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Offseason In Review: New York Yankees

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The Yankees’ offseason was highlighted by a blockbuster trade, but some major injury concerns have threatened to undermine New York’s work in upgrading the roster.

Major League Signings

2023 spending: $23.25MM
Total spending: $41.25MM

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hitting back-to-back is a pitcher’s worst nightmare, and having Gleyber Torres and a healthy Anthony Rizzo bookend those two elite sluggers in the lineup should also cause a few sleepless evenings.  Between this impressive top of the lineup, and fresh input from newly-hired hitting coach James Rowson and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler, there is plenty of hope that the Yankees can improve upon their strangely punchless offense from the 2023 season.

Soto is slated to hit free agency next winter as he heads into his age-26 season, and the outfielder and agent Scott Boras surely have an eye towards the biggest non-Shohei Ohtani contract in baseball history.  Since the Yankees are one of the few teams who can afford such an expenditure, it’s certainly possible this won’t be Soto’s only season in the Bronx, but New York paid quite a premium for just one guaranteed year of Soto’s services.

Kyle Higashioka may have been expendable within the Yankees’ catching depth chart, but the real score for the Padres in the Soto trade was four talented and controllable young pitchers.  Michael King emerged as an intriguing starter with New York last year and looks to step right into San Diego’s rotation — at worst, King can be a lockdown reliever for the Padres if he doesn’t stick as a starting pitcher.  Drew Thorpe is a top-100 prospect who the Padres flipped to the White Sox as part of the Dylan Cease trade package.  Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez are also big league-ready arms and one of them likely would’ve won a rotation job had Cease not been acquired.

Trent Grisham was the other player acquired from San Diego, and though he is only earning $5.5MM via an arbitration-avoiding deal, his inclusion in the trade may have been a bit of a salary dump from a Padres deal that was eager to payroll this winter.  (Obviously Soto was the pricier figure in this equation, as his $31MM salary for 2024 is the highest ever given to a an arbitration player.)  Grisham is an outstanding defender whose hitting has dropped off over the last two seasons, and he seems to be ticketed for at least backup duty within an intriguing Yankees outfield mix.

The first-choice outfield alignment looks to be Soto in right field, Judge in center field, and new acquisition Alex Verdugo as the left field starter at least against right-handed pitching.  When a southpaw is on the mound, the Yankees will probably use Judge in left field and Grisham will step into center field.  Giancarlo Stanton will get most of the DH at-bats and might get some occasional looks in the outfield, though as GM Brian Cashman rather bluntly stated last November, it may simply be unlikely that Stanton can stay healthy for the entire season.  Judge figures to get a good dose of DH usage regardless of Stanton’s availability, since one of the Yankees’ chief priorities this year is keeping Judge healthy amidst the added physical strain of regular center field work.

A rare trade between the Yankees and Red Sox brought Verdugo into the fold, and between Verdugo and Soto, New York now has two legitimate left-handed bats to help balance out a lineup that was overloaded with right-handed hitters.  Verdugo has been exactly a league-average (100 wRC+, 100 OPS+) hitter over the last two seasons, and given the whispers of behind-the-scenes discord with Boston manager Alex Cora, a change of scenery might be just what Verdugo needs to get on track.

An in-form Verdugo, a healthy Stanton, and steps forward from highly-touted youngsters Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells would suddenly make the lineup look a lot more Bronx Bomber-esque, rather than simply “improved.”  A rebound year from DJ LeMahieu would also help, but the infielder’s 2024 season has gotten off to a rough start with a bone bruise that will begin his season on the injured list.

The Yankees had been looking for infield and utility depth even before LeMahieu got hurt, as Oswald Peraza is facing an extended absence while recovering from a shoulder strain.  The need was finally filled just yesterday when Jon Berti was acquired as part of a three-team trade with the Marlins and Rays.  Berti brings a ton of speed and defensive versatility to the roster, and his ability to draw walks and make contact has led to some occasional above-average offensive production over his six MLB seasons.

