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Alex Kirilloff Announces Retirement

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Twins outfielder and first baseman Alex Kirilloff is retiring from his playing career, as he announced on his personal Instagram account this morning. The Twins subsequently confirmed his retirement in an announcement on X. The soon to be 27-year-old would have been slated for his second of four trips through arbitration with Minnesota this winter.

The surprising decision comes due to the numerous injuries Kirilloff has sustained throughout his career. The outfielder was plagued by a number of wrist, shoulder, and back injuries throughout his career that have caused him to make seven trips to the injured list during his four years in the majors, limiting him to just 249 games played at the big league level. That long list of injuries includes three surgeries: two on his wrist and one on his shoulder.

“In my nine professional seasons, I’ve encountered numerous injuries, which led me to search for new ways to overcome the pain. These challenges have taken a toll on me mentally and physically; over time, I’ve realized that my passion for playing the game has shifted,” Kirilloff said in his announcement. “Baseball demands an ‘all-in’ approach, something I’ve brought to every season. However, I can no longer give it the total commitment it requires. I’ve always believed that playing this game requires 110% effort, and anything less would not do justice to my teammates, coaches, fans, or the game itself.”

Kirilloff’s professional career began when he was selected 15th overall by the Twins in the 2016 draft. While he didn’t make his full-season pro debut until 2018, Kirilloff tore through the lower levels of the minors with a .348/.392/.578 slash line in 130 games at the Single-A and High-A levels in that first full season, which immediately catapulted him towards top prospect status. He entered 2019 as a consensus top-20 prospect in the sport, and even following a slight downturn in production in his first taste of Double-A action that year he remained a consensus top-30 prospect in the game when he made his big league debut in 2021.

Though hampered by a torn ligament in his wrist, Kirilloff’s first season in the majors was generally a solid one as he slashed a roughly league average .251/.299/.423 with eight home runs and 11 doubles in just 231 trips to the plate. Unfortunately, those wrist issues continued to plague Kirilloff in his second year as a big leaguer as well, limiting him to just 156 trips to the plate across 45 games and leading him to undergo wrist surgery for the second consecutive season.

After that second wrist surgery, things finally appeared to be looking up for the talented youngster last year. His season debut was delayed until early May by recovery from the aforementioned surgery, but he hit quite well out of the gate with a .314/.448/.486 slash line in that first month back in the majors. While his production tailed off a bit from there, he remained a regular fixture in the Twins lineup throughout the first half and was hitting a solid .270/.357/.442 through the end of July. Unfortunately, he promptly found himself sidelined by a strained right shoulder that would cause him to miss the entire month of August. Though he managed to return late in the year to play another 19 games in September, the ailment ultimately required yet another surgery that left him to spend his third consecutive offseason rehabbing.

When Kirilloff returned to the Twins lineup in 2024, he once again hit quite well early in the season with a .259/.323/.471 slash line through May 1. Unfortunately, the outfielder began to struggle even as his underlying metrics were solid, and he hit just .135/.207/.284 in what would ultimately be the final 30 games of his big league career. Once again hobbled by an injury, Kirilloff was placed on the injured list in mid-June due to a back injury he had been attempting to play through. The injury proved to be due to a nerve issue, and though he began a rehab assignment with the Twins in late August, that lasted just one game before he found himself sidelined once again. With a fourth consecutive offseason set to be dominated by the rehab process, that Kirilloff found himself in his own words unable to give the “110% effort” required to be a professional ballplayer is understandable.

In all, Kirilloff wraps up his big league career with 249 games played in the majors and a respectable .248/.309/.412 slash line across 884 trips to the plate. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Kirilloff on the hard work and perseverance he showed throughout his career and wish him all the best in retirement.

The 2024-25 Offseason Begins

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After the Dodgers secured their second title in five years, the offseason is officially underway. Transactions should begin again today. Teams are permitted to begin making trades. There’ll be a host of waiver claims as clubs clear space from their 40-man roster, largely in tandem with the necessary reinstatement of injured players from the IL. Teams and players have five days to decide whether to exercise any contractual options.

Free agency technically opens today, but there’s a five-day window for exclusive negotiation between teams and their own free agents. We’re not getting a Juan Soto signing anytime soon, but we could see a handful of smaller extensions as teams try to keep some players from testing the open market.

MLBTR’s winter coverage will kick off later today with our preview of the Top 35 Trade Candidates. We’ve already released projected arbitration salaries from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and taken a position-by-position look at the upcoming free agent class while previewing the qualifying offer decisions for pitchers and position players. Our Top 50 Free Agents post will be published on Monday evening after the finalization of option and QO calls.

