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Billy Gardner Passes Away

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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

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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

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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.

Yankees, Kevin Smith Agree To Deal

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Infielder Kevin Smith has a deal in place with the Yankees. The player posted on X a picture of a kid, presumably Smith himself, in Yankee gear. The picture came with the caption “Headed Home for 2024.” The client of The Bledsoe Agency was born and played high school ball in East Greenbush, New York. Jon Heyman of The New York Post confirms that the two sides agreed to a deal, which Martín Gallegos of MLB.com reports to be a minor league contract. Hat tip to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News for passing along the post from Smith.

Smith, 27, spent the past two years with the Athletics after coming over from the Blue Jays in the Matt Chapman trade. Between those two clubs, he’s received 333 plate appearances at the big league level over the past three years but has hit just .173/.215/.301 in that time. He exhausted his final option year in 2023. The A’s non-tendered him at season’s end even though he was still two years away from qualifying for arbitration.

He has hit much better in the minor leagues and that continued in 2023. In 183 Triple-A plate appearances, he put up a huge batting line of .324/.372/.653. That came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but it still amounted to a wRC+ of 137. He also stole nine bases in that time and lined up defensively at second base, third base and shortstop for the Aviators.

In the big leagues, his glovework at shortstop hasn’t received amazing grades but he has been given strong marks at third. He’s also seen some very limited time at left field and first base.

The Yankees project to have Anthony Volpe at shortstop and DJ LeMahieu at third base. There have been some rumors of Gleyber Torres trades, which would free up second for LeMahieu, but Torres is still on the roster. The club also has Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera and Jeter Downs on the roster as utility/depth options. If Smith is able to crack the roster at any point, he has just one year and 63 days of service time, meaning the Yankees could keep him around beyond 2024 if they would like.

Cardinals Hire Chaim Bloom For Advisory Role

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4:50pm: Mozeliak describes Bloom’s role as “more of a part-time role, an advisory role,” per John Denton of MLB.com. Mozeliak added that Bloom isn’t relocating to St. Louis but will be present at Spring Training and join the team for home and road games.

2:45pm: The Cardinals announced that they have hired Chaim Bloom as an advisor to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak. Katie Woo of The Athletic reported the hiring prior to the official club announcement.

Bloom, 40, was the chief baseball officer of the Red Sox until he was fired in September. He was connected to the Cardinals in November and also received some interest from the Marlins to run their front office, but he will wind up with the Cards. Though he will be working with Mozeliak, it’s unclear exactly how involved he will be with the day-to-day operations of the club. Chris Cotillo of MassLive relays that it’s believed Bloom prefers a remote role that will allow him to stay in Boston.

Bloom’s tenure running the Red Sox led to mixed results. It seems as though he was given lesser budgets than the previous front offices in Boston, as Mookie Betts and David Price were traded to the Dodgers in early 2020, a few months after Bloom was hired towards the end of 2019. Per the data at Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Sox had payrolls above $230MM in 2018 and 2019 but have averaged under $190MM in the past three years.

The club finished last in the American League East in three of the last four seasons, with a surprise trip to the postseason in 2021 sandwiched in between. The farm system made some strides while Bloom was there, though the extent of its strength is subjective, like most matters involving prospects. Baseball America recently ranked Boston’s farm fifth in the league and FanGraphs second, but MLB Pipeline had them down at #16.

On the big league side, there were mixed results. Modest signings of Chris Martin, Kenley Jansen, Adam Duvall, Michael Wacha and Justin Turner generally worked out well, but the big swings didn’t really land. The Sox seemed far more bullish on players like Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida relative to the rest of the industry and those deals haven’t worked out well so far. The club also made the strange decision to trade Christian Vázquez and Jake Diekman at the 2022 trade deadline but hold onto Xander Bogaerts, Nathan Eovaldi, J.D. Martinez and others, ultimately finishing the year in last place but with a competitive balance tax figure that was just barely over the lowest threshold. By finishing just over the line, their draft pick compensation was reduced when Bogaerts and Eovaldi rejected qualifying offers and signed elsewhere.