Landing Berti came at the cost of catcher Ben Rortvedt and minor league outfielder John Cruz, though New York is confident that Wells is ready to take on a larger share of the catching duties with Jose Trevino.  Wells’ defense could be the x-factor in whether or not he can move into a full platoon or even a playing-time edge over Trevino, and gauging by Wells’ minor league numbers, his bat is at least ready for the Show.  In other bench news, waiver claim Jahmai Jones won a spot on the Opening Day roster, and he brings more multi-positional utility to the mix.

The aforementioned search for a utilityman type led the Yankees to explore such free agents as Enrique Hernandez, Tony Kemp, Amed Rosario, and old friends Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Gio Urshela.  In terms of position players, the Yankees made some more high-profile explorations, as the team had interest in the likes of Cody Bellinger, Jung Hoo Lee, Jeimer Candelario, Kevin Kiermaier, and probably several other free agents whose talks with the Bombers weren’t publicized.

Since the Soto trade was completed in early December, it seems as though the Yankees decided relatively early to go with the one-year strike for Soto rather than a longer-term deal with Bellinger or even Lee as their major offensive addition of the winter.  Cashman’s front office couldn’t have known at the time that Bellinger’s market would be limited enough that he would settle for an opt-out laden three-year, $80MM deal with the Cubs, and naturally it makes sense that the Yankees would want to pounce on Soto and solidify the lineup as early as possible.  It’s easy to say this with hindsight being 20-20, but if New York had been comfortable enough to try and wait Bellinger out, the team could’ve landed a big bat at a lower average annual value than Soto, and King and company might still be on the roster.

Or, the Yankees might have flipped King, Thorpe, Brito, or Vasquez in another trade, perhaps for a frontline starter with more big league experience.  There is some irony in Thorpe being a centerpiece of the Padres’ Cease deal given how the Yankees themselves talked at length with the White Sox about Cease, but it seemed like Chicago’s insistence on landing Spencer Jones in any Cease trade package was a deal-breaker for New York.

Even though offense was the team’s larger need heading into the offseason, the Yankees were reportedly involved in the bidding for several starters and relievers, on both the free agent and trade fronts.  Beyond Cease, the long list of pitchers the Yankees at least checked in on included Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Corbin Burnes, Shane Bieber, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola, Shota Imanaga, Josh Hader, Yariel Rodriguez, Michael Lorenzen, Jordan Hicks, Robert Stephenson, Hector Neris, Phil Maton, Ryan Brasier, and two of New York’s own free agents in Wandy Peralta (who signed with the Padres) and Keynan Middleton (with the Cardinals).

Yamamoto was one of the chief targets, and was reportedly offered a ten-year, $300MM deal (with two opt-out clauses) to begin his Major League tenure in the Bronx.  Yamamoto passed on that contract for a 12-year, $325MM deal with the Dodgers, as his decision might’ve been influenced by such factors as a big $50MM signing bonus, the flexibility offered by the six-man Los Angeles rotation, and of course the chance to play with a Japanese baseball icon like Ohtani.

Jordan Montgomery was another former Yankee who drew attention from his old club, as the Bombers were said to be in on the left-hander up until the moment Montgomery finally landed with the Diamondbacks for a one-year deal with a vesting player option for 2025.  Blake Snell was on the Yankees’ radar for much of the offseason, and the team’s reported six-year, $150MM offer to Snell in January stands as the largest offer known to have been on the table throughout Snell’s own extended stay in free agency.  The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner ended up signing a two-year, $62MM deal with the Giants that includes an opt-out next winter, as the Bombers didn’t revisit their six-year offer after moving onto Marcus Stroman as a rotation alternative.

Stroman inked a two-year deal worth $37MM in guaranteed money, and another $18MM could become available via a vesting player option for the 2026 season.  With two All-Star nods and a history of success in the AL East on his resume, Stroman is a nice get for the Yankees, and his grounder-heavy approach should play well with New York’s solid infield defense.  Injuries marred the back half of what was looking like a great 2023 campaign for Stroman with the Cubs, however, and adding to the list of health issues facing the Yankees rotation.

Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodon combined for only 127 2/3 innings last year, leaving both starters in pursuit of bounce-backs.  Clarke Schmidt pitched decently well in his first full MLB season, and Luis Gil pitched well enough in Spring Training that New York will use Gil as the fifth starter, though Gil himself has only 33 1/3 career innings in the majors and missed all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The biggest question mark of all, however, is one of the Yankees’ most indispensable players.  Gerrit Cole will open the season on the 60-day injured list, meaning he won’t be an option until at least late May as he recovers from nerve inflammation and edema in his throwing elbow.  Missing at least two months is naturally still an infinitely preferable scenario to the initial worry that Cole might need some kind of season-ending surgery, yet the Yankees still have to navigate a big chunk of the season without arguably the sport’s best pitcher.  It isn’t a coincidence that the team’s interest in Snell and Montgomery seemed to spark back up after the news broke of Cole’s injury, but it looks like the Yankees will rely on Gil and their internal arms to hold the fort until Cole is able to return.

Even a late strike for Snell or Montgomery at a relative discount price would have had serious financial implications.  RosterResource’s projections put the Yankees’ payroll at $299.7MM, and their luxury tax number at just over $310.5MM.  The latter figure puts New York well over the highest tax threshold of $297MM, after the team just barely stayed under the $297MM number in 2023.  Since 2024 will be the Yankees’ third consecutive year of surpassing the luxury tax, it all adds up a whopping 110% tax added to any further payroll additions the Yankees might make.

It’s perhaps a reach to say that a team with such a gigantic payroll is hugely concerned with an even larger tax bill, as there’s certainly more pressure for the Yankees to get back into contention.  Yet, the Bombers did keep their free agent spending relatively in check, and the $30MM average annual values offered to Yamamoto and Snell seemed to represent something of a limit to how much New York was willing to offer.  Soto, Torres, Verdugo, Clay Holmes, and (pending a club option) Rizzo are all free agents next winter, representing some significant money coming off the books for the Yankees as they decide how to reload for 2025.

Though the relief corps was pretty successful last year, New York heads into Opening Day with some noteworthy changes in the bullpen.  With Peralta, Middleton, and former relief stalwart King all gone, the Yankees will look to make up those innings with Caleb Ferguson and Victor Gonzalez (both acquired in separate trades with the Dodgers) and minor league signing Nick Burdi.  Luke Weaver was re-signed to a low-cost guaranteed deal, and Cody Morris, Cody Poteet, and any number of other pitchers already in the farm system or signed to minor league contracts could emerge as the season progresses.  The Yankees and pitching coach Matt Blake have developed a knack for getting good results out of unheralded bullpen options, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see some other unexpected name or a pitcher not even currently in the organization emerging for some high-leverage work later on in the season.

Between the flurry of additions big and small, it was a busy winter in the Bronx, which isn’t surprising for a Yankees team coming off a rare non-playoff season.  Players and team executives either hinted or outright stated last fall that some changes had to be made to get the club back into contention, extending from both roster moves to more clubhouse-related issues like Judge’s desire to see a difference in both the type of analytical information presented to the players, and in how this info is presented.  These types of alterations aren’t as public as the sight of Soto wearing Yankees pinstripes, of course, and despite all of the roster moves and internal fixes, ultimately a lot of the Yankees’ success in 2024 might simply hinge on Cole’s health.

Nick Senzel Suffers Broken Thumb

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Nationals third baseman Nick Senzel suffered a broken thumb while fielding a ball prior to today’s game, reports Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. It’s unclear how long the injury will keep him out but it’s likely to be at least a few weeks.

It’s an incredibly unfortunate development for a player who has generated such excitement but has been frequently beset by injuries. He was ready for a fresh start in 2024, with the Nationals planning to have him be their everyday third baseman, but he’ll instead be facing yet another injury setback.

Senzel, 29 in June, was selected by the Reds with the second overall pick in 2016 and was considered one of the top prospects in the league as he climbed the minor league ladder. But since he made his major league debut in 2019, he has made frequent trips to the injured list, having never played more than 110 games or taken more than 420 plate appearances in a season. He has undergone surgery to repair a torn finger tendon, to remove bone spurs from his elbow and to address to torn labrum in his shoulder. He’s also missed time due to an ankle sprain and knee injuries, one of them requiring arthroscopic surgery.