OCTOBER 31: Free agency begins for eligible players, but they aren’t permitted to sign with other teams for at least five days. Free agents no longer count against their previous teams’ 40-man rosters. Trades of players who were on the 40-man roster reopen for the first time since last summer’s deadline.

NOVEMBER 3: Gold Glove winners announced.

NOVEMBER 4: Free agents are eligible to sign with any team. All players or teams with contractual options/opt-out clauses must make their decisions by this evening. Teams have until 4:00 pm Central to decide whether to issue qualifying offers to eligible free agents.

NOVEMBER 4-7: General managers meetings in San Antonio, Texas. The GM Meetings typically lay the groundwork for the offseason rather than spurring much roster movement in themselves. They’re nevertheless significant as an opportunity for media to speak with high-level executives, which can shed some light on teams’ goals for the winter.

NOVEMBER 12: Silver Slugger award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 14: Reliever of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 18: Rookie of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 19: Players have until 3:00 pm Central to decide whether to accept the qualifying offer. If they accept, they’ll return to their previous team on a one-year, $21.05MM contract. Players who accept a QO, like all major league free agent signees, cannot be traded without their consent until June 15. Those who decline the QO are tied to draft compensation. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently covered what each team would receive for losing a qualified free agent and the penalties that teams would pay to sign a player who declined a QO.

NOVEMBER 19: Rule 5 protection deadline. Teams must add players who would otherwise be eligible for the Rule 5 draft to their 40-man roster by this date to keep them out of the draft.

NOVEMBER 19: Manager of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 19-21: Quarterly owners meetings in New York.

NOVEMBER 20: Cy Young award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 21: MVP award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 22: Non-tender deadline. Teams must decide whether to offer contracts to the arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration players on their 40-man roster. They do not need to agree to salaries by this date, but there’ll be a flurry of salary agreements as players who might otherwise be non-tender candidates often lock in deals at slightly lesser than projected salaries to avoid being cut loose. Players who are non-tendered immediately become free agents without going through waivers.

DECEMBER 8: Hall of Fame Classic Baseball Committee announcement.

DECEMBER 8-11: Winter Meetings in Dallas, Texas. The Winter Meetings are the offseason’s busiest few days and annually feature ample free agent and trade activity.

DECEMBER 10: Amateur draft lottery. The Rockies and Marlins have the best chance (22.45% each) of securing next year’s first overall pick.

DECEMBER 11: Rule 5 draft. Players selected must stay on their new teams’ active rosters for the entire ’25 season or be offered back to their original organization.

DECEMBER 15: Closing of the 2024 signing period for international amateurs.

JANUARY 9: Teams and arbitration-eligible players exchange salary filing figures. They’re free to continue negotiating beyond this date, though virtually every team treats this as an unofficial deadline to avoid an arbitration hearing unless they sign a multi-year contract.

JANUARY 15: Opening of the 2025 signing period for international amateurs. The majority of the international signings for the year will be announced on this date, as virtually all the top prospects have reached handshake agreements by this point. The notable (potential) exception: Japanese star Roki Sasaki, who has expressed an interest in being posted for MLB teams but would be subject to amateur bonus pool restrictions as a player under the age of 25 if his NPB team makes him available this offseason.

JANUARY 21: Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame announcement.

JANUARY 27 – FEBRUARY 14: Arbitration hearings. Arbitrators must choose either the team’s or player’s filing figure, not a midpoint.

FEBRUARY 12: Voluntary report date for pitchers and catchers. Players from the Dodgers and Cubs, who’ll open the season in Tokyo, could arrive a few days earlier.

FEBRUARY 17: Voluntary report date for other players.

FEBRUARY 20: Spring Training play begins.

MARCH 18-19: Dodgers and Cubs open regular season play with a two-game series at the Tokyo Dome.

MARCH 27: Domestic Opening Day.

White Sox Hire Will Venable As Manager

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Oct 31: The White Sox officially announced Venable’s hiring this morning, noting that he has agreed to a multiyear contract with the club. As noted by Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, Getz praised his new skipper in a statement alongside the announcement:

“Will is widely recognized as one of the premium managerial candidates within the game, and we are very excited to bring him into our organization as our new manager. He is so well thought of across baseball. Will has built a well-earned and well-deserved reputation as a successful player, front office executive, coach and associate manager. A great communicator, Will is going to build strong relationships, set expectations, build a clubhouse where we hold one another accountable, and ultimately, create a winning mindset among our players and a winning environment in our clubhouse.”

