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A’s Agree To One-Year Deal With Gio Urshela

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10:57pm: Martín Gallegos of MLB.com reports that it’s a one-year deal, which seemingly confirms that it’ll be a big league contract.

10:22pm: The Athletics are in agreement with Gio Urshela on a free agent contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Financial terms for the Rep 1 Baseball client aren’t reported. The signing is pending a physical.

If it’s an MLB contract, Urshela could get first crack at the third base job. A’s general manager David Forst has said on a few occasions that the front office was looking for answers at the hot corner. They explored at least one trade possibility, touching base with the Phillies regarding Alec Bohm, but balked at Philadelphia’s reported ask for star closer Mason Miller.

The free agent options at the position were limited. Alex Bregman is the only clear regular. He’d almost certainly be outside the club’s price range even if he were willing to play in Sacramento for the next three seasons. It’s not clear if Gleyber Torres is willing to sign as a third baseman. Yoán Moncada, Josh Rojas, Jorge Polanco and Urshela were among the rebound candidates who could be had for an affordable one-year deal.

Urshela, 33, is coming off a second consecutive middling season. He split the year between the Tigers and Braves. He combined for 461 plate appearances and hit .250/.286/.361 with nine home runs. Urshela’s plus contact skills remain intact, but his power has dropped off sharply in recent years. His slugging percentage has trended down in two straight seasons. The veteran has never taken many walks, so the dip in power leaves him with something of an empty batting average. Since the start of 2023, the righty-hitting infielder carries a .266/.300/.365 line with 11 longballs in nearly 700 trips to the plate.

While the bat has tailed off, Urshela remains a capable defender. Defensive Runs Saved gave him exactly league average marks in a little over 900 innings this past season. Statcast credited him with two runs above average. Although DRS has historically taken a more favorable view of Urshela’s glove than Statcast has, both metrics feel he’s been a little bit above par over the past two seasons.

Assuming Urshela cracks the big league roster, the A’s could deploy him at either corner infield position. Third base remains his primary spot, but he has topped 100 innings at first base in each of the last two years. Tyler Soderstrom should get the majority of the playing time there. Urshela could move across the diamond against left-handed pitching if the A’s want to shield Soderstrom from unfavorable platoon matchups. That could draw righty Darell Hernaiz into the lineup at third.

Image courtesy of Imagn.

MLBTR Podcast: Kyle Tucker To The Cubs, And Trades For Devin Williams And Jeffrey Springs

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Third Base Options For The A’s

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After largely sleepwalking through recent offseasons, the A’s have woken up ahead of their temporary move to West Sacramento with splashes both in the free-agent market and trade market. Luis Severino (three years, $67MM) and Jeffrey Springs (Joe Boyle, Will Simpson, Jacob Watters, Competitive Balance draft pick) now stand atop the rotation depth chart.

Some of the maneuvering could be due to a desire to draw in fans from a new market. Some could be early groundwork to convince the eventual long-term fans in Las Vegas that this isn’t the same spendthrift A’s club we saw in Oakland. More realistically, a good portion of the spending is simply to boost payroll enough to avoid a grievance from the MLBPA. The A’s already had their status as a revenue-sharing recipient revoked once after failing to sufficiently utilize the funds they receive from that arena; they were only reinstated as a recipient in the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement.

With that in mind, it’s worth looking ahead to what the remainder of the offseason might hold. General manager David Forst was candid about his desire to add a third baseman last week, and he stated that he’s open to further rotation moves as well. With regard to third base, the A’s have plenty of options but will likely need to get creative. The two most oft-discussed third base options on the market right now are free agent Alex Bregman and trade candidate Nolan Arenado.

The A’s might be spending, but they’re almost certainly not going to dole out the $200MM+ required to sign Bregman. Arenado, meanwhile, has a full no-trade clause and would need to green-light a trade to the A’s in order to spend the next three seasons playing in a Triple-A facility. Arenado’s agent, Joel Wolfe, suggested that if a trade indeed comes together, his client will want it to be to a team capable of being a perennial contender. The A’s have made some waves this winter, but I don’t think anyone’s convinced they fit that description just yet.

So, where could they turn? Let’s run down some of the in-house options and handful of potential outside fits who could jump to the front of the line for playing time…

In-House Candidates

Darell Hernaiz, Max Schuemann, Brett Harris, CJ Alexander

A click through the results that quartet posted this past season will reveal why the A’s are so open to the idea of adding at the hot corner. Each of Hernaiz, Schuemann and Harris logged over 100 plate appearances with the A’s. None hit well in the majors. Harris and Hernaiz hit some in Triple-A, but both are generally regarded as fringey prospects for different reasons. Harris is a good defender and has good bat-to-ball skills but offers little power and plodding speed. Hernaiz has an even better hit tool with more power but far more questions about his glovework. Alexander was an August waiver claim who’s already 27 and has all of eight MLB plate appearances. He ripped apart Triple-A pitching this year but struggled in his first taste of that level as a 26-year-old in 2023.

Free Agency Route

Paul DeJong: Big flies, slick plays and punchouts galore. Anyone who signs DeJong at this point in the 31-year-old’s career knows that’s what they’re getting. DeJong has fanned in at least 30% of his plate appearances in each of the past three seasons. He’s also slugged 44 home runs in his past 1119 plate appearances and delivered strong glovework on the left side of the infield. He’s typically been a shortstop, but both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average were bullish on his defense in 328 1/3 innings at third base last year between the White Sox and Royals. DeJong can very likely be had on a one-year deal, and the allure of an everyday gig to begin the season would hold appeal, given that many of his suitors are going to view him as more of a bench piece.

