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Archives for March 2024

Eury Perez To Undergo Imaging Due To Elbow Soreness

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The Marlins announced this afternoon that right-hander Eury Perez is experiencing elbow soreness and is set to undergo imaging and testing over the course of the coming days. Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds that part of the club’s diagnostic process will be a trip to Texas, where Perez will meet with noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister. Earlier this week, Perez was pulled from a Spring Training start after just 14 pitches due to discomfort caused by a broken fingernail.

It’s a brutal blow for the Marlins, who have been ravaged by rotation injuries this offseason. Sandy Alcantara underwent Tommy John surgery back in the fall and is set to miss the entire 2024 campaign, and since then both Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera have dealt with shoulder issues that could relegate them to the injured list to begin the season. Now Perez appears all but certain to open the regular season on the shelf as well. While the severity of the 20-year-old phenom’s specific issue is uncertain, concerns regarding the elbow are particularly ominous due to the possibility of a lengthy absence.

Elbow surgeries can often wipe out a pitcher’s entire season, as is the case with Alcantara, and even non-surgical rehab can take a pitcher away from game action for months at a time, as was recently demonstrated by Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Even in the best case scenario, the time spent determining the extent of Perez’s injury figures to set him back as he looks to build up his pitch count for the regular season. Perez’s aforementioned fingernail issue has limited his ability to prepare for the coming season this spring, and with just two weeks until Opening Day and the right-hander likely to be sidelined for at least a few more days, it’s hard to imagine him being able to avoid at least a brief stint on the injured list.

With Perez, Cabrera, and Garrett all at least at risk of joining Alcantara on the injured list to open the season, that leaves southpaw Jesus Luzardo as the only member of the club’s on-paper starting rotation who is currently expected to be available on Opening Day. Southpaw A.J. Puk was already widely expected to begin the season in the club’s rotation after the club made the decision to stretch the lefty out despite his success as a high-leverage arm in the club’s bullpen last year, and the injuries also seem likely to open the door for the likes of Trevor Rogers and Ryan Weathers to step into rotation roles as the season begins. That would still leave the fifth spot in the club’s rotation vacant, however, though right-hander Bryan Hoeing represents one option already on the 40-man roster and the club has plenty of potential non-roster options at its disposal including Yonny Chirinos, Vladimir Gutierrez, and Devin Smeltzer.

Of course, none of those potential depth options can be reasonably expected to deliver the sort of impact that Perez offers. The righty, 21 next month, was a consensus top-15 prospect in all of baseball when he made his debut for Miami last year, and he immediately flashed the front-of-the-rotation potential that his prospect pedigree suggested as he dazzled with a microscopic 1.34 ERA and a solid 3.02 FIP in his first nine starts in the majors. He struck out 29.2% of batters faced during that stretch, and while midsummer struggles led the club to limit his workload down the stretch the youngster nonetheless features prominently in the club’s plans for the 2024 season and beyond. So much so, in fact, that Perez was generally regarded as the club’s sole untouchable as they fielded trade offers on the likes of Garrett, Luzardo, and Cabrera during the offseason.

The rotation injuries have been a major blow to a Marlins club that is looking to build upon a surprising postseason appearance in 2023. The club’s starting pitchers ranked top ten in the majors last year in ERA, FIP, and fWAR while striking out the fourth-most batters in all of baseball. That dominant run prevention apparatus was key to the club’s success last year as the lineup lagged behind, ranking just 20th in the majors with a collective wRC+ of 94. With so many injuries impacting the club’s rotation already this year, the team will need strong performance from the likes of Luis Arraez, Josh Bell, Jake Burger, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. if the club hopes to return to postseason contention in 2024.

Yasiel Puig Signs With Mexican League’s Aguila De Veracruz

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Veteran outfielder Yasiel Puig is signing with the Aguila de Veracruz of the Mexican League, as reported by Francys Romero. Puig himself appeared to confirm the news on his personal X account. Puig previously played for the club in 2021.

The 33-year-old is a veteran of seven MLB seasons, six of which came as a member of the Dodgers, and last played in the majors in 2019 while splitting time between Cincinnati and Cleveland. The longtime outfielder slashed .277/.348/.475 in 861 career games in the majors, including a .305/.386/.502 line across the first two seasons of his career. That excellent early-career performance earned Puig, who was a consensus top-100 prospect prior to his big league debut, a second place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2013, an All Star nod in 2014, and down-ballot votes for the NL MVP award in both seasons.