Venable also made a statement as part of the team’s press release:

“This is a great opportunity with a White Sox organization that is putting a lot of good things into place and laying a solid foundation for the future. It’s exciting to be part of that process to help get back to the type of baseball White Sox fans are used to seeing. We want players who show up to work hard every day, but also smart baseball players who understand the nuances of the game. There is a rich tradition here and a fan base that deserves winning baseball, and I am excited to do whatever I can to help.”

Oct 29: The White Sox have reached an agreement to hire Will Venable as manager, reports Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Venable has spent the last two seasons on Bruce Bochy’s staff as the associate manager of the Rangers. Major League Baseball discourages teams from revealing news on days with a playoff game, so the Sox are unlikely to make the hiring official until Thursday.

In any case, it’s a nice birthday present. Venable, who turned 42 on Tuesday, gets his first big league managerial opportunity. That has seemed like an inevitability. Venable has been regarded as a future manager for years. He’s a Princeton graduate who played in parts of nine major league seasons. The majority of his playing experience came in San Diego, where he was a well-rounded outfielder.

Venable finished his playing days in 2017. It didn’t take long for him to move into the next phase of his career. He joined the Cubs’ front office late in the ’17 campaign. Venable moved into coaching the following year, joining Joe Maddon’s staff as first base coach. Teams were considering him for managerial vacancies within a couple seasons. Venable interviewed for the Cubs job after Maddon departed the organization, while he also sat down with the Giants and Astros.

Chicago ultimately tabbed David Ross. Venable stayed on Ross’ staff for the 2020 season and again found himself in managerial searches. He interviewed with the Tigers and Red Sox, and while neither team hired as manager, Boston added him as bench coach not long after rehiring Alex Cora.

Venable spent two seasons in Boston. While the Red Sox hoped to bring him back for 2023, he departed to take on the associate manager role in Arlington. It proved to be a wise choice, as Venable collected a World Series ring during his first year. He pulled himself out of consideration for managerial openings last offseason, formally declining an interview with the Mets and bypassing a chance to pursue the Guardians opening.

Between his standing as the #2 coach in Texas and his decision not to proceed through the interview process last winter, Venable seemed like the manager-in-waiting in Arlington. Bochy will be back for at least a third season and hasn’t publicly tipped his hand on retirement plans. It’s not clear whether the circumstances in Texas have changed. Venable may simply have felt that he needed another year of experience and is now ready to lead a dugout.

Whatever the reason, he viewed this winter as the right time to look for a managerial opportunity. There have only been three vacancies thus far. The Reds quickly brought Terry Francona out of retirement. That left the White Sox and Marlins. Venable not only interviewed for both positions but emerged as a finalist in each search. The Miami Herald reported on Tuesday that he and Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz were finalists for the Marlins position. There hasn’t been any word out of Miami since Venable took the Sox job, but one can infer that Albernaz is likely to land in South Florida.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported on Tuesday that Venable, Albernaz and Phil Nevin were the finalists in Chicago. The Sox are also known to have interviewed Texas bench coach Donnie Ecker. Grady Sizemore, who took over as interim manager when the White Sox fired Pedro Grifol in August, also received consideration. Skip Schumaker, A.J. Ellis, Daniel Descalso, Clayton McCullough and George Lombard were among the other reported candidates.

In August, GM Chris Getz indicated the White Sox were looking outside the organization. While Sizemore was in the mix, they’ll indeed go with an external hire. Venable will have his work cut out for him with the White Sox coming off the worst season in modern baseball history. He joins the franchise at a time when owner Jerry Reinsdorf has floated the possibility of a sale. It’s an organization in flux.

It’s a much different situation than Venable would’ve assumed had he pursued and landed a job with the Mets or Cleveland a year ago. Those clubs certainly would’ve provided a clearer path to contention than he’ll find with the White Sox. Venable is familiar with the city after spending three seasons across town, though, and the rebuild should give him time to learn on the job as he works with a roster that won’t be expected to contend in the near future.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Daniel Hudson Announces Retirement

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Following the Dodgers’ decisive victory over the Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series last night, veteran reliever Daniel Hudson announced to reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) that he will retire from playing as a champion. The veteran of 15 big league seasons has played for the Dodgers, Padres, Nationals, Blue Jays, Pirates, Diamondbacks, and White Sox throughout his lengthy career.

