Rays Option Ryan Yarbrough, Recall Garrett Cleavinger
The Rays have optioned left-hander Ryan Yarbrough to Triple-A Durham today and recalled fellow lefty Garrett Cleavinger to take his place, the team announced today. Yarbrough had started last night’s game against the Red Sox, and as the Rays have two days off next week, his next turn in rotation may have been skipped regardless.
Indeed, with rosters set to expand to 28 on the first of September, the move could well be a temporary measure to give manager Kevin Cash an extra arm in the bullpen. The move marks the first trip to the Rays’ active roster for Cleavinger, who was acquired from the Dodgers in an under-the-radar deadline move that sent minor league outfielder German Tapia to Los Angeles. In 4 1/3 innings across four games with the Dodgers this season, the 28-year-old southpaw posted an unsightly 10.38 ERA (and 2.08 WHIP), though he’s compiled a 2.37 ERA across 31 Triple-A innings between Oklahoma City and Durham. In the majors, he’s thus far posted a 4.70 ERA (6.25 FIP) across 23 innings in parts of three seasons with the Phillies and Dodgers.
The move marks the latest setback in what’s been an up-and-down year for the 30-year-old Yarbrough. After opening the season on the IL with groin tightness, the lefty has struggled to find consistent success, posting a 4.87 ERA (4.49 FIP) across 68 1/3 innings in the same sort of hybrid role he’s occupied since his 2018 debut.
While these numbers bear a striking resemblance to his 2021 output (5.11 ERA, 4.45 FIP), they still fall well short of his career marks (4.37 ERA, 4.10 FIP). Yarbrough’s advanced stats don’t offer a clear reason for the decline. His strikeout rate has dropped a bit, from 20.3% across his first three seasons to 17.9 % in the last two, but he’s continued to limit hard contact, allowing a hard-hit rate (the percent of balls in play with an exit velocity of 95 mph or more) of only 29.6%, nearly 10% below the league-wide average while his walk rate has inched downwards.
Regardless of the cause of the dip, it will be interesting to see how the Tampa front office handles Yarbrough in the offseason. He’s making $3.85MM this season in his second season of arbitration eligibility and could be a non-tender candidate for the financially constrained Rays.
Reds Place Mike Moustakas On 10-Day Injured List, Select Colin Moran
The Reds have placed Mike Moustakas on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain and selected the contract of Colin Moran, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter).
Moustakas never really got going this season, contributing -1.0 bWAR and a .214/.295/.345 triple-slash across 285 plate appearances. The soon-to-be 34-year-old, in his third season with the Reds, has one year (at $18MM) remaining on the four-year, $64MM deal he signed in December 2019 as the Reds geared up to compete in the (ultimately pandemic-shortened) 2020 season.
The Reds have since traded away several of their most valuable assets, of course (including Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, and Brandon Drury at the deadline and Sonny Gray, Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suarez, and Tucker Barnhart in the offseason), with Moustakas one of only a few veterans remaining from the 2020 club that secured a wild-card berth in the shortened season. Beyond the financial commitment, Moustakas’ declining production and struggles with injury have made moving him difficult. Since arriving in Cincinnati, he’s compiled a .216/.300/.383 batting line — a substantial drop from his career .247/.308/.434 line — and he’s missed more than a third of 2022 already after appearing in only 62 games in 2021.
Moran, taken by the Marlins as the sixth overall pick in the 2013 amateur draft, will get his third taste of the bigs this season as Moustakas’ replacement. The corner infielder broke in with the Astros for short stints in both 2016 and 2017 before heading to Pittsburgh in 2018 as part of the package that netted Gerrit Cole. Moran had some success with the Pirates, compiling a .269/.333/.419 line across four seasons, but he was ultimately designated for assignment shortly before the lockout to clear a 40-man spot for Yoshi Tsutsugo.