All of that may be moot, depending on the specifics of Bloom’s role. Prior to joining the Red Sox, he spent over a decade working with the Rays. That club developed a strong reputation for player development while Bloom was there, jumping to the forefront of analytics in order to compete with clubs that feature much larger budgets. Whether that is part of his role with the Cardinals or not, he brings a couple of decades of baseball experience to the club, having served in various roles around the sport. In addition to his time with the Red Sox and Rays, he also worked for the league, for the Padres and spent many years writing for Baseball Prospectus.

When front office executives find themselves between jobs, it’s not uncommon to see them land an advisory gig such as this as a sort of placeholder. Bloom can do a bit of work and collect a paycheck in the meantime. If an opportunity arises to rejoin a club as a general manager or president of baseball operations, his gig with the Cardinals shouldn’t leave him so committed that he can’t pursue it.

Latest On Mets’ Offseason Plans

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In a recent mailbag, Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic fielded questions about the Mets and what remains of the offseason. They report that the club isn’t looking to add to their rotation any further this winter, except perhaps a depth move. They may make an addition at designated hitter, but don’t consider that essential.

The club came into the winter with lots of work to do in addressing the rotation. Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander had been traded prior to the trade deadline in the summer and then Carlos Carrasco became a free agent at season’s end. Shortly thereafter, it was reported that David Peterson underwent hip surgery with the recovery set to last beyond the start of the season. All of that left the club with Kodai Senga and José Quintana in two spots, with depth pieces like Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi and José Butto available as well.

But since then, the club has bolstered that group by signing Sean Manaea and Luis Severino, as well as acquiring Adrian Houser from the Brewers. That currently leaves them with a front five of Senga, Quintana, Manaea, Severino and Houser. Each of Megill, Lucchesi and Butto are still optionable, which will likely have them starting in Triple-A until an injury creates a need at the big league level. Peterson also has an option and can be in Triple-A if there’s no room for him in the majors when he’s healthy. It seems the club will go into the season with that as the depth chart, though a minor league signing or waiver claim could still factor in at some point.

The long run is a bit of a different story. Each of Quintana, Severino and Houser are impending free agents. Manaea signed a two-year deal but can opt out after 2024. Senga has four years left on his deal but has an opt-out after 2025, provided he logs at least 400 innings from 2023 to 2025. That gives the Mets very little long-term certainty their rotation.

They do have some prospects who could perhaps enter the picture in the near future, with Mike Vasil, Dominic Hamel, Christian Scott, Blade Tidwell and Tyler Stuart some of the notable prospects that reached at least as high as Double-A in 2023. But per Britton and Sammon, the Mets “are aware that their prospect pool leans toward mid-rotation or back-end starters, and thus that a significant external addition to their rotation sometime in the next two years is necessary.”

Assuming the Mets are shopping for a front line starter next winter, they should have some options. Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Shane Bieber and Walker Buehler currently look to be some of the most exciting names in the free agent class of 2024-25. In terms of veterans, Zack Wheeler, Nathan Eovaldi and Scherzer will be in there as well, with Verlander perhaps joining them depending on the outcome of his vesting option. Robbie Ray can opt out of his deal after the upcoming campaign. Pitchers like Jack Flaherty, Frankie Montas or Severino might have bounceback years and raise their stocks, and the same goes for pitchers with options like Lucas Giolito or Manaea. So much can happen in a year to change a club’s plans but the Mets should be able to find something to their liking, especially with their willingness to spend money.

Turning to the designated hitter situation, the Mets could have some internal options there. The recent signing of Harrison Bader to join Brandon Nimmo in the outfield leaves one spot open on the grass. Starling Marte is the most logical person to line up next to those two, but he’s now 35 and is coming off a frustrating season. He missed almost half the year due to migraines and groin issues, hitting just .248/.301/.324 when in the lineup. Perhaps the Mets will look to get him some semi-rest days via the DH slot. If so, that would leave some outfield playing time for Tyrone Taylor or DJ Stewart. The latter would also be a DH candidate since he’s considered a poor fielder. Mark Vientos will be battling Brett Baty and Joey Wendle for playing time at third but Vientos is also considered weak on defense and could find himself in the DH mix if he hits well enough. Baty hasn’t been graded well for his third base defense in his major league career, for that matter.

