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Angels To Sign Matt Moore

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The Angels are in agreement with reliever Matt Moore on a $9MM contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). Moore, a client of Apex Baseball, will sign with the Halos for a second straight offseason. He inked a one-year, $7.55MM deal with the Angels last winter.

The first run in Anaheim was a good one for the now 34-year-old Moore, who’s enjoying a nice second act of his career since moving to the bullpen. In 44 innings with the Angels during the 2023 season, the veteran southpaw notched an excellent 2.66 earned run average. Moore logged a strong 28% strikeout rate against a lower-than-average 6.9% walk rate.

The Halos wound up waiving Moore in August, but not due to his performance. Rather, the Angels made a last-ditch effort to get under the luxury tax threshold with a mass waiver purge just weeks after an aggressive, win-now trade deadline. Moore, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Hunter Renfroe, Randal Grichuk, Dominic Leone and Tyler Anderson all wound up on waivers in hopes that another club would take their contracts (not all were claimed).

Moore was quickly snapped up by the Guardians as they made their own last-minute push, claiming Giolito in addition to Moore. His stint with Cleveland only lasted 4 2/3 innings, as the Guards waived Moore themselves to save some cash after they, too, fell out of postseason contention. The Marlins scooped Moore up and enjoyed four shutout innings for him down the stretch.

Overall, Moore finished out a bizarre 2023 season with a 2.56 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate and vastly improved 6.9% walk rate in 52 2/3 innings between the three teams. That marked Moore’s second consecutive year of productive pitching following a move to the bullpen. He turned in a 1.95 ERA for the Rangers in 2022 after signing a minor league deal. When combining the two seasons, Moore touts a 2.20 ERA with five saves, 36 holds, a 27.4% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate in 126 2/3 innings.

It’s a strong second act for the southpaw, who’d struggled as a starter for the few seasons preceding his bullpen move. It has clearly impressed Halos GM Perry Minasian and his staff, who have added him on a notable one-year pact in consecutive years. That’s in line with a broad willingness to attack the relief corps on free agency.

Los Angeles has signed five relievers this winter. Their first three acquisitions — Luis Garcia, Adam Kolarek and Adam Cimber — were fairly modest one-year deals. In recent days, they’ve been more aggressive. The Angels finalized a three-year, $33MM pact with Robert Stephenson this afternoon. Moore adds a lefty option to a relief group that otherwise figures to lean heavily on righties Carlos Estevez, Stephenson, Garcia, Ben Joyce and Jose Soriano.

The Angels are now up to roughly $172MM in payroll commitments for the upcoming season, as calculated by Roster Resource. That’s still well shy of last year’s $212MM Opening Day mark. Minasian and his staff very likely aren’t finished. They’ve been tied to various possibilities in both the lineup and the starting rotation. There’s still opportunity for the Angels to continue adding in the next few weeks.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Angels, Miguel Sanó In Agreement On Minor League Deal

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The Angels and slugger Miguel Sanó are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN. The deal for the Octagon client includes an invite to major league camp.

Sanó, 31 in May, has long had tremendous power but has also dealt with huge strikeout issues and health problems. From 2015 to 2019, he launched 118 home runs in 2,051 plate appearances for the Twins. He was punched out in 36.3% of those trips to the plate but also drew walks at a 12% clip. His .245/.338/.498 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 121. That included a huge 2019 that saw him launch 34 long balls. That was the “juiced ball” season but it’s not as though that power came out of nowhere, with Sanó having hit 25 or more homers twice before.

The Twins signed him to a three-year, $30MM extension going into 2020, with a club option for 2023. From there, his production dipped. Over 2020 and 2021, he still hit 43 home runs in those two seasons, with one of them being shortened to just 60 games, but his strikeouts and on-base numbers went in the wrong direction. He was punched out at a 37% rate in that time while batting .218/.303/.470. That was still above average, 109 wRC+, but below his previous levels. In 2022, knee injuries limited him to just 20 games and a dismal line of .083/.211/.133.

After that injury-marred season, the Twins decided to let him go, opting for a $3MM buyout instead of a $14MM salary. He held workouts for interested teams but ultimately didn’t sign anywhere for the 2023 season. Recently, he’s been playing for Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Winter League and appears to be healthy. In 107 plate appearances there, he has struck out 30 times but also drawn 14 walks and launched a couple of homers, leading to a .225/.346/.405 slash line.