After that phenomenal start to his career, Puig’s numbers took a turn for the worse, though he remained a quality regular throughout the rest of his time in the majors with a roughly league average .264/.330/.462 slash line over his final five seasons in the big leagues. Most of that production came with the Dodgers, though Puig was traded to the Reds alongside Alex Wood, Matt Kemp, and Kyle Farmer in a seven-player deal with the Reds just before the 2019 season that netted L.A. prospects Josiah Gray and Jeter Downs. After hitting free agency the following winter, Puig appeared to be nearing a deal to join the Braves for the 2020 campaign before a positive test for COVID-19 scuttled that deal and led to him sitting out the shortened season.

Since his last appearance in the majors, Puig has played international ball with stints in the Korea Baseball Organization as well as the Dominican and Venezuelan Winter Leagues in addition to the Mexican League. He’s performed well in those opportunities, slashing .291/.377/.558 in 1,032 combined plate appearances with 44 homers. That includes an impressive 51-game stretch in winter league play this offseason, where he slashed an incredible .330/.426/.607 in 202 trips to the plate.

Despite that strong performance, Puig hasn’t signed with an affiliated club since he first hit MLB free agency following the 2019 season. That apparent lack of interest may be thanks in part to off-the-field issues, which most recently have included allegations of lying to federal investigators during an investigation into an illegal gambling organization. Puig initially pled guilty to the charge in November 2022 before changing his plea to not guilty later that month. While Puig allegedly placed bets on football, basketball, and tennis back in 2019, there have been no indications in the case that he bet on baseball at any point.

Rays Owner Discusses 2024 Payroll, Long-Term Outlook

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Even after dealing away right-hander Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot in a cost-cutting deal with the Dodgers back in December, the Rays are set to hit a franchise record in terms of payroll this season. As relayed by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, principle owner Stuart Sternberg recently spoke regarding the new high-water mark for spending in Tampa and the club’s future payrolls. In his comments, Sternberg indicated that the elevated payroll for 2024 is “going to lead to real losses this year” for the club.

While its impossible to evaluate that statement fully given the lack of publicly available information regarding the Rays’ (and the majority of MLB clubs’) finances, it’s easy to see that the club’s 2024 payroll is well outside of their typical range. RosterResource projects the club for a $99MM payroll in 2024, while Cot’s Baseball Contracts projects Tampa to open the season with a payroll of just under $91MM. Regardless of which figure you take into account, it would be a healthy increase to payroll for a club that opened the 2023 season with a $73MM payroll and has an all-time high of just under $84MM.

Per Sternberg, his willingness to exceed past payroll limits is fueled by the club’s competitive window. It’s easy to see the logic behind that, as the Rays have been among the league’s most competitive clubs in recent years. The club has a cumulative 511-359 record since the start of the 2018 season, good for an excellent .578 winning percentage. Meanwhile, they’ve made the playoffs in five of those six seasons, including a trip to the World Series during the shortened 2020 season.

It doesn’t appear as though the increased payroll is guaranteed to last, however. While Sternberg acknowledged that he wants to keep the team’s success in recent years “rolling… if we can,” he also acknowledged that the club’s competitive window is far from guaranteed.

“We think this is, like, our sort of time, and we don’t know if we’re going to have this opportunity in a year or two,” Sternberg said, as relayed by Topkin, who went on to note that Sternberg suggested that the club could “pull back” payroll in 2025 if the club fails to meet expectations in 2024. That’s a possibility worth considering, as the club resides in a difficult AL East division that also sent the Orioles and Blue Jays to the playoffs last year, not to mention a Yankees club that added the likes of Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Marcus Stroman this winter.

Even so, the Rays are coming off a 99-win campaign and feature a strong core of position players that includes the likes of Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe, Randy Arozarena, and Isaac Paredes. The pitching staff is less solid, but nonetheless features the likes of Zach Eflin and Aaron Civale to go along with youngsters like Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz, and Taj Bradley as well as a strong bullpen led by Pete Fairbanks, Jason Adam, and Phil Maton. If the Rays do end up slashing payroll in the coming years, that could mean parting ways with several key players from the aforementioned group. Eflin, Diaz, Lowe, and Jeffrey Springs are all slated to make more than $10MM in 2025, with Arozarena also presumably due for a raise on his $8.1MM salary for the 2024 season.

