Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Archives for 2024
Marlins Hire Rachel Balkovec As Director Of Player Development
The Marlins have hired Rachel Balkovec to be their director of player development, per a report from Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. She has previously been managing for Single-A Tampa in the Yankees’ organization.
Balkovec, 36, has lots of experience working in the minor leagues, having originally been hired by the Cardinals in 2012 as an interim strength and conditioning coach. She later had the interim tag removed from that title in 2014. She jumped to the Astros in 2016, becoming that club’s Latin America strength and conditioning coordinator, learning to speak Spanish for the role. The Astros moved her to their Double-A affiliate in 2018.
Going into 2020, she was hired by the Yankees to be a minor league hitting coach and then got promoted to manage with Single-A Tampa prior to the 2022 campaign. She has held that gig with the Tarpons for the last two seasons but has now found another opportunity with the Marlins.
As noted by De Nicola, Balkovec has often been the first woman to hold these roles, being the first to become a full-time strength and conditioning coach in affiliated baseball, the first to serve as a full-time hitting coach in an affiliated organization and the first to be a full-time manager for an affiliate.
The Marlins have been undergoing changes in their front office in recent months, with general manager Kim Ng departing the organization as owner Bruce Sherman planned to hire a president of baseball operations to work above her. Sherman expressed concerns about the club’s track record in terms of drafting and developing prospects, something that Balkovec will now be involved in. Geoff DeGroot was let go as director of player development in September of 2022 but wasn’t replaced until now. Peter Bendix was brought over in November from the Rays, a club with a strong reputation for player development, to take the president of baseball operations role.
Mariners, Cory Abbott Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners are set to sign right-hander Cory Abbott to a minor league contract, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The Dynamic Sports Group client will be in big league camp during spring training and compete for a roster spot. He’d be paid at an $800K rate in the majors, MLBTR has learned.
Abbott, 28, has logged big league time in each of the past three seasons, combining for 104 1/3 innings between the Cubs and Nationals. He’s struggled to a 6.02 ERA in that time while posting worse-than-average strikeout and walk rates of 20.2% and 11.4%.
A second-round pick by the Cubs back in 2017, Abbott posted lights-out numbers in the low minors and up through the Double-A level, but he’s struggled both in the big leagues and in Triple-A, where he carries a 5.45 ERA in three seasons. That said, Abbott has fanned a hefty 28.7% of his opponents at the Triple-A level and isn’t all that far removed from being a prospect of some note within the Cubs’ system; Baseball America ranked him 13th or better among Chicago farmhands each year from 2019-21, topping out at No. 8 in the system back in 2019.
The Mariners have regularly shown an ability to take journeyman arms and convert them into quality pieces of the pitching staff in recent years. Paul Sewald and Drew Steckenrider were both signed as minor league free agents before breaking out as key bullpen pieces in Seattle; Sewald in particular has emerged as a high-end big league reliever. Justin Topa was acquired in a minor swap with the Brewers. Lefties Gabe Speier and Tayler Saucedo were both waiver claims. Chris Flexen was signed to an affordable two-year deal after one year in the KBO and gave the M’s two strong seasons before falling off in 2023.
Certainly, not every dart throw made by the team will yield a turnaround along the lines those success stories, but the Mariners have somewhat quietly built up a nice track record of maximizing results from unheralded acquisitions of just this nature.
Soler: Marlins Have Not Shown Interest This Offseason
Slugger Jorge Soler opted out of the final season of his three-year, $36MM contract with the Marlins following the 2023 season, and while there’s been plenty of speculation about a potential reunion, Soler himself told reporters Tuesday that his former club hasn’t shown interest in re-signing him. “There has been no contact with the Marlins,” Soler told Yordano Carmona of Pelota Cubana and others at a training event hosted by the Cuban Professional Baseball Federation.