Sanó was primarily a corner infielder during his time with the Twins but was never highly rated on defense. The Angels have an open designated hitter spot, with Shohei Ohtani having been there in recent years. First base and third base also have some question marks. Anthony Rendon is the club’s third baseman on paper but he hasn’t played 60 games in a season since 2019 due to the pandemic and injuries. Nolan Schanuel could be their first baseman but he was just drafted last summer and only has 51 games of professional experience.

There’s no risk for the Angels in bringing Sanó to Spring Training, allowing them to get an up-close look at his health and performance. If he can bounce back into his previous slugging form, it would be a huge win for them. If not, he’s not even guaranteed a roster spot and could be quickly jettisoned even if added. For Sanó, it’s a chance to show his health and abilities to the Angels but also to other clubs around the league who will surely be watching.

Angels Designate Alfonso Rivas For Assignment

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The Angels have officially announced their previously-reported deal with right-hander Robert Stephenson. First baseman/outfielder Alfonso Rivas has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

Rivas, 27, has never appeared in a game as an Angel, having just been claimed off waivers a month ago. Over the past three years, he has been given 459 plate appearances in the majors between the Cubs, Padres and Pirates. He struck out in 30.3% of those and produced a batting line of .243/.324/.349, leading to a wRC+ of 90.

The production at Triple-A has been far more impressive. In 499 trips to the plate at that level over the past three years, he’s hit 14 home runs and paired a 15.6% walk rate with a 21.1% strikeout rate. His combined slash line of .307/.423/.483 translates to a wRC+ of 137. Defensively, he’s been mostly at first base but has also seen some time in the outfield corners.

Since the season ended, he’s been on the waiver carousel. He was claimed off waivers by the Guardians and then the Angels and may end up changing teams yet again. The Halos will now have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Despite the tepid major league production, the work in the minors is likely strong enough for him to get a shot with another club. He still has one option remaining and won’t even need to be guaranteed an active roster spot by a club that acquires him.

Angels Sign Robert Stephenson To Three-Year Contract

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The Angels announced the signing of reliever Robert Stephenson to a three-year contract on Tuesday afternoon. Stephenson, a client of Apex Baseball, is reportedly guaranteed $33MM. There’s also a conditional team option for the 2027 campaign based on Stephenson’s elbow health. If the pitcher suffers an elbow ligament injury that causes him to miss 130 consecutive days, the Halos would have a $2.5MM option on his services for a fourth season. He will otherwise make $11MM annually over the next three years.

Stephenson, 31 next month, was the top remaining free agent reliever once Josh Hader came off the board. Within a couple hours of Hader agreeing to a five-year, $95MM pact with the Astros, Stephenson decided to join him in the AL West.

A three-year guarantee for Stephenson would have seemed outlandish six months ago. Until last summer, he looked like a volatile middle innings arm. A former first-round pick and highly-regarded prospect with the Reds, Stephenson struggled early in his career as a starter. He moved to relief full-time in 2019 and had an up-and-down trajectory.

The 6’3″ righty turned in a sub-4.00 ERA in 2019 and ’21 before a rough 2022 campaign. He split the year between the Rockies and Pirates, allowing a 5.43 ERA through 58 innings. Stephenson opened last season with 14 innings of nine-run ball in Pittsburgh.

An early June trade sending him to the Rays for infielder Alika Williams didn’t result in a ton of fanfare. It wound up being one of the more adept rental acquisitions of the summer, though, one that completely changed his fortunes in free agency.

Stephenson was arguably the most dominant pitcher in the majors for the season’s final four months. During his time in Tampa Bay, he worked to a 2.35 ERA across 38 1/3 innings. He punched out a laughable 42.9% of hitters while walking fewer than 6% of batters faced. Among relievers with 30+ innings after June 1, only Félix Bautista, Aroldis Chapman and Pete Fairbanks punched hitters out at a higher rate.

Even that doesn’t capture how overpowering he was on a pitch-for-pitch basis. Opponents whiffed more often than they made contact. Hitters put the bat on the ball on 49.3% of their swings against Stephenson in Tampa Bay. That wasn’t simply the best mark in MLB. It was almost 10 percentage points lower than anyone else over that stretch. Chapman, against whom batters made contact on 59% of their swings, was second.