Yoan Moncada: This is the biggest upside play on this winter’s crop of options at the hot corner. Moncada is still 29 years old (30 in May). He was the consensus top prospect in the sport at one point and was so touted as a prospect that the Red Sox paid more than $60MM (signing bonus and penalty taxes combined) to sign him under the former iteration of MLB’s international bonus pool system. Moncada looked like a star in 2019 and 2021 but has battled injuries since. Dating back to Opening Day 2022, he’s posted a .236/.291/.387 slash. He’s been playing Winter Ball in Puerto Rico, but Francys Romero reported that he’s stepping away — in part because of an injury scare after fouling a ball into his right foot recently but also perhaps because he’s on the cusp of an agreement with a big league team. Moncada can’t be too picky about where he plays, and of all the names available on short-term deals, he’s the one who could most plausibly erupt with a rebound that turns him into a coveted trade candidate.

Jorge Polanco: At 31 (32 in July), Polanco isn’t as “upside-y” as Moncada, but he has a longer track record of hitting in the big leagues. From 2018-23, the switch-hitter slashed .270/.338/.455 for the Twins — highlighted by a 33-homer season in 2021. He became the latest established hitter to flop following a trade to Seattle, though October knee surgery revealed that perhaps there was more than just the pitcher-friendly environment impacting his struggles. Polanco’s agency says he’s healthy now and he very superficially looks the part — MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes and I saw him multiple times at the Winter Meetings in Dallas as he met with interested clubs — and if so, he should be a strong rebound candidate. Polanco hit .255/.335/.454 as recently as 2023. The Astros are one team considering him as a third base option, and the A’s could do the same. Polanco could also be insurance at second base, should Zack Gelof’s 2024 struggles continue.

Josh Rojas: The 30-year-old Rojas hasn’t hit much these past two seasons (.234/.304/.337), but he’s played the heck out of third base for the D-backs and the Athletics’ division-rival Mariners. Like Polanco, he has ample experience at second base and can provide a safety net in the event that Gelof struggles. Rojas was non-tendered by the Mariners as they look for offensive upgrades in the infield while facing tight budgetary constraints from ownership. From 2021-22 in Arizona, he hit .266/.345/.401 (106 wRC+) while walking in nearly 11% of his plate appearances. If he can come close to that level of production while replicating his brilliant 2024 defense (+6 DRS, +7 OAA), he’d be a steal at the one-year deal he’ll likely command.

Trade Route

Brett Baty, Mets: The former No. 12 overall pick (2019) and longtime top prospect has mustered only a .215/.282/.325 line in his first 602 MLB plate appearances, although those have been spread across three seasons. Baty is a .273/.368/.531 hitter in 416 Triple-A plate appearances and has shown improving strike zone awareness even in the majors. He walked at a 9.4% clip last year and cut his strikeout rate from 28% in 2023 down to 24.6% in 2024. Baty fanned in 21.2% of his Triple-A plate appearances and walked at a 12.4% clip in 2024. The emergence of Mark Vientos has at least temporarily blocked Baty’s path to the majors, although if Pete Alonso signs elsewhere in free agency, then Vientos could slide to first base and create another chance for Baty. Still, the Mets are getting hits on Baty, and they’re likely open to moving him for the right return. He wouldn’t help the A’s boost payroll, as he’s not yet into arbitration … but if the A’s wanted to take on a portion of Starling Marte’s contract to lower the cost to acquire Baty, the Mets might have interest in that.

Alec Bohm, Phillies: You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Can’t blame the Phillies for reportedly asking about Mason Miller when talking to the A’s about Bohm — just as you can’t blame them for reportedly looking at Logan Gilbert and George Kirby in Seattle. It doesn’t sound as though the Phils have a realistic price tag on Bohm right now, but that could change as the winter wears on. If they get to the point where they’d look at moving Bohm for some optionable back-of-the-rotation arms, the scenario becomes more plausible. Bohm is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $8.1MM next year. The Phillies are looking to shake up their offense and could move Bohm to address other needs and create an opening for a new acquisition of their own.

Willi Castro/Jose Miranda, Twins: The Twins are deep in infielders. They’re almost certainly not going to move former No. 1 overall pick Royce Lewis or Brooks Lee, the No. 8 pick from the 2022 draft. Carlos Correa is entrenched at shortstop, and the Twins have repeatedly downplayed speculation about a trade regarding their highest-paid player. Castro makes more sense as a trade candidate, given that he’s entering his final season of club control and projected to earn $6.2MM as the Twins face payroll issues amid a potential sale. But, he can play anywhere on the field, is beloved in the clubhouse and just hit .251/.344/.395 with good defense and plus baserunning across the past two seasons. Miranda could be a go-to bat at first base; he excelled as a rookie in 2022, didn’t hit in 2023 before undergoing shoulder surgery, and bounced back with a .284/.322/.441 line in a resurgent 2024. The Twins still have Edouard Julien as a potential option at first base. Top infield prospect Luke Keaschall is rising quickly. They could move one of Miranda or Castro and possibly even pair him with Chris Paddack to fill multiple needs for the A’s while trimming payroll and adding some young talent in the process.