Early in the offseason, the Marlins were reported to have some level of interest in retaining Soler, but whatever interest they did or did not have apparently hasn’t resulted in talks between the two parties. The Mariners, Diamondbacks, Red Sox and Blue Jays have all been tied to Soler, to varying extents, over the past month. (Notably, the Mariners have signed Mitch Garver to a two-year contract and reacquired Mitch Haniger since first being linked to Soler, which could take them out of the running.) Whether any has made a formal offer isn’t clear, but with fellow righty-swinging slugger Teoscar Hernandez now off the board to the Dodgers, it’s possible Soler’s market could accelerate.
Soler, 32 in February, bashed 36 home runs and hit .250/.341/.512 in 580 trips to the plate with the Fish this past season. He did so while registering a 24.3% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate that both represent the second-best marks of his career. He posted an above-average .242/.326/.462 slash against right-handed opponents (110 wRC+) and absolutely demolished lefties with a .277/.393/.688 batting line that landed 81% better than league-average (181 wRC+).
Beyond the raw offensive output, Soler continued to post his annual brand of tantalizing batted-ball metrics; he averaged 91.3 mph off the bat and saw 48% of his batted balls top 95 mph. Both of those marks placed Soler in the top 20% of big league hitters, and he ranked in the top nine percent of MLB hitters with a 15% barrel rate.
Thunderous contact has long been a part of Soler’s game, but so have prodigious strikeout totals and questionable defense. His recent contact improvements have perhaps assuaged some concerns about the strikeouts. Soler recorded career-best contact rates on pitches in the strike zone (85.4%) and off the plate (60.1%) in 2023, leading to a career-high 75% overall contact rate. It’s still below the league average, but no longer egregiously so. And, for a player with this type of light-tower power, teams will typically live with some holes in the swing.
However, there’s no getting around the defensive concerns. Soler is best deployed as a primary designated hitter at this point. His once plus sprint speed has fallen to 26.6 feet per second (26th percentile of MLB hitters), and his arm strength clocks into just the 57th percentile. Miami trotted him out for just 241 innings of defense in right field last season, and most public metrics were quite down on his performance there (-5 Defensive Runs Saved, -3.1 Ultimate Zone Rating, -3 Outs Above Average).
A new club could still play Soler in the outfield on occasion — particularly with strikeout-heavy and/or grounder-heavy starters on the mound — and trust that he’ll at least make routine plays, but it seems doubtful any team would view him as an everyday corner outfield option. That said, there are very few power bats available on the open market this offseason, making Soler’s 36-homer platform year all the more appealing.
Soler has had roller-coaster of a career at the plate to some extent, but by measure of wRC+ he’s had just one below-average year overall dating back to 2018. In total, he’s slashed .243/.334/.486 over his past 2598 trips to the plate — numbers that don’t include his .242/.342/.606 postseason showing with the ’21 Braves, when he was named World Series MVP after belting three homers and plating six runs in the Fall Classic. He’s also considerably younger than fellow free agent DH candidates like J.D. Martinez (36) and Justin Turner (39), which could add to his appeal among teams seeking some right-handed thump.
Soler’s original three-year contract with the Marlins was signed when now-former general manager Kim Ng was running the team’s baseball operations. Ng declined her end of a mutual option at the beginning of the offseason, and the Marlins hired Rays general manager Peter Bendix as their new president of baseball operations.
Latest On Shota Imanaga
Jan. 9: Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports this morning that both the Giants and Angels now “appear to be looking elsewhere” (Twitter links). Heyman suggests that both the Red Sox and Cubs are “very much” still alive in the Imanaga bidding. That runs counter to reports from the weekend and from yesterday, though bidding on any free agent is, of course, quite fluid. Imanaga has a bit more than 48 hours remaining to come to terms with a team.
Jan. 8, 3:55pm: Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that the Sox are considered a “long shot” to get Imanaga as things currently stand.
3:45pm: Star NPB left-hander Shota Imanaga will see his 45-day posting window come to a close on Thursday, meaning it’s only a matter of days before the 30-year-old will decide on his first big league team. Bidding for Imanaga has reportedly been strong, as he’s drawn interest from a wide range of teams thus far in his first foray into MLB’s open market. As the bidding period winds down, Imanaga’s market has unsurprisingly begun to take firmer shape.