It’s not hard to pinpoint a reason for that excellence. Before he went to Tampa Bay, he paired a near-97 MPH four-seam fastball with a mid-80s slider. With the Rays, he leaned mostly on an upper-80s breaking ball that Statcast classifies as a cutter. Opponents couldn’t do anything with that pitch. They swung through it nearly three-fifths of the time and hit .101 in 79 at-bats. By the season’s final month, he was using the pitch at a near-75% clip.

Whether Stephenson adopted the cutter from scratch or just found a way to add a couple ticks of velocity to his former slider isn’t clear. In any event, it’s a pitch he’ll surely lean on frequently in Orange County. The Angels can’t expect him to maintain quite the level he showed in Tampa Bay — that’d be a tough ask for anyone — but they’re surely anticipating him stepping in as a quality high-leverage arm.

That’s not without risk. Stellar as Stephenson’s finish was, his time in Tampa Bay comprised fewer than 40 innings. From his 2019 bullpen transfer through his stint in Pittsburgh, he tallied a 4.53 ERA in 192 2/3 frames between three teams. Some of that can be attributed to playing in hitter-friendly home venues in Cincinnati and Colorado, but he clearly wouldn’t have been a candidate for a three-year pact had he not finished the way he did. His 26.9% strikeout rate over those four-plus seasons was a solid but hardly elite number.

It’s the first significant acquisition of the offseason for the Halos. While Stephenson is their fourth bullpen pickup overall, the other three signings were modest one-year investments. Luis García landed a $4.75MM deal, while Adam Cimber inked a $1.65MM pact after being non-tendered by Toronto. Adam Kolarek, who signed for $900K, was already outrighted off the 40-man roster.

Stephenson will work in the late innings. He doesn’t have any closing experience, so the Halos could elect to leave last year’s key bullpen pickup, Carlos Estévez, in the ninth inning. The pair of righties should take the bulk of the most important work late in games. García and Cimber will occupy middle relief roles, while Ben Joyce and José Soriano could hold setup jobs.

It’s a high-octane group built around some of the hardest throwers in the sport. Joyce averaged nearly 101 MPH on his heater and famously was clocked as high as 105 MPH in college. Estévez and García sit north of 97 MPH on average. Soriano and Stephenson have upper 90s velocity in their back pocket as well, even if both lean more frequently on their breaking stuff.

New manager Ron Washington should appreciate the stable of power arsenals at his disposal, although the Halos likely need to add another left-hander to the mix. That could put the finishing touch on the bullpen, yet there’s still plenty of work for GM Perry Minasian and his front office.

The Halos haven’t made any acquisitions on the offensive side to compensate for Shohei Ohtani’s departure. That’s also true in the rotation. They’ve looked for ways to add a top-end starter. In addition to scouring the trade market, the Halos have reportedly shown interest in defending NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell.

There should still be plenty of payroll room at their disposal. Roster Resource projected the 2024 player payroll around $153MM before the Stephenson signing. Evenly distributing his salaries pushes that around $164MM. The Halos opened last season with a payroll at roughly $212MM, as calculated by Cot’s Baseball Contracts. They’ll still be almost $50MM shy of that mark. They’re also nowhere near next year’s $237MM base luxury tax threshold. Stephenson’s $11MM average annual value will push the Angels’ projected CBT number to roughly $179MM.

The contract comes in just below MLBTR’s prediction of four years and $36MM. It’s in line with the going rate for high-leverage relievers with some inconsistency in their career track record, as shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker. Stephenson’s deal generally aligns with those signed by Taylor Rogers (three years, $33MM), Rafael Montero (three years, $34.5MM), Joe Jiménez (three years, $26.5MM), former Angel Reynaldo López (three years, $30MM) and Jordan Hicks (four years, $44MM) over the last two offseasons.

@Jolly_Olive first reported the Angels and Stephenson had agreed to a three-year deal exceeding $30MM with a 2027 option. Sam Blum of the Athletic reported the $33MM guarantee. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the $2.5MM conditional option based on Stephenson’s arm health. The Associated Press reported the 130-inning provision and the evenly distributed salaries.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Angels, Red Sox Possible Finalists For Adam Duvall?

