White Sox Sign Billy Hamilton To Minors Contract
The White Sox have signed outfielder Billy Hamilton to a minor league contract, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reports (Twitter link). Hamilton will receive an invitation to Chicago’s big league Spring Training camp.
This is Hamilton’s second stint with the White Sox, after he played in 71 games with the club in 2021. Playing mostly as a part-time outfielder, late-inning defensive sub, and pinch-runner, Hamilton delivered his signature blend of strong defense and speed (a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts) while also making 135 trips to the plate for the AL Central champions.
Hamilton’s skillset made him an intriguing player early in his career, as he finished second in NL Rookie Of The Year voting in 2014 with the Reds, and he stole 230 bases (out of 282 chances) with Cincinnati from 2014-17. However, Hamilton has never hit above a replacement level, turning him into a journeyman as he looks to enter his 11th Major League season. The 32-year-old has suited up for eight different teams at the MLB level, with 690 of his 948 appearances coming in a Cincinnati uniform.
Playing time has been a lot more sporadic for Hamilton since his Reds tenure ended, and he has bounced around the league on a series of minor league deals. In 2022, Hamilton inked minors contracts with the Mariners, Marlins, and Twins, ultimately getting to the big leagues for 20 games with Miami and 17 for Minnesota.
Though the smaller sample sizes of playing time make it somewhat harder for Hamilton to be properly gauged by defensive metrics, he still appears to have a solid glove capable of handling any outfield position. He’ll be a useful depth piece for the White Sox considering Luis Robert‘s injury history, and Gavin Sheets‘ struggles in the outfield. The Sox shored up left field in a big way by signing Andrew Benintendi this week, and prospect Oscar Colas is knocking on the door to split time with (or perhaps supplant) Sheets for right field duties.
Yankees Sign Michael Hermosillo, Demarcus Evans To Minor League Deals
The Yankees have added a bit of minor league depth, signing outfielder Michael Hermosillo and right-hander Demarcus Evans to minor league deals, according to each player’s MLB transaction log (here and here).
Hermosillo, 28 next month, has spent the past two seasons with the Cubs. He hit just .115/.250/.148 without a home run across 73 plate appearances and 31 games in 2022. He spent much of the year on the injured list with a left quadriceps strain, and only made an additional ten appearances at the Triple-A level, hitting .324/.400/.559 in 40 plate appearances. While that sort of sample size is far too small to draw accurate conclusions, he did hit .306/.446/.592 over 186 plate appearances a year earlier at that level, so he certainly can hit at the highest level of the minors.
Originally drafted in the 28th round by the Angels in 2013, Hermosillo came up through their system and made his big league debut in 2018. Despite tallying some promising numbers coming through the minors, Hermosillo never hit enough in the big leagues to stick, putting up a .188/.287/.288 line over 118 plate appearances in three years with the Angels. Combined with his Cubs work, that makes for a career .167/.268/.283 line with four home runs over 229 plate appearances.
Defensively, Hermosillo logged most of his time in center field, but also spent some time in left as well. On the whole, he’s been worth 3 Outs Above Average in 312 2/3 career innings in center, 1 OAA in 115 innings in left and 1 OAA in 126 innings in right. So even if the bat doesn’t show up in the big leagues, there’s a solid glove-first depth piece for the Yankees to cover any injuries.
Evans, 26, didn’t pitch in the big leagues last year but made appearances over the prior two seasons for the Rangers. Originally drafted in the 25th round in 2015, Evans came up through the Rangers’ system flashing big strikeout stuff, averaging a 13.5 SO/9 over his minor league career. He got a brief cup of coffee in the big leagues in 2020, pitching four innings to a 2.25 ERA. A longer stint was ahead in 2021, but the results didn’t come, as Evans was tagged for a 5.13 ERA over 26 1/3 innings. Despite striking out batters at an above-average 27.5% clip, the walks were an issue for Evans, as he handed out free passes at a 13.3% rate.