Around all those ailments, his performance has been underwhelming. He has hit .239/.302/.369 in his 1,366 major league plate appearances, which translates to a wRC+ of 77. He was non-tendered by the Reds after last year, then the Nats decided to take a chance on him, giving him a $2MM deal.

They were undoubtedly hoping that a change of scenery and some regular playing time could help him get back to the form that made him such a hyped-up prospect. Manager Dave Martinez said way back in December that the club was planning to install him as an everyday third baseman, showing a great deal of faith in Senzel. But instead, he’s now facing yet another injury absence.

For as long as he’s out, the Nats will have to come up with other options. Utility player Ildemaro Vargas is on the roster and could perhaps step in for a time. Jake Alu is also on the 40-man roster and can play multiple positions. Carter Kieboom, like Senzel, is a former first-round pick with a diminished stock in recent years. He’s out of options and was outrighted off the roster a couple of weeks ago. Trey Lipscomb had a hot spring but isn’t on the 40-man either.

How the club proceeds may depend on how long Senzel is expected to be out. But for now, it’s not the start to the 2024 season that Senzel or the Nationals were hoping for.

Rangers Place Tyler Mahle On 60-Day Injured List

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The Rangers announced today that right-hander Tyler Mahle has been placed on the 60-day injured list. Combined with yesterday’s outright of infielder José Barrero, the club opened two spots to select the contracts of right-hander José Ureña and first baseman Jared Walsh, moves which were previously reported.

Mahle, 29, underwent Tommy John surgery in May while with the Twins. He reached free agency after last year and signed with the Rangers, a two-year deal with a $22MM guarantee, with the club knowing they weren’t going to get any contributions from Mahle in the first few months of that deal. He’ll join Jacob deGrom, who is also rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day IL as both pitchers look to come back later in the year.

Notably, right-hander Max Scherzer has been placed on the 15-day IL but has not been placed on the 60-day IL and it doesn’t seem like he will, at least for now. He underwent back surgery in December and it was announced at that time that he would probably be sidelined into June or July. However, more recent developments have suggested he may be able to beat that timeline, with manager Bruce Bochy suggesting a few weeks back that Scherzer was ahead of schedule.

“My guess is we do not do that,” general manager Chris Young said about the matter yesterday, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. Today, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News relays that Scherzer threw a bullpen and characterized himself as “early February,” suggesting he’s perhaps about six weeks behind schedule.

Placing Scherzer on the 60-day injured list, whether it’s now or later, would mean he’s ineligible to be activated until late May. It seems like he may be able to return somewhere in that vicinity, so the Rangers are leaving that option open for now. If the timeline changes in the weeks to come, they could transfer him to the 60-day IL at that point and it will be backdated to his recent placement on the 15-day IL. In other words, even if he gets transferred to the 60-day IL a month from now, he could still be reinstated in late May.

The Rangers’ rotation will likely change a lot over the course of the year. They will start the season with Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning and Cody Bradford but reinforcements will be coming throughout the year. Michael Lorenzen was recently signed but he’ll need a few weeks to build up into game readiness. It sounds like Scherzer won’t be far behind him with Mahle and deGrom to follow as the season progresses.

Rays Release Francisco Mejia

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Francisco Mejia’s return to the Rays organization will be a brief one. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel reports that the Rays released the veteran backstop, who’d signed a minor league deal in late February. Mejia is once again a free agent.

The 28-year-old Mejia signed a minor league deal with the Angels over the winter but was granted his release early in camp after the Halos apparently changed their plans behind the dish. He returned to the Rays a few days later in hopes of winning a roster spot with the club for whom he’d suited up over the three prior seasons.

Mejia only tallied 19 plate appearances in big league camp with the Rays but hit well in that small sample, going 6-for-18 with a pair of doubles, a walk and two strikeouts. Mejia was in the mix for some catching time alongside Rene Pinto, competing with fellow non-roster invitee Alex Jackson in that regard. Yesterday’s acquisition of Ben Rortvedt altered the Rays’ plans, however. Rortvedt opened the season as the second catcher alongside Pinto, pushing Jackson to Triple-A alongside journeyman Rob Brantly. With Mejia again left as something of an odd man out, he’ll head back to the market in search of new opportunities.

