Brewers Sign Adonis Medina To Minor-League Deal
The Brewers have signed right handed reliever Adonis Medina to a minor league deal, according to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The deal presumably comes with an invite to major league spring training, although that hasn’t been reported. Medina was reported to be close to a move to Korea last night, but instead will stay in the States and look to find opportunities in the Brewers’ bullpen.
Medina, who’ll pitch next season aged 26, threw 23 2/3 innings for the Mets last season, striking out 15.5% of batters and walking 5.5% on the way to a 6.08 ERA. He spent most of the year shuttling between Triple-A and the big leagues, and was optioned nine times during the season. At the top level of the minors, Medina had a 4.65 ERA through 31 innings.
Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Phillies in 2014, he worked his way up through their minor league system, and went on to pitch 11 2/3 innings between 2020-21 to a 3.86 ERA. He was claimed off waivers by the Pirates prior to the 2022 season, but was designated for assignment and traded to the Mets at the start of the regular season.
Medina leans heavily on a sinker-slider mix, but works in a low-90s four-seamer, changeup and curveball into the mix. He’ll give the Brewers a bit of upper-minors pitching depth heading into the new season.
Cubs, Brailyn Marquez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Cubs have agreed to a minor league contract with left-hander Brailyn Marquez, tweets Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. He’d been non-tendered last month, removing him from the 40-man roster.
After a couple weeks on the open market, Marquez returns to the only organization he’s known. Signed out the Dominican Republic during the 2015-16 international amateur period, Marquez blossomed into one of the game’s most talented pitching prospects. Owner of a fastball that worked into the upper 90s, he appeared among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects league-wide in both 2020 and ’21. Shaky control led to some speculation he could wind up in the bullpen as a potential high-leverage reliever.
Unfortunately, injuries have thrown off that once-promising career. Marquez made his big league debut with one appearance during the abbreviated 2020 campaign, but he hasn’t thrown a competitive pitch since then. He’s spent each of the past two years on the minor league injured list, and he underwent surgery on his throwing shoulder in June. Chicago decided at year’s end to cut him from the 40-man roster as a result.
Still just 24 in January, Marquez will try to get back onto the roster in 2023. He clearly has a fair bit of potential when healthy, but it remains to be seen what kind of form he’ll show after the rehab from the shoulder procedure.
A’s Acquire Chad Smith From Rockies
The A’s have acquired righty Chad Smith from the Rockies, the team announced. Pitching prospect Jeff Criswell heads to Colorado in return. The A’s 40-man roster count is up to 38, while Colorado’s tally drops to 38.
Smith made his big league debut this past season. He was called upon 15 times in relief by Colorado skipper Bud Black, tossing 18 innings. Smith allowed 15 runs in that limited work. He had a slightly above-average 27.1% strikeout rate and a solid 11.6% swinging strike percentage, averaging 95.6 MPH on his sinker. Yet throwing strikes proved problematic, as he walked an untenable 17.6% of batters faced.
Originally a Marlins draftee, Smith has played parts of six seasons in the minors since coming out of Ole Miss in 2016. He’d spent the past two years at the upper levels of the Colorado organization, posting strong numbers for Triple-A Albuquerque in 2022. Smith worked to a 3.09 ERA in 35 innings for the Isotopes — a strong achievement in one of the more hitter-friendly environments in pro ball. He fanned over 29% of opponents while inducing ground-balls at a massive 60% clip in that time. Smith’s 8.1% walk rate there was solid, but he’s battled control problems in the minors earlier in his career.
The 27-year-old has less than one year of major league service time, and he still has two minor league options remaining. He’ll give the A’s an affordable depth option who could factor into the middle innings and/or pitch for Triple-A Las Vegas if he holds his spot on the 40-man roster.
In return, the Rockies add a 23-year-old arm to the farm system. Criswell was Oakland’s second-round draft choice in 2020 after three seasons at the University of Michigan. The right-hander briefly made it to Triple-A this past season, although he spent more of the year at High-A and in Double-A. Over three levels, he worked 118 1/3 innings of 4.03 ERA ball, striking out batters at a 23.8% clip against a 9% walk rate. The 6’4″ hurler was ranked the #16 prospect in a relatively shallow Oakland farm system by Baseball America midseason; he’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft at the end of next season if not added to the 40-man roster before then.