Nolan Gorman, Cardinals: All the talk in St. Louis is about trading Arenado to open playing time for young hitters, but what about possibly trading some of those young hitters themselves? Gorman feels like a change of scenery candidate after being unable to solidify himself as a big leaguer despite looks in three different seasons. He has clear plus power but some notable contact issues. The Cards, even if they move Arenado, might like to get Jordan Walker back to third base and could prefer Thomas Saggese or Brendan Donovan at second base. This year’s first-round pick, JJ Wetherholt, could rise quickly. We’re also still only four months removed from president of baseball operations John Mozeliak saying this about Gorman before optioning him to Triple-A:

“Obviously, it’s a game of production up here and at some point, you’ve got to consistently produce, or we have to find someone who can. I mean, that’s what it ultimately comes down to, and these are hard messages to hear. It can be frustrating, but this is what ends up defining you. With our offensive struggles this year, I think you can strictly look at the inability for consistent performance, day in and day out.”

Mozeliak has since changed his tune, telling The Athletic’s Katie Woo earlier this winter that the club hoped to get Gorman close to 600 plate appearances next season. Even if that’s true, Gorman has had multiple auditions and hasn’t yet claimed a spot. Walker, Saggese and Wetherholt are all in the mix for playing time around shortstop Masyn Winn and first baseman Willson Contreras (Wetherholt more in the second half of 2025). If the A’s offer the right young player(s), they’d have a chance at buying four years of Gorman. As with Baty, he wouldn’t do anything to bump payroll (unless paired up with, say, Steven Matz), but he’s an intriguing candidate.

Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pirates: Had the Pirates known Hayes would run into chronic back troubles that would send him to the IL five times over the first three seasons of his contract extension, they’d have thought twice about guaranteeing the former top prospect $70MM. Hindsight is 20/20. At the time of the extension, Hayes was a recent top pick who’d hit .282/.342/.432 through his first 506 plate appearances while playing flat-out elite defense. The plus-plus glovework is still there, but in a possible 482 games since putting pen to paper, Hayes has suited up just 352 times and batted .250/.303/.369 in that time. He’s still owed $43MM over the next five years on what was a front-loaded contract extension. That front-loading will make him easier to trade than a more conventional backloaded deal, and Hayes’ sensational glovework gives him a high floor whenever he’s on the field. The always payroll-crunched Bucs surely wouldn’t mind escaping the remainder of this deal.

Casey Schmitt, Giants: Another former high pick with big defensive skills, Schmitt has posted a tepid .219/.264/.369 slash in 390 big league plate appearances across the past two seasons. His defensive grades at shortstop have been surprisingly down for a player whom scouting reports praised in that regard, but plenty of plus defensive shortstops slide down the defensive spectrum to third base in the majors. Schmitt has strong grades for his small sample of 296 MLB frames at the hot corner. He’s a career .286/.343/.460 hitter in Triple-A. The Giants have nowhere to put him except in a utility role, now that Matt Chapman and Willy Adames own the left side of the infield and Tyler Fitzgerald is ticketed for regular work at second base. That might be a fine role for Schmitt, too, but the Giants have other candidates for that role. You could argue 27-year-old David Villar also works for the A’s, but he’s older and has failed in the majors in a larger sample; he’s also out of minor league options and doesn’t have near Schmitt’s defensive acumen. Schmitt is another player who won’t do anything to add to the payroll, but he’s a recently well regarded prospect who’s now blocked from a path to regular playing time.

Athletics Acquire Jeffrey Springs In Multi-Player Trade With Rays

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The Athletics and Rays have announced a multi-player trade that will see left-handers Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez head to West Sacramento.  In return, the Rays will receive right-hander Joe Boyle, the Athletics’ pick in Competitive Balance Round A of the 2025 draft, and two minor league players in righty Jacob Watters and first baseman/outfielder Will Simpson.

Considering how deep the Rays are in rotation options, Springs was viewed as a logical trade candidate this winter, as he was about to enter the more expensive portion of the backloaded four-year, $31MM extension he signed with Tampa in January 2023.  Springs is owed $10.5MM in each of the next two seasons, and there is a $15MM club option on his services for 2027 that can be bought out for $750K.

For the first two years and $9.25MM on that extension, the Rays only 49 innings of work from Springs, albeit with a 2.39 ERA.  A Tommy John surgery in April 2023 shelved Springs for the majority of the last two seasons, and he returned to the mound last July to post a 3.27 ERA over seven starts and 33 innings before he was shut down in early September due to fatigue in his throwing elbow.  It’s hard to gain much data from a small sample size, but Springs still had above-average strikeout and walk rate, and if anything might’ve gotten better bottom-line results if it wasn’t for a .330 BABIP.

Prior to the injury, Springs seemed like yet another success story for Tampa Bay’s pitching development system.  A 30th-round draft pick for the Rangers in the 2015 draft, Springs showed only a few flashes of quality over his first three MLB seasons while posting a 5.42 ERA in 84 2/3 innings with Texas and Boston.  Dealt from the Red Sox to the Rays in a relatively under-the-radar trade in February 2021, Springs emerged to post a 3.43 ERA in 44 2/3 bullpen innings for Tampa during the 2021 season, and he then had even better results after transitioning into a starting role in 2022.  The breakout year saw Springs deliver a 2.46 ERA in 135 1/3 innings (as well as a 26.2% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate) as Springs finally seemed to avoid the home run problems that plagued most of his career.

Springs was able to cash in on his big season with a life-changing contract extension, but his long injury layoff turned him into an odd man out of the Rays’ rotation.  Shane McClanahan, Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley, Shane Baz, Zack Littell, and Drew Rasmussen are all lined up to get starts in 2025, not to mention whatever other young starters could emerge from Tampa’s ever-loaded farm system.  With Springs’ price tag rising, many figured that the Rays would move his salary to a pitching-needy team with payroll space to spare.