Once one of the game’s top all-around prospects, Mejia has yet to hit at the major league level despite piling up more than five years of service time between Cleveland, San Diego and Tampa Bay. He touts an excellent .306/.350/.519 batting line in 633 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, but despite showing promise in his first season with the Rays, he’s just a .239/.284/.394 hitter in nearly 1100 MLB plate appearances.

Mejia’s defense has also been panned over the years. He’s long been graded as a below-average framer, and his ability to control the running game completely evaporated last season. In 2023, he threw out just four of the 42 runners who attempted to take a bag against him. Statcast also ranks him as one of the least-effective catchers in the game when it comes to blocking balls in the dirt.

Despite the lack of big league success, Mejia is a switch-hitter with an impressive track record in Triple-A who’s still just 28. Catching help is always in demand around the league, and while a team certainly isn’t likely to plug the former top prospect right onto its big league roster, he should find opportunities to join someone’s Triple-A club and work his way back to the big leagues.

Reds To Re-Sign Mike Ford, Claim Yosver Zulueta From Blue Jays

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The Reds announced that they’ve claimed Yosver Zulueta from the Blue Jays and optioned him to Triple-A Louisville. Infielder Matt McLain, who had shoulder surgery this week, has been placed on the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the roster. Francys Romero reported on Zulueta’s claim prior to the official announcement. The timing is surprising, as Toronto only announced earlier today that Zulueta was being designated for assignment. It’s likely that the move was actually made earlier in the week but not formally announced at the time. Outright waivers are typically a 48-hour process. The Reds also re-signed first baseman Mike Ford to a minor league deal after releasing him last week, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

With McLain’s recent surgery, the Reds effectively had a free roster spot to use. It’s unclear exactly how long the infielder will be out but it’s evidently longer than two months, as he is now ineligible to be activated until late May at the earliest.

The Reds have used that spot to snag Zulueta, an intriguing arm but one with significant control issues. In 2022, he tossed 55 2/3 innings across four different levels of Toronto’s system with an earned run average of 3.72. He struck out 33.9% of batters faced that year but also gave out free passes at a 12.9% clip, starting 12 of his 21 appearances.

The Jays moved him more firmly into a relief role in 2023, as he started just seven of his 45 appearances at Triple-A. Even those seven starts were mostly two or three innings as an opener, leading to a tally of 64 innings on the year. He had a 4.08 ERA in that time while striking out 25.4% of batters faced and keeping 51.3% of balls in play on the ground, but also walked 15.7% of batters that came to the plate against him. Here in the spring, he tossed five innings, notching just two strikeouts but giving out four walks.

He still has a couple of options and the Reds have quickly sent him down. They will surely try to help him get a better grasp of his stuff and see if he can become a useful piece at some point. For now, he can serve as depth until the big league club needs a fresh arm or he forces his way into their plans.

Ford, 31, is a strong power bat but he has strikeout issues and no versatility since he’s only capable of playing first base or serving as a designated hitter. He hit 16 home runs in 251 plate appearances with the Mariners last year while striking out at a 32.3% rate.

He nonetheless had to settle for a minor league deal with the Reds and destroyed opposing pitchers this spring, hitting three homers in 35 plate appearances and slashing .455/.486/.727. Despite that, he didn’t break camp with the club, getting released last week. The Reds have plenty of first base options in Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Jeimer Candelario, Spencer Steer and Jonathan India, making it difficult for Ford to be squeezed in.

Ford had an opt-out on his deal so he either triggered it or the Reds let him proactively search for his next opportunity, but he has come back to the club on another minor league deal. He’ll presumably go to Triple-A for some regular playing time and await his next opportunity, whether it’s with the Reds or somewhere else. Each of Encarnacion-Strand, Candelario, Steer and India can play other positions, so Ford could be of use down the line if the club’s injuries mount and the path to playing time opens. But he also may have another opt-out on his new deal that could allow him to go somewhere else as the season progresses, while the Reds could also maybe flip him if he’s hitting well and another club comes calling.