Orioles Sign Nomar Mazara To Minor League Deal
1:09pm: Mazara will make $1.5MM if he cracks the major league roster, per Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner.
11:40am: The Orioles have signed outfielder Nomar Mazara to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. Presumably, he’ll be in Major League camp this spring. Mazara is repped by CAA sports.
Once considered one of baseball’s 20 to 30 best prospects, the now-27-year-old Mazara has settled in as a journeyman corner outfielder who’s played for four different big league teams over the past four seasons. Debuting as a 21-year-old back in 2016, Mazara belted 20 homers and hit .266/.320/.419 as a rookie with the Rangers but never advanced his offensive profile much beyond that point. He swatted exactly 20 homers in each of his first three MLB seasons and 19 in his fourth, but regularly did so with sub-par walk rates, on-base percentages and defense in right field.
Traded to the White Sox prior to the truncated 2020 season, Mazara bottomed out with a .228/.295/.294 batting line in 149 plate appearances with the South Siders. A 2021 stint with the Tigers didn’t yield much better results. He fared a bit better with the Padres in 2022, although this year’s .264/.316/.352 batting line in 171 plate appearances wasn’t exactly a standout showing. In nearly 2700 MLB plate appearances, Mazara is a .256/.315/.414 hitter — including just a .235/.295/.324 slash since leaving Texas after the 2019 season.
The Orioles have been seeking left-handed bats who can potentially help them in the outfield corners, at first base or at designated hitter, and Mazara fits that description, even if he’s been a roughly average hitter in the big leagues at his best. He’ll have to earn a spot on the team this spring, and if he’s unable to do so, he could head to Triple-A Norfolk and serve as a depth option in the event of an injury.
Mets Sign Three To Minor League Deals
The Mets have signed three right-handed relievers to minor league deals, according to their transactions tracker at MLB.com. Tommy Hunter, Sean Reid-Foley and Jimmy Yacabonis have joined the organization and will presumably be invited to major league Spring Training, though no formal announcement of that nature has been made.
Hunter is the oldest and most experienced of the bunch, as he’s currently 36 years old and has 494 MLB games under his belt. He has an even ERA of 4.00 thus far in his career, often succeeding with strong control. His career walk rate is 5.5%, well below this year’s MLB average for relievers of 9.1%. Outside of an injury-marred 2021, he’s never posted a rate higher than 6.9% in any single season. In 2022, he posted a 2.42 ERA but injuries limited him to just 22 1/3 innings. That’s been a recurring issue in recent years, as Hunter hasn’t reached 25 innings in a season since 2018.
Reid-Foley, 27, has pitched in the past five MLB seasons, the first three with the Blue Jays and the last three with the Mets. He came to New York from Toronto in the Steven Matz trade. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May and will miss at least part of the 2023 season. He was non-tendered by the Mets at the end of the season. He has a 4.66 ERA in 102 1/3 career innings, along with a 23.6% strikeout rate, 13.7% walk rate and 40.4% ground ball rate.
Yacabonis, 31 in March, put up an 8.36 ERA in 14 big league innings in 2022 but was much better in the minors. He tossed 33 2/3 innings down on the farm for various teams with a 3.21 ERA, 31.4% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. He was outrighted by the Rays in November and elected free agency.
The Mets have a lot of work to do in rebuilding their bullpen as Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor Williams, Joely Rodriguez and Trevor May all hit free agency. Edwin Díaz was also in that group, though he was quickly re-signed. They will likely have more moves to come in bolstering the bullpen, but it’s understandable why they would look to add multiple depth options to the system.
Pirates Sign Jarlín García
12:20pm: Mackey relays that the 2023 salary will be $2.5MM with the club option for 2024 valued at $3.25MM.
11:47am: The Pirates are close to a deal with left-hander Jarlín García, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. It will apparently be a one-year deal with a club option. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the deal is done, pending a physical. The financials of the deal aren’t yet publicly known. The lefty is represented by Paul Kinzer.