Sankei Sports in Japan reports that the Angels and Giants are currently the leading candidates to sign Imanaga, although no decision has been made just yet. Similarly, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand suggests that the Giants are emerging as the favorites to sign the southpaw, though Feinsand adds that each of the Angels, Cubs and Red Sox remain in the fold to some extent. While there’s still a number of ways which the left-hander’s final decision could go, it’s at least notable that Feinsand characterizes a final four of sorts, while the reports out of Japan have the field narrowed further yet.
The Giants and Angels are both strong fits for Imanaga, who’s expected to top countryman Kodai Senga’s five-year, $75MM contract with the Mets. San Francisco acquired former AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray on Friday in a surprising trade with the Mariners, but Ray isn’t expected to pitch until midseason as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Similarly, right-hander Alex Cobb will open the year on the injured list while recovering from October hip surgery.
That leaves the Giants with ace Logan Webb as the most (arguably only) solidified member of the rotation. Veteran Ross Stripling, top prospect Kyle Harrison and 2023 rookies Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck are among the candidates to round out the staff, but there’s a good deal of uncertainty beyond that group. It’s true that Imanaga himself comes with his own uncertainty — he’s untested against big league hitters — but MLB scouts are intrigued enough by him that some believe his contract could approach nine figures. Clearly, there’s a prevailing belief throughout MLB that Imanaga is a legitimate mid-rotation arm, at the least.
A few hundred miles to the south, the Angels are facing some rotation questions of their own. Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning and Patrick Sandoval are all locked into spots, although Detmers and Sandoval both had down 2023 showings relative to their 2022 performance. That’s even more true of veteran Tyler Anderson, who had an All-Star ’22 showing with the Dodgers before posting a 5.43 ERA in year one of a three-year, $39MM free agent deal with the Halos. The Angels recently took a low-cost flier on Zach Plesac and have reportedly been prioritizing Blake Snell in the wake of Shohei Ohtani’s departure, but Imanaga presents a mid-rotation option for them as well.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, will roll out a new-look rotation with or without Imanaga. Gone is oft-injured ace Chris Sale, who was shipped to the Braves (with cash) in exchange for second baseman Vaughn Grissom. He was quickly replaced by newly signed Lucas Giolito, who’s currently in line to be joined by some combination of Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock and Kutter Crawford.
As for the Cubs, they’ve been MLB’s least-active team this winter — at least when it comes to actually pushing deals across the finish line. Chicago has been connected to a litany of free agents and a handful of trade targets, but thus far the Cubs haven’t added a single player to their roster aside from catcher Brian Serven, whom they claimed off waivers from the Rockies last week. Chicago’s rotation currently includes Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks and Jameson Taillon, with veteran Drew Smyly and young arms like Hayden Wesneski, Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown and Javier Assad all in the mix for starts as well. It’s a relatively solid group, but the Cubs figure to make some kind of move to replace the outgoing Marcus Stroman.
Dating back to 2019, Imanaga boasts a 26.2% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate in addition to a cumulative 2.79 earned run average — including a no-hitter in the 2022 season. He’s not overpowering in terms of velocity, though MLBTR contributor Dai Takegami Podziewski noted back in September that he’d added some life to his heater and was averaging between 92-93 mph during the 2023 campaign. In addition to the guaranteed money owed to the pitcher himself, Imanaga’s new team will need to pay a release fee to his former team, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, which would be equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter.
The Opener: Rays, Mets, Dodgers, MLBTR Chat
As MLB’s offseason continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. What’s next for the Rays?
The Rays pulled off a pair of trades over the weekend, shipping out right-hander Andrew Kittredge and outfielder Luke Raley in exchange for outfielder Richie Palacios and infielder Jose Caballero. The moves added an optionable lefty bat and shortstop depth to the mix in Tampa, and it appears the Rays may not be finished; they’re reportedly shopping DH/first baseman/outfielder Harold Ramirez as well. If the Rays can successfully move Ramirez, it could allow the club to address other areas of need on its roster.