In his prior two stints with the Reds this year, Moran has logged a comparatively meager .210/.299/.360 triple-slash in 117 plate appearances, well below his career .263/.327/.414 mark in a relatively small sample. He may well get a chance to build on those numbers for a rebuilding Reds squad, though. Moustakas and Donovan Solano had been sharing time at first since Joey Votto‘s season ended in rotator cuff surgery, and Moran may well simply take over Moustakas’ share of the playing time there. The club may also opt to take a more extended look at him, as he’ll remain eligible for arbitration in 2023.
Mariners Sign Julio Rodriguez To Extension
The Mariners have locked up one of the sport’s brightest young stars on a record-setting contract, announcing late Friday night they’ve signed Rookie of the Year candidate Julio Rodriguez to an extension. The deal, which begins this season, guarantees him $210MM over 12 years and contains both player and club options that can extend the length of the contract and push the total value as high as $470MM. Rodriguez, an Octagon client, also reportedly receives a full no-trade clause.
It is one of the more complex contracts agreed upon in major league history. According to reports from ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic, Rodriguez will make $120MM through 2029. Per Rosenthal, that takes the form of a $15MM signing bonus to be paid up front, with $105MM to be distributed between 2023-29. After the contract’s seventh year (2028), the Mariners must decide whether to effectively re-extend Rodriguez for either eight or ten years, with the size and value of that long-term “club option” dependent on how Rodriguez finishes in MVP voting.
At minimum, Seattle will be deciding on whether to extend the contract by eight years and another $200MM. That figure could escalate as follows, depending on Rodriguez’s finishes in MVP balloting over the next seven years:
- $240MM over eight years with two or three top ten finishes
- $260MM over eight years with four top ten finishes
- $280MM over eight years if he wins an MVP and finishes in the top five once more or finishes in the top five of MVP balloting on three occasions
- $350MM over ten years if he wins two MVP awards or finishes among the top five in balloting on four occasions
In the event Rodriguez hits that highest threshold and the Mariners exercise the option, the contract would max out at 18 years and $470MM in total value.
If the Mariners do not exercise their multi-year option after Year 7, Rodriguez will have a five-year, $90MM player option he can exercise after Year 8 of the contract. (That option value could escalate as high as $125.5MM based on his finishes in Silver Slugger voting and All-Star appearances). That $90MM figure is considered guaranteed money, as is the case with all player options. Between the $120MM he’ll be paid over the next eight seasons and the $90MM base value of the player option, Rodriguez’s guarantee lands at the aforementioned $210MM. There is, of course, a scenario where the Mariners do not pick up their 8- to 10-year “club option,” and Rodriguez also declines his five-year “player option,” which would then allow him to reach free agency after collecting $120MM over eight years, when he’ll be heading into his age-30 campaign.
Rodriguez, 21, broke camp with the Mariners this season and, after a rough couple of weeks to begin the year, burst into immediate stardom and has established himself as one of the frontrunners for Rookie of the Year honors. He’s currently hitting .269/.328/.471 with 20 home runs, 19 doubles, three triples and 23 steals (in 29 tries) — plus above-average defensive contributions in center field.
Those numbers are at least slightly skewed by a poor start to the year in which Rodriguez batted .136/.208/.159 with a 45% strikeout rate. Dating back to April 22, Rodriguez has mashed at a .285/.342/.508 clip. That production is about 46% better than league average after weighting for park and league, by measure of wRC+, which places him in a three-way tie with Alex Bregman and the also recently-extended Austin Riley for 12th-best among qualified Major League hitters. Rodriguez also ranks 13th in the Majors in both average exit velocity (92 mph) and hard-hit rate (49.6%) in that time, and his 14.9% barrel rate is MLB’s ninth-best mark.
Add in the fact that he’s done all of this at 21 years of age and after skipping the Triple-A level entirely, and his rookie season becomes all the more remarkable. Given that youth and lack of upper-minors seasoning, it’s quite possible that even though Rodriguez already ranks among the game’s best hitters, we’ve yet to see the best he has to offer.
