Pirates To Sign Tyler Chatwood To Minor League Deal
The Pirates and right-hander Tyler Chatwood are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Chatwood will presumably receive an invite to major league Spring Training.
Chatwood, 33, spent many years as a starting pitcher but seemed to hit a wall in 2018. He signed a three-year deal with the Cubs going into that season but posted a 5.30 ERA while walking an incredible 19.5% of the batters he faced. Since that time, he’s transitioned into more relief work, with an encouraging increase in strikeouts but without putting the control issues behind him.
In 2019, he made five starts for the Cubs but 33 relief appearances. He got his ERA down to 3.76 for the year while striking out 22.8% of the batters he faced. That rate was just a bit below league average but was a huge improvement for him personally, as he’d come in under 20% in all seven of his previous seasons. He still walked 11.4% of batters faced but proved he could be effective around those free passes.
2020 was a bit of a step back, as he made five starts around a couple of trips to the injured list and finished with a 5.30 ERA. The Blue Jays took a shot on him for 2021, signing him to a one-year deal and installing him in their bullpen. He made 30 relief appearances and increased his strikeout rate to 25.6% but walked 16% of batters faced, leading to a 5.46 ERA. He was designated for assignment and latched on with the Giants, making two further appearances before getting the DFA treatment again.
For 2022, Chatwood went to Japan to join the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball. He made six appearances for their minor league team, logging 24 1/3 innings, before shoulder surgery in June wiped out the rest of his season. He’ll be a real wild card for the Pirates given the shoulder surgery and his previous control issues, but a minor league deals means there’s essentially no risk for the club. Given Pittsburgh’s ongoing rebuild, Chatwood would likely turn into a deadline trade chip if he can return to health and get into a nice groove this year.
Mets To Sign Carlos Correa
In a shocking development, Carlos Correa has agreed to join the Mets for a 12-year, $315MM contract, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. Correa had previously agreed to a 13-year, $350MM deal with the Giants, yet reports surfaced yesterday that an unknown issue with Correa’s medicals had led to a postponement of the Giants’ introductory press conference for the shortstop. The 28-year-old Correa is represented by the Boras Corporation, and his deal with the Mets will become official once he passes a physical.
As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, the “Giants flagged something in [Correa’s] physical and doctors disagreed.” Slusser also reported yesterday that Correa’s back wasn’t the issue, though back soreness has sent the former All-Star to the injured list on multiple occasions during his career.
Whatever the Giants took issue with in Correa’s physical, obviously the problem wasn’t enough to deter the Mets from adding yet another high-priced star to their already loaded roster (and payroll). Mets owner Steve Cohen said last week that the team made a late bid of around $300MM to land Correa, but that offer was turned down by agent Scott Boras since talks with the Giants had already reached an advanced stage.
As it turned out, that late attempt from Cohen was seemingly all Boras needed to secure another mega-deal for his client quickly after the agreement with San Francisco fell apart. As Cohen told Heyman, “we kind of picked up where we were before and it just worked out” over the course of four or five hours’ worth of extra negotiations.
Correa’s new contract with New York is one year shorter and worth slightly less in average annual value ($26.25MM with the Mets compared to $26.92MM with the Giants). It is also “only” now the 10th-largest contract in baseball history in terms of total value, while the $350MM deal with San Francisco was the fourth-largest in history.
Still, the deal handily surpasses MLBTR’s projection of a nine-year, $288MM pact for Correa. Like the structure of the original Giants contract as well as other deals signed by Xander Bogaerts and Trea Turner this winter alone, the longer length allows the team to spread out the luxury-tax hit over more years, while the player still gets his money as well as extra security. The Mets themselves used a version of this strategy in re-signing Brandon Nimmo to an eight-year, $162MM deal, as Nimmo’s tax number is $20.25MM. Correa now joins Nimmo and Francisco Lindor as Mets players signed beyond the 2029 season, though the Mets’ expenditures this winter have varied widely in length.
The overall numbers of the Mets’ spending spree continue to stagger. Assuming Correa’s contract pays him $26.25MM in each year of the deal, the Amazins’ payroll will now soar past the $377MM mark for 2023. Having already far surpassed the fourth and highest tier ($293MM) of Competitive Balance Tax penalties, New York is paying a 90% tax on every dollar spent beyond the $293MM threshold. That works out to roughly $23.62MM added to the Mets’ tax bill, thus putting their luxury tax number over $386MM.