Hudson, 37, was selected by Chicago in the fifth round of the 2008 draft. Then a starting pitcher, the right-hander was a fast riser to the majors who made his big league debut just one year after being drafted, in 2009. He made just nine appearances for the team that drafted him across two seasons before being shipped to the Diamondbacks in a deal for Edwin Jackson. Hudson slotted into the Diamondbacks rotation down the stretch and put on a dazzling performance for fans in Arizona, with a 1.69 ERA and 3.22 FIP in 11 starts spread across 79 2/3 innings of work.

That dominant late-season performance suggested the Snakes had landed a quality starter ready for a full season’s workload in the majors. The right-hander’s first full season with the Dbacks seemed to support that, as he posted a solid 3.49 ERA while logging 222 innings across 33 starts for the club in 2011. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse from there. Hudson’s 2012 season saw him post disastrous results through nine starts before going under the knife for Tommy John surgery that July. He’d miss the entire 2013 season while rehabbing and made it back to a big league mound only at the tail end of the 2014 season.

Hudson’s elbow troubles marked the end of his career as a starter, but his time in the majors was just getting started as he began to fashion himself into a reliever. His first season out of the bullpen in Arizona was relatively pedestrian, as the then-28-year-old pitched to a 3.86 ERA in 67 2/3 innings of work while striking out 24.5% of opponents. It was more of the same for the right-hander over the next several years, as he bounced from team to team as a solid but unspectacular middle reliever. From 2015 to 2018, Hudson suited up for Arizona, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles with rather pedestrian results. His 96 ERA+ was just below league average during that time, and he struck out 23.3% of opponents.

Things changed for Hudson in 2019, however. After latching on with the Blue Jays on a one-year deal, Hudson looked quite good for the rebuilding club in the first half of the season as he posted a solid 3.00 ERA in 48 innings of work. That solid performance was enough to draw interest from the Nationals, who at the time were in a tight race with the Phillies, Brewers, and Cubs for two NL Wild Card spots. The bullpen had been a sore spot for D.C. throughout the year, but Hudson helped to change that with a dominant late-season run that saw him post an eye-popping 1.44 ERA in 24 late-season innings for the Nationals.

That incredible work led Hudson to join closer Sean Doolittle as one of only a handful of trusted pitchers on Dave Martinez’s staff during the postseason. Hudson managed scoreless appearances in seven of his nine outings for the Nationals during that playoff run, highlighted by his save in the NL Wild Card Game against the Brewers to and his scoreless frame of work to close out Game 7 of the World Series and earn the Nats their first World Series championship in club history. After securing his first ring, Hudson remained with the Nationals for two more seasons. After a difficult 2020 campaign, he pitched well enough during the 2021 season to get traded to the Padres down the stretch, though San Diego ultimately missed the postseason.

The final act of Hudson’s career began in 2022 when he signed on to return to the Dodgers. During his second stint in Los Angeles, Hudson was nothing short of electric when on the mound, with a 2.69 ERA a 26.9% strikeout rate when healthy enough to take the mound. Staying healthy proved to be a challenge, however, as ACL and MCL injuries limited the veteran to just 27 1/3 innings of work over the 2022 and ’23 campaigns. He remained with the Dodgers on a minor league deal last winter, however, and was part of the club’s Opening Day bullpen. Now that he was finally healthy, the 37-year-old impressed with a 3.00 ERA in 63 innings of work while collecting ten saves with the Dodgers throughout the year. While a difficult outing in Game 4 of the World Series skewed his overall postseason numbers, Hudson was a generally effective relief arm for the club throughout their playoff run this year, throwing scoreless frames in five of his seven outings en route to his second career championship.

Altogether, Hudson posted a 3.74 ERA (111 ERA+) and a nearly-matching 3.76 FIP over 855 1/3 career innings during the regular season (to go with 21 postseason innings). He won 65 games and saved 43 while striking out 817 batters and appearing in 537 total contests. Those of us at MLB Trade Rumors salute Hudson on a fine career and wish him all the best in whatever comes next for the two-time World Series champion.

The Opener: Offseason, Trade Candidates, Cole

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On the heels of last night’s wild finale to the 2024 season, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. The offseason has arrived!

Game 5 of the World Series was a rollercoaster ride as the Yankees jumped out to a five-run lead in the early innings, only for the Dodgers to respond with five unearned runs off Gerrit Cole in a disastrous fifth inning full of defensive miscues. The Yankees managed to take the lead back, but only briefly as the Dodgers scored two runs in the eighth to put them ahead 7 to 6 before slamming the door on the Yankees offense for the final six outs of the 2024 campaign. While the Dodgers plan a parade and the Yankees lick their wounds, the rest of the baseball world will be turning their attention to the offseason, which officially arrives today. While it’s likely that things won’t really start to pick up for a few more days, today kicks off what’s sure to be a busy winter full of rumors, trades, and signings to discuss here at MLBTR.

