis. That group will seemingly be battling to get the call if any of the projected starters struggle or get hurt. If Chavis can emerge and crack the roster, he still has an option year remaining and could be sent to the minors during the season. He has between three of four years of MLB service time and could be retained for future seasons via arbitration if he can show enough improvement to work his way into the club’s plans.
Angels Sign Jose Godoy, Gerardo Reyes, Cam Vieaux To Minor League Deals
The Angels have signed catcher Jose Godoy, right-hander Gerardo Reyes, left-hander Cam Vieaux to minor league contracts, according to MiLB.com’s official transactions page. All three players were assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Reyes has the most big league experience of the trio, with 29 games and 28 innings pitched across two seasons. Twenty-six of those innings came with the Padres in 2019, and then Reyes was sidelined by the abbreviated 2020 season and Tommy John surgery early in 2021. Finally returning to game action last April with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, Reyes had a 3.74 ERA over 45 2/3 minor league innings, racking up a lot of whiffs (28% strikeout rate) and unfortunately also a lot of free passes (15.9% walk rate). The righty also got back to the majors for two appearances with Anaheim.
A hard-thrower with a live fastball, Reyes is still a work in progress as he enters his age-30 season. He has posted increasingly strong strikeout totals dating back to his time in the Padres’ farm system, though walks have also been a consistent issue, and his 2022 walk rate represented his highest over such an extended sample size of innings. There isn’t much risk for the Angels in continuing to carry Reyes on a minor league deal, just in case he gets fully on track after a normal offseason and can finally harness his velocity.
After joining the Angels, Godoy has now been part of five different organizations since March, starting with the Mariners and then bouncing to the Giants, Twins, and Pirates on waiver claims. All these travels resulted in only 10 MLB games for Godoy in 2022, suiting up twice for Minnesota and eight times with Pittsburgh. With two outright assignments, Godoy had the ability to become a free agent, and he took that option after the season.
Godoy has appeared in 26 total Major League games over two seasons, and the longtime Cardinals farmhand has some respectable numbers in the minors, including a .271/.323/.405 slash line over 605 career Triple-A plate appearances. The 28-year-old Godoy joins Matt Thaiss and Chad Wallach as catching depth for the Angels behind Logan O’Hoppe and Max Stassi, though there have been some rumblings that Los Angeles might be looking to further upgrade itself behind the plate. The Angels had some interest in Willson Contreras before he signed with St. Louis, so unless the Halos’ interest was limited to Contreras specifically, they could still aim to bring another catcher into the mix.
Vieaux made his Major League debut in 2022, posting a 10.38 ERA over 8 2/3 innings with the Pirates. Vieaux qualified for minor league free agency after the season, as Pittsburgh designated and outrighted him twice off its 40-man roster — by coincidence, the Bucs DFA’ed Godoy to create roster space when selecting Vieaux’s contract back in August.
A sixth-round pick for Pittsburgh in the 2016 draft, Vieaux will be changing organizations for the first time in his pro career. The lefty was a starter for much of his time in the minors but transitioned to relief pitching in 2021, and Vieaux seemed to hit a wall at the Triple-A level. Things started to click in 2022, as he posted a 3.06 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, and 7.6% walk rate over an even 50 innings for Triple-A Indianapolis. While not huge strikeout numbers for a reliever, Vieaux’s K-rate has ticked upwards since his move to the bullpen, so the 29-year-old might yet be able to reach another gear as he continues to acclimate to relief pitching.
Tigers Acquire Tyler Nevin, Designate Zach Logue
The Tigers have acquired infielder Tyler Nevin from the Orioles, in a deal announced by both teams. Baltimore will receive cash considerations for Nevin, who was designated for assignment earlier this week. In a corresponding move to create roster space, the Tigers have designated left-hander Zach Logue for assignment.