García, 30 in January, has seen MLB action in each of the past six seasons, the first three with the Marlins and the last three with the Giants. He made 58 appearances for the Giants in 2022, logging 65 innings and finishing the year with a 3.74 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 39.1% ground ball rate.
The Giants could have retained García for 2023 via arbitration, as he has between five and six years of MLB service time. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected García for a salary of $2.4MM but the Giants instead opted to non-tender him and send him to the open market.
As of this moment, the Pirates don’t have a single left-handed pitcher on their 40-man roster. That makes García a very sensible addition for the club. Like most southpaws, he fares better against batters that hit from left side. For his career, lefties have hit García to the tune of .206/.268/.338 while righties have a line of .235/.304/.428. The Pirates have been deep in rebuild territory for a few years now and don’t seem likely to suddenly jump into contention but García can potentially help them in multiple ways this year. He should give the club an option to tackle tough lefty hitters on opposing teams and will likely find himself in trade rumors at the deadline if he’s successful.
Yankees Sign Tommy Kahnle
10:41am: There’s no option on the contract, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post, adding that Kahnle will be paid $5.75MM in each of the next two seasons.
10:32am: The Yankees have agreed to a two-year deal with free-agent reliever Tommy Kahnle, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Kahnle, a client of the Ballengee Group, will be guaranteed a total of $11.5MM on the deal, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Kahnle was reported to be in “advanced” talks with multiple clubs earlier this morning, and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets that the archrival Red Sox also made a two-year offer to the right-hander.
Kahnle, 33, returns to the same Yankees team that drafted him in 2010, lost him to the Rockies in the 2013 Rule 5 Draft, and eventually acquired him alongside David Robertson in a 2017 trade with the White Sox. Injuries, most notably 2020 Tommy John surgery, put an end to Kahnle’s time in the Bronx. He was waived at the end of the 2020 season, as he was arbitration-eligible that winter but expected to miss the entire 2021 season while rehabbing from that ligament replacement procedure.
The Dodgers subsequently inked Kahnle to a low-cost, two-year contract with an eye toward paying him to rehab in 2021 and enjoying a hopeful rebound campaign at a slightly higher rate in 2022. It didn’t work out quite as well as hoped, given that Kahnle was only able to return to the mound for 13 2/3 regular-season innings in 2022 — plus a pair of postseason frames in which he served up three runs.
Kahnle’s regular-season showing was plenty promising, however. He pitched to a sharp 2.84 ERA and fanned a gaudy 30.4% of his opponents against a strong 6.5% walk rate. Kahnle’s 95.6 mph average fastball was nowhere near its 98 mph peak, but the right-hander compensated by absolutely overloading on changeups; Kahnle threw his four-seamer at just a 23% clip against a mammoth 76.4% usage rate for his changeup.
The new-look pitch selection paid dividends in that small sample, resulting in a career-high 68% ground-ball rate and a massive 17.2% swinging-strike rate. Kahnle doesn’t boast the power sinker that the Yankees regularly tend to prefer — particularly among their relievers — but that enormous ground-ball rate certainly aligns with the Yankees’ recent penchant for loading up on relievers with considerable ground-ball rates.
At his best, Kahnle has been a high-quality setup option with a blazing fastball and swing-and-miss changeup that’s helped him neutralize lefties every bit as well as he’s handled righties. While that Tommy John surgery, a shoulder injury and a lengthy bout with forearm inflammation in 2022 have limited Kahnle’s time on the mound, he carries a solid 3.44 ERA over his past 188 1/3 big league innings, during which time he’s fanned nearly a third of his opponents.
Kahnle adds a big arm and another lofty ground-ball rate to a Yankees bullpen currently led by Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loaisiga, Wandy Peralta and Lou Trivino. New York has seen a significant portion of its bullpen — Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Chad Green, Miguel Castro — reach free agency this winter, and they’re currently dealing with injuries to two of their top relievers. Deadline pickup Scott Effross is likely out for all of the 2023 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October, while righty Michael King is on the mend from an elbow fracture (though he could potentially be ready early next season).