2. Who are the winter’s top trade candidates?

While transactions may not be picking up just yet, it’s only a matter of time before trade and free agent rumors begin to fly. MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list is still a few days away, but readers looking for an offseason primer can look forward to a look at the Top 35 MLB Trade Candidates for the coming offseason later today! With teams like the White Sox and Marlins in the midst of rebuilds and even more competitive clubs like the Cardinals and Rangers looking to cut payroll this winter, plenty of intriguing names figure to be on the trade block this winter. The list doesn’t exclusively focus on clubs that appear certain to be active on the trade market, however, and features players from 23 of the league’s 30 clubs. Which players might your favorite club look to dangle this offseason? Tune in later today to find out!

3. What’s next for Cole?

While the vast majority of the attention was rightfully focused on star Yankees outfielder (and pending free agent) Juan Soto’s future last night, there’s one other star player on the Yankees who’s facing a decision this winter. That’s veteran right-hander Gerrit Cole, who has the ability to opt out of the remaining four years and $144MM on his contract with the Yankees if he so chooses. Should he decide to do so, the Yankees would then have the option to tack on an additional year and $36MM to Cole’s contract in order to stop him from hitting the open market.

A year ago, it looked all but certain that things would play out exactly that way, with Cole opting-out and the Yankees voiding that decision by exercising their option. Things don’t appear quite that certain anymore, however, as Cole is coming off an injury-shortened 2024 campaign where he was limited to just 17 starts. Those starts saw him pitch to a solid 3.41 ERA (121 ERA+), but that figure constitutes a step back from both his Cy Young 2023 (163 ERA+) and his overall figure (134 ERA+) as a Yankee. Will Cole attempt to beat that $144MM on the open market ahead of his age-34 campaign? And if he does, will the Yankees let him go?

Dodgers Win World Series

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The Dodgers are champions. Los Angeles stormed back from a 5-0 deficit tonight (with some help from the Yankees’ defense) for a 7-6 win to take it in five games. No team had ever come back from five runs down in a World Series clincher. As expected, Freddie Freeman won the Series MVP award.

It’s their second title in five seasons. While the pandemic restrictions limited their celebration in 2020, they’ll get to host a parade this time. The Dodgers were baseball’s best team in the regular season, leading MLB with 98 wins while outscoring opponents by 179 runs. There were nevertheless questions heading into October about whether a pitching staff battered by injuries could hold up.

The run to a championship wasn’t without adversity. L.A. found itself on the brink of elimination in its Division Series against the Padres. San Diego took a 2-1 series lead. The Friars had two chances to close it out, but Dodger pitching blanked them in consecutive games to advance. That was their only brush with elimination. Los Angeles took a 3-1 lead in the NL Championship Series against the Mets before closing it out in six.

They got out to an even better start to the World Series. Freeman’s two-out, walk-off grand slam off Nestor Cortes pulled them to a Game 1 victory. They survived a ninth-inning scare in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead to the Bronx. Los Angeles took Game 3 in a 4-2 win that wasn’t as close as the score suggested. The stranglehold on the series gave them three more clinching chances after Tuesday’s blowout loss.

For a while, it looked like tonight would be another easy defeat. An early offensive barrage from the Yankees knocked Jack Flaherty out of the game in the second inning. The Series looked to be headed back to L.A. until a defensive collapse by the Yanks in the fifth inning. Errors by Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe helped load the bases before a critical two-out miscommunication between Anthony Rizzo and Gerrit Cole that extended the inning. Hits by Freeman and Teoscar Hernández plated four more runs to tie it.

While the Yankees pulled back in front with a 6-5 lead, the Dodgers would take control in the eighth inning. The bottom half of the L.A. order loaded the bases against Tommy Kahnle. Sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts put them in front. Blake Treinen navigated a tricky bottom half of the eighth. After churning through their high-leverage bullpen arms, Dave Roberts turned to Walker Buehler for the ninth. Buehler easily set down the bottom third of the Yankee order, securing the title with consecutive punchouts of Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo.

Freeman homered in each of the first four games. While he didn’t extend that streak tonight, his two-run single in the fifth was pivotal. He wins his second championship, while Betts and injured reliever Joe Kelly join Royals’ reliever Will Smith as active players with three titles (h/t to Matt Eddy of Baseball America). Among the first-time champions: Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernández*, Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and NLCS MVP Tommy Edman.