Nevin made his MLB debut with a six-game cup of coffee in 2021, and then hit .197/.299/.261 over 184 plate appearances and 58 games with the Orioles last season. Most of Nevin’s playing time came at third base, though he also saw action at first base and both corner outfield slots. Defensively, Nevin isn’t considered a standout in the field, and his limited work at third base (-5 Outs Above Average, -4 Defensive Runs Saved, -1.5 UZR/150 over 327 1/3 innings) was graded poorly by public defensive metrics. Nonetheless, Nevin might factor in as at least a part-time option for the Tigers at the hot corner, given how Detroit non-tendered Jeimer Candelario earlier this winter.
It has been a relatively quiet offseason thus far in the Motor City, as new president of baseball operations Scott Harris has been seemingly been taking his time in assessing a roster that almost entirely underachieved during a disastrous 2022 season. The Tigers’ moves have been mostly focused around pitching (trading Joe Jimenez to the Braves and signing Michael Lorenzen and Matthew Boyd), though several position players have also been on the team’s radar. Like most of those names, Nevin is also a multi-positional player, and can provide bench depth at multiple areas around the diamond.
The 25-year-old Nevin was selected by the Rockies as the 38th overall pick of the 2015 draft, and he has posted some solid numbers in the minors. With the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate in 2022, Nevin hit .291/.382/.479 with seven home runs over 191 plate appearances, which helped earn him multiple looks at the big league level. Today’s trade also continues the Nevin family’s history in Detroit, as Tyler’s father Phil (now the Angels’ manager) played with the Tigers from 1995-97.
Logue’s tenure with the Tigers lasted just over a week, as Detroit claimed the southpaw off waivers from the Athletics just on December 23. One of the four players sent by the Blue Jays to the A’s as part of the Matt Chapman trade last March, Logue made his MLB debut in 2022 and posted a 6.79 ERA over 57 innings (starting 10 of 14 games) for Oakland. Those struggles extended to the minors with an 8.12 ERA in 78 2/3 innings with Triple-A Las Vegas, and thus Logue became an expendable piece for the A’s when the team finalized their deal with righty Drew Rucinski last week.
Yankees Sign Billy McKinney To Minors Contract
The Yankees have signed outfielder Billy McKinney to a minor league deal, according to MiLB.com’s official transactions page. McKinney has been assigned to the team’s Triple-A affiliate.
This is McKinney’s second stint in the organization, as he was initially acquired as part of the four-play package sent by the Cubs to the Yankees for Aroldis Chapman prior to the 2016 trade deadline. New York then moved McKinney as part of another deadline deal almost exactly two years later, as McKinney and Brandon Drury were traded to the Blue Jays in 2018 for J.A. Happ.
These moves have been only two entries in what has become a journeyman career for McKinney, though the former 24th-overall pick is still only 28 years old. McKinney has played in each of the last five Major League seasons, suiting up at the MLB level for 263 games with six different teams. Only two of those games were in the Yankee pinstripes, which also marked the very first two games of McKinney’s big league career.
Once seen as a top-100 prospect and a possible future center fielder, McKinney has mostly settled into a role as a corner outfielder and even a part-time first baseman. He has a career .206/.277/.387 slash line and 28 homers over 768 career plate appearances in the majors, with that home run total at least hinting at the power potential McKinney showed earlier in his career and in the minors. While the constant shutting between teams and going up and down from the minors surely hasn’t helped McKinney find any rhythm at the plate, he has hit only .177/.261/.328 in 357 PA since the start of the 2021 season. That includes a dismal .331 OPS over 57 PA with the Athletics last season.
However, McKinney also has a .271/.348/.511 slash line and 42 homers over 992 career PA at the Triple-A level, hinting at why teams are continually willing to see if any of that pop could eventually translate to the majors. Obviously, McKinney has an age and experience advantage over Triple-A pitching, and a lot of his biggest numbers came in the homer-happy 2019 minor league season and in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League in 2021. Still, the Yankees can use Spring Training to see whether or not McKinney might have any late-bloomer potential, and could help add some outfield depth if he breaks camp with the team (McKinney is out of minor league options).