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Mets Sign José Rondón To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have signed infielder/outfielder José Rondón to a minor league deal, as listed on his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The infielder announced the move on Instagram last week.

Rondón, 30 in March, has 169 games of major league experience, getting part-time action in four different seasons from 2016 to 2021. He bounced around from the Padres to the White Sox, Orioles and Cardinals in that time, making 380 plate appearances. He hit .216/.274/.353 in that time while playing all four infield positions, the outfield corners and even tossing an inning on the mound.

He was non-tendered by the Cardinals after that 2021 campaign and headed into the open market. In April of 2022, it was announced by Major League Baseball that Rondón was one of three players who received an 80-game suspension after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance Boldenone.

He didn’t end up signing with an affiliated club that year, but joined the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League for the 2023 season. In 72 games for that club, he slashed .286/.367/.465. He then joined Leones del Caracas of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League for winter ball, hitting .338/.413/.624 in 56 games for that club.

It appears those solid numbers in Mexico and/or the gaudy numbers in Venezuela attracted the attention of the Mets. It’s possible he’s more of an outfielder now, as that’s where he has been playing for the Leones, while the Toros only gave him brief time on the infield last year.

The Mets are set to have an outfield of Brandon Nimmo, Harrison Bader, Starling Marte and Tyrone Taylor this year, but all of them have dealt with significant injuries, either recently or in their career generally. DJ Stewart is on the roster but he’s considered a poor fielder and best suited for a designated hitter/bench bat role. Jeff McNeil could be in the outfield at some point but is slated to be the everyday second baseman for now.

To improve that depth, the Mets have signed guys like Trayce Thompson and Taylor Kohlwey to minor league deals but will now add Rondón into that mix as well. The Mets also have questions at third base, with Ronny Mauricio potentially missing the upcoming season due to a torn ACL. That leaves them with unproven younger players like Brett Baty and Mark Vientos alongside veteran utility guy Joey Wendle. If Rondón can still play the hot corner, that could be another path for him to get big league playing time if he can continue hitting the way he has been in winter ball.

Nationals, Robert Gsellman Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Nationals have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Robert Gsellman, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). He’ll be paid at a $900K rate for any time spent on the MLB roster.

Gsellman returns to affiliated ball after a year and a half in Japan. The right-hander initially signed with the Yokohama BayStars midway through the 2022 campaign. He turned in a 2.66 ERA in 20 1/3 innings down the stretch to secure a new contract last winter.

His second season in Yokohama wasn’t as successful. He allowed 4.45 earned runs per nine over 64 2/3 frames at the highest level. The BayStars sent him to the minors for a point, where he posted a 4.85 ERA through 52 innings. Throwing strikes was an issue for the 30-year-old hurler. He walked 11.3% of batters faced in his time at the NPB level. He paired that with a middling 14.7% strikeout percentage.

The Southern California native has spent over a decade in the professional ranks. Drafted by the Mets in the 13th round in 2011, he pitched his way towards the top of the New York farm system before his 2016 debut. He spent parts of six seasons in Queens, moving to the bullpen by 2018. Gsellman pitched to a 4.59 ERA over 350 2/3 frames as a Met. New York non-tendered him after the 2021 campaign. He saw limited action with the Cubs in ’22 before signing with the BayStars.

Washington had a well below-average bullpen last season, which isn’t surprising for a rebuilding team. The Nats finished 27th with a 5.02 ERA from their relief corps. Kyle Finnegan, Jordan Weems, Dylan Floro, Hunter Harvey and Tanner Rainey are strong bets to hold Opening Day jobs. That could leave two or three middle relief spots up for grabs, although they’re likely carry at least one left-hander in the group.

Mariners Asked About Max Kepler In Trade Talks With Twins

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The Mariners and Twins recently got together on a trade that sent infielder Jorge Polanco to Seattle, with a four-player package heading the other way. Today, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports that the M’s asked about a larger deal that would have also involved outfielder Max Kepler, though that particular line of discussion wasn’t fruitful.