Correa, Nimmo, Justin Verlander, Edwin Diaz, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, David Robertson, Adam Ottavino, and Omar Narvaez represent the star-studded list of free agents signed and re-signed by New York this offseason alone, to say nothing of their previous big splashes since Cohen bought the team just over two years ago. Needless to say, Cohen has established new standards for spending, as the owner has made no qualms about his desire to immediately make the Mets as competitive as possible. The result was a 101-win season in 2022, but the Amazins didn’t make it past the first round of the expanded playoffs, losing to the Padres in three games in the Wild Card Series.
The Correa signing “really makes a big difference,” Cohen said. “I felt like our pitching was in good shape. We needed one more hitter. This puts us over the top.”
Indeed, most of the Mets’ focus had been on revamping a rotation and bullpen that was full of free agents. While Diaz and Ottavino were re-signed, plenty of holes had to be filled after Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt, Taijuan Walker, Seth Lugo, Joely Rodriguez, Trevor Williams, Trevor May, and Mychal Givens all signed elsewhere. Nimmo was the biggest pending free agent on the position player side, and Narvaez should help bolster the catching corps, but Cohen and GM Billy Eppler weren’t going to curb their aggressiveness.
To this end, one of baseball’s best shortstops in Correa now won’t even be a shortstop, as Correa will now move to third base in deference to Lindor. Correa won a Platinum Glove, Gold Glove, and Fielding Bible Award for his work at shortstop just in 2021, and his professional experience at third base consists of one game with the Astros’ Double-A affiliate in 2015. That said, Lindor is an excellent fielder in his own right, and the Outs Above Average and UZR/150 public metrics prefer his glovework at shortstop to Correa’s over the course of their careers. There isn’t much doubt that Correa should be able to translate well to the hot corner, thus improving the Mets’ defense as well as the impact he’ll bring to the lineup.
With Correa now the new third baseman, Eduardo Escobar is suddenly out of a starting job. It wasn’t even 13 months ago that Escobar was one of New York’s big signings of the 2021-22 offseason, as he inked a two-year, $20MM deal. Escobar was decent if unspectacular, hitting .240/.295/.430 with 20 homers for a 106 wRC+ over 542 plate appearances in his first year in Queens.
“Decent if unspectacular” wasn’t enough for a team so intent on winning, however, and thus Escobar could now join Luis Guillorme as infield depth. It stands to reason that the Mets could explore trading Escobar (and the $10MM remaining on his deal) to a team in need of a dependable veteran infielder, or New York could simply keep Escobar as a backup option in the event of an injury to Correa or starting second baseman Jeff McNeil.
Looking further down the depth chart, top prospect Brett Baty is also a third baseman, as is Mark Vientos (ranked by MLB Pipeline as the seventh-best minor league in New York’s farm system). Baty has gotten some time as an outfielder and now might be viewed as a possible replacement for Canha in left field, while Vientos might be destined for a move off third base anyway, with first base potentially being his ultimate spot on the field. With Correa now locked into the hot corner, however, there seems an increased possibility that the Mets could shop either of these prospects for other upgrades.
Today’s news marks the latest twist in a controversy-filled career for Correa, largely tied to his participation on the 2017 Astros team that won a World Series championship later clouded by the sign-stealing scandal. Correa’s time in Houston ended when he signed a three-year, $105.3MM deal with the Twins last winter, though that shorter-than-expected contract was designed to allow a quick return to the free agency. Correa had opt-out clauses after both the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, and he exercised that first opt-out to re-enter the market in an offseason that wasn’t interrupted by the lockout.
Correa hit .291/.366/.467 with 22 homers over 590 plate appearances in his lone season in Minnesota, with a 140 wRC+ that stands as the third-highest of his eight MLB seasons. Coming off a strong platform year and still being younger than most free agents once they reach the open market, Correa had every expectation of finally landing the pricey long-term contract he initially wanted last year.