From a defensive standpoint, Rodriguez has more than held his own in center field this season, turning in positive marks in Defensive Runs Saved (2), Ultimate Zone Rating (0.3) and Outs Above Average (5). Many scouting reports penned before his MLB debut suggested that as Rodriguez ages and continues to fill out, he could be destined for a corner outfield slot, but given his 70- or even 80-grade raw power and the solid work he’s flashed in center this season, he’ll have both the bat and likely the defensive chops to be an above-average contributor in right or left field.
The $210MM guarantee will give Rodriguez the record for largest contract ever signed by a player with under a year of Major League service time. That distinction currently belongs to Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who inked an 11-year, $182MM extension last November.
Rodriguez will topple that mark with ease, although it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Franco wasn’t promoted until midseason and inked his deal in the winter, when the Rays had six full seasons of club control left over him. Because Rodriguez made the Opening Day roster, he’ll get a full year of service in 2022 and would “only” have had five additional years of club control remaining. In that respect, he could technically be considered more of a one-plus player (between one and two years of service time), although even when viewing the contract through that lens, it’s still a record-setting agreement; Ke’Bryan Hayes‘ $70MM extension in Pittsburgh was the previous record for a player with between one and two years of service.
Regardless of which service bracket one thinks more aptly applies to Rodriguez, this new deal now stands as the largest contract ever promised to a player with fewer than two years of Major League service time. In that aspect, Rodriguez and the Major League Baseball Players Association are surely pleased to see the precedent for young, superstar extensions moved even further forward.
All that said, there’s still potential for the contract to be quite favorable for the Mariners. Rodriguez would’ve likely earned near the league minimum in salary over the next two seasons (plus any payouts from the newly collectively bargained bonus pool for pre-arbitration players). A player with his upside and early dominance would likely have done quite well in arbitration, and while we can never know exactly how much he might’ve earned through that process, arbitration is generally based on precedent. Looking for recent comparables, Mookie Betts secured $57.5MM for his three arbitration seasons. If we put Rodriguez into that broad vicinity, his remaining five years of club control might have netted him somewhere in the range of $60MM — perhaps a few million more if he’d taken home an MVP Award and/or pushed the Betts precedent a bit further.
Rodriguez will be paid $15MM on average over the next eight seasons, with at least two free agent seasons bought out. That obviously pales in comparison to what he could’ve earned on the open market had he gone year-to-year and hit the free-agent market in advance of his age-27 season, and the Mariners will have an opportunity to keep him from hitting free agency at any point in his prime. That risk-reward tradeoff is the nature of early contract extensions, of course. There’s obviously ample risk of injury or downturn in performance for Rodriguez, all of which is baked into the relative discount rate for those open-market seasons.
From a team payroll vantage point, there’s ample room for Seattle to make a commitment of this nature. A significant portion of the team’s recent rebuild was dedicated to clearing long-term clutter from the books — e.g., the Robinson Cano trade — and the team’s long-term commitments are now rather minimal. Left-hander Robbie Ray is signed through the 2026 season, as is shortstop J.P. Crawford, but they’ll combine for just $37MM at that point. That would’ve only been Rodriguez’s fifth big league season, so the salaries on his contract will not quite have escalated to their maximum levels.
Looking more short-term, the books are also still accommodating. The Mariners, who’ll see veterans Mitch Haniger and Adam Frazier reach free agency at season’s end, had just over $63MM in guaranteed money on the 2023 payroll prior to this contract. That number doesn’t include an $8MM option for righty Chris Flexen, nor does it include a handful of arbitration raises: Luis Castillo (earning $7.35MM this season), Diego Castillo ($2.315MM), Paul Sewald ($1.735MM), Ty France (pre-arb) and Erik Swanson (pre-arb).