At Triple-A this year, Evans tossed 33 innings of 3.82 ERA ball. The same issues that plagued his big league stint were evident in the upper minors, as Evans offset a strong strike out rate (30.1%) with a poor walk rate (15.1%). His fastball sits in the low-90s, and he mixes in a cutter and a curveball. He’ll give the Yankees a bit of minor league bullpen depth at worst, with a bit of upside there if they can straighten out his walk problems.
Giants, Nick Duron Agree To Minor League Deal
The Giants have signed reliever Nick Duron to a minor league contract, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. The 26-year-old joins the fourth organization of his professional career.
Duron entered the pro ranks in 2015, selected by the Red Sox in the 31st round out of Clark College in Washington. He spent a few seasons in the Boston system but didn’t advance past Low-A before being released in 2018. Signed to a minor league deal by the Mariners, he pitched his way to Triple-A in 2021 before qualifying for minor league free agency. Last winter, Duron hooked on with the Phillies on a minor league pact.
The 6’4″ hurler would again spend most of the season in Triple-A, but he earned a cup of coffee at the MLB level. Duron was called to the majors in July as a replacement for unvaccinated players in a series in Toronto. He came out of the bullpen once, working around two hits to get out of a scoreless inning. After the contest, Philadelphia returned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he spent the remainder of the season before again hitting minor league free agency.
While Duron only has that one inning of MLB experience, he’s an interesting depth flier for the Giants. He averaged 97.2 MPH on his fastball during his MLB appearance. That strong velocity translated into plenty of whiffs in the minors, as he struck out a strong 29.6% of opponents over 48 2/3 innings for the IronPigs. Duron walked an alarming 13.6% of batters faced, but the strikeouts and a lofty 50.4% ground-ball percentage helped him to a 2.77 ERA.
Duron’s control has been inconsistent, but he’s flashed decent stuff and is coming off a career-best showing in Triple-A. He’ll presumably start next year with the Giants highest affiliate in Sacramento but could put himself in the mix for an MLB bullpen job at some point. Duron has all three option years remaining, so if he cracks the 40-man roster at any point, the Giants can freely move him between San Francisco and Sacramento for a long while.
White Sox, Sebastian Rivero Agree To Minor League Deal
The White Sox are in agreement with catcher Sebastian Rivero on a minor league contract, tweets Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star. The 24-year-old backstop was released by the Royals last month.
Rivero, a Venezuela native, had spent his entire career in the Kansas City organization. Originally signed as an amateur free agent during the 2015-16 signing period, he played parts of six seasons in the minors. Rivero hasn’t hit much over that stretch, compiling a .247/.295/.357 line in a bit more than 1300 minor league plate appearances. He’s made contact at a roughly average rate but rarely walks and only has 20 professional home runs.
Despite the tepid offensive output, he played his way onto the 40-man roster over the 2020-21 offseason based on the strength of his defensive reputation. Kansas City kept him on hand as a depth option for the last two years, getting him into 34 combined contests. Rivero has managed only a .167/.236/.197 line in very sparse looks against big league pitching. He spent the bulk of the 2022 season at Triple-A Omaha, where he posted a .218/.294/.410 showing in 174 trips to the plate.
At the end of the season, Kansas City designated Rivero for assignment as part of a 40-man roster shuffle. They cut him loose, but he fairly quickly finds a new job. Chicago’s first-year skipper Pedro Grifol has spent the past decade in the K.C. organization, getting plenty of work with the team’s catchers in particular. That connection surely helped Rivero find this next opportunity.
The White Sox look likely to give Yasmani Grandal another shot to bounce back in the final season of his four-year contract. Carlos Pérez and Seby Zavala are on the 40-man roster as backup possibilities. Rivero looks likely to head to Triple-A Charlotte as a depth option behind that trio.
Giants Sign Sean Manaea
DECEMBER 16: The Giants have officially the signing of Manaea.
DECEMBER 12: Lefty Sean Manaea and the Giants have agreed to a two-year, $25MM deal with an opt-out after the 2023 season, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Manaea is represented by the Boras Corporation.