Aside from the team’s on-the-field success, Topkin notes that Sternberg has plenty of off-the-field incentives to field a competitive team in the coming years. The team announced plans for a new stadium last fall, which Topkin adds is expected to be voted on by local officials in May. Attendance has also been on the rise for the Rays in recent years; per Sternberg, the attendance boost was “the first time it moved up a nice amount” since the mid-2000’s.

Rangers Notes: Seager, Jung, Langford, Bradford

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Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News had some positive updates from Rangers camp on Friday, reporting that manager Bruce Bochy is “more optimistic” that Corey Seager and Josh Jung will both be in the Opening Day lineup at the end of the month. Seager had surgery on a sports hernia about six weeks ago, while Josh Jung has been nursing a calf strain since mid-February. Neither has played a game thus far in spring training, but both players figure to be key pieces for the club as it looks to defend its 2023 World Series championship this season.

Seager, 30 next month, won World Series MVP honors during the club’s title run in the fall and slashed an excellent .327/.390/.623 en route to his fourth All Star appearance and a second-place finish in AL MVP voting. Jung, meanwhile, made his first career All Star appearance and finish fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting on the heels of a solid rookie campaign that saw him hit a respectable .266/.315/.467 in 122 games. Losing either player for an extended period would be a significant blow to the Rangers’ chances in a competitive AL West that’s seen the Astros add star closer Josh Hader while seeming also pursuing two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell while the Mariners have completely retooled their starting lineup to add threatening players such as Jorge Polanco and former Ranger Mitch Garver.

Of course, the Rangers have versatile youngster Ezequiel Duran able to help out on the left side of the infield if either Jung or Seager were to open the season on the shelf. Duran, 25 in May, slashed a solid .276/.324/.443 in 439 trips to the plate last year while splitting time between all four infield spots and both outfield corners. With that being said, Duran could already be tabbed to cover for first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who is also questionable for Opening Day due to an oblique strain. Aside from Duran, the Rangers have Jose Barrero and Josh Smith as infield depth options should Seager, Jung, and Lowe start the season on the shelf.

More from Rangers camp…

  • Grant also notes that, according to GM Chris Young, top prospect Wyatt Langford has done “everything he can” to make a case for himself as a member of the Opening Day roster. Langford, 22, was the club’s first-round pick in the 2023 draft and slashed an incredible .360/.480/.677 in 200 plate appearances across four levels of the minors down the stretch last season. He’s continued to tear the cover off the ball this spring with a .361/.442/.806 in 43 trips to the plate during camp. Should Langford make the roster, he’d figure to factor into the club’s outfield/DH mix alongside Evan Carter, Adolis Garcia, and Leody Taveras.
  • While Young didn’t make any commitments to Langford as a regular entering the season, he told reporters (including Grant) recently that left-hander Cody Bradford is going to be in the club’s starting rotation to open the season. With Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, and Dane Dunning all seemingly locked into rotation spots of their own, that would appear to preclude the club from making additions such as former Ranger Jordan Montgomery to their starting mix prior to Opening Day. When asked about the possibility of further rotation additions, Young was noncommittal, simply stating that “The group we have is the group we have, and it’s a great group.” Bradford has certainly done everything he can to earn a rotation spot this spring, pitching to a 2.45 ERA across four appearances including three starts.

Dodgers Select Daniel Hudson

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The Dodgers have announced to reporters (including J.P. Hoornstra of Dodgers Nation) that the club has selected right-hander Daniel Hudson to their 40-man roster ahead of the Seoul Series, during which they’ll play a pair of regular season games against the Padres next week. The club has designated infielder Andre Lipcius for assignment and optioned infielder Miguel Vargas to make room for Hudson on the club’s 40-man and active rosters.