It’s a momentous day in Mariners history, one that firmly drives home the organization’s “win-now” mentality as it inches toward a postseason berth that would smash a two-decade playoff drought — currently the longest in major North American professional sports. There’s risk for both parties, but the contract is a continuation of the ever-growing trend of extending young stars at nine-figure rates that guarantee a player’s entire prime. The contract also locks Rodriguez down as the new face of Mariners baseball for the next decade-plus, ensuring them a charismatic, marketable star around whom to both build the roster and sell the product to the fanbase.
Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com first reported that the two sides were nearing an extension worth more than $200MM guaranteed and as much as $450MM in total value. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the contract length and exact guarantee. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the agreement was in place. Passan and provided specifics on the financials. Rosenthal also reported the deal contained a full no-trade clause.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Mets Release Johneshwy Fargas, Outright Nate Fisher
The Mets have released outfielder Johneshwy Fargas and infielder Tzu-Wei Lin from their Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse, per Baseball America’s Chris Hilburn-Trenkle. They’ve also assigned lefty Nate Fisher to Syracuse after he passed through outright waivers unclaimed, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets.
Fargas, 27, made his big league debut with the 2021 Mets after their outfield was hit with a barrage of injuries last summer. Fargas himself fell victim to that injury deluge after just seven games, suffering a sprained AC joint when colliding with the outfield wall on a leaping catch. He went 6-for-21 with a few highlight-reel moments in the outfield that, paired the effusive energy he displayed on both sides of the ball, made him a quick fan favorite in Queens. Fargas was designated for assignment, claimed by the Cubs, and eventually returned to the Mets on a minor league deal over the winter.
It’s been a tough season in the minors for Fargas, who carries a combined .212/.305/.340 batting line in 301 plate appearances between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. He’s still gone 28-for-30 in stolen base attempts, underscoring speed that allows him to provide value both on the bases and in the outfield. He’s played all three outfield positions in the minors this season, though the bulk of his time has been spent in center.
Fisher, meanwhile, just received his first major league call over the weekend. The 26-year-old tossed three scoreless innings of mop-up work and was promptly designated for assignment. After going unclaimed on waivers, he’ll head back to Syracuse, where he has a 3.12 ERA across 43 1/3 frames in 12 appearances (ten starts). The Nebraska product remains in the organization but no longer occupies a spot on the 40-man roster.
Chi Chi Gonzalez Opts Out Of Deal With Tigers
Right-hander Chi Chi González has triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league contract with the Tigers, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). He returns to the open market.
It was a brief run in Detroit for the 30-year-old, who signed one month ago. He started four of five outings with Triple-A Toledo, working to a 5.48 ERA over 21 1/3 innings. González only struck out 19.4% of opposing hitters during that time, but he induced ground-balls at a huge 58.5% clip. Detroit nevertheless decided against adding him to the big league roster, and he’ll explore his other options.
González has already gotten to the majors with two teams this season. He began this season on a non-roster pact with the Twins and was selected to the majors on two separate occasions. After being designated for assignment in June, he was claimed off waivers by the Brewers. He started two of four games for Milwaukee before being taken off the roster again. That time around, González cleared waivers and elected free agency.
Between the two clubs, he has a 6.87 ERA in 18 1/3 frames. González also posted an ERA north of 6.00 with the Rockies from 2020-21, but he’s capable of serving as either rotation or long relief depth. It seems likely he’ll get another minor league opportunity elsewhere. If he signs before September 1, he’d be eligible for a new team’s postseason roster.
Cubs Reinstate Manuel Rodriguez From Injured List
The Cubs announced they’ve reinstated reliever Manuel Rodríguez from the 60-day injured list. He’ll be on the roster for tonight’s game against the Brewers. Chicago optioned righty Kervin Castro to Triple-A Iowa to open an active roster spot, while starter Alec Mills was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Rodríguez, who recently turned 26, is in line for his first MLB action of the season. He made his big league debut last year, appearing in 20 games and throwing 17 2/3 innings. The righty scuffled to a 6.11 ERA during that brief look, walking an untenable 14.5% of opponents. He averaged more than 97 MPH on his fastball and induced ground-balls at a whopping 53.7% clip, though, showcasing some potential to emerge as a possible middle innings arm for skipper David Ross.
