6:55pm: MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports the finances for the free agent deals (on X). Hudson will make $1.5MM and can earn another $1.5MM in incentives. Stallings is guaranteed $2MM, taking the form of a $1.5MM salary next year and a $500K buyout on a 2025 mutual option.
2:24pm: The Rockies are planning to announce one-year deals with right-hander Dakota Hudson and catcher Jacob Stallings, per a report from Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The Rockies subsequently announced the moves, announcing two corresponding moves as well. Catcher Brian Serven was claimed off waivers by the Cubs while infielder Alan Trejo was outrighted to Triple-A.
A first-round selection by the Cardinals in the 2016 draft, Hudson was a quick riser who made his big league debut with the club back in 2018. Early in his career, the groundballer significantly outdid his peripheral stats to perform at a mid-rotation level for the Cardinals. From his big league debut until the end of the shortened 2020 campaign, Hudson impressed with a sterling 3.17 ERA in 241 innings of work despite a concerning 4.74 FIP. That elevated FIP was thanks primarily to a subpar 18.1% strikeout rate against an elevated 11.6% walk rate. Only Andrew Cashner, Antonio Senzatela, and Clayton Richard posted worse K-BB ratios than Hudson during that time among pitchers with at least 200 innings of work. With that being said, Hudson’s whopping 57.3% grounder rate actually led all pitchers over the same period.
Hudson lost nearly the whole 2021 season to Tommy John surgery and his performance began to take a turn for the worse the following season. In 139 2/3 innings of work across 27 appearances (26 starts) that year, Hudson saw his strikeout rate plummet to just 13.1% while his walk rate stayed relatively stagnant at 10.2%. That extreme lack of swing and miss left Hudson with a career-worst 4.45 ERA despite a still-strong 53% groundball rate and just 7.2% of the fly balls he did give up leaving the park for home runs.
Those red flags in Hudson’s profile led to an even more difficult 2023 season, where the right-hander spent much of the season in the minor leagues and struggled to a 4.98 ERA with a 5.06 FIP in 81 1/3 innings of work. When looking exclusively at the time Hudson spent in the Cardinals rotation following the departures of Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery at the trade deadline, Hudson’s numbers are even more concerning as he posted a 5.23 ERA and 5.45 FIP in 62 innings across those 11 starts. Hudson’s peripheral numbers also declined significantly as his groundball rate dipped to 51.5%, his strikeout rate fell to 12.7%, and his fastball velocity cratered to 91.3 mph. Each of those figures was the worst of his career and a far cry from the 57.3% grounder rate, 18.1% strikeout rate, and 93.8 mph fastball velocity Hudson showed in the first three seasons of his career.
Given Hudson’s longtime struggles and worsening peripherals, it wasn’t much of a surprise when St. Louis opted to non-tender the right-hander back in November rather than retain him for the 2024 campaign. While Hudson’s salary in Colorado isn’t yet known, it’s unlikely to be higher than Hudson’s arbitration projection (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) of $3.7MM. Given that, the signing is a solid, low-cost gamble by the Rockies. Groundballers like Hudson are less subject to the difficulties of pitching at Coors Field than pitchers that allow more contact in the air, as highlighted by the previous successes of arms like German Marquez and Antonio Senzatela in the ballpark.
With that being said, both of those aforementioned hurlers figure to open the season on the injured list while rehabbing Tommy John surgery. That leaves the Rockies without their rotation’s backbone, and Hudson figures to join the club’s Opening Day rotation alongside Kyle Freeland and Austin Gomber as well as fellow offseason acquisition Cal Quantrill. Even if Hudson can’t recapture his previous form in Colorado, he could eat innings for the club until Marquez and Freeland are ready to return. And if Hudson manages to find success with the Rockies, the club can control the 29-year-old through arbitration in 2025.