The result was two pricey, long-term contracts, with the Mets swooping in to take Correa away from the Giants. It’s probably wise to not totally assume Correa’s pact with the Mets is a done deal until the physical is passed and an official announcement is made, given the stunning nature of the last 24 hours. Yesterday’s reports of a delay certainly raised red flags about the status of Correa’s agreement with San Francisco, but with an absence of any concrete news, there wasn’t yet any reason to believe that Correa wouldn’t still eventually end up in the Bay Area.
Instead, the Giants’ winter plans have now been dealt an almost unfathomable setback. The Giants slumped to an 81-81 record after their 107-win season in 2021, leaving president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi in search of a major acquisition. San Francisco has lots of payroll space and lots of needs around the roster to accommodate at least one new superstar, and there seemed little doubt that the Giants were lining up to make the first true blockbuster signing of Zaidi’s four-year tenure.
Aaron Judge was clearly the top priority heading into the offseason, and the Giants reportedly offered Judge around $360MM before the AL MVP took that same salary over a nine-year deal to re-sign with the Yankees. With Judge off the board, San Francisco then turned to the shortstop market, with Correa emerging as their top target (ahead of Turner, Bogaerts, or Dansby Swanson). The $350MM deal represented the biggest contract in franchise history, and a resounding counter to any argument that the Giants’ front office was unwilling or unable to land top-tier free agents.
It isn’t exactly true that the Giants are back to square one, since they’ve also signed Mitch Haniger, Ross Stripling, and Sean Manaea in free agency, and Joc Pederson was retained via the qualifying offer. But, Carlos Rodon left the team to also sign with the Yankees, removing another star from the 2022 roster. The league-wide rush on free agent signings has left the market bare of most of the top names, and so Zaidi and company will now have to explore the trade market (and possibly make some tough decisions on trading top prospects) in order to acquire another big-ticket star….if one is even necessarily available.
Speculatively, the Giants could try to wield their payroll space in a different manner, perhaps by offering a deal for both a star player and an undesirable contract on a team looking to cut spending. With over three months until Opening Day, there’s plenty of time left for the Giants to still make moves, and yet it’s hard to imagine they can make an addition anywhere near Correa’s level.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Originally posted at 2:05am.
Astros Re-Sign Michael Brantley
December 21: The Astros have officially announced the deal. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle provides a breakdown of the incentives. Brantley will get $500K for reaching 400 and 425 plate appearances, then an extra $750K at 450, 475, 500 and 525 appearances.
December 18: The Astros have agreed to a one-year, $12MM deal with outfielder Michael Brantley, pending a physical. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the contract value, with The New York Post’s Jon Heyman (Twitter links) adding that the deal also contains $4MM in additional incentive bonuses. FanSided’s Robert Murray (Twitter link) initially reported that the two sides were in talks about a new deal. Brantley is represented by Excel Sports Management.
Brantley is entering his age-36 season, and 2023 will be his fifth year in a Houston uniform. He previously signed a pair of two-year, $32MM pacts with the team in his two past trips to free agency, and by coincidence, it was four years ago today that Brantley first agreed to join the Astros.
In terms of pure numbers, Brantley’s tenure in Houston has been very successful, with a 128 wRC+ and a .306/.368/.464 slash line and 40 homers over 1609 plate appearances. Unfortunately for Brantley, his role in the Astros’ 2022 championship season ended on June 26, due to a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery. Brantley played in only 64 games.
This isn’t the first time Brantley has dealt with a shoulder surgery, as he previously went under the knife to fix a small labrum tear in 2015 and subsequently played in only 11 games for Cleveland in the 2016 season. Beyond the shoulder problems, Brantley has also faced ankle and back problems throughout his career, but his first three seasons with the Astros were reasonably healthy. Quad, knee, and hamstring issues sent Brantley to the injured list three times in 2020-21, but all three IL stints combined for roughly a month of missed time.
The presence of Yordan Alvarez has probably kept the Astros from using Brantley as a DH as often as they would probably like, though on paper, manager Dusty Baker can alternate the two players between left field and DH in order to hopefully keep everyone fresh. With Brantley back in the mix, Jake Meyers and Chas McCormick will now be splitting time in center field.