This season hasn’t gone according to plan, as Rodríguez made just five appearances in Iowa. He lost a good chunk of time with a strain in his throwing elbow, but he’s back and will look to stake his claim to a spot in the season-opening bullpen for next year. This is Rodríguez’s final minor league option year, meaning the Cubs will have to keep him on the active roster at the start of 2023 or make him available to other teams via trade or waivers.
Mills has been out since July 3 with a lower back strain. The righty’s IL transfer backdates to that point, so he’ll be eligible to return around a week from now. He’s unlikely to be ready by that point, as he’s yet to start a minor league rehab assignment.
Giants Select Scott Alexander
The Giants announced they’ve selected reliever Scott Alexander onto the major league roster. Fellow southpaw Thomas Szapucki was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move. To create a spot on the 40-man roster, San Francisco recalled left-hander Sam Long from the minors and placed him on the major league 60-day injured list.
Alexander is up for the first time as a Giant. The 33-year-old is no stranger to the NL West, having spent the 2018-21 campaigns with the archrival Dodgers. He was a solid situational piece for L.A. skipper Dave Roberts, posting a 3.49 ERA across 111 frames. The sinkerballer only struck out 17.7% of opposing hitters over that stretch, but only Zack Britton and Aaron Bummer had a ground-ball rate superior to Alexander’s 67.5% clip (among relievers with 100+ innings). He held left-handed opponents to a woeful .196/.262/.312 line in 122 plate appearances over that stretch.
Unfortunately, Alexander was also no stranger to the injured list. He lost a good chunk of the 2019 season with forearm inflammation, and he spent most of last year on the IL with a shoulder injury. The Dodgers waived him at the end of last season, and he remained a free agent until signing a minor league deal with San Francisco in March. He’s spent the majority of this year on the IL as well, only reporting to Sacramento three weeks ago. After 7 2/3 scoreless innings over seven games there, Alexander makes his return to the major leagues.
Long recently suffered a right oblique strain in Triple-A, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. His 2022 season comes to an end after 28 MLB appearances and eight outings in Sacramento. The swingman worked to a 3.61 ERA over 42 1/3 innings at the MLB level, albeit with a modest 18.2% strikeout rate. He’ll be paid at the prorated $700K league minimum rate for the rest of the season and collect big league service time for the next five weeks.
@Drew_Smitty first reported Alexander’s forthcoming promotion yesterday.
Angels Select Gerardo Reyes, Ryan Aguilar
The Angels announced a host of roster moves before tonight’s series in Toronto. Relievers Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera and outfielder Taylor Ward were all placed on the restricted list. That’s standard procedure for players who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 and are thus prohibited from traveling into Canada. In order to replace them on the roster, the Halos recalled righty José Marte and selected the contracts of reliever Gerardo Reyes and outfielder Ryan Aguilar. All three players have been designated as “substitutes,” meaning they can later be taken off the roster and returned to the minor leagues without passing through waivers.
It’s likely to be a temporary promotion for that trio, but Reyes and Aguilar have long-awaited opportunities to make an impact at the major league level. Reyes has a bit of big league experience, having come out of the bullpen 27 times for the 2019 Padres. The right-hander posted a 7.62 ERA over 26 innings. He spent 2020 at the alternate training site and was dealt from San Diego to Anaheim that deadline in exchange for veteran catcher Jason Castro.
Reyes was outrighted off the 40-man roster last March and underwent Tommy John surgery not long after, but he’s returned to action in Salt Lake this season. Through 39 innings with the Bees, the 29-year-old has a 3.69 ERA. He’s punched out an above-average 29.2% of opposing hitters but issued walks at an elevated 15.7% clip.