It’s the eighth title in franchise history, the Dodgers’ first in a full season since 1988. The organization pulls even with the Giants for fifth on the all-time leaderboard. They’re now one away from the A’s and Red Sox, who are tied for third with nine rings apiece. The Yankees remain on 27 championships for at least another season, while the Cardinals are in second with 11 titles.

* Hernández was on the 2017 Astros but was traded midseason.

Image courtesy of Imagn.

Manfred: MLB To Test Ball-Strike Challenge System In Spring Training

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Major League Baseball plans to test the ball-strike challenge system during next year’s Spring Training, commissioner Rob Manfred said this week. Manfred suggested as much on Monday in a conversation with Jack Curry of the YES Network (X link). The commissioner reiterated that this morning in an interview with Chris Russo on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio.

“What I can tell you 100% is we are going to test the challenge system in Major League Spring Training in 2025,” Manfred told Russo. “I think that’s an important step forward.” That isn’t a stepping stone to implementing the system in regular season games by next year. Manfred said in May that he didn’t believe the technology would be sufficiently ironed out to put the automatic strike zone in place for meaningful games by ’25.

The commissioner didn’t reveal a specific timeline for its regular season implementation. He did tell The Dan Patrick Show last week (X link) that he expected to have some form of automated zone in place by the end of his tenure as commissioner, which concludes in the 2028-29 offseason. The date will presumably be dependent on the feedback MLB gets from players, coaches, and umpires. While MLB initially seemed to embrace a fully robotic zone, they’ve pivoted to the challenge system after testing both the challenge and the full ABS in the minors.

The challenge system leaves the human umpire as the default. Each team gets a finite number of challenges to turn to the automatic zone on borderline pitches. Challenges must be called for in real time by the hitter, pitcher or catcher. That’ll leave some missed calls but reduces the likelihood of a blown call on an especially important pitch.

That assuages some concerns about the rule book strike zone not perfectly aligning with the way players expect the game to be called. One common complaint about the automatic zone is its tendency to reward pitchers for clipping the top of the zone with an elevated breaking ball. That’s less likely to be an issue with the challenge system, as pitchers and catchers won’t often dispute pitches they don’t perceive as strikes themselves.

The challenge system also preserves some of the value of a catcher’s framing ability, although it offers a check in high-leverage spots when stealing a strike would be most significant. From a fan perspective, that’s mostly an aesthetic concern. It’s an economic one for some players, as there are plenty of current catchers whose value is driven largely by their receiving skills.

In an unrelated bit of rule experimentation, MLB used the Arizona Fall League as a testing ground for check swings. As Baseball America’s Josh Norris first observed (on X) last week, players were able to use bat tracking technology to challenge a check swing call.

MLB rules don’t spell out a technical definition of a check swing. Subjectivity doesn’t work for a challenge system. Sam Dykstra of MLB.com writes that the league used a 45-degree threshold for the bat angle. In other words, if the bat angle went beyond the opposite field base line, it was deemed a swing. The check swing challenge was only in use during the Fall League. There’s no indication it’s under consideration for testing with MLB players, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if it gets an eventual trial run in minor league regular season games.

Brandon Leibrandt Elects Free Agency

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Left-hander Brandon Leibrandt cleared outright waivers and elected free agency, according to his transaction log at MLB.com. Cincinnati had designated him for assignment on Monday as one of the corresponding moves to reinstate Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Matt McLain from the injured list. The Reds also designated Amed Rosario on Monday; there’s no formal resolution on his DFA but he’ll be a free agent as soon as the World Series ends so it’s irrelevant.

That wasn’t necessarily the case for Leibrandt, who would’ve been under club control if another team had claimed him. It always seemed likely he’d go unclaimed and return to the market in search of another minor league deal. The 31-year-old cracked the roster as a depth arm at the end of August. He pitched twice at the big league level, surrendering seven runs across 6 1/3 innings. Leibrandt’s only other MLB experience came as a member of the Marlins during the pandemic season. He has allowed nine runs over 15 1/3 career frames, walking nine batters while striking out eight.

Leibrandt was pitching in the independent ranks when the Reds signed him to a minor league deal in May. He pitched reasonably well as an organizational depth starter with Triple-A Louisville. Leibrandt turned in a 4.41 ERA across 83 2/3 innings in a hitter-friendly environment. He struck out a league average 22.7% of batters faced against a 6% walk rate. That could earn him another minor league contract.