The Astros were known to be looking for outfield help, preferably a left-handed bat (like Brantley) to balance out a lineup of mostly right-handed hitters. Michael Conforto and the switch-hitting Jurickson Profar were other free agents reportedly on Houston’s radar, and the Astros also had some talks with the Diamondbacks about their surplus of lefty-hitting outfielders, particularly Daulton Varsho. Among players who have already signed with other teams, Andrew Benintendi and Cody Bellinger also received some consideration from the World Series champions.
Among all these options, the Astros opted for a familiar face in Brantley, counting on a comeback year. The signing suggests that Houston (who knows Brantley’s medical profile better than anyone) is feeling good about the outfielder’s chances of both recovering well from shoulder rehab, and returning to his prior form at the plate. The $4MM in performance incentives gives Brantley an additional chance to cash in should he indeed stay healthy and keep up his usual levels of productivity.
While the injuries are naturally the biggest question mark hanging over Brantley, there is also the matter of what can be expected of any hitter as he gets deeper into his 30’s. Brantley’s homer totals and slugging percentage have both dropped rather sharply over the last two seasons, though he seemed to be adjusting by having a more keen eye at the plate. Albeit in the small sample size of 277 PA, Brantley’s 11.2% walk rate in 2022 was the highest of his 14-year Major League career. Brantley has also remained one of baseball’s toughest hitters to strike out, and his 45.1% hard-hit ball total last season was also his highest since Statcast began tracking the category in 2015.
Between Brantley and Jose Abreu, the Astros have bolstered their lineup with a pair of “professional hitter” types who brings plenty of experience to the table. Between Brantley’s $12MM deal and Abreu’s three-year, $58.5MM contract, Houston’s estimated payroll now sits at approximately $194MM, with a luxury tax figure of just over $209MM. That still leaves the Astros well under the $233MM luxury tax threshold, and some of that space could be used on a catcher, since Houston has explored the market for backstops. Some less-expensive options like Tucker Barnhart remain in free agency, or the Astros could look into trades with catcher-heavy teams like the Blue Jays.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Orioles Designate Lewin Díaz For Assignment
The Orioles have announced their deal with reliever Mychal Givens, making it official. In a corresponding move, first baseman Lewin Díaz has been designated for assignment.
Díaz, 26, was originally signed by the Twins and was highly-touted as a prospect due to his power bat and strong first base defense. Baseball America ranked him one of the top 30 Minnesota farmhands in four straight seasons from 2015 to 2018. The Twins flipped him to the Marlins in a 2019 trade that sent Sergio Romo and Chris Vallimont the other way.
Díaz has spent the past few seasons in the Marlins’ system, hitting well in the upper levels of the minors but struggling in the majors. Over the past three MLB seasons, he’s made 343 plate appearances but has a paltry .181/.227/.340 batting line to show for it. In Triple-A over the past two seasons, however, he’s hit 39 home runs in 680 plate appearances and has a much more palatable .250/.325/.504 line. That production was 15% better than league average, as evidenced by his 115 wRC+.
On the defensive side of things, his big league numbers are much more positive. He always was graded well for his glove work as a prospect and that seems to be holding true as he’s reached the majors. Defensive Runs Saved has given him a +16 grade so far, with Ultimate Zone Rating coming in at 3.4 and Outs Above Average at +9.
That work in the field gives Díaz a solid floor as a glove-first option, with his strong offense in the minors giving some hope that he could develop into a two-way contributor. He’s now out of options but is still young and has just over a year of MLB service time. There’s enough intrigue in his profile to attract clubs around the league. The Marlins designated him for assignment in November but he has since landed with the Pirates and Orioles on waiver claims. The O’s will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.
Orioles Sign Mychal Givens To One-Year Deal
Dec. 21: The Orioles officially announced the deal today.
Dec. 19 6:22pm: Feinsand reports the specifics of the mutual option (on Twitter): Givens receives a $3MM salary in 2023. The option price is valued at $6MM. If Givens declines his end of next year’s option, he’d receive a $1MM buyout. If he triggers the option but the Orioles decline their end, he’d pick up a $2MM buyout.
6:08pm: The deal contains a mutual option for the 2024 campaign, report Dan Connolly and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link).