The deal marks a return to the Bay Area for the 30-year-old Manaea, who was traded from Kansas City to Oakland as a prospect at the 2015 trade deadline as part of the Ben Zobrist deal. Manaea debuted for the A’s the following year and was a steady presence in their rotation throughout his six seasons in Oakland, though he did miss most of the 2019 season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Still, with both his career ERA (3.86) and FIP (3.96) under 4.00, Manaea was a fairly attractive arm to teams searching for rotation help after the lockout ended this spring, and so the A’s shipped him to San Diego along with relief prospect Aaron Holiday to acquire prospects Euribiel Angeles and Adrian Martinez. Things didn’t go so well for Manaea in San Diego, however, as he struggled in 2022, posting an unsightly 4.96 ERA (75 ERA+) in 158 innings that his 4.53 FIP only slightly improves upon.
That rough platform season is likely why Manaea was available to San Francisco, who showed interest in him during last week’s Winter Meetings, at such a low price compared to what we’ve seen from the rest of the mid-rotation market. It’s of course possible that Manaea eschewed a larger guarantee in order to secure a chance to test the market again next offseason, hoping to see his results improve in 2023.
In that regard, the deal is similar to the one the Giants signed Carlos Rodon to last offseason, albeit at a much lower AAV of just $12.5MM compared to Rodon’s $22MM. Manaea may prove to be Rodon’s replacement in a rotation that includes Logan Webb, Alex Cobb, Alex Wood, and Anthony DeSclafani, should Rodon ultimately sign elsewhere this offseason. Rodon is known to be seeking a seven-year deal this offseason, with the Cardinals and Yankees among those interested.
While it seems unlikely Manaea can imitate Rodon’s sterling 2022 production in 2023, there’s still reason to believe that Manaea can bounce back from his difficult 2022 in the coming season. His strikeout and walk rates of 23.2% and 7.5%, respectively, are roughly in line with his career norms and were actually slightly above league average last year according to Baseball Savant. And for the season’s first three months, Manaea’s numbers were right in line with his career marks. Through the end of June, he’d posted a 3.92 ERA and 3.76 FIP with a 25.8% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate. Over the final three months of the season, however, Manaea was rocked for an ERA just over 6.00, with a huge portion of the damage coming in a pair of eight-run drubbings at Dodger Stadium.
Manaea’s biggest problem in 2022 was the long ball, as he allowed a whopping 1.65 home runs per nine innings that doubtlessly contributed to his strand rate of just 67.5% — his lowest in any full season of his career. Moving his home games Oracle Park, one of the most difficult ballparks in the majors for home run hitters, should aid Manaea in his bid to return to form in 2023. If Manaea can post a season more in line with his 2021 performance, where he posted a 3.91 ERA/3.66 FIP in his 179 1/3 innings of work, he’ll justify the investment from San Francisco and be in line for a larger deal, more in line with the four-year, $52MM guarantee MLBTR predicted for him this offseason.
With their starting five for 2023 likely set barring another surprise addition, the Giants seem primed to turn their attention to the lineup, which largely struggled in 2022 with the exception of All-Star Joc Pederson, who returned to the Giants by accepting a qualifying offer early in the offseason. San Francisco already added Mitch Haniger but is rumored to be interested in adding a second outfielder, even after missing on pursuits of Aaron Judge, Brandon Nimmo, and Cody Bellinger.
The Giants are also are expected to address an infield that lost Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria to free agency this offseason, while suffering a considerable step back from shortstop Brandon Crawford after his resurgent 2021 season. The Giants reportedly have Carlos Correa as their top option in the free agent shortstop market, with the Twins and Cubs representing possible competition for Correa’s services. San Francisco also seems likely to look to upgrade their relief corps for next season. Earlier, they were rumored to have interest in pairing Kenley Jansen, who signed with the Red Sox, with Camilo Doval at the back of their bullpen, so a pursuit of another back-end bullpen option like Taylor Rogers seems feasible.