Poll: Should The Pirates Trade A Catcher?

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For a few years now, the Pirates have had a couple of catchers as two of their top prospects. Henry Davis was taken with the first overall pick in the 2021 draft and has been under the microscope ever since. Endy Rodríguez was acquired in the January 2021 three-team trade that sent Joe Musgrove to the Padres and was declared Pittsburgh’s top prospect by Baseball America going into 2023.

There’s now a third name in the mix as Joey Bart had his long-awaited breakout in 2024. Selected second overall by the Giants in 2018, he struggled to establish himself at the big league level in San Francisco and had exhausted his option years by the end of 2023. He held onto his roster spot until the end of spring training 2024 but was designated for assignment at that time, getting flipped to the Pirates for minor league righty Austin Strickland.

Bart missed some time due to injury this year but got into 80 games for the Bucs and hit 13 homers. He slashed .265/.337/.462 overall for a wRC+ of 121, indicating he was 21% better than league average. His defense wasn’t highly regarded but that kind of offense behind the plate is hard to come by and was especially valuable on a Pittsburgh team that found it difficult to score runs. Among catchers with at least 250 plate appearances, Bart’s 121 wRC+ was fourth behind the Contreras brothers and Iván Herrera. With the same plate appearance threshold, he led all Pirate hitters in that stat.

Now there is theoretically a logjam with the three guys, as most clubs only roster two catchers at a time. The designated hitter spot probably doesn’t help, with Andrew McCutchen likely to be in there. He’s technically heading into free agency now but he and the Pirates seem to have an agreement whereby they can keep reupping with each other until he’s ready to retire. He’s now 38 years old but was one of the club’s only good hitters in 2024. For guys with 250 plate appearances, only Bart, Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz and McCutchen were above average by wRC+.

Rodríguez debuted in 2023 and didn’t hit much, with a .220/.284/.328 batting line and 65 wRC+ in his first 204 plate appearances. However, his defense was universally praised and he has hit better in the minors. He has slashed .295/.383/.506 on the farm overall and .285/.362/.450 at the Triple-A level. In December of last year, he underwent surgery on the UCL and flexor tendon in his throwing elbow and missed the entire big league season in 2024. He started a rehab assignment in mid-September and played in a handful of minor league games, suggesting he should be good to go for 2025.

Davis has had a more infuriating career so far, as he has destroyed minor league pitching but struggled badly in the majors. In 377 major league plate appearances thus far, he has struck out in 30.2% of them and hit .191/.283/.307 for a wRC+ of 61. But since the start of 2023, he has a 13.7% walk rate and 21.5% strikeout rate in the minors, helping him produce a combined .302/.424/.550 line and 158 wRC+.

All of this will lead to some interesting decisions for the Bucs. Bart isn’t great defensively but is a big bat on a club that didn’t have many this year. Rodríguez has played some other positions but a big part of his appeal is his strong work behind the plate. Davis has also dabbled in playing the outfield but the offensive expectations are even higher at that position than at catcher, so moving him into the outfield mix would put even more pressure on his bat.

Davis and Rodríguez still have options, so it’s possible that the Pirates could keep all three, with two of them in the majors and one in Triple-A. But Rodríguez is already a solid defender by big league standards and has done plenty of hitting in the minors, making it fairly wasteful to have him back down there. Davis doesn’t have much left to prove on the farm with his big numbers there. Arguably, the best thing for him is to see more big league pitching and get accustomed to it.

Another path they could choose is trading one of these three. Doing so would sacrifice some depth but Jason Delay is also on the 40-man roster and is still optionable. But there are also arguments against trading each of the three.

Davis might feel expendable at the moment with his relatively weaker defense and the fact that he hasn’t put it together offensively just yet, but the path of Bart is a cautionary tale. The Giants would surely love a mulligan on letting him go and the Pirates are probably aware that they could end up on the other side of such a trade. Given that Davis was such a highly regarded prospect, it’s not hard to imagine them flipping him and quickly regretting it when they have to watch him have his breakout elsewhere.

It wouldn’t be an ideal time to trade Rodríguez either, as he’s coming off a completely lost season. With some health and a step forward at the plate, he could improve his value tremendously this year and down the line.

Selling high on Bart might be appealing because they grabbed him at such a low point and saw him take a big step forward. But as mentioned, the club had so few productive hitters in 2024 and subtracting one of them would be a risky ploy.