5:50pm: It will be a one-year deal for Givens with a $5MM guarantee, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
5:40pm: The Orioles and reliever Mychal Givens are in agreement on a contract, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The terms of the deal, which is pending a physical, are not yet known. The club’s 40-man roster is full, meaning a corresponding move will be required once the deal is official. Givens is represented by Excel Sports Management.
Givens, 33 in May, returns to his original organization, as the O’s drafted him back in 2009. He worked his way up to the majors and debuted with them in 2015, establishing himself as a solid MLB reliever in the years to come. In each of the three seasons from 2016 to 2018, he made at least 66 appearances for Baltimore, throwing at least 74 2/3 innings and never posting an ERA higher than 3.99. In 2019, he took a noticeable step back, posting a 4.57 ERA, though it’s worth pointing out that was the season of the “juiced balls” and his 22.8% home run per fly ball rate was almost double his career rate of 12.1%.
In the three seasons since, Givens has made that 2019 showing look more and more like an outlier. He’s bounced to the Rockies, Reds, Cubs and Mets in that time, posting a 3.41 ERA over that three-year period. For his career as a whole, Givens has a 3.40 ERA over 419 appearances, with a 28.4% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 37.9% ground ball rate.
The club has some exciting young pitchers in their bullpen, such as Félix Bautista, Dillon Tate and Cionel Pérez, but Givens will give them an experienced option. If the club is in contention down the stretch, he can play a key role for them, but he could also turn into deadline fodder otherwise. That would be nothing new for Givens, as he’s been traded near the deadline in each of the past three years.
Givens reached free agency for the first time after 2021 and signed with the Cubs for 2022. It was a one-year deal with a mutual option, with Givens making $3.5MM in salary and a $1.5MM buyout on the option, amounting to a $5MM guarantee but with $1.25MM available in bonuses as well. He’ll land a matching deal this time around.
The Orioles have given out one-year deals to Kyle Gibson and Adam Frazier already this offseason, adding some veteran presence around their young core. The O’s had just $60MM committed to their 2023 payroll thus far, per Roster Resource, and this move pushes them up around $64MM. The club’s ledger for 2024 remains completely blank, aside from the buyout figures attached to Givens’ mutual option.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
A’s Sign Jake Fishman, Deolis Guerra To Minor League Deals
The A’s announced a number of non-roster invitations to Spring Training this afternoon. Among those invited to camp were relievers Jake Fishman and Deolis Guerra, indicating both recently joined the organization on minor league deals. Oakland also signed first baseman Kevin Cron.
Fishman reached the big leagues for the first time with the Marlins in 2022. The southpaw had a few separate stints with Miami and made seven appearances altogether. He tallied 11 innings, allowing five runs while striking out six and issuing three walks. The sinkerballer averaged only 87.5 MPH on his fastball and under 76 MPH on his slider, but he had a nice year in Triple-A.
Through 56 appearances with Miami’s top affiliate, Fishman posted a 2.25 ERA. He induced grounders at an excellent 54.2% clip and struck out a serviceable 23.1% of opponents. The Union College product walked 8.5% of batters faced in the minors, and he held same-handed hitters to an awful .191/.270/.270 line across 142 plate appearances in Triple-A. Despite that strong showing, he was outrighted off Miami’s 40-man roster at the end of the end of the season and qualified for free agency. Also a former member of the Blue Jays organization, Fishman will compete for a situational role similar to the one already held by Sam Moll in Oakland.
Guerra is a familiar face for Oakland fans. The 33-year-old was second on the team in relief innings in 2021, soaking up 65 2/3 frames across 53 outings. He had a solid if unremarkable year, posting a 4.11 ERA while putting up roughly average strikeout and walk rates (23% and 7.4%, respectively). A veteran journeyman who’d previously suited up for the Pirates, Angels, Brewers and Phillies at the MLB level, Guerra looked to have carved out a multi-year role in the Oakland bullpen.
That was thrown off track before the 2022 season even began, however. Guerra battled some elbow pain in Spring Training, and he underwent Tommy John surgery a week into the regular season. He spent the whole year on the injured list and was non-tendered at the end of the season. While the A’s weren’t prepared to carry him on the 40-man roster all winter after a lost season, they quickly brought him back with a chance to earn a spot yet again. Given the mid-April timing of his surgery, it’s unlikely Guerra will be ready to take the mound in exhibition play. He’ll presumably start the year on the minor league injured list and head to Triple-A Las Vegas after he completes his rehab and builds back to game shape.