If the idea of the Athletics being a “team with payroll space to spare” is still surprising to consider, the 32-year-old Springs is now the second splurge the A’s have made on their rotation this winter, after having already signed Luis Severino to a three-year, $67MM deal.  Adding Springs’ contract brings the A’s a step closer to the minimum $105MM luxury tax figure required to continue qualifying as a revenue-sharing team, and to avoid a grievance from the players’ union.  RosterResource estimates the Athletics’ current tax number at roughly $88.55MM, assuming the trade is completed.

Ulterior motive notwithstanding, trading for Springs is also a solid baseball move for an A’s team in need of rotation help.  Severino and Springs are big upgrades to a rotation that struggled badly last season, and the newcomers now stand as the top two members of the starting five that includes JP Sears, Mitch Spence, and Joey Estes.

More pitching moves can’t be ruled out, since the Athletics still have a ways to go before hitting that $105MM figure.  Severino notwithstanding, it can’t be an easy sell for the A’s to convince free agents to pitch in a minor league ballpark in West Sacramento, so trading for players (perhaps on unwanted contracts) has long seemed like a more logical move for the Athletics to both add payroll and bolster their roster at the same time.

Lopez shouldn’t be ruled out as part of the Athletics’ pitching situation in 2025, as the southpaw has already amassed 22 2/3 MLB innings with the Rays over the last two seasons.  A 26th-round pick for the Giants in the 2018 draft, Lopez missed all of 2022 recovering from a Tommy John surgery, but he has a 2.99 ERA across 337 2/3 career minor league innings.  That includes a 3.54 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, and 12.87% walk rate in 168 innings of Triple-A ball, with Lopez starting 37 of 39 games for the Rays’ top affiliate.

Despite a lack of velocity, Lopez has been able to miss quite a few bats, though this ability hasn’t manifested itself in his brief time in the majors.  It could be that Lopez might’ve gotten more big league looks if he’d simply been on a team that didn’t have Tampa Bay’s pitching depth, and a fresh opportunity now presents itself for Lopez with this trade.  Lopez (who turns 27 in March) figures to be part of the fifth starter competition in camp but will probably begin the year at Triple-A, acting as one of the first depth options in the event of an injury to a rotation member.

Turning to the Rays’ end of the trade, the inclusion of the Comp-A pick is particularly interesting, and it might speak to the league-wide interest in Springs’ services.  The Competitive Balance Rounds are bonus rounds within the draft that award picks to 15 teams within the bottom 10 in market size and revenue, as determined by the league’s formula that factors in revenue, winning percentage and market score.  The CBR picks are the only draft selections that are eligible to be traded, and while such trades tend to be rare, we’ve seen these picks involved in some prominent trades over the years.  The Comp-A round takes place just before the start of the second round, and while the exact placement of the traded pick has yet to be determined, last year’s Comp-A picks were selections #34-39 in the 2024 draft order.

It is no small thing for a team to deal such a pick, especially when building through the draft is of particular importance to a low-spending team like the A’s.  Still, getting at least two years of control over Springs was apparently worth the cost, as with the club option, the Athletics could have Springs for the entirety of their three-year stint in Sacramento before their planned new ballpark in Las Vegas is ready for Opening Day 2028.

As for the other parts of the trade package, Boyle brings a Major League-ready arm to the Rays’ pitching mix.  Debuting with a 1.69 ERA in three starts and 16 innings in 2023, Boyle had a 6.42 ERA in 47 2/3 innings this past season, missing about a month of action with a back strain and spending the bulk of the year at Triple-A.

The 25-year-old is something of a classic case of a hard-throwing (97.7mph average fastball velocity in the majors) pitcher who can’t harness his stuff, as Boyle has posted elevated walk totals in the minors and during his 2024 stint in the Show.  Fixing these control problems will determine whether or not Boyle can stick in the big leagues as a reliever or back-end starter, and given the Rays’ history of fixing pitchers, nobody would be surprised if Boyle ends up figuring it out in Tampa just as Springs and many other hurlers have done over the years.  Boyle has two minor league options remaining, giving the Rays more flexibility in using him as a fresh arm to shuttle back and forth between Triple-A and the active roster.

Baseball America ranked Simpson 16th on their ranking of the Athletics’ top 30 prospects back in April, while MLB Pipeline has Simpson 28th in their evaluation of the team’s system.  A 15th-round pick in the 2023 draft, Simpson has crushed minor league pitching in his two pro seasons and made it to the Double-A level for 18 games in 2024.  Simpson has shown some good pop in his bat and he has a good approach at the plate — scouts like his “analytical aptitude,” as BA’s scouting report puts it, with the idea that Simpson can still unlock more as he explores more ways to upgrade his hitting.  Defensively, Pipeline is more bullish on the idea of Simpson as a serviceable first baseman or corner outfielder, while Baseball America is more down on his glovework in general.

Watters was a fourth-round pick for the A’s in the 2022 draft, and he has a 5.86 ERA, 21.9% strikeout rate, and an inflated 13.73% walk rate in 152 pro innings.  Almost all of this experience is at the high-A level, though Watters skipped Double-A to make one spot appearance in Triple-A ball last season.  Working as both a starter and reliever, Watters’ numbers have been decidedly better out of the pen, so that might be the 23-year-old’s eventual career path.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan (multiple links) reported the trade and all of the players and picks involved except for Lopez, whose involvement wasn’t revealed until the deal was officially announced. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

A’s Looking To Add Third Baseman, “Wouldn’t Rule Out” Another SP Addition

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7:26pm: The A’s inquired after Bohm with the Phillies, according to a report from The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, but Philadelphia’s request for star closer Mason Miller in return for Bohm’s services reportedly ended those discussions.