Mets Sign José Peraza, Abraham Almonte To Minor League Deals
The Mets announced the signing of five players to minor league deals, including outfielder Abraham Almonte and infielder José Peraza. They also announced the previously-reported deals for right-handers Tommy Hunter, Sean Reid-Foley and Jimmy Yacabonis. All but Reid-Foley, who is likely to miss extended time after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May, will receive invites to major league Spring Training.
Peraza, 29 in April, will return to the Mets club he was with in 2021. A speed-and-contact guy, he’s stolen 79 bases in his career and has only struck out in 13.1% of his plate appearances but has never been much of a power threat. He did hit 14 home runs with the Reds in 2018, but that stands out as an anomaly compared to the rest of his career. For 2022, he spent the year in Triple-A on minor league deals with the Yankees and then Red Sox. Between the two clubs, he hit .236/.290/.354, wRC+ of 70. He’ll provide the Mets with a versatile depth option, as he’s played all three outfield slots and the three infield positions to the left of first base.
Almonte, 34 in June, has appeared in parts of the past 10 MLB seasons, though he’s been limited to part-time roles. His 82 games played in 2015 are still his career high. Last year, he mashed in the minors, getting into 80 Triple-A games and hitting .293/.417/.534 for a wRC+ of 153. He also got into 15 MLB games with the Red Sox, hitting .257/.297/.400 for a wRC+ of 93.
Almonte appeared to have a deal in place KBO’s LG Twins earlier this month, though they reportedly nullified the deal after conducting his physical. Whatever the issue was that caused the Twins to walk away, it’s evidently not a huge concern for the Mets. He’ll give them an experienced outfielder as a depth option in the minors.
Blue Jays To Sign Chris Bassitt
December 16: Bassit’s deal has now been officially announced by the team, with left-hander Anthony Kay designated for assignment in a corresponding move. The contract is split into three even salaries of $21MM, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The first season will actually be a $3MM signing bonus and $18MM salary, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
December 12: The Blue Jays have agreed to a three-year, $63MM contract with free-agent righty Chris Bassitt, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Bassitt is represented by Meister Sports Management.
In adding Bassitt, the Jays have fortified a rotation that saw Ross Stripling reach free agency, lost Hyun Jin Ryu to Tommy John surgery early in the summer, and experienced substantial struggles from righty Jose Berrios and lefty Yusei Kikuchi in 2022. The ultra-consistent Bassitt will step into the mix behind third-place Cy Young finisher Alek Manoah and ninth-place finisher Kevin Gausman, with Berrios and Kikuchi likely to follow.
Bassitt, 34 in February, is a late-bloomer who didn’t establish himself as a consistent big league rotation piece until his age-29 season — partly due to Tommy John surgery wiping out the bulk of his 2016 season and all of his 2017 campaign. However, since a 2019 breakout with the A’s, he’s been among the sport’s most effective arms. In that time, Bassitt carries a sharp 3.31 ERA with a strong 23.1% strikeout rate, a tidy 6.7% walk rate and a 44.3% ground ball rate that’s a bit better than average.
Though Bassitt’s results have been excellent, he hasn’t quite yet solidified himself as a 30-start workhorse, although that’s not necessarily through any fault of his own. He missed the first few weeks of the 2019 season due to a leg contusion he suffered late in a spring training game but came back to make 28 appearances (25 starts) of 3.81 ERA ball. In 2020, he made 11 starts and tallied 63 innings during the pandemic-shortened 60-game schedule.
Bassitt looked well on his way to a career-best season in 2021 but was interrupted by one of the most frightening scenes in recent baseball memory, when he took a 100 mph line-drive off his face. The right-hander immediately dropped into a heap on the mound and had to be carted off the field with a towel covering his face. While there was originally some concern of long-term vision problems, Bassitt incredibly escaped with “only” fractures in his cheekbone and jawbone, with no further damage being revealed on a subsequent CT scan and no long-term vision issues. Bassitt not only avoided a worst-case scenario but returned from surgery just six weeks later and pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball across two appearances to close out the season.