Pirates Designate Canaan Smith-Njigba, Jackson Wolf, Ali Sánchez For Assignment

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The Pirates announced a series of Opening Day roster moves, selecting the contracts of right-handers Jared Jones, Ryder Ryan and Hunter Stratton. All three of those moves were previously reported. In corresponding 40-man moves, outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba, catcher Ali Sánchez and left-hander Jackson Wolf were designated for assignment.

Smith-Njigba, 25 in April, has clearly been on the margins of the roster in Pittsburgh since this is the second time he’s lost his spot in the past two months. He was designated for assignment in January and claimed off waivers by the Mariners. The Mariners put him back on waivers a couple of weeks later and the Bucs claimed him back. In between those two moves, the 60-day injured list had opened up, allowing the Bucs to put JT Brubaker there and squeeze Smith-Njigba back on, but he’s now been nudged off again.

He has hit .279/.373/.452 in Triple-A over the past two years but has a measly slash of .135/.250/.243 in his 44 major league plate appearances. Given his strong minor league work, which also includes 21 steals last year, he could attract the attention of other clubs. He also has one option year remaining, so a claiming club could keep him stashed in the minors until his services are needed.

Sánchez, 27, signed a major league deal with the club in December but the club’s catching situation has changed since then. In 2023, they largely relied on Endy Rodríguez behind the plate with Henry Davis playing right field. But Rodriguez required UCL surgery in the offseason that is going to keep him out of action for the entire 2024 campaign. This spring, the Bucs moved Davis back behind the plate and also signed Yasmani Grandal for a bit of insurance.

Davis seems to have taken well to moving back behind the plate and is now slated for the lion’s share of the work back there this year. Grandal is starting the season on the IL but the Pirates will roll with Jason Delay as the backup for now. Delay has options and can be sent to Triple-A when Grandal returns. Sánchez is out of options and wouldn’t be in the same position.

Sánchez hit a paltry .125/.263/.125  this spring, which surely didn’t help, and he has just 14 major league plate appearances on his track record. But he’s coming off a strong season in the minors, as he hit .311/.375/.492 for the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A team last year.

Wolf, 25 in April, came over to the Pirates in last year’s deal that sent Ji Man Choi and Rich Hill to the Padres, having made one career start with the Friars. He’s not an overpowering arm, with a fastball that sits in the low 90s, but has nonetheless found some decent results. Between his two clubs last year, he tossed 124 1/3 minor league innings with a 4.13 earned run average, 26.8% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate.

He came into this year as the club’s #21 prospect, per Baseball America, but has been nudged off the roster as guys like Jones, Paul Skenes and others have seemingly jumped ahead of him on the depth chart. He still has a couple of options and could intrigue clubs, especially with starting depth always being in demand.

The Bucs will have one week to find trading partners for Smith Njigba, Sanchez or Wolf or else try to pass them through waivers.

Athletics Select Kyle McCann

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The Athletics announced a series of Opening Day roster moves today. They selected the contract of catcher Kyle McCann and placed left-hander Sean Newcomb and infielder Aledmys Diaz on the 60-day injured list. Those two IL placements open spots for McCann and for lefty T.J. McFarland, who was acquired from the Dodgers earlier this week. Pitchers Scott Alexander, Luis Medina and Freddy Tarnok were placed on the 15-day IL while outfielder Miguel Andújar was placed on the 10-day IL.

McCann, 26, cracks a big league roster for the first time. A fourth-round pick from the 2019 draft, he was considered one of the club’s top 30 prospects in 2020 and 2021 but fell off after he struggled mightily in first taste of Double-A. He played 93 games there in 2021 but hit just .166/.283/.275, striking out in 37.1% of his plate appearances.

Since then, the strikeout problems have lingered but things have gone a bit better when he does put the bat on the ball. He split 2022 between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting 20 home runs that year while slashing .234/.338/.444. He struck out at 33.4% clip but also drew walks 12.2% of the time and his overall performance translated to a 100 wRC+, exactly average.