The move is hardly a surprise, as manager Dave Roberts announced earlier this month that Hudson would be in the club’s bullpen to open the season. Hudson had the opportunity to trigger an opt-out of his minor league deal with the club yesterday if not added to the club’s 40-man roster. It’s unclear if Hudson triggered the opt-out yesterday, though it ultimately will make no difference now that the club has added the right-hander to the roster.

The 37-year-old righty is now set to participate in his fifteenth major league season and has been among the more effective relief arms in the game in recent years, pitching to a 3.08 ERA (141 ERA+) and 3.73 FIP since the start of the 2019 season. That includes a sterling 1.98 ERA with L.A. over the past two seasons, although injuries have limited him to just 27 1/3 innings of work over that time. If the veteran hurler can stay healthy this season, he’ll likely be in the mix for high-leverage innings alongside the likes of Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, and Ryan Brasier.

Hudson being added to the roster likely spells the end of Lipcius’s time with the Dodgers just weeks after he joined the organization in a cash deal with the Tigers. The 25-year-old infielder made his big league debut in Detroit last season, slashing a respectable .286/.342/.400 in 13 games while splitting time between third base and DH. In addition to those serviceable numbers in his first cup of coffee at the big league level, Lipcius hit a solid .272/.363/.419 in 98 games with the club’s Triple-A affiliate last year while splitting time between third and second base. The Dodgers will now have seven days to attempt to pass Lipcius through waivers or work out a trade. If Lipcius clears waivers, L.A. would have the opportunity to outright Lipcius to Triple-A, where he would act as non-roster depth entering the year.

Meanwhile, Hudson will take the active roster spot of Vargas. The 24-year-old was a consensus top-40 prospect entering last season and has slashed an incredible .298/.405/.500 in 173 games at the Triple-A level in his career, but struggled badly in 81 games at the big league level last year. In 303 trips to the plate in the big leagues, Vargas hit a paltry .195/.305/.367 with a wRC+ of 85 last season. Vargas is largely blocked at the big league level with Mookie Betts having moved to the infield full time alongside Gavin Lux and Max Muncy and the club’s recent signing of Enrique Hernandez to join Chris Taylor and Miguel Rojas on the club’s bench.

Offseason In Review: Miami Marlins

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The Marlins snuck into the playoffs in 2023, their first postseason berth in a full season in 20 years. Despite that, it ended up being an offseason focused on changing and planning for the future.

Major League Signings

2024 spending: $5MM
Total spending: $5MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

The Marlins got to pop some champagne last year but it quickly went flat. They were eliminated by the Phillies, swept out of the Wild Card series by losing 4-1 on October 3 and then 7-1 on October 4. Shortly thereafter, on October 6, it was reported that Sandy Alcántara would require Tommy John surgery, putting their ace out of action for the 2024 season.

But it was nonetheless a refreshing season for the club. The Marlins hadn’t even had a winning record in a full season since 2009, so to get over .500 and squeeze out a couple of playoff games was a nice step forward, relatively speaking. That’s why it registered as a surprise that the winter began with a front office shakeup. By mid-October, it was reported that the club and general manager Kim Ng would be parting ways.

Ng, who had been in that job since November of 2020, was on an expiring contract. There was a mutual option for 2024 but she was reportedly informed by owner Bruce Sherman that he planned to hire a president of baseball operations to work over her. The club triggered their end of the option but she decided not to trigger hers, an understandable move since it would essentially amount to a demotion after dragging the club into the postseason.

It was later reported that Sherman had concerns about the organization’s reputation for drafting and developing, particularly on the position player side, as the club has often had strong pitching staffs in recent years but the lineup has largely been built via trade. Despite many losing seasons in recent memory and plenty of high draft picks, on top of the club getting extra picks and strong international bonus pools as a revenue-sharing recipient, the club’s farm is not held in high esteem. Baseball America currently ranks them 27th out of the 30 teams in the league, FanGraphs 26th, The Athletic 28th while MLB Pipeline and ESPN both have them at 29th.

As such, change was the name of the game in Miami. Ng was eventually replaced by Peter Bendix, who had been working across the state for the Rays. Given that Tampa Bay has a strong reputation for consistently churning out young talent with limited resources, it seems Miami is hoping to bring some of that magic down south. But that wasn’t the only move in the suit-and-tie section, as scouting director D.J. Svihlik was let go, former player and coach Gabe Kapler was brought aboard to fill a front office role as assistant general manager, Rachel Balkovec was hired as director of player management, Sam Mondry-Cohen as the team’s new vice-president of player personnel and Sara Goodrum as director of special projects.