Stallings, 34 last month, was a non-tendered back in November by the Marlins. A seventh-round pick in the 2012 draft by the Pirates, Stallings made his big league debut in 2016 and received brief cups of coffee in the majors over three seasons before earning a regular role as the club’s back-up catcher in 2019. He made the most of the opportunity, combining strong defense behind the plate with a respectable .262/.325/.382 (82 wRC+) slash line in 210 plate appearances. That strong full-season debut earned Stallings a look as the club’s primary catcher over the next two seasons, and he did well for himself in the role with a .246/.333/.371 (92 wRC+) line in 154 games behind the plate. Stallings also saw his already solid defense behind the plate improve to the point of winning a Gold Glove at the position in 2021.
During the 2021-22 offseason, the Pirates decided to ship Stallings to Miami in exchange for a package of three players. That decision proved to be a wise one as Stallings saw his performance quickly crater upon joining the Marlins. During his two seasons with the club, he’s slashed just .210/.287/.290 (62 wRC+) in 660 trips to the plate while his formerly Gold Glove caliber defense has crumbled to more or less league average. Statcast estimates Stallings to have been worth +2 framing runs and +5 blocking runs in 2021; by contrast, the veteran was worth -5 framing runs and just +2 blocking runs this past season. That massive downturn in performance on both sides of the ball led the Marlins to non-tender Stallings prior to his final trip through arbitration, where he projected to earn $3.6MM.
Like Hudson, the details of Stallings’s arrangement with the Rockies are not yet clear, though his guarantee is unlikely to surpass that aforementioned $3.6MM figure. In Colorado, Stallings figures to be reunited with Elias Diaz after the two shared time behind the plate in Pittsburgh back in 2019. After earning his first career All Star appearance in 2023, Diaz figures to remain the club’s primary catcher. With that said, Stallings represents a considerable upgrade over the combination of Serven and Austin Wynns the Rockies used to back up Diaz last year. With a stronger backup option to Diaz, the club can afford to take some of the load off of Diaz’s shoulders after a season where he caught a whopping 126 games.
Speaking of Serven, the 28-year-old backstop is headed to Chicago after being squeezed off the Rockies’ 40-man roster by the addition of Stallings. A fifth-round pick by the Rockies back in 2016, Serven made his big league debut in 2022 but has struggled to hit at the big league level with a career .195/.248/.314 slash line in 228 major league plate appearances. Serven appears unlikely to supplant Yan Gomes or Miguel Amaya as part of the Cubs’ primary catching tandem, but he has options remaining and could provide depth for the club at the Triple-A level alongside the likes of Jorge Alfaro and Joe Hudson, both of whom the Cubs brought in on minor league deals earlier this offseason.
As for Trejo, the 27-year-old made his big league debut with the Rockies back in 2021 and has held a utility role with the club ever since, slashing .243/.292/.367 in 145 career big league games while playing second and third base as well as shortstop. Trejo figures to head to Triple-A to open the season and act as non-roster infield depth for the Rockies going forward.
Hudson has potential but that’s a tough place to pitch for a guy with marginal stuff. Good luck.
As a ground ball pitcher, he may keep balls out of the seats pretty well. If Hudson is able to get that first pitch strike rate up a little bit, he should be serviceable at Coors.
Agree, ground balls are his specialty when right. Makes sense.
Yes ground ball pitcher but he walks too many guys. Rockies need a strikeout pitcher who doesn’t walk a lot of guys. That would be ideal.
Ya, I’m not sure what Hudson is thinking. Colorado is where borderline guys like him go to find their way out of baseball.
Well he will have a rotation spot. Maybe him and Gomber are buddies.
Strikeout pitchers rarely produce high levels of ground balls. Of the top 30 ground ball rate pitchers with 100+ innings last year, only 8 delivered 9.0+ K/9.
Virtually all of those guys are either established upper rotation arms or stud prospects. So sure, the Rockies would like a super stud ace pitcher, but I don’t see them signing one for 1 year and $5MM like Hudson will get.
I agree that he walks too many guys. His first pitch strike rate likely has a lot to do with that.