5:49pm: As the Athletics gear up to play the 2025 campaign in their temporary home of West Sacramento while waiting on a more permanent move to Las Vegas, they’ve made an effort to put a more competitive product on the field after showing signs of progress with a 32-32 record after the All-Star break during their final season in Oakland. Those efforts to bolster the roster started when they inked right-hander Luis Severino to a three-year deal and continued today when they landed left-hander Jeffrey Springs in a five-player trade with the Rays earlier today.

The addition of Severino and Springs to the top of the A’s rotation adds some credibility to the club entering 2025 after the club’s starters struggled to a 4.76 ERA that was a bottom five figure in the majors last year. Severino and Springs will front a rotation that currently also figures to feature JP Sears, Mitch Spence, and Joey Estes on Opening Day, but club GM David Forst indicated to reporters (including Martin Gallegos of MLB.com) that he “wouldn’t rule out” adding another starter to the mix. In addition to continuing to weigh a potential third rotation addition, Forst suggested (as relayed by Gallegos) that he intends to explore both the trade and free agent markets for a potential third base addition.

The A’s significant additions and newfound willingness to commit to a higher payroll come with off-the-field concerns attached in addition to desire to improve the roster on the field. Reporting earlier this week indicated that the A’s would run the risk of a grievance from the MLB Players Association if they don’t spend 150% of their revenue sharing money on MLB payroll. With the A’s reportedly expected to rake in $70MM or more in revenue sharing, that means they’ll need a payroll of $105MM or more for luxury tax purposes in order to avoid risking a grievance from the players’ union. After today’s trade to land Springs, RosterResource projects the club for an $88.5MM luxury tax payroll in 2025. That still leaves around $15MM in budget room for luxury tax purposes before they reach that $105MM benchmark, which ought to leave the door open for the club to another addition or two.

In the rotation, even a back-of-the-rotation veteran such as Andrew Heaney or Kyle Gibson (who the A’s were previously connected to prior to the Springs deal). would likely eat up most if not all of that $15MM. It’s at least theoretically possible the club could look to spend beyond that, however. Previous indications have suggested that the club was targeting a payroll in the $100MM range for 2025. Given that RosterResource’s projection for the club actual payroll in 2025 in terms of cash paid out is just over $64MM, that would leave substantially more room to spend than if the A’s are targeting a payroll in the $100MM range for luxury tax purposes. That could make both the addition of a back-end starter and a notable salary at third base feasible.

Turning to the hot corner, the position has been the focus of a number of different clubs in the rumor mill this winter. The Cubs dealt third baseman Isaac Paredes to the Astros just yesterday, and Houston’s longtime third baseman Alex Bregman remains one of the most coveted players on the free agent market. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have made clear their intentions of dealing Nolan Arenado this winter. The Angels, Tigers, Yankees, and Astros are among the other teams known to be in the market for third base help, while the Red Sox and Padres remain on the periphery of the market as teams with established third basemen who have been connected to potential third base options like Bregman and Arenado as solutions at other positions.

It’s nearly impossible to imagine a top-tier free agent like Bregman or a veteran with no-trade protection such as Arenado choosing to play out a long-term deal in West Sacramento, but that doesn’t mean the A’s are completely out of luck if they hope to add a third baseman to their roster this winter. Alec Bohm of the Phillies is one frequently-discussed trade candidate at the hot corner, and Diamondbacks veteran Eugenio Suarez has seen his name percolate in the rumor mill as another possible trade chip. Meanwhile, Jorge Polanco, Paul DeJong, and Yoan Moncada are among the potential third base options available in the lower tiers of the free agent market, and it’s possible that a club with an infield surplus such as the Blue Jays or Orioles could make someone like Davis Schneider or Ramon Urias available in trade.

MLBTR Podcast: Winter Meetings Recap

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

2024 Rule 5 Draft Results

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The 2024 Rule 5 draft took place this afternoon at the Winter Meetings in Dallas. The results of the draft are below.

As a refresher, the Rule 5 draft is a way for players potentially talented enough for the big leagues but blocked by their current clubs to find opportunities elsewhere. Any players that were 18 and under at the time of their original signing and have played five professional seasons, and any players who signed at 19 years of age or older at signing that now have four professional seasons, who are not on a club’s 40-man roster are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft.

Though the amateur (Rule 4) draft now has a lottery to determine the selection order, the Rule 5 draft still goes the old-fashioned way of reverse order of standings from the season that just ended. Clubs need to have an open 40-man roster spot in order to make a pick but aren’t obligated to make a selection on their turn. If they do make a pick, they will have to pay $100K to the team they select from. The selected players must stay on the active roster (or injured list) for the entire 2025 season or else be placed on waivers. If they clear waivers, they must be offered back to their original team. They cannot be optioned to the minors.

Last year’s edition saw some key players change clubs. The A’s took Mitch Spence from the Yankees with the top pick and kept him all year. Justin Slaten was plucked from the Rangers by the Mets and then traded to the Red Sox. Players like Anthony Santander and Ryan Pressly have been notable picks in other recent years while guys like George Bell and Roberto Clemente are found deeper in the history books.