Adding Kahnle’s two-year deal to the books bumps the Yankees to a projected $211MM payroll for the 2023 season and moves their luxury-tax payroll to a bit more than $227MM, per Roster Resource. That leaves the Yankees, who are still pursuing a reunion with Aaron Judge and expected to meet with Brandon Nimmo during this week’s Winter Meetings, less than $6MM from the first tier of luxury penalization. The Yankees went well over the tax line in 2022 and appear poised to do so again in 2023, with or without Judge.
Royals, Adalberto Mondesi Avoid Arbitration
The Royals announced Tuesday that they’ve agreed to a one-year deal with infielder Adalberto Mondesi, thus avoiding arbitration. Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star reports that Mondesi will be paid $3.045MM in 2023.
Once viewed as one of the game’s top prospects and a potential foundational piece in Kansas City, Mondesi has instead become a perennially tantalizing talent who can’t stay healthy enough to capitalize on his prodigious tool set. The now-27-year-old Mondesi turned heads back in 2018, when in just 75 games and 291 plate appearances, he turned in a .276/.306/.498 slash with 14 home runs and 32 steals. He connected on nine homers and swiped 43 bags in just 102 games the following season.
Unfortunately for Mondesi and for the Royals, that 102-game showing in 2019 marks a career-high. Those 2018 and 2019 seasons are the only times that Mondesi has appeared in even 60 games in a year, though to his credit, he did play in 59 of Kansas City’s 60 games in 2020 — albeit with a diminished .256/.294/.416 batting line and a then-career-high 30% strikeout rate.
Mondesi has appeared in just 50 games over the past two seasons due to a pair of oblique strains, a hamstring strain and, most notably, a torn ACL he suffered after just 15 games in 2022. Mondesi also suffered a pair of subluxations in his left shoulder during the 2019 season and ultimately required surgery to address the issue. In addition, he’s spent time on the injured list due to an impingement in his other shoulder and to back and groin strains.
It’s a veritable laundry list of injuries for Mondesi, who made his MLB debut as a 20-year-old back in 2016 but has played in just 358 Major League games in his career. At his best, Mondesi possesses elite speed, above-average power and the ability to play a strong defensive shortstop, but his body hasn’t allowed him to showcase that skill set nearly as much as he, the Royals and MLB fans in general would prefer to see. That said, at a $3.045MM salary for next season, the risk for the Royals is minimal.
Despite the lack of games played, Mondesi has spent so much time on the Major League injured list that many will be surprised to read he’s in his final season of club control. With five years of service time under his belt, he’s on pace to reach free agency as a 28-year-old next winter. Obviously, he’ll have plenty of motivation to remain healthy, though even if Mondesi defied the odds and enjoyed a full, healthy season, any and all interested teams would be wary of his injury history on the open market.
Mondesi’s role with the 2023 Royals figures to be somewhat up in the air, given the defensive excellence of Nicky Lopez and the emergence of top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. All three players can play the shortstop position, but Kansas City moved Mondesi to third base late in the 2021 season with an eye toward Witt potentially taking over at shortstop. However, Witt wound up playing primarily third base in his rookie campaign last season. Any of the three players could ostensibly handle any of the three positions to the left of first base, so it’ll be up to new head of baseball ops J.J. Picollo and new manager Matt Quatraro to determine their preferred alignment between now and Opening Day.
Of course, all of that is putting the cart well before the horse. First and foremost, the Royals will focus on getting Mondesi healthy and keeping him healthy enough to play in a meaningful number of games for the them next season. Michael Massey, Nate Eaton, Samad Taylor and Maikel Garcia are all infield alternatives on the 40-man roster, should the Royals need to account for an injury to Mondesi or another infielder. It’s also possible that the Royals will add to their infield depth this offseason via either the trade or free-agent market.