Cron, 30 in February, played in 47 games with the Diamondbacks from 2019-20. The right-handed hitter didn’t perform well in that very limited look, but he has mashed at a .319/.405/.651 clip in just over 800 career Triple-A plate appearances (albeit in an extremely favorable environment in Reno). Those monster numbers earned Cron looks in both Japan and South Korea over the past two years, though he didn’t fare especially well at either stop. He hit .231/.270/.431 with NPB’s Hiroshima Carp in 2021 and posted a .222/.255/.420 mark through 259 trips to the plate with the KBO’s SSG Landers this year.
Also included in the list of non-roster invitees are outfielder Cody Thomas and infielder Ernie Clement. Both had been designated for assignment in recent days but apparently went unclaimed on waivers and remained in the organization on outright assignments. Thomas debuted with 10 MLB games this past season, while Clement hit .184/.243/.209 in 70 combined contests between the Guardians and A’s in 2022.
Oakland further announced that infielder Vimael Machín declined an outright assignment after going unclaimed on waivers. He’ll head to minor league free agency, as is his right as a player who has been outrighted multiple times in his career. The lefty-hitting infielder posted a .220/.300/.287 line with one homer through 253 plate appearances this past season. He hasn’t done much at the plate in parts of three big league campaigns. Owner of a far more impressive .307/.400/.468 line through parts of four Triple-A seasons, Machín figures to find a minor league opportunity elsewhere.
Brian O’Grady Signs With KBO’s Hanwha Eagles
Brian O’Grady has signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization, tweets C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic. It’s a deal for up to $900K, with $700K in salary and $200K in incentives, according to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (Twitter link).
O’Grady got brief looks in the big leagues each season from 2019-21. A former Reds draftee, he played in the Cincinnati system for a half-decade and earned an MLB debut with the Reds in ’19. O’Grady appeared in 28 contests for Cincinnati before being dealt to the Rays the following offseason. The lefty-hitting corner outfielder suited up just twice with Tampa Bay in the shortened 2020 campaign and was outrighted off the roster over the 2020-21 winter. He signed an MLB contract with the Padres and suited up a personal-high 32 times for the Friars the next season.
Between the three clubs, O’Grady managed just a .184/.283/.388 line in 114 MLB plate appearances. He’d hit at an excellent .284/.362/.551 clip through parts of three Triple-A campaigns, though, and that strong upper minors work caught the attention of evaluators in Japan. The Rutgers product inked a deal with the Seibu Lions in Nippon Professional Baseball last offseason. He tallied 465 trips to the plate but didn’t perform as the club had hoped offensively, putting up a .213/.312/.384 line with 15 home runs. O’Grady walked at a quality 11.6% clip but struck out in 27.7% of plate appearances for the Lions.
The Eagles will take a shot on a rebound season, betting on O’Grady’s power and plate discipline. His strong minor league track record gives reason for optimism as he heads to South Korea for the first time. The Philadelphia native turns 31 in May and could eventually look for a return to the affiliated ranks if he performs well in the KBO. For now, he’ll look to help an Eagles team that went just 46-96 this year to bounce back from a last-place finish.
Pirates Designate Diego Castillo For Assignment
The Pirates have designated infielder Diego Castillo for assignment, per their transactions tracker at MLB.com. The move opens a roster spot for catcher Austin Hedges, whose signing became official today.
Castillo, 25, was one of two players traded from the Yankees to the Pirates as part of the July 2021 trade that sent Clay Holmes to the Bronx. The other, Hoy Park, was designated for assignment in November, going to the Red Sox and then Braves in subsequent trades. That means today’s transaction could potentially wipe the Holmes return from Pittsburgh’s roster just a year and a half later, while Holmes has gone on to establish himself a key part of the Yankee bullpen.
Castillo was a contact-over-power guy for the beginnings of his professional career, striking out around 10% of the time in the lower levels of the minors but rarely putting the ball over the fence. 2021 seemed to be a breakout for him, as he hit 19 home runs between the systems of the Yankees and Pirates, finishing the year with a combined slash line of .278/.355/.487 and a wRC+ of 128.