I hear you Martras. There are things a player can control and things they cant control. Strikeouts they can control. Walks they can control. Those are the things that the pitcher needs to have sto be successful in Colorado. And yes those traits typically mean that’s a good pitcher. They need good pitchers….
What team DOESN’T need a pitcher that strikes out guys and doesn’t walk many?
they are both out of the Cardinals farm system and I am sure they have shared a bus ride or 100
JP
“Rockies need a strikeout pitcher who doesn’t walk a lot of guys. That would be ideal.”
The ideal pitcher would be ideal for Colorado, yes
The thing is though, Coors Field is the worst park in the Majors for strikeouts, according to statcast park factors.
For the most part, strikeout pitchers rely on some sort of breaking pitch as their out pitch to fool batters.
The thin air creates less resistance for the ball so breaking pitches break less. Everything is just a little bit straighter in Colorado, so batters get fooled less.
There have been some pitchers who have success at Coors, but it’s tough for most.
Frankly, they might be better off focusing on ground ball pitchers who focus on keeping the ball down and maybe don’t need a wipe-out pitch.
Hudson is thinking someone offered him $1.5 million guaranteed plus the possibility of $1.5 million more. I doubt he had any other offers that high.
So does nearly every team in every league in pro baseball.
Hudson might at least work as a cheap stopgap who might even regain enough value to get more than a lottery ticket at the trade deadline.
It is a tough place to pitch for a guy with great stuff too. Clayton Kershaw has a career ERA of 4.64 in 27 career Coors Field starts. Just makes you wonder what would have happened to his career if he were drafted by the Rockies instead of the Dodgers.
As a Rockies fan, ERA is basically meaningless. Coors is not nearly as hitter friendly as it used to be, but slugfests still happen quite a bit. I don’t care if a guy gives up 6 runs as long as he gives up fewer than the Rockies score. .
The walks are the issue with Hudson. Doesn’t matter if he’s pitching at Coors Field or Oracle Park, you can’t walk all those hitters and expect to be successful.
Fair point. Walks are a killer in Coors. Instead of giving up solo homers or bases empty doubles, you could be giving up 2 or 3 run homers or 2 run doubles. And if he walks a lot of guys, he likely won’t be successful. Of course there is a reason the Rockies almost always lead the league in double plays turned. If you get a ground ball right after a walk, you usually get 2 outs. That is why Kyle Freeland has been fairly successful despite giving up a lot of baserunners. The Rockies have always prioritized infield defense and 2024 should be no different.
Hopefully the Rockies defense will help alleviate his walks issues with groundball outs, that’ll be a boon for your Rockies especially with that super affordable price.
Exactly. I really don’t see Giolito or Sale being 6-10 times the pitcher of Hudson in 2024. For the money, this is a great win. Unfortunately, we aren’t playing bargain ball and you don’t get bonus victories for getting good value. Hopefully they can both be good enough to keep the Rox either in the race or good enough to flip at the deadline.
This, plus the Mariners trades are the flurry we’ve been waiting for.
Conducting themselves like it’s the 90’s with ground ball guys with weak stuff, another losing season
To be fair, I’d imagine Colorado has a bit more cause to target ground ball guys than most other clubs. The losing season, though, is inevitable.
One of these years they’ll break through. They have in the past.
You think COL SHOULDN’T target groundball pitchers?
They’ve tried this and it didn’t work. They should be targeting guys that miss bats. Although keeping it on the ground negates the expansive outfield too.
Generally its walks and hits that kill you though, even groundballers will get worked if they get hit around much at all.
They should be targeting good pitchers, period. When is the last time they had an ace on their team? If they dished out the money, it could happen, then sign 9 Michael Cuddyers to play the field and you have a decent team.
“Although keeping it on the ground negates the expansive outfield too.”
Only if your infield collects the grounder before it enters said expansive outfield… are the Rockies good at that? (I don’t pay attention to them, or like google).
They have had an ace every single year of their existence. Since an ace is nothing more than a term describing a team’s #1 starter.