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  • The Red Sox and Angels have been the only two teams publicly linked to Adam Duvall this winter, and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes that Duvall will “likely” wind up with one of those clubs barring a late bid from a new suitor. Duvall hit .247/.303/.531 with 21 homers over 353 plate appearances with the Sox last season, and his right-handed bat could serve as a nice complement to the lefty-swingers (i.e. Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida) that comprise much of Boston’s outfield mix.  Then again, Duvall could find more playing time in Los Angeles, given Mike Trout’s injury history and the lack of a consistent MLB track record for either Mickey Moniak or even Taylor Ward in the Angels’ outfield.

Angels, Hunter Dozier Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Angels and free agent infielder Hunter Dozier have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The Warner Sports Management client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring. Dozier was released by the Royals back in May during the third season of a four-year contract. Kansas City still owes him $9MM for the upcoming season plus a $1MM buyout on a 2025 option. As such, the Angels would only owe Dozier the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Royals still owe to him.

Now 32 years old, Dozier was the eighth overall pick in the 2013 draft, though that lofty selection by the Royals was made in part to cut an under-slot deal that allowed them to draft left-hander Sean Manaea 26 picks later. (Manaea was traded to the A’s for Ben Zobrist before ever appearing in Kansas City.) Dozier was still a well-regarded prospect himself, to be clear, but he struggled in the early stages of his pro career before a 2016 breakout between Double-A and Triple-A.

As was the case in the upper minors, Dozier struggled in his first few big league looks. He broke out in 2019 with a career-high 26 home runs and a hearty .279/.348/.522 batting line. We know now that the 2019 season was riddled with anomalous performances due to that season’s juiced ball; a ridiculous 58 players hit 30 or more home runs that season — and Dozier might’ve made for a 59th had he not spent more than three weeks on the injured list.

That 2019 breakout was followed by a diminished but respectable .228/.344/.392 batting line in 2020 that was right around league average, by measure of wRC+ and OPS+. Add that output to his 2019 success, and Dozier touted a .267/.347/.492 batting line and 32 homers through a sample of 772 plate appearances. That was enough for Kansas City to commit to a four-year, $25MM extension with a fifth-year option, guaranteeing one free agent season (2024) and giving the Royals an option over a second (2025).

The contract looked regrettable almost immediately, however. Dozier turned in a dreary .216/.285/.394 slash in 2021 and carries an overall .222/.286/.384 batting line in 1134 trips to the plate over the past three seasons. He did not sign with another club in 2023 after getting cut loose by Kansas City in late May.

The Angels will hope that Dozier can recapture some of his 2019-20 form, providing depth at all four corner spots. Dozier’s most frequent position in the Majors has been third base (1941 innings), but he has more than 1000 innings at first base and in right field as well (plus another 176 frames in left field). He’s a right-handed bat who hit lefties well in 2022-23 even as he struggled on the whole.

Since that 2019 breakout, Dozier has a .244/.338/.429 batting line when facing left-handed opponents. He gives the Angels some depth at first base behind 2023 first-round pick Nolan Schanuel, who skyrocketed to the majors in less than two months last summer. It seems unlikely that the Halos would push Schanuel, a polished college bat, into a platoon role, but Dozier’s righty bat is a complement to the lefty-swinging Schanuel. Dozier and fellow first corner infielder/outfielder Trey Cabbage could vie for a bench job this spring. Cabbage posted a massive .306/.379/.596 line in a hitter-friendly Triple-A setting last year and is on the 40-man roster, both of which surely would give him an edge. He does, however, have minor league options remaining.

Angels Sign International Prospect Joswa Lugo

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  • Joswa Lugo, SS, Angels: $2.3MM signing bonus, Dominican Republic native, MLB Pipeline’s #37 prospect

Angels Sign Richie Martin To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have agreed to a minor league deal with shortstop Richie Martin, according to the transactions log on Martin’s MLB.com player page.

Martin, 29, was selected 20th overall by the A’s in the 2015 draft out of the University of Florida. Martin struggled at the plate early in his professional career but seemed to enjoy a breakout season at the Double-A level in 2018, when he slashed .300/.368/.439 in 118 games at the level. Despite that strong performance and his pedigree as a former first-round pick, the A’s declined to protect Martin from the Rule 5 draft that winter and he was selected by the Orioles.