Though the talks didn’t yield results, it seems to suggest that the Mariners still have some appetite for another move to further change their outfield mix. Since last year, they have lost Teoscar Hernández and Jarred Kelenic, the former reaching free agency and signing with the Dodgers while the latter was traded to Atlanta. The M’s replaced those two by acquiring old friend Mitch Haniger from the Giants as well as Luke Raley from the Rays. On paper, those two would slot into the regular outfield alongside Julio Rodríguez.

There would be some logic to adding to that group. Due to some injuries and the shortened 2020 season, Haniger has only played more than 63 games in a season on three occasions. The past two years have each seen him finish with around 60 games played, missing time due to a right high ankle sprain, a left oblique strain, a right forearm fracture and a low back strain. He’s generally been able to post good results even when battling injuries but 2023 was a struggle. He hit .209/.266/.365 for a wRC+ of 73, his first season of subpar offensive production since his 2016 debut.

Giving Haniger plenty of time in the designated hitter slot would be a logical plan in a vacuum but likely isn’t feasible for the M’s with the current roster construction. They signed catcher Mitch Garver to a two-year, $24MM deal last month, but he figures to DH on an everyday basis or something close to it, with Cal Raleigh behind the plate most days. An injury could always change things but Haniger is currently projected for a regular role in the outfield.

As for Raley, his 2023 was strong overall but ended on a down note. He hit .268/.357/.533 through the end of July while striking out in 29.8% of his plate appearances. From the start of August until the end of the season, his line was just .200/.270/.380 with a 36% strikeout rate. The combined work for the year was still well above average, 130 wRC+, but the overall track record is limited. He’ll turn 30 years old next year and has played one good MLB season, which still came with concerning elements.

The Mariners also have a batch of depth outfielders in the mix, including Taylor Trammell, Cade Marlowe, Dominic Canzone, Zach DeLoach and Jonatan Clase, but their interest in Kepler suggests they would consider another addition under the right circumstances. The free agent market still has Cody Bellinger, though it’s hard to envision the M’s giving out a mega deal to a player like that since they have had notable budget limitations this offseason. More plausible options would include Michael A. Taylor, Adam Duvall, Tommy Pham or Eddie Rosario. The trade market could feature guys like Alec Burleson, Randy Arozarena or Seth Brown.

Seattle’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has suggested that the 2024 club will have a higher payroll than last year’s $140MM figure, but uncertainty around the broadcast revenue situation might limit them to a modest increase. Roster Resource currently has them at $135MM, meaning Kepler’s $10MM salary would have pushed them to $145MM.

For the Twins, perhaps they weren’t as open to dealing Kepler as they were with Polanco. While the latter was getting squeezed out of a crowded infield picture, Kepler could still play an important role with the 2024 club. He had a bounceback season at the plate last year, hitting 24 home runs and slashing .260/.332/.484 for a wRC+ of 124. He also provided above-average defense in right field, as he has done for many years.

He figures to continue in that role in 2024, with Byron Buxton hopefully playing center field again. Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach could be lined up next to Kepler and Buxton, with players like Willi Castro, Nick Gordon, Austin Martin and Bubba Thompson perhaps in the mix as well.

Kepler has been a speculative trade candidate due to the fact that the Twins are looking to cut payroll, while he’s making $10MM and an impending free agent. But after the Polanco deal, the club is down to about $118MM in spending commitments, according to Roster Resource. They are reportedly looking to get into the $125MM-140MM range so don’t really need to shed any more money unless they pivot to some kind of blockbuster signing, which perhaps will keep Kepler in Minnesota for the upcoming campaign.

Health Issue Led To Change In James Paxton’s Deal With Dodgers

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The Dodgers signed left-hander James Paxton to a one-year deal this week, though the financial details of the contract changed from the initial reporting. Per a report today from Fabian Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, an unknown health issue led to a lesser guarantee, though it wasn’t serious enough to scuttle the deal completely.