They had Gold Glove finalists at short (Tovar) and third (McMahon) in 2023 and a Gold Glove winner at second (Rodgers) in 2022. First base defense is not too good at the moment, especially if they continue the odd decision to put Kris Bryant there, but infield defense has always been pretty good in Denver.
Given what the thin air does to breaking balls, even that can backfire if he hasn’t already proven he can pitch successfully at Coors Field. Remember Mike Hampton and Darryl Kile?
Coors Field has changed a lot in the 20 years since Hampton and Kile were there. The humidor has consistently been doing its job. They were just starting the humidor when Hampton was there and Kile was gone before they even installed it. No longer do you regularly have 15-14 games in Coors. There were quite a few pitchers duels in 2023. I think confidence is the key. If you go into Coors scared of giving up runs, that is exactly what you are going to do. That is why so many guys walk a ton of people in Coors, because they are scared to throw strikes.
If you read between the lines, an ace and a #1 pitcher are not the same
If you look at the definition of the term “ace” they are.
I don’t believe everyone agrees with your definition of “ace”. If they did, I still reiterate the sole fact that they need a “good” ace. Who honestly cares about the rhetoric or wording, bottom line is they need “good” pitchers, preferably “great” pitchers. They don’t tend to keep these guys around when money could sway.
They have gold glove caliber defenders at every infield position but first base. McMahon, Tovar, and Rodgers are all excellent with the glove.
I honestly care about rhetoric and wording. It is the foundation of communication via the English language. The term “ace” comes from cards where aces are ones and those pitchers were most likely to pitch on Opening Day and in game #1 of a playoff series. That is the whole reason that the term was applied to #1 starters.
1 penny each per year up front, the rest of the $ Deferred until the expansion of the sun.
Maybe with the Rockies Stallings can hit more like he did with Pirates than he did with Fish, still projects to be a backup
Yep, maybe playing in Coors will help him hit .230 with maybe 5 HRs this season.
It won’t help his pitching though. That 40 MPH fastball and 20 MPH curve won’t have as much bite in that thin air – humidor or not.
Hey, his FB can hit the low 80’s. Just ask Acuna
Not easy to tell with Acuna. He whines and cries if wind blows high and tight. At least he did before 2023.
Ya what guilderc2000 says! Actually he has mid 90’s fastballs , right down the middle, above 90 percent of the time!
I was referencing the blow out game where Stallings came in to pitch and struck out Acuna with a low 80’s fastball. I wasn’t referring to Hudson.
What are they waiting for, quit Stallings!
This year they are shooting for 104. What they need to do is get good healthy free agent hitters, not the Kris Bryant’s of the world. After you get good hitters, use home grown pitchers and maybe ypthey get lucky on occasion.
See ya!!!! Never lived up to his potential
You know it’s bad for a pitcher when he actually has no choice but to sign up to pitch in Colorado.
Congrats to Stallings! He now can stay about 20 or 30 batting average points above from the Mendoza Line instead of below.
Stallings forgot how to hit once he joined the Marlins…
In a very small sample (11.1 innings) Hudson has only allowed one Home Run at Coors Field. A ground ball pitcher figures to fair better there but we shall see.
Stallings gives the Rockies a solid defensive backup for Elias Diaz. Not bad moves for the Rockies today
Sweet. These were two guys that were on my “realistic” wish list for the Rox this offseason. Stallings should be a much better backup catcher than Serven or Austin Wynns, And I have always thought a lot of Hudson. I actually hoped he was part of the Arenado package way back when.
The Rox do have some talented defenders so hopefully Dak can use them to his advantage. Best of luck Dakota Hudson. Getting out of Mo’s doghouse probably feels great.