Aguilar, meanwhile, could get a chance to make his MLB debut. A 31st round pick of the Brewers out of the University of Arizona in 2016, he remained in the Milwaukee farm system through the end of last season. The 27-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Halos over the offseason and has spent the year at Double-A Rocket City. He’s posted an excellent .280/.427/.517 line with a massive 19% walk rate (albeit against generally younger competition) to earn a big league call. A left-handed hitter, he’s played primarily right field with the Trash Pandas.
Loup, Tepera and Ward will miss the weekend series. They’ll presumably rejoin the club on Monday, when they return home to host the Yankees. Sam Blum of the Athletic tweets that hitting coach Jeremy Reed also did not make the trip to Toronto.
Nationals Release Maikel Franco
The Nationals have released veteran infielder Maikel Franco, reinstated second baseman Luis Garcia from the injured list, optioned righty Cory Abbott and selected the contract of top pitching prospect Cade Cavalli, per a team announcement. Cavalli’s looming promotion had been announced by the team earlier in the week. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com first noted that Garcia was in the clubhouse and that Franco appeared to be packing up and saying his goodbyes, indicating a move was on the horizon.
Franco, who turns 30 today, has spent the season as Washington’s primary third baseman. The Nats signed the former Phillies top prospect to a minor league deal over the winter, and he broke camp with the team. Franco has gotten 99 starts, with the vast majority of that time coming at his customary position at the hot corner. While he’s been a durable lineup fixture, the right-handed hitter simply hasn’t produced much at the plate. Franco posted a .229/.255/.342 showing across 388 plate appearances, only connecting on nine home runs with a meager 3.1% walk rate.
It’s a second straight well below-average season for Franco, who managed a .210/.253/.355 line with the Orioles last season. Fellow journeyman Ildemaro Vargas, who was selected onto the big league roster at the start of this month, has a far more productive .317/.354/.450 showing in 65 plate appearances. The switch-hitting Vargas has taken hold of the third base job as a result, while Garcia is now in line to pair with top prospect CJ Abrams as the primary middle infield duo. That pushed veteran second baseman Cesar Hernandez to the bench and squeezed Franco off the roster.
A nine-year MLB veteran, Franco finds himself on release waivers. Assuming he goes unclaimed, he’ll hit free agency and be able to explore other opportunities elsewhere. It seems likely he’ll be limited to minor league offers, although he’d technically be eligible for another team’s postseason roster if he signs before the end of this month.
Phillies Activate Bryce Harper
The Phillies have reinstated reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper from the 60-day injured list, tweets Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Infielder/outfielder Yairo Munoz was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to open a spot on the active roster, while fellow outfielder Simon Muzziotti was recalled from Triple-A and placed directly on the 60-day injured list in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Philadelphia also recalled southpaw Bailey Falter from Lehigh Valley to start tonight’s game.
Harper is hitting cleanup in today’s Phillies lineup and serving as their designated hitter — a role he figures to occupy down the stretch as he continues to nurse a ligament tear in his throwing elbow. That, of course, is not the injury that’s held Harper out for the past two months. Harper was playing through the elbow issue and serving as a highly productive DH before suffering a fractured thumb upon being hit by a pitch. He required surgery to address the issue and has been out of action since June.
The Phils weathered that absence extremely well, and they find themselves in strong playoff position as a result. Philadelphia heads into tonight’s game with a 70-55 record that places them firmly in possession of the National League’s second Wild Card spot. They’ll now welcome back Harper, owner of a massive .318/.385/.599 showing through 275 plate appearances, to the lineup for the season’s final five weeks. The aforementioned elbow ligament tear will keep Harper at DH, at least for the time being, but Philadelphia is no doubt thrilled to get his bat back in the lineup.
As for Muziotti, his 2022 season is over due to a torn patellar tendon in his right knee. The 23-year-old, one of the better outfield prospects in the organization, made his MLB debut this April and appeared in nine games. He spent the majority of the year with Double-A Reading, hitting .259/.339/.455 through 38 games. He’ll be paid at the prorated $700K MLB minimum rate for the rest of this season and collect around five weeks of big league service time while looking ahead to 2023.