As details of the agreement were initially trickling out last week, it was reported as an $11MM guarantee for the lefty. But Rosenthal reported this morning that the guarantee was actually just $7MM. It appears some sort of health concern popped up, which was enough to knock $4MM off the guarantee but not so serious as to cause the Dodgers to walk away. Paxton can still earn a total of $13MM via bonuses* as long as he makes the Opening Day roster and eventually makes at least 18 starts. Neither the club nor Paxton’s agent Scott Boras provided details for the report from The Athletic, citing HIPAA.

Health or the lack thereof has frequently been an issue for Paxton throughout his career. Now 35 and about to enter his 11th major league season, he has never reached 30 starts or 161 innings pitched in a big league campaign. He hardly pitched at all in the 2020-2022 period, with a left flexor strain keeping him to just five starts in the shortened 2020 season. Then Tommy John surgery wiped out most of the next two years, with a torn lat preventing him from returning late in 2022.

Last year saw some encouraging progress from those significant injury issues but it wasn’t totally smooth sailing. A hamstring strain in the spring pushed his season debut until May. He was able to stay healthy from there until September, finishing the season on the injured list due to right knee inflammation. His 19 starts and 96 innings pitched were more than he logged in the previous three years combined, but he also seemed to run out of gas. He had a 2.73 ERA through his first 10 starts but then a 6.98 mark in the final nine.

It seems he’s still not 100% but the Dodgers will take a shot on him regardless. He has a 3.69 ERA in his career, pairing a 26.3% strikeout rate with a 7.5% walk rate. The club is generally unafraid to bank on talented players even if they have injury concerns, having signed guys like Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson, Jimmy Nelson, J.P. Feyereisen and Alex Reyes  in recent years.

They are now set to go into 2024 with a rotation featuring plenty of talent but also a decent amount of uncertainty. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has loads of success in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball but has no MLB track record yet. Walker Buehler missed all of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery. Tyler Glasnow has never topped 120 innings in a major league season due to his own injury history. Bobby Miller was good last year but still doesn’t have a full year of big league experience. Options like Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove and Gavin Stone are similarly unproven. Paxton would have already come with concerns just based on his track record but those will only be enhanced now that he’s known to be dealing with some kind of ailment.

It’s also possible that the club could re-sign Clayton Kershaw, as it has in each of the past two offseasons. But he is also a question mark, having undergone shoulder surgery in November that will keep him out of action until midseason.

* Paxton can get a $2MM bonus either for being on the roster for the Dodgers’ season opener in South Korea against the Padres on March 20 or their domestic opener against the Cardinals on March 28. Otherwise, he can earn a $1MM bonus if added to the roster before April 15. Paxton will also earn a $600K bonus for making his sixth, eighth, tenth, 12th and 16th starts of the season, plus a $1MM bonus for reaching 18 starts. With $4MM in bonuses based on starts and the $2MM early-season roster bonus, he could add $6MM to his $7MM guarantee, bringing his total earnings for the year to $13MM.

Orioles Confirm Agreement To Sell Control Stake Of Franchise To Group Led By David Rubenstein

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The Orioles have confirmed yesterday’s reports on a sale of the team, announcing Wednesday that a group of investors led by billionaire David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group private equity firm has purchased the control stake of the team from the Angelos family for $1.725 billion. Notably, former control person John Angelos will remain a “major investor” in the club and will serve as a senior advisor to Rubenstein in his new role. The transaction values the Orioles franchise and assets at $1.725 billion dollars, per the team’s press release on the ownership shakeup.

“I am grateful to the Angelos family for the opportunity to join the team I have been a fan of my entire life,” Rubenstein said in a statement within today’s press release. “I look forward to working with all the Orioles owners, players and staff to build upon the incredible success the team has achieved in recent seasons. Our collective goal will be to bring a World Series Trophy back to the City of Baltimore. To the fans I say: we do it for you and can’t do it without you. Thank you for your support. Importantly, the impact of the Orioles extends far beyond the baseball diamond. The opportunity for the team to catalyze development around Camden Yards and in downtown Baltimore will provide generations of fans with lifelong memories and create additional economic opportunities for our community.”