If you are waiting for the Rockies to sign an ace pitcher, you’re not a Rockies fan. It’s been tried, and top of the line pitchers don’t want to pitch in Colorado. I don’t know who you think the Rockies are supposed to sign, other than everyday big leaguers who have performed well enough that they have managed to stick in the majors for a few years. Of course, a 30 yr. old catcher is going to be a “backup” to Diaz. He’s not getting any younger. The pitcher is someone who seems like he can eat up some innings.. To field a team, you have to have someone out on the mound throwing the ball. You don’t have to be a cynic to be a Rockies fan – just be realistic. The Rockies are not a team that are going to buy championships. But we do get to watch guys like Helton, and Nolan, and Nolan and Charlie and so many others.
The perfect combination, a great pitch framer and a pitcher who needs a lot of pitches framed.
As a Cardinals fan, all I can say is… good luck. No ill will towards Dakota. But he’s got a 1.40 WHIP after pitching 5-6 at best mediocre years in a far, far better pitching environment than Coors Field.
It’s a waiver wire pick up functionally, so if he’s terrible, he’s gone.
I didn’t envision this as his landing place however.
They buried the lede: Cubs make first addition to 40 man roster in 52 days!
This leaves 1 rotation spot for Feltner, Davis, Lambert, Molina, and Kauffmann (and eventually Rolison). Feltner’s job to lose, most likely, but Davis was decent in Albuquerque which is even more of a hitter’s park.
Hopefully they have some sort of plan to make him less hittable. Might be in for a mid season divorce.
I only have Freeland, Gomber, and Quantrill ahead of that group. German and Senza won’t be back until midseason at the earliest and I would imagine Molina will be used in the Connor Seabold role of long reliever unless injuries force him into the rotation. Assuming he makes the team at all. For me, that leaves 2 spots with the battle between Hudson, Lambert, and Feltner.. I don’t think Kauffmann stands a chance unless a bunch of people get hurt like in 2023. I think Feltner has #4 or even #3 locked down barring unforeseen injuries. Honestly, I don’t think they would have even tendered Lambert a contract if they didn’t envision him in the rotation. But who knows? Will be interesting to watch this spring for sure.
Hudson can be a frustrating cat, but I always liked him. Hope he does well in the mountains.
Rockies and Tigers should throw a surprise trade together. Bryant, Veen, Amador and a lottery ticket for Baez, plus Carpenter and an A ball pitcher OR Jung and Keider Montero, and Wilmer Flores (who seems to have a profile that would fit Coors field well).
Bad contract for bad contract (Hal 2000 the trade simulator actually ranks Bryant waaaay worse than Baez, not that I have much faith in Hal 2000). Baez still plays good defense at SS or 2B. Bryant can take Carpenter’s OF spot and play a bit of 3B. Carps (or Jungs) bat would be monstrous at Coors. Amador gives the Tigers a long term SS, and Flores a long term starter for Colorado. Veen becomes the Tigers leadoff man next year. Montero is a wild card.
Tampa and Seattle shouldn’t have all the fun with funky unexpected trades.
Have to give the Rox a lot of credit for finding an uninjured SP who, while relatively ineffective for years now, only settled for $1.5M. Seemed like the going rate for mediocrity zoomed past $10M this year. Even if he continues to suck, $1.5M is a super digestible price tag.
Also interesting is that their Draftking odds to win the ws are = the A’s.
This is weird to me. The Rockies appear to be trying to get to somewhere (albeit not very fast or well), while the A’s are actively sabotaging the notion of baseball by merely existing.
That’s unfair to the Rockies. At least they’re trying even something. The Athletics owner pretty much told his fans to their face “Yeah I said it what are you going to do about it? Not attend games? Please, I beg you don’t come.”
Jwbfct
“He finds a way to win”
I predict he will not find many wins this year since
1) good pitchers get more wins
2) pitchers on good teams get more wins
Hudson is not a bad signing, Rockies have had many worse than 5hat.
I had him (Hudson) going to the Mets. Ah well.
Good luck in Coors!
FIP is irrelevant on groundball pitchers. Called up in ’18, he out performed his FIP , until TJ surgury. It was the injury that caused him to finally have the numbers projected.
The neglected lovechild of Dakota Johnson and Kate Hudson. Wonder who gets custody