In contrast to that flurry of changes, the roster hasn’t had a lot of significant turnover compared to last year. Arguably, the most notable change is that slugger Jorge Soler will no longer be a part of the club. He hit 36 home runs last year and decided to opt out and retry free agency, leaving $13MM on the table. That ended up being a wise move, as he secured a three-year, $42MM deal from the Giants. The Marlins didn’t receive any compensation for his departure as they opted not to issue him a $20.325MM qualifying offer.

Soler told reporters in January that the Marlins had not reached out to him about a reunion. There was some contradictory reporting later that month that suggested the club was indeed talking to Soler about coming back, but after signing with the Giants he again affirmed that he had no contact with the club over the winter.

It seems the club had little appetite on spending money to address the designated hitter vacancy. They’ve recently been connected to J.D. Martinez, who remains unsigned, but the odds of him landing in Miami seem low.

The lack of interest in free agency wasn’t limited to the DH spot, as the club spent close to nothing this winter. They came into the offseason with clear holes at the shortstop and catcher positions but didn’t attack those spots with much gusto.

Christian Bethancourt sort of fell into their laps as the Rays, the former club of Bendix, put the catcher and several other players on waivers in the hopes of cutting costs. The Guardians won the claim but later signed Austin Hedges and flipped Bethancourt to the Marlins for cash. Bethancourt and the Fish eventually avoided arbitration by agreeing to a salary of $2.05MM.

Bethancourt is generally considered a solid defender, particularly with the running game, but his offense is inconsistent. He hit .252/.283/.409 in 2022 but dropped to .225/.254/.381 last year, his wRC+ going from 100 to 74. Regardless, he has a decent chance of being better than Jacob Stallings, who is also renowned for his glovework but hit just .210/.287/.290 with Miami over the past two seasons.

At shortstop, they were connected to various names like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Amed Rosario, Nick Ahmed and Gio Urshela, but the position remained unaddressed until late February. The offseason had slowed considerably and plenty of free agents remained unsigned at that point, allowing the Marlins to take a $5MM flier on Tim Anderson.

He is coming off a dreadful season, having hit just one home run with a diminished batting average and lesser defensive metrics as well. But he was a solid everyday shortstop for many years prior to that and will be a bargain if he can turn things around. A knee injury suffered early in last year’s campaign perhaps offers an explanation for his poor results, as his sprint speed was down compared to previous seasons.

From 2017 to 2021, he posted double-digit home run totals, even in the shortened 2020 season. He got to double-digit steals in each of those full seasons as well. In 2022, he missed time due to injuries and only got into 79 games but still hit .301/.339/.395 for a wRC+ of 110. FanGraphs considered him to be worth at least two wins above replacement in each year from 2018 to 2022 and in 2016 as well.

There was also a lot of trade chatter around the club’s starting rotation, as has become the norm in recent years. But the club’s long-standing rotation surplus has been diminished, which made a trade less likely. The club traded away Pablo López last offseason as part of the deal to bring in Luis Arráez, and the aforementioned Tommy John surgery for Alcántara subtracted another hugely important arm.

That didn’t stop clubs from sniffing around, as Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera were the subject of trade rumors this winter. As of right now, the Fish have decided to hold onto the pitchers they have, which is probably for the best. Both Garrett and Cabrera are dealing with shoulder injuries here in camp and are questionable for Opening Day, while Eury Pérez is likely to open the season the shelf as he battles a broken fingernail and elbow soreness.

Most of those issues appear to be fairly minor and there’s nothing to suggest any of them is facing a lengthy absence, but the depth is going to be tested early on. Had the club decided to pull the trigger on a Luzardo deal, the picture would have looked even worse. Long-time reliever A.J. Puk has been stretched out and it seems like the injuries could give him plenty of runway to return to a starting gig, something that he did as a prospect.