The sale of the majority share in the Orioles is still subject to review and approval from the remaining 29 owners in Major League Baseball. A formal vote is expected to take place next week at the quarterly MLB owners meetings. Among the more recognizable names in the Rubenstein-led group are Orioles icon Cal Ripken Jr., NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill and Michael Bloomberg. Any concerns about a potential relocation following the sale should quelled; Rubenstein is a Baltimore native who’s already voiced his desire to keep the team in Baltimore long-term, and the recent 30-year lease extension at Camden Yards transfers to new ownership as well, per Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner.

“When I took on the role of Chair and CEO of the Orioles, we had the objective of restoring the franchise to elite status in major league sports, keeping the team in Baltimore for years to come, and revitalizing our partnership group,” Angelos said in his own statement. “This relationship with David Rubenstein and his partners validates that we have not only met but exceeded our goals.”

The Angelos family has owned the Orioles franchise since Peter purchased the team for $173MM. He served as the club’s control person into his 90s but eventually ceded that post to his sons, John and Louis. In the years that followed, a contentious battle for control of the organization emerged. Louis Angelos filed a lawsuit alleging that John took steps to seize sole control of the club against his father’s wishes and that his mother, Georgia, was making it a priority to sell and possibly even relocate the team. Georgia countersued, alleging that Louis had fabricated his claims in something of a powerplay of his own. The suits were dropped in 2023, nearly one year ago to the day, with the parties settling outside of court.

Between the infighting among the Angelos family and the long-running television rights fees drama with the Nationals, the Orioles have been embroiled in litigation for years. The Angelos family owned the majority stake in the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which broadcasts both Orioles and Nationals games, and the two franchises have been at odds for more than a decade over unpaid rights fees to the Nationals. An arbitration panel eventually ruled that the O’s owed the Nats $105MM in fees, which the Orioles appealed. An appellate court upheld the ruling last April. Now, Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun reports that Rubenstein’s group is also purchasing the control stake in MASN. Whether that will have significant ramifications regarding the arrangement between the Orioles and Nationals remain unclear.

As with any ownership change, the possibility for a major departure from baseball operations norms exists under new ownership. Since John Angelos was named control person in place of his ailing father, Peter, the Orioles have essentially sat out the free-agent market entirely. General manager Mike Elias has never signed a free agent to a guaranteed multi-year deal and hasn’t committed more than Craig Kimbrel’s $13MM to any individual player. That’s been in part due to the fact that the Orioles have been mired in a rebuilding process that spanned more than four years, but even on the heels of last year’s AL East title, they’ve been surprisingly quiet (much to the chagrin of Baltimore fans).

That rebuilding effort, of course, led the Orioles to develop one of the more enviable young cores in all of baseball. Catcher Adley Rutschman has already emerged as a superstar, and young infielder Gunnar Henderson isn’t far behind. Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and top prospects like Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg, Joey Ortiz, Connor Norby, Heston Kjerstad, Colton Cowser, Samuel Basallo and many more create a favorable long-term outlook.

However, even as Orioles fans celebrated the emergence of their young core after so many noncompetitive years, Angelos put a damper on matters by casting doubt on the organization’s ability to sign anyone from that bunch to long-term deals. The now-outgoing Orioles control person told the New York Times in 2022 that in order to sign players like Rutschman and Henderson to the type of extensions they could rightly seek based on market precedent, the Orioles would need to “massively” raise prices for fans. Comments like that, paired with the general inertia that has embodied previous Orioles offseasons has led to frustration among the fan base.

Whether a change in ownership will bring about aggressive levels of spending remains to be seen. It’d be unwise to expect the Orioles to act with the same level of brazen aggression as, say, the Mets in the wake of the Wilpon family’s sale to current owner Steve Cohen. At the same time, the current levels of spending is practically the lowest of bars to be cleared. The Orioles ended the 2023 season with a $66MM payroll and project to open the 2024 season with just an $81MM payroll. Felix Bautista, the Orioles’ All-Star closer who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, is the only player who’s guaranteed even a single dollar in salary beyond the 2024 campaign. He’s promised all of $1MM for the 2025 campaign.