Here are this year’s picks…

  1. White Sox: RHP Shane Smith (Brewers) (Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline relayed the pick on Bluesky prior to the draft)
  2. Rockies: pass
  3. Marlins: C Liam Hicks (Tigers)
  4. Angels: LHP Garrett McDaniels (Dodgers)
  5. Athletics: RHP Noah Murdock (Royals)
  6. Nationals: RHP Evan Reifert (Rays)
  7. Blue Jays: RHP Angel Bastardo (Red Sox)
  8. Pirates: pass
  9. Reds: 2B Cooper Bowman (Athletics)
  10. Rangers: pass
  11. Giants: pass
  12. Rays: LHP Nate Lavender (Mets)
  13. Red Sox: pass
  14. Twins: RHP Eiberson Castellano (Phillies)
  15. Cardinals: pass
  16. Cubs: 3B Gage Workman (Tigers)
  17. Mariners: pass
  18. Royals: pass
  19. Tigers: pass
  20. Astros: pass
  21. Mets: pass
  22. D-backs: pass
  23. Braves: RHP Anderson Pilar (Marlins)
  24. Orioles: pass
  25. Guardians: pass
  26. Padres: RHP Juan Nunez (Orioles)
  27. Brewers: LHP Connor Thomas (Cardinals)
  28. Yankees: pass
  29. Phillies: RHP Mike Vasil (Mets); Phillies later traded Vasil to Rays for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs.
  30. Dodgers: pass

Second round (all but one club passed)

The minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft also occurred this afternoon. Those players will not go onto the selecting teams’ 40-man roster. Right-hander Hobie Harris, who pitched for the Nationals in 2023 and signed a minor league deal with the Mets last month, was taken by the Red Sox.

Details On Max Fried Bidding

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1:30pm: A’s general manager David Forst denies that the club made a push for Fried, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com (X link)

11:55am: One of the top free agents came off the board this week when the Yankees and Max Fried agreed to a stunning eight-year, $218MM deal. Clubs like the Blue Jays and Red Sox were also known to be in the involved but Bob Nightengale of USA Today (X link) reports that the Athletics were “one of the most aggressive teams” in the bidding.

Many fans might roll their eyes at the idea of the A’s getting anywhere near a free agent of this caliber, which would be an understandable position to take. As of a couple of weeks ago, they had never given a free agent more than the $36MM they gave to Yoenis Céspedes back in 2012. They recently broke that record by giving Luis Severino $67MM, a huge jump for them but still relatively modest by league-wide standards and well below the deal that Fried got.

But the A’s have to spend some money somewhere. It was reported this week that the club may need to get its competitive balance tax number up to the $105MM range in order to avoid a grievance from the MLBPA.

That perhaps explains all the recent smoke about an upcoming payroll bump. MLBTR took a detailed look at the A’s last month, in a reporting that references reporting going back to January which hinted at a potential for greater spending. Since then, the A’s have ramped things up with the aforementioned Severino signing. They also reportedly made a strong offer to Sean Manaea, who remains unsigned.

It’s not surprising that they couldn’t get something done with Fried, as the pitching market has been hot. Fried and several other pitchers have exceeded the expectations from the start of the offseason. MLBTR predicted him for six years and $156MM but he blew past that, with guys like Severino, Frankie Montas, Matthew Boyd and other hurlers also outpacing their projections.

It’s generally expected that the A’s will have to overpay to reel in any free agent. Given that the club has been rebuilding for many years and is going to be playing the next three years in a Triple-A park in West Sacramento, no free agents will have them as a first choice. Some guys will simply go where the money is best but some may need a premium before considering the unique circumstances of joining the A’s. That may have been the case with Severino, who was predicted to earn $51MM but got far more than that.

Even if the A’s were theoretically willing to marginally top the Yankees’ offer, Fried may not have taken their money. Still, it suggests that they are still a club to watch in the remainder of the offseason. RosterResource their CBT number is currently at $78MM, so they are still well south of their reported $105MM target. That means they could factor into remaining free agents such as Manaea, Jeff Hoffman, Nick Pivetta or others. Even after adding Severino, the rotation stands out as the best way to upgrade the team while also getting their spending up, with their interest in Fried and Manaea reflecting that.

What also may be notable is that the club doesn’t seem to worried about players who rejected qualifying offers. The A’s already forfeited their third-highest pick in the upcoming draft by signing Severino since he rejected a QO from the Mets. Fried and Manaea also rejected QOs, so the interest from the A’s there suggests they may be willing to forfeit another pick.

Another route could be to acquire a player making a notable salary in trade. For instance, the Yankees now have a surplus in their rotation after signing Fried and might look to move the remainder of Marcus Stroman’s contract. He will make $18MM in 2025 and there’s an $18MM player option for 2026 if he throws 140 innings next year. Stroman arguably doesn’t have a great path to a rotation job in the Bronx but could serve as a solid veteran for the A’s.

Elsewhere in the Fried bidding, Rob Bradford of WEEI reports that the Red Sox’ offer was “significantly” lower than the Yankees. Joel Sherman of The New York Post reports that the Sox were at $190MM over seven years and may have been able to go higher, though with deferrals. Sherman adds that the Rangers were also at $190MM over seven years, though the lack of a state tax in Texas actually made that fairly comparable to the eight years and $210MM the Yankees were offering, forcing them to go higher and symbolically top the $217MM that David Price got from the Red Sox back in 2015.

It’s perhaps not surprising that the Sox fell short given how high the number ended up going, but it does highlight the fact that they haven’t been able to achieve their main offseason goal of upgrading the rotation. They also had interest in pitchers like Blake Snell and Nathan Eovaldi, who have gone elsewhere. Trade talks with the White Sox about Garrett Crochet have apparently stalled. Righty Corbin Burnes is still out there but it’s been reported that they are less likely to win that bidding than the Blue Jays or Giants.