That gives the Mets plenty of internal candidates to fill the DH slot, but it’s also possible to see room for an addition. Each of Baty, Vientos and Stewart are still optionable and could find themselves in Triple-A, depending on how things go. That gives the club a path to perhaps bring in a bat. Some of the DH types available in free agency include J.D. Martinez, Joc Pederson, Rhys Hoskins, Jorge Soler, Brandon Belt and Justin Turner. The Mets have previously been connected to Turner and Martinez in rumors this offseason. Turner would arguably be the best fit on the roster since his ability to play some infield means he wouldn’t be strictly limited to a DH role and could allow the club to cycle Marte or anyone else in there. Since Turner is 39 years old, he will also be limited to a short-term deal which will appeal to the Mets, given the way they’ve been operating this winter.

Despite the club’s apparent transition year in 2024, their past spending still has their competitive balance tax figure over the fourth and highest threshold of $297MM. Roster Resource pegs their CBT figure at $321MM right now. As a third-time payor at that level, the Mets will be facing a 110% tax on any further spending. The tax bill won’t be calculated until season’s end, so midseason deals could drop them down, but it seems inevitable that they will be facing another steep bill in the fall. They have shown little hesitation about spending money under owner Steve Cohen but it remains to be seen if they will add another contract to the books when they could give those DH at-bats to internal options.

Marlins, Jonathan Davis Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Marlins have agreed to a deal bringing outfielder Jonathan Davis back to the organization, as Davis himself announced on Instagram. Miami outrighted Davis off the 40-man roster at season’s end rather than tender him a contract in arbitration. The team has yet to announce the signing, but it’s a minor league contract with an invite to spring training, per Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Davis is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Davis, 31, spent the bulk of the 2023 season with the Marlins organization after coming over in a May trade with the Tigers. He appeared in 34 games and tallied 104 trips to the plate, batting .244/.307/.378 with a pair of homers, four doubles, a triple and a steal in that time. He’s one of the game’s speedier options in the outfield, clocking in at an average sprint speed of 28.9 feet per second, according to Statcast, which places him in the 89th percentile of MLB players.

In parts of six big league seasons, Davis is a .198/.295/.276 hitter. He’s upped his walk rate considerably in recent seasons, however, drawing a free pass in 11.1% of his plate appearances dating back to 2021. Davis is also a lifetime .260/.362/.433 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons and is plenty experienced in all three outfield slots. Statcast pegs him as a plus defender in center, where he’s been credited with 11 Outs Above Average in 982 innings.

The Marlins have lefty hitters in center (Jazz Chisholm Jr.) and right field (Jesus Sanchez), with righty-hitting Bryan De La Cruz in left. Switch-hitting utilitymen Xavier Edwards and Vidal Brujan are also in the mix for outfield time, as is right-handed-hitting Peyton Burdick. Davis, another righty bat, doesn’t exactly profile as a platoon option for either Chisholm or Sanchez, as he’s a career .214/.338/.313 hitter even against lefties. However, if he makes the roster, he’d be an option to give either player an occasional breather (ideally against lefties) or rest day at designated hitter, and his speed makes him a viable pinch-running threat or late-game defensive upgrade.

Rays Sign Rob Brantly To Minor League Deal

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The Rays announced Monday that they’ve signed veteran catcher Rob Brantly to a minor league contract and invited him to big league camp in spring training. He’ll compete with fellow non-roster invitee Alex Jackson and any subsequent catching additions for playing time alongside Rene Pinto.

Brantly, 34, has appeared in parts of eight big league seasons but never tallied more than 243 plate appearances in a single MLB campaign. He hasn’t appeared in more than six MLB games in a season since 2017 and didn’t appear in the Majors at all last year, spending 2023 with the Blue Jays’ Triple-A club in Buffalo.

In 456 trips to the plate as a big leaguer, Brantly carries a .225/.287/.326 batting line. He’s also suited up for a whopping 11 Triple-A seasons and delivered a .267/.325/.390 output in more than 2500 plate appearances. Brantly sports a career 29% caught-stealing rate, and Baseball Prospectus has credited him with strong framing marks in the upper minors dating back to 2019.

It still seems quite likely that additional catching help will be brought in by the Rays. Pinto is the only backstop on the team’s 40-man roster at present, and although he’s a talented defender he’s also a 27-year-old with just 188 big league plate appearances and a career .235/.255/.399 batting line in that tiny sample. Brantly is a long shot to crack the Opening Day roster, but he’s an experienced hand who can work with catching prospect Dominic Keegan and the team’s young pitchers in spring training and/or in Triple-A Durham this season.