Traded to the Mets as part of the Athletics’ fire sale following the 2021 season — Oakland acquired righties J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller in the deal — Bassitt made a career-high 30 starts and reached a career-high 181 2/3 innings in New York. He also averaged better than six innings per start, turned in a career-best 48.8% ground-ball rate and recorded a 3.42 ERA with fielding-independent marks to match in what’ll now likely be his lone season in Queens.
The Mets made Bassitt a $19.65MM qualifying offer, which he unsurprisingly rejected, recognizing the opportunity for just this type of lucrative multi-year deal. By signing him to this contract, which lands right in line with the three-year, $60MM predicted by MLBTR at the outset of the offseason, the Blue Jays will be required to forfeit their second-highest pick in next summer’s draft. They’ll also see the cap on their international bonus pool for amateur free agents reduced by $500K.
That’s all of minimal concern to the Blue Jays, who are clearly in win-now mode as they look to keep pace in one of the game’s most competitive divisions. Adding Bassitt is a large step toward that end — one that ostensibly aligns with a push to improve the team’s run-prevention, perhaps at the expense of some offensive thunder.
Toronto kicked off its winter by trading its final year of club control over Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners — a deal that netted them an under-the-radar but high-end reliever, Erik Swanson, and a fairly well regarded pitching prospect, Adam Macko. The Jays remained largely quiet in the weeks to come, but just this weekend struck a deal with longtime Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier — one of the premier defensive players in the sport (when healthy). Of course, staying on the field has been difficult for the oft-injured Kiermaier and his devil-may-care approach to defense in center; he’s currently on the mend from season-ending hip surgery.
While the financial specifics of Kiermaier’s contract have yet to come to light, the sequence of moves will surely bring the Jays up to a franchise-record payroll. Bassitt alone brings their projected payroll a bit north of $200MM — already a club record — and Roster Resource projects their luxury-tax ledger to check in a bit north of $225MM. It’s possible that Kiermaier alone will push them to the $233MM first tier of luxury penalization, which would mark the first time the Blue Jays have crossed that barrier.
Of course, the entire picture could still change — at least to some extent. Toronto is also in the market for a left-handed bat to add to an near-entirely right-handed lineup, and the Jays’ front office has reportedly been willing to listen to trade offers on its trio of MLB-caliber catchers: Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno. Free agents Michael Brantley and Michael Conforto are among the most obvious fits, but the Jays could also ship one-third of that catching triumvirate out as part of a deal to acquire a younger left-handed bat and/or additional reinforcements to a bullpen that could still benefit from an arm or two.
However the remainder of the offseason plays out, Bassitt’s addition to a pair of righties who generated some Cy Young love in 2022 should give the Jays a formidable rotation, even if none of Berrios, Kikuchi or sixth starter/swingman Mitch White bound back in 2023. Not only will the Jays be strong on a per-inning basis, but the combination of Manoah, Gausman and Bassitt have all averaged better than 5 2/3 innings per start in recent years, which should go a long way toward helping keep the team’s bullpen fresh.
Berrios, at his best, has been similar — averaging six-plus innings per outing in 2018, 2019 and 2021. However,, the 2022 season was a wildly uncharacteristic one for Berrios, who in many ways paralleled Bassitt in terms of consistent, year-to-year results prior to his first full campaign in Toronto. If any of Bassitt, Kikuchi or White can turn in a strong showing this coming season, Toronto’s rotation could very well rank among the best and deepest in Major League Baseball.
Blue Jays Designate Anthony Kay For Assignment
The Blue Jays have officially announced their signing of right-hander Chris Bassitt. To make room on the 40-man roster, left-hander Anthony Kay has been designated for assignment.
A first-round selection of the Mets in 2016, Kay was seen as a potential quick-to-the-majors starter based on the strength of his control. He underwent Tommy John surgery just a few months into his professional career, however, costing him the entire 2017 campaign. Kay returned with a new curveball to pair with his fastball-changeup combination, working his way to Triple-A by 2019.