He was selected to Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster in November of last year but couldn’t carry his positive developments forward. He got into 96 games at the big league level in 2022 and hit 11 home runs, but he also struck out in 26.5% of his plate appearances while walking just 4.9% of the time. He finished the season with a batting line of .206/.251/.382, production that was 27% below average, as evidenced by his 73 wRC+. He also got into 35 Triple-A games but the results were only marginally better. It seems the Bucs saw enough to feel it was time to move on.
They will now have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. It’s possible that Castillo could garner some interest from other clubs, despite his disappointing season. He’s still young and has a couple of option years remaining. He’s also played all four infield positions and a bit of right field, meaning he could provide clubs with a versatile depth piece even if his bat doesn’t turn around.
Nationals, Tanner Rainey Avoid Arbitration
3:47pm: Rainey’s deal is worth $1.5MM, per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post.
3:45pm: The Nationals announced that they have agreed to terms on a one-year major league contract with right-hander Tanner Rainey, avoiding arbitration. The financial elements of the deal have not been reported yet.
Rainey, who turns 30 this weekend, was acquired from the Reds prior to the 2019 season and has since established himself as one of the club’s better relievers. Over the past four seasons, he’s made 139 appearances with a 4.42 ERA, though that number is inflated by a ghastly 7.39 showing in 2021. He’s kept his ERA under 4.00 in the other three seasons of that timeframe. He has walked 14.6% of batters faced over those four seasons, which is certainly quite high, but he’s also struck out an excellent 32.4% of them.
Rainey was showing positive signs in the control department in 2022, as his walk rate was down to 10.2%, his lowest such mark in a full season. Unfortunately, his progress was halted by a UCL sprain this summer, which led to Tommy John surgery in August. He will therefore miss most or perhaps even all of the 2023 season while rehabbing.
Rainey first reached arbitration eligibility one year ago as a Super Two player. He and the Nats agreed to a salary of $860K for 2022. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a raise to $1.5MM in his second of four arbitration years. Though it’s possible he’ll miss the majority of the next season, the Nats will be able to retain him via arbitration for two seasons after that.
Nationals Sign Erasmo Ramirez To One-Year Deal
December 20: The Nats have made it official, announcing the deal today. Ramirez will earn a base salary of $1MM, reports Andrew Golden of The Washington Post, though there are a further $1MM in incentives available.
December 15: The Nationals and free-agent righty Erasmo Ramirez are working to finalize a one-year, Major League contract, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the talks and indicated that Ramirez’s contract will contain bonuses that can push his salary north of $2MM, suggesting that the base salary is a ways south of that sum. Ramirez is represented by Mato Sports Management.
The well-traveled Ramirez has bounced around the league in journeyman fashion over the past half decade but will now spend consecutive seasons with the same team for the first time since 2017-18. Ramirez originally joined the Nationals, his fifth team in five years, on a minor league deal last March but quickly emerged as an important long reliever just a few weeks into the season. The veteran righty appeared in 60 games for Washington, tallying 86 1/3 innings of 2.92 ERA ball. His outings were regularly in low-leverage, long relief situations — often with the games already out of hand — but Ramirez’s results were still strong.
Last year’s 93.9 mph average fastball was a career-best mark for the 32-year-old Ramirez, as was his minimal 4.0% walk rate. The increased velocity and improve command still only resulted in a below-average 17.6% strikeout rate, but Ramirez kept the ball in the yard for the most part (1.15 HR/9) and did a decent job avoiding hard contact (88.7 mph exit velocity, 4.9% barrel rate, 35.7% hard-hit rate). For a journeyman addition on a minor league contract, the Ramirez deal worked out about as well as the Nationals could’ve realistically hoped.
He’ll now return to a bullpen that was quietly a solid group for Washington in 2022, ranking 15th in the Majors with a 3.84 ERA. Ramirez won’t supplant any of Kyle Finnegan, Carl Edwards Jr., Hunter Harvey or top Rule 5 Draft pick Thad Ward in Dave Martinez’s bullpen, but there are enough journeymen and unproven options that it shouldn’t be that difficult to clear out a spot in the ‘pen. The Nats will have to make a corresponding 40-man move to accommodate Ramirez’s return.