In the end, the club will be going into 2024 with a fairly similar roster to last year, though it’s debatable whether that’s a good thing. Despite making the playoffs, the club actually had a -57 run differential last year, putting them in the bottom 10 of major league teams. They had an incredible 33-14 record in one-run games, allowing them to go 84-78 despite an expected win-loss of 74-88, a tough feat to repeat with consistency. That’s particularly true with a pair of notable subtractions in the bullpen. Puk figures to move to the starting staff, while the Fish flipped Steven Okert to the Twins for utility player Nick Gordon early in camp.

Soler will be gone, with Avisaíl García perhaps picking up his at-bats if he can stay healthy. Full seasons from last year’s deadline pickups Josh Bell and Jake Burger could also factor in for some more thump in the lineup. Joey Wendle is out as the regular shortstop and Anderson would be an upgrade if he puts 2023 behind him. Bethancourt will likely be a bit better than Stallings behind the dish. Losing Alcántara hurts but perhaps it won’t be so bad if the club can get steps forward from younger pitchers like Puk, Pérez, Cabrera, Max Meyer or Trevor Rogers.

Ultimately, the future of the franchise will likely be written behind the scenes, as the club seems determined to overhaul its systems for evaluating and developing younger players. As a franchise that generally doesn’t spend much, it’s important for the organization to provide productive players from within, as those players are more affordable than veteran free agents.

That could lead to significant changes down the road but the 2024 club isn’t substantially different from the 2023 version. Whether that can lead to another strong season in a tough National League East remains to be seen.

Pirates Sign Michael A. Taylor

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March 16: The Pirates officially announced Taylor’s signing today, and placed Moreta on the 60-day IL to create room for the outfielder on the 40-man roster. Moreta’s move to the IL is hardly a surprise after a ligament injury his elbow sidelined him for the foreseeable future earlier this month.

March 15: The Pirates are making a late addition to their outfield. Pittsburgh is reportedly in agreement with center fielder Michael A. Taylor on a one-year, $4MM contract. The outfielder is a client of the ALIGND Sports Agency. Pittsburgh has not yet announced the move and will need to open a spot on their 40-man roster once the deal is finalized. They may be able to do so by moving Dauri Moreta to the 60-day injured list.

Taylor, 33 later this month, has long been a defensive standout in the big leagues. He debuted back in 2014, giving him a decade of experience to this point. In that time, he has racked up 72 Defensive Runs Saved, 55 Outs Above Average and a grade of 41.1 from Ultimate Zone Rating. Each of those numbers place him in the top 11 among outfielders in that span.

Though he’s now into his 30s, he has continued to put up positive numbers in those categories, with 5 DRS, 8 OAA and 2.8 UZR last year with the Twins. He’s played all three outfield positions but the vast majority of that playing time has come in center: 6,428 innings up the middle compared to 373 1/3 in left and 162 2/3 in right.

His hitting has been less straightforward, as he has generally provided a bit of home run power but with limited on-base ability and some concerning strikeout levels. He’s coming off a year in which he hit 21 homers, a personal best, but his 6.7% walk rate was subpar. His 33.5% strikeout rate was much higher than league average and a personal high, outside of his cup-of-coffee debut in 2014 and an injury-marred 2019.

That led to a lopsided batting line of .220/.278/.442, which translates to a wRC+ of 96. Though that indicates he was 4% below league average at the plate, he also stole 13 bases and provided the aforementioned quality defense. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 1.7 wins above replacement while Baseball Reference had him at 1.9.

It was reported earlier this month that Taylor was viewing himself as comparable to players like Kevin Kiermaier and Harrison Bader. That’s a fairly reasonable comp since those guys are also defensive stalwarts in center field with average-ish offense.

Unfortunately, this offseason has been harsh to the players left standing at this late stage of the offseason. Various clubs have spent to their preferred comfort levels, with many pointing to significant competitive balance tax bills or uncertainty around their TV revenues. As such, various players have recently settled for modest deals that were undoubtedly below their expectations coming into the winter.

Since the start of February, position players like Adam Duvall, Enrique Hernández, Gio Urshela, Tim Anderson, Amed Rosario, Randal Grichuk, Joey Gallo and others have signed for guarantees of $5MM or less. Kiermaier and Bader each got $10.5MM around the New Year but Taylor lingered on the open market and will have to settle for a deal well below that.