Midway through that season, New York dealt him to the Blue Jays alongside Simeon Woods Richardson to land Marcus Stroman. Kay got to the big leagues briefly at the end of the year, making three appearances with Toronto. He’s appeared at the MLB level in each of the three subsequent seasons, though he’s yet to establish himself as a consistent presence on a big league staff.
Kay has made 28 MLB appearances, seven of which were starts. Over 70 2/3 innings, he owns a 5.48 ERA. Kay has averaged 94 MPH on his fastball and punched out a solid 23.5% of batters faced, but the plus control that was once his calling card has dipped. He’s walked nearly 12% of big league opponents, and the Jays have bounced him on and off the MLB roster the past few seasons.
Through parts of three Triple-A campaigns, the UCONN product owns a 6.02 ERA in 107 2/3 frames. He was limited to eight outings and 14 innings at that level this year, losing much of the season on the minor league injured list. Kay looked rusty in that stretch, surrendering 14 runs with 15 strikeouts and 11 walks.
Toronto will now have a week to trade Kay or place him on waivers. The 27-year-old still has a minor league option year remaining, so another team could stash him in Triple-A for a season if they’re willing to keep him on the 40-man roster. With between one and two years of MLB service, he won’t reach arbitration until after the 2024 season at the earliest.
Brewers Sign Thomas Pannone To Minor League Deal
The Brewers announced to reporters, including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, that they have signed left-hander Thomas Pannone to a minor league deal with an invitation to major league Spring Training.
Pannone, 29 in April, was drafted by Cleveland back in 2013 but was traded to the Blue Jays at the 2017 deadline as part of the Joe Smith trade. He made it to the big leagues with the Jays in 2018 and 2019, making 13 starts and 36 relief appearances over those two seasons. He posted a 5.43 ERA in that time with a 19.4% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk rate and 33.5% ground ball rate.
That’s the extent of his major league experiences so far, with the Jays outrighting him in August of 2020. He signed a minors deal with the Angels for 2021 but posted a 7.07 ERA in 118 1/3 innings in Triple-A that year. 2022 began with another minor league deal, this time with the Red Sox. After 63 innings with a 4.57 ERA, he signed with the KBO’s Kia Tigers in June. He seemed to get into a good groove over there, tossing 82 2/3 innings over 14 starts with a 2.72 ERA, striking out 21% of batters faced while walking just 6.9% of them.
Pannone will now see if he can parlay that half season of success in Korea into better results in North America. The Brewers have plenty of rotation depth, with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Eric Lauer, Freddy Peralta, Aaron Ashby and Adrian Houser candidates for the regular rotation, with Ethan Small, Janson Junk, Jason Alexander, Tyson Miller and Gus Varland also on the 40-man roster. Pannone’s best path to the roster might be as a lefty reliever, since Hoby Milner is the only southpaw projected for Milwaukee’s bullpen at the moment.
If Pannone does get selected to the club’s 40-man, he’s out of options and would have to stick around or else be designated for assignment. If he does stick around, he’ll be able to do so for an extended stretch as he has just over a year of service time.
Braves Acquire Hoy Park
The Red Sox announced that they have traded infielder/outfielder Hoy Park to the Braves. In exchange, they will receive a player to be named later or cash considerations. Park was designated for assignment earlier this 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 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 him back into DFA limbo again a few weeks later. 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.
For the Braves, they have most of their infield set with Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley in place. Shortstop is still a question mark with Dansby Swanson having hit free agency and still on the open market. If he ends up signing elsewhere, it seems the plan would be to install Vaughn Grissom there. In the outfield, Michael Harris II and Ronald Acuña Jr. have two spots accounted for with Marcell Ozuna, Eddie Rosario and Sam Hilliard candidates for another. Park still has two option years remaining, which will allow the club to keep him in the minors as depth to be brought up as needed. But he could also compete for a bench/utility role with the likes of Orlando Arcia, Braden Shewmake and Ehire Adrianza.