Though there’s potential downsides with these considerations, the Pirates might think about it anyway. They generally don’t spend a ton of money in free agency but need to upgrade the roster somehow. General manager Ben Cherington has had his job since November of 2019 and the club has been stuck below .500 since then. They were rebuilding for the first few years of his tenure but expectations have been raised with some flashes of winning baseball in the past two campaigns. Unfortunately, they finished with a 76-86 record both last year and this year, perhaps leading to a bit of desperation in getting over the hump in 2025.

It’s possible that the free agent catching market could work in their favor this winter. The best available backstops are guys like Danny Jansen, Carson Kelly and Kyle Higashioka. Jansen is coming off a nightmare season and is a big question mark right now. Higashioka is coming off a career year but will turn 35 in April, making it fair to wonder if he just peaked. Kelly has been inconsistent in his career and more okay than great even when at his best. The Cardinals will likely make Willson Contreras available on the trade market but he has a pricey contract and is about to turn 33 years old. Christian Vázquez is in a similar situation to Contreras as a pricey veteran but with the offense and defense flipped, as Vázquez is a glove-first guy and Contreras bat-first.

Several clubs could use help behind the plate, with the Rays, Padres, Nationals, Cubs, Reds, Phillies and Braves just some of the possibilities. All three of Pittsburgh’s catchers are cheap, with Davis and Rodríguez still in their pre-arb years and Bart just getting to arbitration for the first time. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Bart for a modest $1.8MM salary in 2025, not much above next year’s $760K league minimum. Those affordable salaries would naturally appeal to clubs with budgetary or competitive balance tax concerns.

What do you think the Pirates should do with their many catching options? Have your say in the poll below!

Naykel Cruz To Hold Showcase For Interested Clubs

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Cuban left-hander Naykel Cruz is going to hold a showcase for interested clubs next week in the Dominican Republic, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. Last week, Romero relayed on X that the lefty was expected to sign as a professional rather than an amateur and had interest from six MLB clubs.

During his time in the Cuban National Series, Cruz tossed 241 1/3 innings, allowing 4.18 earned runs per nine. He struck out 205 of the 1,074 batters he faced, a rate of 19.1%. He also gave out walks 15.5% of the time. In his most recent season, he was fairly similar with a 19.8% strikeout rate and 15.8% walk rate. He made Cuba’s roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, though made just one appearance which lasted two thirds of an inning.

While the stats might not jump out, Romero relays that Cruz was throwing 90-92 miles per hour during his time in Cuba but has been able to increase that to the 94-95 mph range more recently. He also throws a curveball, sinker and changeup.

Per MLB rules, players coming from foreign leagues such as those in Japan, Korea or Cuba are considered “amateurs” until they are both 25 years old and have played six professional seasons. According to his Baseball Reference page, Cruz turned 25 in September and started playing in the Cuban National Series in 2019.

The distinction can often be important for a player’s earning power, seen most starkly with players coming over from Japan. Yoshinobu Yamamoto waited until he was considered a professional to come to MLB and was able to secure himself a $325MM guarantee. On the other hand, Shohei Ohtani came over when he was still considered an amateur and was therefore subject to the hard-capped limits of the international signing system, securing a $2.315MM bonus when he signed with the Angels.

Last year, fellow Cuban Yariel Rodríguez was declared a free agent and was able to secure a $32MM guarantee from the Blue Jays ahead of his age-27 season. However, Rodríguez was coming off a strong run of play in Japan wherein he tossed 175 1/3 innings over three seasons with a 3.03 ERA, 25.4% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate. He dropped his ERA to 1.15 in his final season playing in Nippon Professional Baseball, striking out 27.5% of batters faced and limiting walks to an 8.3% clip.

It’s unclear if Cruz will actually be considered a professional as he only played in four CNS campaigns. He also played in the Cuban Elite League, a winter ball league, the Mexican League and the WBC. It was reported by Cuba’s Radio 26 in February that Cruz would play for the Kitchener Panthers of Canada’s Intercounty Baseball League but he’s not listed on the Panthers’ stat page and Romero says that Cruz arrived in the Dominican Republic in April with the goal of signing with an MLB club.

His status may be something of a moot point as he won’t have the kind of earning power to get a massive deal. He is probably seen as more of a long-term project than an exciting finished product, as his tools are more interesting than his track record.

There were less than 50 lefties who threw at least 250 pitches in 2024 and averaged over 94 mph on their fastballs, per Statcast, so that kind of arsenal could be attractive to clubs. That could be enough to get him a shot somewhere, making him an intriguing under-the-radar name to watch in the coming months.

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