Athletics Sign Luis Severino

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TODAY: Jon Heyman of the New York Post (via Bluesky) has the breakdown of Severino’s contract.  The $10MM signing bonus is broken up at $5MM next month and $5MM in January 2026.  The righty will earn $15MM this season and $20MM in 2026, so his player option for the 2027 season is worth $22MM.  Severino will also get a $500K assignment bonus in the event of a trade.

DECEMBER 6: The A’s are ready to spend some cash, announcing Friday that they’ve signed free agent righty Luis Severino to a three-year deal — the third year of which is a player option. Severino, a client of Klutch Sports, will reportedly be guaranteed $67MM, to be paid out in the form of a $10MM signing bonus and $57MM in salary over the three seasons. He can opt out of the contract after year two and become a free agent once again in the 2026-27 offseason.

It’ll register as a shock for many to see the nomadic A’s, who will play next year in West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park (home to the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate), land a notable free agent with a hefty multi-year deal. They’re in the process of relocating to Las Vegas and have been aggressively pursuing free agents in an effort to boost a payroll that entered the offseason without a single contract on the books in 2025. Some free agents — Walker Buehler among them — have entirely dismissed the notion of playing in a minor league facility. Still, with a reported target payroll in the $100MM range, there’s long been a possibility for the A’s to be a surprise player in free agency. MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald explored just such a possibility at length last month.

The general thinking has been that the A’s will need to overpay in order to pursue top-end free agents this winter. The terms of Severino’s contract indeed suggest a clear willingness to spend well beyond market expectations in order to lure free agents to their new home. Severino’s deal includes both a larger guarantee than most anticipated and an opt-out opportunity. Because he rejected a qualifying offer from the Mets, Severino will cost the A’s their third-highest pick in next year’s draft. He’ll also net the Mets a compensatory pick, albeit only between the fourth and fifth rounds because of their status as a luxury tax payor.

The $100MM target payroll likely stems from the Athletics’ status as a revenue-sharing recipient. The franchise was stripped of its revenue-sharing benefits last decade after failing to sufficiently utilize those funds to improve the on-field product, as is a stipulated requirement. The 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement restored the A’s as a revenue-sharing recipient, and they’ve since spent modestly in free agency to keep payroll at least in step with the other lowest-spending clubs in the league. The deal with Severino signals a willingness to spend a bit beyond that point. It is, incredibly, the largest contract in franchise history, nominally surpassing the six-year, $66MM contract extension signed by third baseman Eric Chavez more than two decades ago.

[Related: The Largest Contract In Franchise History For Each MLB Team]

Severino, 31, will immediately jump to the top of the A’s rotation. He’s likely ticketed for their Opening Day start, barring another notable acquisition via free agency or trade. He’ll lead a staff that currently projects to also include JP Sears, Mitch Spence and Joey Estes. The A’s have a variety of in-house candidates for the fifth spot, though the Severino deal rather obviously opens the door for GM David Forst to sign/trade for another starter of note to further solidify the bunch.

Severino, of course, looked the part of a budding ace for the Yankees in 2017-18 when he posted 384 2/3 innings with a 3.18 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 45.8% grounder rate in his age-23 and age-24 seasons. The flamethrowing righty averaged better than 97 mph on his heater, recorded a hefty 12.7% swinging-strike rate and generally had the makings of a star. The Yankees agreed, signing him to a four-year, $40MM extension with an option for a fifth season.

That deal bought out all of Severino’s arbitration years and his first free-agent season. At the time, some thought a pitcher with his upside and demonstrated excellence to date was perhaps selling himself short. In the long run, it worked out wonderfully, as injuries frequently kept Severino off the field and rendered him a shell of his former self when healthy enough to take the mound. From 2019-23, Severino managed only 209 1/3 innings in the majors, dealing with multiple lat strains and requiring Tommy John surgery along the way. His 2023 campaign included 89 1/3 frames with a 6.65 ERA.

The 2024 season marked a resurgence for Severino, who inked a one-year, $13MM deal with the Mets on the heels of that injury-plagued finish to his Yankees tenure. The right-hander’s 182 innings nearly matched his total over the five prior calendar years. He logged a 3.91 ERA with a below-average but passable 21.2% strikeout rate and a strong 7.6% walk rate. His 46% ground-ball rate, while not elite, was comfortably north of league average.

At the same time, Severino simply wasn’t the dominant force he was earlier in his career. His average fastball with the Mets was about 1.5 mph off from its peak levels. His 9.4% swinging-strike rate was decidedly below-average — a near mirror-image of his 9.1% mark in that disastrous 2023 season and nowhere close to his career-best 13.3% rate. Opponents made contact on just 81.9% of Severino’s pitches within the strike zone in 2017-18 — league-average was 84.7% — but did so at a whopping 88.2% clip in 2024 (when the league average was 85.2%).

When the Mets signed Severino to his one-year deal, it had the makings of an upside play on a former front-of-the-rotation arm. Last year’s rebound showed that he was healthy but also seemed to further support the notion that his prior ace-caliber form is in the rearview mirror. Severino now has the feel of a third or fourth starter, making his $22.333MM annual salary and an opt-out rather jarring.