Rotation depth is a concern for the Rays because of injuries to Drew Rasmussen, Jeffrey Springs and Shane McClanahan last season — not to mention the Tyler Glasnow trade last month — but the biggest weakness in Tampa appears to be behind the plate. The Rays currently have Rene Pinto, a 27-year-old backstop with just 63 games of big league experience, penciled in as their starting catcher. The backup catcher spot on the roster sports even less certainty, with non-roster options like Rob Brantly and Alex Jackson currently slated to try and win the job this spring.
2. Signings to be made official:
Sunday saw a pair of the offseason’s Top 50 free agents find new homes, as left-hander Sean Manaea signed with the Mets on a two-year deal while outfielder Teoscar Hernandez landed with the Dodgers on a one-year pact. Those deals have not yet been made official, but once they are, both the Dodgers and Mets will need to make corresponding 40-man roster moves to make room for their newest additions. That typically comes in the form of designating a player near the back of a club’s 40-man for assignment, though teams will oftentimes try to work out a minor trade to recoup some value while cleaning up their roster. The Dodgers themselves pulled off this sort of maneuver last month by swapping a pair of players on the 40-man roster to the Yankees in exchange for prospect Trey Sweeney, who does not require a 40-man spot of his own.
3. MLBTR Chat today:
Now that 2024 is upon us, are there any questions burning in your mind about the offseason with Spring Training a matter of weeks away? Are you wondering what’s next for your favorite team, or perhaps curious about what the market for a particular free agent looks like? If so, tune in this afternoon when MLBTR’s Steve Adams hosts a live chat with readers at 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, and that same link will allow you to join in on the chat once it begins or read the transcript after its completed.
Rays Shopping Harold Ramirez
As is typical for the Rays in a given offseason, they’ve been active on the trade market so far in 2023-24. Tampa Bay has shipped out Tyler Glasnow, Manuel Margot, Luke Raley, Andrew Kittredge, Vidal Brujan and Calvin Faucher in a quartet of deals, and they’re likely not finished. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Rays have been shopping first baseman/left fielder/designated hitter Harold Ramirez to clubs in need of a right-handed bat.
The Rays’ willingness to trade Ramirez isn’t necessarily new or surprising. He stood as a logical trade candidate coming into the winter, given his projected $4.4MM salary in arbitration (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) and dwindling club control. Ramirez has just two years of club control remaining and limited defensive value, and Tampa Bay has regularly proven willing to trade bats fitting that description over the years. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported back in November that the Rays had explored trade scenarios involving Ramirez leading into the non-tender deadline. Still, it’s notable to see Rosenthal suggest that talks are ongoing and to suggest that the Rays themselves have initiated at least some of them.
Ramirez, 29, is out of minor league options — although his recent track record in the big leagues should leave him in no danger of being sent down anyhow. Since being acquired from the Cubs in a trade sending Esteban Quiroz back to Chicago, he’s tallied 869 plate appearances and turned in a .306/.348/.432 batting line with 18 home runs, 43 doubles, a pair of triples and eight steals (in 16 attempts). Ramirez hasn’t walked much in that time (4.7%) but has a lower-than-average strikeout rate (17.4%). By measure of wRC+, he’s been 23% better than average at the plate in a Rays uniform.
Of course, some of that stems from the Rays’ aggressive utilization of platoon setups. Ramirez has more than held his own against righties both with the Rays (.279/.332/.401, 107 wRC+) and in his career (.275/.314/.404, 99 wRC+). However, the overwhelming bulk of his damage has come when he’s feasted against left-handed pitching (.374/.412/.509 with Tampa Bay; .323/.363/.453 in his career).
The Rays gave Ramirez a combined 401 innings between first base and the outfield corners in 2022 but cut that already-small total to a tiny 117 innings in 2023. It’s clear that the organization is hardly enamored of his defensive aptitude, but there’s also little doubt that Ramirez can flat-out hit. He has more gap power than true home run pop, but any team in search of a right-handed bat would figure to be intrigued by the possibility of plugging Ramirez into at least a part-time role. Depending on the fit, he could profile as an everyday option for a team without a set option at designated hitter and/or some flexibility at first and in the outfield corners.
The deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration figures is this coming Friday. That’s hardly a set deadline to move arb-eligible players, but it has also at times served as an impetus for some movement on the trade market for such players. Moving Ramirez could create some extra opportunities for the latest wave of talented young Rays hitters — a group including the likes of Curtis Mead, Jonathan Aranda and top prospect Junior Caminero. From a payroll vantage point, moving Ramirez would drop Tampa Bay’s projected Opening Day mark south of $90MM, creating additional room to pursue help at other areas of need (e.g. catcher, starting pitching) in free agency.
Billy Gardner Passes Away
Former MLB infielder and manager Billy Gardner passed away last week at age 96, according to the Hall of Fame (X link). An obituary is available courtesy of The Day in Gardner’s hometown of New London, Connecticut.
Gardner, who was born in 1927, signed with the then-New York Giants out of high school. He played in their minor league ranks for almost a decade before reaching the majors in 1954. The right-handed hitter played sporadically at the MLB level from 1954-55, appearing in 121 games. He won a ring as a rookie when the Giants swept the Indians in the 1954 Fall Classic, although he didn’t make an appearance in the series. In April ’56, New York sold his contract to the Orioles. Gardner immediately stepped in as Baltimore’s starting second baseman.
He would have his greatest success as a player over the next four seasons. In 1957, Gardner led the American League in plate appearances (718) and doubles (36). While his overall .262/.325/.356 batting line was a little worse than league average, his durability and defensive reputation earned him some down-ballot MVP votes. Gardner continued to play regularly in Baltimore through 1959. The O’s flipped him across town to the Washington Senators in 1960. Gardner tallied 649 plate appearances with a .257/.313/.363 slash.
That wound up being the franchise’s final season in D.C. During the 1960-61 offseason, the organization uprooted to Minnesota and rebranded as the Twins. Gardner was briefly part of the original Twins team and was traded to the Yankees for lefty Danny McDevitt midseason. It proved a fruitful trade for him personally, as he finished the year in the Bronx and collected a second World Series title. He made one appearance in what would ultimately be a five-game triumph over the Reds.
Gardner closed his playing career in Boston after being traded yet again. He finished with a .237/.292/.327 line over parts of 10 MLB seasons. He hit 41 homers and 159 doubles in a bit under 3900 trips to the plate. Gardner played more than 8000 innings on defense, with the vast majority of that time coming at the keystone.
The end of his playing days didn’t mark the finale of his baseball career. Gardner transitioned to coaching with the Red Sox after his playing career concluded. He worked his way to an MLB staff with the Expos before rejoining the Twins as a coach in 1981.
Within a couple months, he was tabbed as manager to replace Johnny Goryl. Gardner held the managerial role in Minneapolis for parts of five seasons. The team only got to .500 once (an 81-81 record in 1984) and he was dismissed midway through the ’85 campaign. He got one more managerial opportunity, leading the 1987 Royals to a 62-64 mark before being replaced by John Wathan. His teams finished with a 330-417 record (44.2% win percentage).
MLBTR sends our condolences to Gardner’s family, friends and loved ones.
Cardinals’ President Discusses Payroll Outlook
The Cardinals were among the offseason’s most aggressive teams early. St. Louis signed Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn within the winter’s first couple weeks. That accomplished their goal of bringing in three veteran starters. Things have been quiet since November, as they’ve traded away Tyler O’Neill and swapped outfielder Richie Palacios for middle reliever Andrew Kittredge.
It seems St. Louis’ early flurry on the rotation front will represent the main part of their offseason activity. St. Louis president Bill DeWitt III tells John Denton of MLB.com the club doesn’t anticipate taking on much more payroll this offseason. While DeWitt left open the possibility for reinvesting in the MLB roster after subtracting some amount of money in trade, he implied they’re near the limit of their financial comfort zone.