Last year, he struck out in 32.2% of his appearances, all at Triple-A, but hit 17 homers and slashed .270/.351/.474 for a wRC+ of 97. In this year’s Spring Training, he was punched out in 40.6% of his 32 plate appearances but also drew walks 15.6% of the time and hit two dingers for a .231/.375/.500 batting line.

Prior to this move, the A’s only had two catchers on their 40-man roster in Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom. The latter was optioned to Triple-A a couple of weeks ago, with the club seemingly preferring for him to have regular playing time as opposed to sitting on the bench as the backup to Langeliers. McCann will get to join the big league club and will be making his debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Newcomb has been battling soreness in his surgically-repaired left knee and it seemed the A’s don’t expect him to be able to return between now and late May. The same goes for Díaz, who has dealt with both a groin strain and a calf strain this spring.

Diamondbacks Designate Emmanuel Rivera For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks have designated third baseman Emmanuel Rivera for assignment, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. He’s out of minor league options and didn’t make the cut for the team’s Opening Day roster. They’ll instead turn his spot on the 26-man roster over to infield prospect Blaze Alexander, who’ll make his MLB debut the first time he gets into a game.

Rivera came to the D-backs in a 2022 trade deadline swap that sent righty Luke Weaver to the Royals — Rivera’s original organization. Kansas City selected the now-27-year-old Rivera in the 19th round of his Puerto Rico high school back in 2015. He ranked among the Royals’ top 30 prospects for several years, drawing praise for his arm strength and bat-to-ball skills, but he’s yet to provide much in the way of offense with either Kansas City or Arizona.

In 740 career plate appearances as a major leaguer, Rivera is a .247/.304/.380 hitter (88 wRC+). His 21.6% strikeout rate is a bit lower than league-average, but so is his 7.2% walk rate. He popped a dozen homers in a career-high 359 plate appearances in 2022 but hasn’t hit for power in either of his other two MLB campaigns. Rivera also has pretty notable platoon splits (.273/.327/.410 versus righties; .233/.293/.364 versus lefties), which isn’t ideal given that he’s on the short side of any platoon arrangement.

Defensively, he’s turned in sound marks at the hot corner. Defensive Runs Saved credits him at +9 in just under 1400 career innings, and Outs Above Average has him at +2. He’s only made 12 errors in his big league career at third base, and he’s also logged 94 innings at first base. The D-backs likely hoped that Rivera could emerge as an under-the-radar pickup who could help out at third base for several years, but last winter’s signing of Evan Longoria and especially this offseason’s pickup of Eugenio Suarez signaled that he wouldn’t be handed the everyday role.

The D-backs will have a week to trade Rivera, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him. Since he’s out of minor league options, any team that acquires him will need to carry him on the big league roster or else attempt to pass him through waivers themselves.

Brewers Designate Eric Haase For Assignment

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Despite a blistering spring training performance, catcher Eric Haase has been designated for assignment by the Brewers. Milwaukee will carry William Contreras and Gary Sanchez as its two catchers, and Haase is out of minor league options, meaning he can’t be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers.

Haase, 31, decimated Cactus League pitching this spring, slashing .395/.465/.868 with five homers, three doubles and nearly as many walks (five) as strikeouts (six) in 43 plate appearances. He’d signed with the Brewers on a one-year, split major league deal back in December and looked for much of the offseason to be in line to replace Victor Caratini (who signed a two-year deal in Houston) as the backup to Contreras. The Brewers’ late-offseason signing of Sanchez altered that outlook. Haase’s huge performance in camp surely made the choice more difficult for the Brewers, but he’s nonetheless the odd man out.

The Brewers could’ve carried three catchers, as Haase has outfield experience and both Contreras and Sanchez have enough bat to serve as the designated hitter at times. Haase, however, would’ve been another right-handed bat on a heavily right-handed team, and the Brewers are already dedicating one bench spot to another out-of-options veteran in first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers (notably, a left-handed hitter). They’ll go with Bauers, infielder Andruw Monasterio, switch-hitting outfielder Blake Perkins and rookie infielder/outfielder Oliver Dunn to round out Pat Murphy’s bench.