Time will tell the extent to which the Orioles’ recent market inactivity was colored by ongoing efforts to orchestrate this sale and whether Rubenstein’s group will be more willing to spend than the team has been under the watch of John Angelos. For the time being, the pending sale looms as a beacon of hope for an Orioles fan base that has become increasingly frustrated with the team’s ostensible unwillingness to supplement one of the brightest young cores of talent in the sport.

Joe Smith Announces Retirement

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Veteran reliever Joe Smith announced his retirement on Wednesday, calling it a career after spending parts of 15 seasons in the Major Leagues. Via his representatives at Excel Sports Management, Smith issued a lengthy statement thanking the Mets, Guardians, Angels, Cubs, Blue Jays, Astros, Mariners and Twins organizations in addition to his coaches, teammates, trainers and family for supporting him throughout his career.

Selected by the Mets in the third round of the 2006 draft, the now-39-year-old Smith was in the majors less than one year later and practically never looked back. That’s in large part thanks to the fact that Smith established himself as a quality big league reliever right out of the gate, pitching 44 1/3 innings of 3.45 ERA ball with a 22% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate as a rookie.

That set off a remarkable run of 13 straight seasons with an ERA of 3.83 or better for Smith — including five years with a sub-3.00 mark and two with a sub-2.00. While the sidearming Smith was rarely thrust into the ninth-inning spotlight (30 career saves), he’s one of the most consistent and prolific setup men in the game’s history. Since holds began being tracked, Smith’s 228 rank him in the top five all-time. His blend of durability and consistently strong performance kept him in leverage spots for more than a decade.

Smith wasn’t on the 2016 Cubs’ World Series roster after missing most of the final month of the season due to injury, but he did take home a ring that year and pitched in parts of five other postseasons (including in 2019, when he pitched in the World Series as the Astros finished runner-up to the Nationals). As was the case during his regular-season performances, he remained quite strong in October. In 14 career playoff innings, Smith yielded only four earned runs on eight hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts (2.57 ERA).

All told, Smith will walk away from the game with 762 1/3 innings of 3.14 ERA ball under his belt. In his career, he pitched for eight MLB clubs, notching a 55-34 record with 30 saves, 228 holds, a 21.1% strikeout rate and an 8.1% walk rate. Smith didn’t post an ERA over 4.00 until his age-37 season in 2021, and in 15 MLB seasons he never had a single year where he ERA climbed to 5.00 or higher. He picked up more than 13 years of Major League service time and earned more than $51MM in salary over the course of a quietly excellent career. Best wishes to Smith and his family in whatever lies in store for his post-playing days.

Astros Acquire Trey Cabbage From Angels

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The Angels announced that they have traded infielder/outfielder Trey Cabbage, who was recently designated for assignment, to the Astros. In exchange, the Angels will receive minor league right-hander Carlos Espinosa. The Astros designated right-hander Declan Cronin for assignment to open a roster spot for Cabbage, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2.

Cabbage, 27 in May, made his major league debut with the Angels last year, making 56 plate appearances in 22 games. He hit just .208/.232/.321 in that time, pairing a 3.6% walk rate with a 46.4% strikeout rate.

But his minor league results have naturally been much better. In 107 Triple-A games, he hit 30 home runs last year. His 30% strikeout rate was still on the high side but his 9.5% walk rate was strong. Even in the hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League, his .306/.379/.596 batting line still led to a wRC+ of 128. On top of that, he stole 32 bases in 35 attempts while lining up at first base and all three outfield spots.

“If we could somehow get a left-handed bat, preferably an outfielder with some speed, that type of package we’ll pounce on it.” Those were the words of Astros general manager Dana Brown last week, after the club signed Josh Hader. Cabbage doesn’t have any major league success yet but he ticks those boxes for Houston, as he does indeed hit from the left side.

The Astros have lefties Yordan Álvarez and Kyle Tucker set for regular action, but the rest of their lineup skews right-handed. That includes outfielders Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers, as well as depth option Corey Julks and utility player Mauricio Dubón. If Cabbage can have his major league offense make progress towards what he’s done in the minors, he could be a nice complement to the club’s current roster. He still has two options and doesn’t need to be on the active roster right away.