“Look, I think we’re always open to improving our club within reason, but, you know, we’ve already made some big moves,” DeWitt told Denton. “With payroll, it has to be thought of in the context of the whole business with all the investments we’re making in other aspects of the product on the field. … So, we are making a pretty big push by raising payroll and having revenues somewhat challenged (a reference to the ongoing Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy that could impact their local broadcasting deal with Bally Sports Midwest). It’s actually quite a commitment. Now, is there a little more room there? It depends on the deal.”
That the Cardinals are near their spending target doesn’t come as a major surprise. Roster Resource projects the organization’s 2024 player payroll around $177MM. That’s almost exactly where they opened the 2023 campaign, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak essentially declared at the outset of the offseason that the Cards would have a similar starting payroll in ’24 as they did a year ago.
It’s fair to wonder if the organization has done enough to get back to playoff competitiveness. Lynn is a rebound candidate after giving up 44 home runs. Gibson has been a reliable innings-eater but typically turns in back-of-the-rotation results. Gray should be a significant upgrade, but the Cardinals entered last season with Jordan Montgomery and still didn’t have nearly enough starting pitching.
As things stand, it looks as if they’ll open next year with a rotation comprising Gray, Miles Mikolas, Gibson, Lynn and Steven Matz. Young left-handers Zack Thompson and Matthew Liberatore could push Matz for a rotation spot. The Cardinals could still look for a lower-cost addition to the relief corps to deepen the group in front of Giovanny Gallegos, JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley.
Possible Left-Handed Power Targets For Nationals
The Nationals haven’t made many notable acquisitions this offseason. They signed middle reliever Dylan Floro and former top prospect Nick Senzel to affordable one-year pacts and plucked infielder Nasim Nuñez from the Marlins in the Rule 5 draft. It’s not all that surprising that a still-rebuilding Washington team coming off a 71-91 showing hasn’t been aggressive, but GM Mike Rizzo had suggested at the Winter Meetings the team was open to a multi-year free agent pickup “in the right situation” (link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com).
With all of $4.25MM in free agent spending committed to Floro and Senzel, there should still be financial room at Rizzo’s disposal. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll hand out any kind of significant deal, particularly with a lack of great options in the middle tiers of free agency. Yet it’d be a surprise if the Nationals were finished with their offseason activity. One area where some kind of addition seems likely: a left-handed bat.
Both the Talk Nats blog and MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato suggested in late December that Washington was looking to bring in left-handed power. The Nats’ best lefty or switch-hitting bats — CJ Abrams, Keibert Ruiz, Luis García and Jake Alu — all have middling pop. Only the Guardians had a lower ISO (slugging minus batting average) against right-handed pitching in 2023. Acquiring a lefty power source makes plenty of sense.
It’s hard to see Washington spending at the level it’d take to land Cody Bellinger. Even though he’s young enough to be a veteran cornerstone for a team that could more realistically seek to compete by 2025, the Nationals have a pair of top center field prospects in James Wood and Dylan Crews. They’re also still faced with the MASN rights uncertainty and on the hook for significant money to Patrick Corbin, Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer’s deferrals in the short term. It’s probably not the right time for a top-of-the-market splash.
We’ll look a few tiers down. Where might that search lead Rizzo and company?
Free Agency
- Brandon Belt: Belt, even going into his age-36 season, should command the loftiest guarantee of the players in this group. He’s coming off a very strong offensive showing for the Blue Jays. He hit 19 homers and walked more than 15% of the time he stepped to the plate, leading to a .254/.369/.490 line through 404 plate appearances. Favorable matchups played a role in that strong rate production; Toronto limited him to 39 PA’s against left-handed pitching. Washington could deploy him similarly at designated hitter and/or first base, where only Joey Meneses (coming off a league average offensive showing) stands in the way.