Many pundits thought Severino could have — and should have — accepted the Mets’ $21.05MM qualifying offer; he and his agents deserve credit for not simply eclipsing that guarantee in notable fashion but surpassing that number on an annual basis over a lengthy deal that affords him another bite at free agency in the 2026-27 offseason. The contract tops recent guarantees for Chris Bassitt, who was seen as a steady and dependable No. 2-3 arm, and Yusei Kikuchi, whose torrid finish with the Astros made him one of the most sought-after pitchers on this offseason’s market. Both pitchers signed for $63MM over the same three-year term.

For the A’s, a commitment this weighty was likely deemed a necessity to land a mid-rotation arm whose velocity and ground-ball tendencies perhaps create some hope that he can still eke out some incremental improvements over his 2024 form. That said, there’s quite a bit of injury risk still associated with Severino, and fielding-independent metrics like FIP (4.21) and SIERA (4.22) were actually more bearish on his 2024 performance than his already solid-but-unspectacular earned run average. There’s little doubt he improves the club and shows that the A’s are serious about spending this winter, but it’s a steep price to pay when taken in totality.

Severino will nevertheless add some credibility to a rotation that was largely lacking it. And the A’s, with a burgeoning core of quality players — Brent Rooker, Mason Miller, JJ Bleday, Lawrence Butler, Shea Langeliers — could hope that a few subsequent additions and strides from young talents like Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom and Zack Gelof might help them exceed expectations sooner than most thought possible.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that the two sides agreed to a three-year, $67MM deal. Yahoo’s Russell Dorsey reported the signing bonus. Passan added details on the opt-out.

Athletics Risk MLBPA Grievance Without Further Payroll Increases

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As they look to ramp up payroll ahead of their impending move to Las Vegas, the Athletics inked right-hander Luis Severino to the largest deal in franchise history last week as they look to capture the attention of a new city during their temporary move to West Sacramento. With that being said, a report from Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic on Monday emphasized that getting fans into seats in 2025 isn’t the only motivation behind the club’s decision to increase spending. The duo reports that without a substantial increase to the club’s payroll this winter, the A’s run the risk of inviting a grievance from the MLB Players Association.

That risk of a grievance is due to the fact that A’s will collect 100% of their revenue-sharing dollars in 2025 for the first time under the current collective bargaining agreement. While the team received just 25% of their allotment in 2022, that figured increased to 50% in 2023 and 75% in 2024 before finally reaching 100% in 2025. The issue for the A’s stems from the fact that the CBA requires revenue sharing recipients to spend more than 150% of their revenue sharing money on MLB payroll.

Drellich and Rosenthal go on to report that A’s could receive $70MM or more in revenue sharing after drawing the worst attendance figures in baseball last year, which would mean the club needs to reach a player payroll of $105MM or more for luxury tax purposes in 2025 in order to avoid risking a grievance. RosterResource currently projects the club for a luxury tax payroll of just under $78.5MM for 2025, meaning they would need to add roughly $26.5MM in player payroll to avoid falling below that 150% figure. It’s worth noting that these numbers are inexact, as well, and if the A’s receive a larger revenue sharing check than currently expected they may wind up needing to float a luxury tax payroll of more than $105MM in order to avoid a grievance.

For a club that has struggled to lure in free agents this winter due to the fact that they’ll spend the next three seasons using a Triple-A stadium as their home ballpark, reaching that level of spending could be complicated. A separate report from Rosenthal suggests that the A’s have interest in adding another free agent starting pitcher alongside Severino, though he adds that such a signing would likely be a veteran pitcher from a lower tier of free agency. Rosenthal specifically name-checks Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, and Andrew Heaney as potential options the A’s could consider if any of them were willing to pitch in West Sacramento next season.

Of the three, Heaney was predicted to land the largest contract on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list with a two-year, $24MM pact. That $12MM AAV would bump the club’s luxury tax payroll up to $90.5MM, putting them just $15MM away from reaching their estimated $105MM target. The tough sell of pitching in West Sacramento and the projection-beating deals signed by other pitchers this winter could leave the A’s in a position where they’d need to offer more than that $12MM annual figure in order to land a veteran hurler, but they’d surely still need to find other ways to add salary in order to reach $105MM even if they signed a veteran starter to a deal that significantly outpaced projections.

Free agency isn’t the only avenue for adding talent (and payroll), of course. The trade market is one avenue for adding MLB talent that the club has been candid about exploring this winter. Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger and Diamondbacks southpaw Jordan Montgomery are two high-priced players known to be available in the rumor mill who the club could swing deals for if they want to immediately put themselves in position to avoid a grievance in one fell swoop, but there’s a large swath of other players expected to be available this winter who could add to the club’s payroll in a less drastic fashion. Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz, Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner, and Cardinals southpaw Steven Matz are among a handful of possible trade candidates who will make $10MM or more in 2025.

Another route the A’s could take to raise the luxury tax payroll that wouldn’t require convincing a free agent to sign or swinging a trade with another club would be signing a player already in the organization to an extension. Reporting over the weekend indicated that the Athletics have interest in negotiating an extension with breakout slugger Brent Rooker. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Rooker to earn $5.1MM in his first trip through arbitration this winter, and any extension that would guarantee Rooker an AAV higher than that $5.1MM figure would increase the club’s luxury tax payroll. As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk noted over the weekend, it’s possible that even if the A’s and Rooker aren’t interested in agreeing on a long-term deal that buys out some of Rooker’s free agent years, an extension that covers his arbitration years could offer certainty to both sides. Such an extension would come with an additional boon for the A’s in light of their current predicament by surely raising the AAV on Rooker’s 2025 contract, though no realistic extension could be expected to raise the club’s tax payroll by the $26.5MM needed to avoid risking a grievance by itself.

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