Haase has spent his entire career prior to this spring training with Detroit and Cleveland. His 2023 season was a down year that saw him slash just .201/.247/.281, prompting the Tigers to make a change of their own behind the plate. But from 2021-22, Haase split time between catcher and left field for the Tigers and turned in a combined .242/.295/.451 line with 36 big flies in 732 plate appearances.

Last year’s downturn at the plate was in part due to a reduction in average on balls in play (.297 from 2021-22 but just .268 in 2023), however it also can’t simply be chalked up to poor fortune. Haase made hard contact at a far lower rate (45.1% in 2021-22, just 35.9% in 2023) and put the ball on the ground more often than in any full big league season prior. He also hit infield flies at the highest rate of his career and saw a career-low 5.6% of his fly-balls become home runs after enjoying an 18.8% mark in that regard in the two preceding seasons.

Defensively, Haase is something of a mixed bag. Last year’s 24% caught-stealing rate was actually three percentage points higher than the 21% league average, and he showed improved framing marks after struggling in that regard in previous seasons. He also graded poorly in terms of blocking pitches in the dirt, however, and his broader body of work behind the plate has drawn below-average reviews when taken in sum.

Haase could hold appeal to catching-needy clubs like the Rays and Marlins, speculatively speaking. Within the next seven days, he’ll need to either be traded, passed through outright waivers or released.

Mariners Designate Taylor Trammell For Assignment

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The Mariners announced Thursday that they’ve designated former top outfield prospect Taylor Trammell for assignment. He was out of minor league options and didn’t make Seattle’s Opening Day roster, necessitating the DFA.

Selected by the Reds with the No. 35 overall draft pick back in 2016, the now-26-year-old Trammell ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects each year from 2018-21. Trammell has participated in a pair of Futures Games and twice been traded, most recently going from the Padres to the Mariners alongside Andres Munoz, Ty France and Luis Torrens in the deal sending Austin Nola, Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla back to San Diego.

At the time of that swap, a then-rebuilding Mariners club hoped to be adding another long-term building block. Seattle had enviable prospect depth in the outfield, headlined by Trammell, Jarred Kelenic and current face of the franchise Julio Rodriguez. Not all prospects pan out, however, as evidenced by the fact that Trammell and Kelenic are both off the 40-man roster — the latter no longer even in the organization.

Trammell has had multiple auditions with the Mariners, appearing in each of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. It’s arguable that he hasn’t been given a true big league run with consistent playing time and without fear of being sent back down due to a talented and crowded outfield mix, but he’s yet to prove he can handle big league pitching. In 351 MLB trips to the plate, he’s a .168/.270/.368 hitter with a massive 37% strikeout rate.

That said, Trammell has been vastly better in Triple-A. He’s spent parts of three seasons there as well, turning in a stout .274/.381/.506 batting line with a 24% strikeout rate that’s worlds better than his MLB clip. Trammell has shown off his eye at the plate both in the majors (11.1% walk rate) and in Triple-A (14%). Earlier in his career, the former two-sport star — he was an All-State runningback at his Georgia high school — was touted as a plus defender and plus runner, but he’s slowed down as he’s filled out his frame. Statcast ranked him in just the 43rd percentile of MLB players in average sprint speed last year, and his defensive grades from metrics like Outs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved haven’t lined up with those encouraging scouting reports to date.

Trammell has probably hit for more power than was expected early in his prospect days. His .368 slugging isn’t much to look at, but when considering his low batting average, he’s sitting on a .200 ISO in his big league career. He’s also popped 38 homers in his 812 Triple-A plate appearances.

Since he’s out of minor league options, Trammell needs to either stick on a big league roster or else be passed through waivers. The Mariners will have the next five days to explore trade scenarios before they have to determine whether to place Trammell on waivers (which are a 48-hour process). Within a week’s time, we’ll know whether he’s been traded, claimed or cleared waivers. If he clears, the Mariners will be able to assign him outright to Triple-A Tacoma, retaining his rights without needing to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to him.

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