In order to add Cabbage to the organization, the Astros have removed Cronin from their 40-man. The 26-year-old was just claimed off waivers from the White Sox a few weeks ago. Similar to Cabbage, he just made his major league debut in 2023 with uninspiring results. He tossed 11 innings for the Sox, allowing 11 earned runs in that time.

But also like Cabbage, his work in the minors was more impressive. He tossed 51 2/3 Triple-A innings last year, allowing 3.83 earned runs per nine. His 18.7% strikeout rate was subpar but his 54.5% ground ball rate was very strong. That’s been a hallmark of his career, as he’s kept more than half of balls in play on the ground at every level of the minor leagues and in that brief major league debut as well.

The Astros will now have a week to trade Cronin or pass him through waivers. He still has a full slate of options and limited service time, which could help him appeal to a club in search of some bullpen depth and roster flexibility.

As for the Angels, they nudged Cabbage off their roster a few days ago when they signed Matt Moore, but they were able to salvage some value from him by sending him across the division in exchange for Espinosa. The 22-year-old Cuban has limited experience in affiliated ball, having only played in the Complex League and Single-A. He has thrown 84 1/3 innings at those levels with a 3.74 ERA, 27% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate.

Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin of FanGraphs gave Espinosa a brief mention on last year’s list of Houston’s top prospects. They noted that the righty was throwing in the mid-90s, while also featuring a slider and a changeup.

Red Sox Claim Romy Gonzalez, Designate Zack Weiss

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The Red Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed infielder/outfielder Romy Gonzalez off waivers from the White Sox. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Boston designated right-hander Zack Weiss for assignment. Chicago had designated Gonzalez for assignment last week in order to clear space for free agent signee John Brebbia.

In parts of three seasons with the White Sox, Gonzalez is a .222/.239/.361 hitter with five homers and seven steals in 239 plate appearances. Gonzalez’s approach at the plate has been a major issue, however. He’s walked in just 2.1% of his plate appearances against a jarring 36% strikeout rate. On pitches within the strike zone, Gonzalez’s 83.3% contact rate is just slightly under league average. However, his 50.2% contact rate on pitches off the plate is tied for 543 among the 593 hitters who’ve taken at least 200 plate appearances over the past three seasons. That lack of contact on pitches off the plate is exacerbated by the fact that only 39 hitters in that same group of 593 have chased off the plate more frequently than Gonzalez (41.5%).

Big league troubles notwithstanding, Gonzalez has been a reasonably productive hitter in the upper minors. He batted .267/.355/.502 in his lone season at the Double-A level and is a .251/.332/.451 hitter in parts of two Triple-A seasons. When he has made contact in the big leagues, it’s also typically been loud. Gonzalez has averaged 90.4 mph off the bat and put 45% of his batted balls in play at 95 mph or greater.

Defensively, Gonzalez is capable of playing all over the diamond but has spent the bulk of his time at shortstop (847 innings), at second base (616) and in left field (579). He has a pair of minor league option years remaining, too, making him a flexible bench option for the Red Sox for the foreseeable future, however long they choose to continue carrying him on the 40-man roster.

Boston claimed the 31-year-old Weiss off waivers from the Angels back in late August. He spent the remainder of the 2023 campaign in manager Alex Cora’s bullpen, pitching 8 2/3 innings and holding opponents to a pair of runs on three hits and four walks with eight punchouts. Weiss has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons dating back to his 2018 debut and carries a 4.61 earned run average with an impressive 28% strikeout rate but an ugly 12.7% walk rate in 27 1/3 MLB frames.

Those K/BB numbers are near-mirror images of the rates he’s posted in Triple-A (28.2% strikeout rate, 12.6% walk rate). Weiss averages 94.3 mph on his heater and generates tons of whiffs on his slider, which he threw at a 70% clip in his limited MLB action this past season. His overall 13.9% swinging-strike rate and 33% opponents’ chase rate in his three big league cups of coffee are both intriguing, but those traits are undercut by his lackluster command.

The Red Sox will have a week to trade Weiss, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.