Taylor drew fairly widespread interest this winter, with clubs like the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Reds, Dodgers, Angels, Padres and Twins connected to him at various points throughout the offseason. But many of those clubs went in different directions as time went on. The Jays brought back Kiermaier, the Red Sox traded for Tyler O’Neill, the Dodgers got both Enrique and Teoscar Hernández, the Angels added Aaron Hicks and the Twins grabbed Manuel Margot from the Dodgers.

In the end, it will be the Pirates who will be the beneficiary of Taylor staying on the market for so long. Last year, the Bucs moved Jack Suwinski from being primarily a corner outfield guy to center field. The results were mixed, as he was graded as being 10 runs below average by DRS but three above by OAA, while he got a mark of -1.7 from UZR.

That move pushed Bryan Reynolds into left field but now perhaps Taylor’s signing will push Suwinski over to right field. Coming into today, the Bucs had a muddled mix of options for right field, including Connor Joe, Edward Olivares and Joshua Palacios. Joe can play a bit of first base and may platoon with Rowdy Tellez there, while Olivares and Palacios each have options and could either be on the big league bench or in the minors. The Pirates were connected to Tommy Pham earlier today but that is presumably off the table now with Taylor in the fold.

It’s also possible to envision some platoon possibilities in the outfield, with Taylor hitting from the right side. Taylor has hit .256/.310/.436 against lefties in his career for a wRC+ of 99, but the split was even more drastic last year, as he hit .252/.313/.602 versus southpaws for a wRC+ of 146. Suwinski, a lefty swinger, has a .234/.344/.488 slash in his career against righties but just .164/.263/.300 against righties. Those splits lead to wRC+ numbers of 125 and 57, respectively.

How manager Derek Shelton plays it remains to be seen, but the addition of Taylor at a modest price certainly upgrades the club’s outfield defense. Taylor isn’t an amazing hitter but was great against lefties last year and has real pop in his bat when he makes contact, plus an ability to steal a base here and there.

The move brings the Pirates’ payroll commitments to just over $85MM, per RosterResource. That’s the lowest payroll in the league apart from the actively-moving Athletics, but it’s nonetheless a jump for the Bucs. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, they opened last year at $73MM, which was itself a jump from the two years prior.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Pirates had reached agreement with Taylor on a one-year, $4MM deal.

A’s Designate Angel Felipe For Assignment

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After finalizing a one-year, $2.5MM contract with J.D. Davis, the Athletics announced that they have designated Angel Felipe for assignment to open up a spot on the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old right-hander recently underwent Tommy John surgery, and he will sit out for the entirety of the 2024 season.

Felipe made his big league debut with the A’s this past summer. In 14 appearances (15 IP), he recorded 19 strikeouts but gave up 13 walks. While he allowed only six hits – five singles and a double – his control problems led him to give up seven earned runs. This was a common theme throughout his time in the minors, as well. Felipe knows how to induce groundballs and limit home runs, but his poor command comes around to bite him more often than he’d like. With all that being said, it’s worth mentioning that Felipe gave up three of his walks and three of his earned runs in his final appearance on August 14. He went on the IL with an elbow injury the next day and would not pitch for the rest of the season. Had his elbow recovered over the winter, he would have been a candidate for Oakland’s Opening Day roster.

Instead, Felipe will sit out until some point in 2025. Given his injury status and lack of prospect pedigree, there’s a good chance he passes through release waivers unclaimed. Oakland could have freed up a roster spot for Davis by placing Felipe on the 60-day IL instead of designating the young hurler for assignment. However, by taking this route, the team avoids having to pay Felipe a major league salary. Presumably, they took those potential savings into account when they offered Davis a contract.

Orioles Claim Peyton Burdick

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The Orioles have claimed outfielder Peyton Burdick off of waivers from the White Sox, the team announced. He has been optioned to minor league camp. Baltimore had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding move was necessary.

Burdick first joined the Orioles in February, but they designated him for assignment five days later upon trading for reliever Kaleb Ort. The White Sox scooped up the outfielder but DFA’d him themselves following the Dylan Cease trade, as they needed to make room for both Jairo Iriarte and Steven Wilson on the 40-man roster.