Rockies Looking For Left-Handed-Hitting Outfielder

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The Rockies deepened their rotation and catching corps late last week with signings of Dakota Hudson and Jacob Stallings, and their next move could be of similar scope in the outfield. Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports that the Rox are looking for a “depth outfielder” — ideally someone who can handle all three positions while hitting from the left side of the dish.

As things stand, the Rockies have a largely right-handed outfield mix. Left fielder Nolan Jones bats left handed, but each of Brenton Doyle, Sean Bouchard and Hunter Goodman is right-handed — as are the bulk of the team’s upper-minors options (with the notable exceptions of top organizational prospects Zac Veen and Yanquiel Fernandez, though both are likely more than a year from the Majors still). Colorado re-signed franchise stalwart Charlie Blackmon earlier in the offseason, but he’s expected to reprise his role as the team’s primary designated hitter in 2024.

Adding some outfield depth from the left side makes a good bit of sense then, although the free-agent market is pretty light. It’d be a shock to see the Rockies spend at the levels necessary to sign Cody Bellinger, and the options beyond him aren’t exactly plentiful. Joey Gallo would make an interesting upside play at Coors Field, but his production has been in a free-fall since the 2021 trade sending him from Texas to the Bronx. Travis Jankowski and old friends Raimel Tapia and Rafael Ortega could make sense, with the latter two in particular likely to be available on minor league contracts.

Trade scenarios for this type of player abound. There are too many to list in full, though reasonable on-paper trade partners include the Royals (Kyle Isbel, Drew Waters), Mariners (Cade Marlowe, Taylor Trammell, Zach DeLoach) and Tigers (Akil Baddoo). It’s also possible that the Rox could simply fill the need with a spring waiver claim or deal for an out-of-options player who’s been squeezed out of a roster spot with his current team (e.g. Nick Gordon, Jake Cave).

The extent to which the Rockies can add to their payroll remains unclear. Colorado has added around $9-10MM in salary with the offseason pickups of Hudson ($1.5MM), Stallings ($1.5MM) and Cal Quantrill (projected $6.6MM salary in arbitration, via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz). That said, the Rox still appear headed toward a reduced budget for the 2024 season. They didn’t lose much in the way of free agency — lefty Brent Suter being their lone departure of note — but GM Bill Schmidt traded away veterans like C.J. Cron, Randal Grichuk, Brad Hand and Pierce Johnson at the deadline. That group combined to help push Colorado’s 2023 Opening Day payroll to a franchise-record $172MM, but they’re currently about $30MM shy of that total.

Like so many other clubs in MLB at the moment, the Rockies face ample uncertainty regarding their 2024 television broadcasts — and thus, their revenue. AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, the RSN that previously broadcast the team’s games, is ceasing operations in 2024 (as first reported by Kyle Newman and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post back in September). Saunders reported in a mailbag column over the weekend that MLB may step in to handle the Rockies’ broadcasts in 2024, but there’s yet to be a formal announcement on that matter.

However their broadcast situation plays out, it’s quite likely to adversely impact the team’s revenue. Couple that with the Rockies’ extreme longshot postseason odds, and it’s unsurprising (though surely still frustrating for their fans) that the team has had a rather quiet offseason and instead appears to be focusing on in-house development with an eye toward 2025 and beyond.

Mariners Still Exploring Infield, Bullpen Markets

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It’s been an active two weeks for the Mariners, who’ve recently signed Mitch Garver to a two-year deal and shipped out Robbie Ray and Jose Caballero in trades that brought Mitch Haniger, Anthony DeSclafani and Luke Raley back to Seattle. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said this weekend that while his team feels more complete now than at any point this offseason, he’s still open to subsequent additions (link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times).

More specifically, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Mariners are still hoping to acquire an infielder to make the club less reliant on the uncertain tandem of Luis Urias and Josh Rojas, who are currently projected to start at third base and second base, respectively. Seattle would also like to add a reliever, per Rosenthal, which Dipoto alluded to in his comments to Divish and others.