- Joc Pederson: The Blue Jays are the only club publicly tied to Pederson this winter. He’s coming off a middling season in which he hit .235/.348/.416 with 15 homers through 425 plate appearances for the Giants. That’s not huge power production at first glance, but Pederson has five 20+ homer seasons on his résumé (four with at least 25 longballs). He made hard contact — an exit velocity of at least 95 MPH — on more than half his batted balls last season, a top 15 rate in the majors. Pederson is a limited player. He’s best served as a DH and is mostly limited to facing right-handed pitching. He still has life in the bat, though, even if last year’s results were underwhelming.
- Eddie Rosario: There hasn’t been any public chatter on Rosario since the Braves declined a $9MM option at the start of the offseason. He should command a one-year deal at a salary that’s not too far below that rate. Rosario is coming off a reasonably effective year. He hit 21 homers with a .255/.305/.450 line in 516 trips to the plate. That was the fourth time in his career that he surpassed 20 longballs. Rosario is mostly limited to left field but rated reasonably well with the glove last year. His performance varies wildly within seasons, but he tends to produce roughly league average numbers by the end.
- Joey Gallo: Gallo hit 21 homers in just 332 plate appearances a season ago. The flaw in his game, huge swing-and-miss rates, has only magnified in recent seasons. Gallo hasn’t hit above the Mendoza line since 2019. He’s hitting .168 with a .290 on-base percentage in 742 plate appearances over the last two campaigns. There are a lot of uncompetitive at-bats. Few players fit the profile of a “left-handed power bat” quite like Gallo, though.
Trade Possibilities
It’s tougher to identify great fits on the trade market in the absence of many clear rebuilding teams. The Nationals could theoretically take a bigger swing at a player with an extended control window (e.g. Alec Burleson, Jesús Sánchez). That’s not an easy task to pull off, particularly since Washington is probably reluctant to part with significant prospect talent. There are a few veteran bats who’d make some sense as speculative trade candidates for a lesser return.
- Josh Bell: Bell had a productive stint over his year and a half in Washington from 2021-22. He hit .278/.363/.483 in just over 1000 plate appearances before being included in the Juan Soto trade. Bell has changed uniforms twice more since that deadline blockbuster, signing with the Guardians before being flipped to the Marlins last summer. The switch-hitting first baseman struggled in Cleveland (.233/.318/.383) but generally turned things around in South Florida (.270/.338/.480). That reasonably strong finish wasn’t enough for Bell to forego a $16.5MM player option for the upcoming season. It stands to reason the Fish would be happy to get out from under the bulk of that deal if the Nationals were interested in a reunion.
- Seth Brown: A’s GM David Forst indicated at the beginning of the offseason that he didn’t expect to trade Brown. That’s presumably more about Oakland feeling that other teams won’t meet their ask than an indication they wouldn’t consider offers on a 31-year-old platoon player. Brown is a career .237/.305/.471 hitter against right-handed pitching. He can play first base or the corner outfield and is under arbitration control for three seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz forecasts him for a $2.4MM salary.
- Mike Yastrzemski: Yastrzemski is projected for a $7.3MM salary in his second-to-last arbitration season. He hit 15 homers in 381 plate appearances a year ago, running a .233/.330/.445 line overall. The Giants aren’t likely to urgently shop Yastrzemski, but the singing of Jung Hoo Lee pushes him from center field to the corner opposite Michael Conforto. Trading Mitch Haniger paved the way for a Lee, Conforto, Yastrzemski outfield supplemented by righty-hitting Austin Slater, but the Giants also have Luis Matos, Wade Meckler and Heliot Ramos as options on the grass.
Minor League Deal Candidates
Each of these players has turned in above-average offense from the left side in their careers. None hit free agency under great circumstances. Choi had an injury-plagued 2023 campaign that kept him to 39 games without much production. The other four players were either non-tendered or elected free agency after an outright.
Meadows has missed most of the past two seasons attending to anxiety; it is unclear if he’ll be in position to return next year. Ford and Vogelbach are largely limited to DH, while Walsh hasn’t been the same since he was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in 2022. None of these players are likely to be Washington’s top acquisition, but they’d be viable depth targets if the Nats wanted a second lefty bat on a minor league or low-cost MLB pact.