The Marlins selected Burdick in the third round of the 2019 draft, and he made his MLB debut with Miami three years later. Across 46 games in 2022 and ’23, the righty batter hit .200/.281/.368 with five home runs, two stolen bases, and -0.4 FanGraphs WAR. Power was his carrying tool throughout college and the minors, but he has yet to tap into his raw power at the major league level. Instead, he has demonstrated a strong proclivity for strikeouts, striking out in more than one-third of his plate appearances and whiffing on more than one-third of his swings.

Burdick’s performance this spring didn’t help his chances with the White Sox; he has gone 1-for-14 with five strikeouts, no walks, and one hit-by-pitch. However, the Orioles clearly see something they like in the 27-year-old. Baltimore has plenty of outfield depth on the roster, but Burdick offers the team another right-handed bat and another option for the big league bench if the Orioles would rather their more promising youngsters get everyday playing time at Triple-A.

Cardinals Notes: Gray, Middleton, Center Field

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New Cardinals ace Sonny Gray will throw in a “simulated pregame situation” on Sunday as he works his way back from a hamstring strain, according to John Denton of MLB.com. If all goes well, Gray could be ready to pitch in the team’s opening series against the Dodgers from March 28-31. However, manager Oliver Marmol told Denton that he has not yet decided on his Opening Day starter. That suggests the skipper isn’t optimistic about Gray’s availability for the very first game of the season.

The AL Cy Young runner-up in 2023, Gray signed a three-year, $75 million deal with St. Louis this winter to be the club’s new No. 1 starter. If he were at full strength right now, there would be no questions as to who would take the ball on Opening Day. Ultimately, however, the Cardinals won’t care who makes the symbolic game one start as long as Gray is healthy enough for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

In a much less positive injury update, right-hander Keynan Middleton will be shut down for 10 days as he nurses a forearm strain in his pitching arm (first reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). While Gray was the Cardinals’ biggest free agent acquisition for the rotation, Middleton was their biggest free agent acquisition for the bullpen. As Marmol told Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, this “will obviously set [Middleton] back several weeks,” essentially guaranteeing that he will start the year on the IL. According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, St. Louis plans to be without the righty for at least the first two weeks of the season.

Middleton was a strong middle reliever for the White Sox and Yankees last year, pitching 50 2/3 innings and putting up a 3.38 ERA. He has spent time on the IL in almost every season of his career, and 2023 was no exception; he missed most of September with a shoulder injury. Still, his 51 appearances were his most in a season since his 2017 rookie campaign. He also posted a career-high 30.2% strikeout rate (his previous career average was 22.1%), a career-high 56.6% groundball rate (his previous career average was 32.9%), and ranked among the top 10% of pitchers in hard-hit rate and average exit velocity, per Baseball Savant. As a result, he finished with a 3.71 xERA, the lowest of his career.

While the Cardinals will hope Middleton doesn’t miss too much of the regular season, they will have to consider new bullpen options in his place. Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos, Andrew Kittredge, and JoJo Romero are locks for the Opening Day roster, while Andre Pallante is a safe bet as well. After those five names, Denton mentions Riley O’Brien, Nick Robertson, and Rule 5 draft selection Ryan Fernandez as contenders for the final three spots in the ’pen. Woo suggests the team has also considered a six-man rotation, which would mean running with a seven-man bullpen.

On the other side of the ball, the Cardinals have a decision to make in center field. As Tommy Edman continues to deal with pain in his wrist after offseason surgery, he will not be on the Opening Day roster. Dylan Carlson might have seemed like the obvious choice to fill in for Edman, but Marmol told Denton that the starting job in center field is still up for grabs. Carlson is a contender, but so are prospects Victor Scott II and Michael Siani.

Scott is the No. 83 prospect in baseball, according to both Baseball America and FanGraphs. He boasts incredible speed and plays phenomenal center field defense. Siani has a similar skill set but doesn’t have the same upside, which could end up helping his case to win the job; the Cardinals will be less inclined to rush Scott to the major leagues. Siani also has an edge because he is already on the 40-man roster. Carlson has better offensive abilities than either of the rookies, but he’s coming off a disappointing season at the plate. Moreover, while he is a capable defensive outfielder, both Scott and Siani have elite defensive potential. If Marmol isn’t convinced Carlson can figure things out at the dish, he might prefer to prioritize defense up the middle.

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