Pirates Designate Canaan Smith-Njigba For Assignment

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The Pirates announced Wednesday that they’ve designated outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to newly signed reliever Aroldis Chapman, whose previously reported one-year $10.5MM deal is now official.

One of four players the Pirates acquired in the trade sending Jameson Taillon to the Yankees, Smith-Njigba made the team’s Opening Day roster and started in right field this past season, but he’s yet to find much success in a tiny sample of playing time. Through 44 MLB plate appearances, he’s a .135/.250/.243 hitter.

Things have gone much better for the former fourth-round pick in Triple-A. Smith-Njigba has spent parts of three seasons at the minor leagues’ top level, posting a combined .273/.366/.439 output there. That includes this past season in Indianapolis, when he turned in a quality .280/.366/.473 showing (110 wRC+) with 15 home runs, 28 doubles, a triple and 21 steals (in 26 tries) in 445 trips to the plate. Smith-Njigba walked in a hearty 11.9% of his plate appearances but also struck out far too often (26.5%).

As a prospect, Smith-Njigba drew praise for above-average to plus raw power and average speed. He comes from an extremely athletic family — his brother, Jaxon, is a wide receiver for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks — and was seen as a potential bat-first left fielder. The raw power hasn’t yet carried over into game settings with much regularity, however. Smith-Njigba’s 15 homers this past season were a career-high and marked just the second time he’s reached double-digit homers in a season since being drafted back in 2017.

Smith-Njigba does have a minor league option remaining, so a team looking for some left-handed corner outfield depth could place a claim if he’s placed on waivers or try to work out a small trade before things reach that point. He’s consistently shown plus plate discipline, evidenced by a gaudy 14.4% walk rate in the minors, and has posted above-average numbers at every minor league stop from A-ball onward. The Pirates will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Pirates, Wily Peralta Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran right-hander Wily Peralta, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee with the Bucs this spring.

Peralta, 34, enjoyed a nice two-year run with the Tigers in 2021-22 — his most recent experience at the major league level. In that time, he pitched 132 innings, split between the rotation and bullpen, and worked to a 2.93 ERA but more concerning rate stats. During his time as a Tiger, Peralta posted a well below-average 15.8% strikeout rate while walking 10.9% of his opponents. He kept the ball on the ground at a strong 49.2% clip, but his shaky K/BB profile limited him to a minor league deal with the Nationals in free agency last winter.

Things didn’t go well for Peralta in the Nats organization. The longtime Brewers righty opened the season with Washington’s Triple-A affiliate in Rochester and wound up starting 24 games for the Red Wings. His command troubles persisted (12% walk rate, 21.7% strikeout rate), and Peralta was tagged for a grisly 6.31 ERA in 102 2/3 innings.

Peralta broke into the big leagues with the Brewers back in 2012 and was a fixture in the Milwaukee rotation from 2013-16. Through his first 113 games (112 starts), the righty posted a 4.18 ERA in 647 1/3 frames with below-average strikeout rates but solid command and a strong 52% ground-ball rate. That nice start to his career was quite some time ago, however, and Peralta has had success in the 2018, 2021 and 2022 seasons, he’s logged a 4.53 ERA with an 11.7% walk rate in his past 264 MLB frames. As recently as 2022, he was still sitting at 95.5 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker — but that was in a relief role. Peralta averaged 95.8 mph as a starter earlier in his career but sat 94.1 mph out of the Tigers’ rotation in 2022.

The Pirates won’t be banking on much from Peralta, but he’ll head to camp in hopes of winning a roster spot — be it at the back of the Pittsburgh rotation or perhaps as a long reliever in the bullpen. The Pirates currently have Mitch Keller, Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales locked into rotation spots, but the final two spots are mostly up for grabs after righty Johan Oviedo underwent Tommy John surgery earlier in the offseason. Luis Ortiz, Bailey Falter, Quinn Priester and Roansy Contreras are among the in-house options, though further additions shouldn’t be ruled out. Top prospect and 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Paul Skenes figures to make his MLB debut sometime next summer as well.

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