Orioles Agree To One-Year Deal With Kyle Gibson
TODAY: Gibson signed for one year and $10MM, Orioles GM Mike Elias told reporters (including The Baltimore Sun’s Nathan Ruiz and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). The O’s continue to look for more veteran pitching, and “anyone who’s out there” on the market is a possibility. This includes starters who have turned down qualifying offers. In other Gibson news, the Blue Jays were also known to have interest in the right-hander, and The Athletic’s Dan Connolly reports that Gibson took Baltimore’s offer over an identical one-year, $10MM deal with Toronto.
DECEMBER 3: The Orioles have strengthened their rotation, with veteran starter Kyle Gibson agreeing to a one-year deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The deal is pending a physical.
It’d been widely reported that the Orioles were in the market for starting pitching additions, and Gibson gives them a solid back-of-the-rotation arm. They’ve been linked to a number of other starting pitchers this off-season, and it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if Gibson isn’t the only one joining the team this winter.
Gibson, 35, had a 5.05 ERA across 167 2/3 innings for the Phillies in 2022. Advanced metrics were a bit more favorable, and his FIP stood at 4.28. He did post the best walk rate of his career (6.7%), and while his strikeout numbers have never jumped off the page they were 1.5% better than his career rate of 18.6%.
Gibson was drafted by the Twins with the 22nd pick of the 2009 draft, and made his debut 2013. He struggled a bit initially, but soon settled in as a durable arm at the back of their rotation. He’d go on to make 188 starts across seven seasons for the Twins, peaking in 2018 when he made 32 starts for a 3.62 ERA, almost a full run below his average while in Minnesota.
After reaching free agency at the conclusion of the 2019 season, Gibson latched on with the Rangers on a three-year, $28MM deal. He struggled a bit in the pandemic-shortened season but straightened things out in 2021, pitching to a 2.87 ERA across 19 starts and turning himself into a valuable trade chip for the Rangers at the deadline that year.
Advanced metrics did have him ripe for regression that year, and he did drop off a bit after the Phillies acquired him, pitching to a 5.09 ERA the rest of the way in 2021.
His fastball sits in the low-90s, and he mixes that with a slider, curveball and changeup, as well as a cutter that’s been introduced in recent seasons. It’s the durability that Gibson is noted for though, and apart from his rookie year (and the pandemic season), he’s made at least 25 starts in the other eight full seasons.
He slots into a rotation that features Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells and Austin Voth – none of whom have ever reached 25 starts in a big league season. Top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez is also likely to feature in 2023, but as a rookie they’ll be keeping a close eye on his workload.
From here, it seems likely the Orioles will pursue another addition to the rotation as they look to supplement their young roster. The likes of Jameson Taillon, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker would all make sense for Baltimore, and while Gibson can certainly work as a valuable innings-eater, adding one of those names would give their rotation a bit more punch as they look to build off their promising 83-79 2022 season.
Reds Sign Chuckie Robinson, Jared Solomon To Minor League Deals
The Reds have brought back catcher Chuckie Robinson and pitcher Jared Solomon on minor league deals, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. Both players have received an invite to major league spring training.
Robinson, 28 this month, appeared in 25 games for the Reds this year, hitting .136/.136/.271 with two home runs across 60 plate appearances. He also also threw out three of a possible 17 baserunners. Robinson went better in the minors, slashing a more respectable .266/.320/.399 with five home runs between Double-A and Triple-A.
Originally drafted in the 21st round of the 2016 draft by the Astros, Robinson found his way over to the Reds in the minor league phase of the 2020 Rule 5 draft. He’s posted solid offensive numbers in the Reds minor league system, and has thrown out runners at an impressive 33% over his six minor league seasons.
Solomon, 25, was drafted in the 11th round of the 2017 draft by the Reds. He made his big league debut this year, tossing 8 1/3 innings out of the Reds bullpen for a 10.80 ERA. He did strike out nine batters in that short stint, but also gave up five walks and three home runs.
It wasn’t much better in the minor leagues for Solomon, as he struggled to an 8.93 ERA across 40 1/3 innings. The strikeout rate was solid enough, but he struggled with the long ball, giving up 12 of them in that time.
Robinson had been outrighted off the roster in October before electing free agency, while Solomon was designated for assignment last month.