An infield upgrade is a sensible target for the M’s, given the volatility presented by both Urias and Rojas (and to a lesser extent, first baseman Ty France, who’s coming off a down season). From 2021-22, both Urias (.244/.340/.426, 111 wRC+) and Rojas (.266/.345/.401, 106 wRC+) were above-average performers at the plate, due in no small part to walk rates approaching 11%.

Rojas saw his walk rate drop to 7.7% in 2023, however, as he batted just .240/.303/.338 in 350 plate appearances. Urias maintained his walk rate but watched his hard-hit rate and exit velocity plummet en route to a middling .194/.337/.299 slash in 155 trips to the plate. Both players saw their strikeout rates tick up to near identical marks of 23.2% and 23.1% — slightly higher than league average but also well south of the 30%-plus rates of some names they shipped out in trades.

Both Rojas and Urias come with platoon issues of note, as well. The lefty-swinging Rojas has extremely similar rate stats against lefties and righties, with identical 93 wRC+ marks against each, but his production against lefties is contingent on a .361 average on balls in play that’s not likely to hold up. Rojas has punched out at an ugly 28.3% clip against southpaws compared to a 21% mark against righties and hit for more power when holding the platoon advantage as well (.098 ISO versus lefties, .122 versus righties). It’s the opposite for the right-handed Urias, who’s smacked southpaws at a .276/.353/.442 pace in his career but carries a .219/.326/.365 slash against right-handers.

Rojas and Urias are both capable of playing either second or third base, so there’s a potential platoon setup between the two. Alternatively, if the M’s succeed in adding a second or third baseman and prefer to go with one true starter at the other slot, both Rojas and Urias could profile as a potential utility option off the bench.

Because of the defensive flexibility the current group possesses, the Mariners could look for options at either second base or third base. Dipoto typically operates more on the trade market than on the free-agent market, though both provide myriad avenues to fill the team’s needs. Whit Merrifield stands as the top free agent at second base. The Mariners aren’t going to meet Matt Chapman’s asking price at third base, but Gio Urshela and Justin Turner would represent much more affordable alternatives. Any of that trio would meet the Mariners’ previously stated goal of improving the club’s contact rate (which hasn’t exactly been strictly adhered to, when looking at the acquisition of Raley in particular).

On the trade market, Minnesota’s Jorge Polanco is a natural target who could step in at second base (speculatively speaking, to be clear). The Twins are deep in controllable young infielders and looking to slightly scale back payroll due to the RSN collapse that’s impacting budgets around the league (including the Mariners). The switch-hitting Polanco is earning $10.5MM this season and has a $12MM option for the ’25 campaign. The Reds, Orioles, Cardinals and Guardians are also deep in infield talent and could be intrigued by Seattle’s stock of young arms. That said, Dipoto cast significant doubt on his willingness to move a controllable starting pitcher with his weekend comments.

“We did a lot of groundwork on what it might look like if we did trade one of those young starters, and we never liked the way it looked,” Dipoto said (via Divish). He called retaining his stock of young arms (e.g. Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo, Emerson Hancock) “Plan A” this offseason.

Within that same media session, Dipoto maintained an openness to further additions to the roster, speculatively rattling off the possibility of making “a fun addition in the bullpen” or more generally “an upgrade somewhere on the field that we don’t really have.” The Mariners have an imposing late-inning trio of Andres Munoz, Matt Brash and Justin Topa, but they’re relatively light on lefty options — with 28-year-old Gabe Speier and 30-year-old Tayler Saucedo as the only options on the 40-man roster. Both were solid in 2023, but neither had found any real MLB success prior to last season.

Dipoto has said previously that the Mariners’ 2024 payroll could increase over its 2023 levels, although a substantial increase hasn’t looked likely all winter. Ownership has rather clearly placed some fiscal constraints on Dipoto, GM Justin Hollander and the rest of the front office, as they’re among the many teams in the game facing financial uncertainty due to their own RSN situation.

Roster Resource currently projects a payroll of around $132MM for the Mariners, which sits about $8MM shy of last year’s end-of-season mark. Divish writes within his column that the Mariners want to leave some wiggle room for in-season additions, but there’s of course still some room beneath last year’s budget and the possibility that additional trades could further alter the current payroll outlook.

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