Baltimore retained Martin on their roster throughout the 2019 season and he appeared in 120 games for the club as a part-time player at shortstop. In 309 trips to the plate, Martin struggled badly with a .208/.260/.322 slash line, but the performance was enough to keep a spot on the 108-loss Orioles throughout the season, earning Baltimore the unrestricted rights to Martin’s services in future seasons. Unfortunately, Martin’s development was further thrown off course by the shortened 2020 campaign. Martin suffered a fractured wrist less than two weeks before Opening Day, ending his season before it began.

When Martin returned to action in 2021, he found a new role as a depth option for the Orioles and spent the majority of his time at the Triple-A level. He received just 138 plate appearances in the majors across the 2021 and ’22 seasons and slashed a paltry .219/.263/.289 across his 50 games with the big league club. In 2022, Martin’s numbers at the Triple-A level were respectable despite his weak big league performance as he posted a 96 wRC+ in 80 games at the level while playing solid defense at second base, shortstop, and all three outfield spots. That performance wasn’t enough for Martin to retain a spot on the Orioles’ big league roster, as they designated him for assignment in early September.

Upon electing minor league free agency that offseason, however, Martin did find interest from other teams on minor league pacts. The then-28-year-old infielder first signed with the Reds last winter but was released shortly before Opening Day and caught on with the Nationals back in April. Martin ultimately did not make an appearance in the majors and slashed just .217/.329/.314 at the Triple-A level. Now that he’s signed on in Anaheim, Martin provides the Halos with middle infield depth in the upper levels of the minors entering the 2024 campaign. With Luis Rengifo and Zach Neto expected to handle everyday duties in the middle infield for the Angels next year, Martin figures to compete with the likes of Kyren Paris and Michael Stefanic for a role on the club’s bench this spring and could act as non-roster depth if he fails to break camp with the club out of Spring Training.

Angels Interested In Enrique Hernandez

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The Angels have some interest in utilityman Enrique Hernandez, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.  The Halos are the first team publicly linked to Hernandez this winter, which is perhaps unsurprising since he is coming off double hernia surgery in November and a pair of underwhelming seasons at the plate.

Hernandez’s defensive versatility has always been more of a calling card than his bat, though he produced roughly league-average (99 wRC+) offense over his first six seasons and then hit .250/.337/.449 for a 109 wRC+ over 585 plate appearances for the Red Sox in 2021.  That was the first season of a two-year, $14MM deal for Hernandez with the Sox, and things seemed to be going swimmingly until an injury-plagued 2022 campaign.

Since Opening Day 2022, Hernandez has hit only .230/.290/.349 over 910 PA with the Red Sox and Dodgers.  Boston retained the veteran on another contract extension for the 2023 season, but more struggles led the Sox to swap Hernandez to the Dodgers prior to the trade deadline.  The move back to his old haunt at Dodger Stadium seemed to somewhat revitalize Hernandez, as he batted .262/.308/.423 over 185 in L.A. as opposed to his .222/.279/.320 slash line in 323 PA with the Red Sox prior to the deal.

It undoubtedly also helped that the Dodgers deployed Hernandez in his former super-utility role, rather than the regular shortstop duty Hernandez had to take on in Boston due to Trevor Story’s long stint on the injured list.  While Hernandez had chipped in at shortstop several times during his career, playing the position on a regular basis exposed his glovework, and public defensive metrics weren’t impressed by the results.

With the Angels, Rosenthal writes that Hernandez would be viewed largely as a third base backup option to Anthony Rendon.  Since Shohei Ohtani is gone and the designated hitter spot is now open, the Halos can rotate several veterans into DH duty for partial rest days, and Rendon is a natural candidate given his bevvy of injuries over the last few seasons.

It might not be a perfect platoon fit since Hernandez and Rendon are both right-handed hitters, and Hernandez has also played only 252 career innings at third base (with underwhelming defensive numbers).  However, Hernandez would likely be bounced all over the diamond in Anaheim, and Luis Rengifo is also on hand to see some time at the hot corner whenever Rendon is at DH or getting a full day off.

The Angels have mostly been focused on pitching additions this winter, and have yet to do anything really meaningful with their position player group despite a lot of interest in various names still on the free agent market.  Hernandez’s versatility could give L.A. depth at multiple positions, as his past experience as a center fielder would help address what seems to be a need for the Halos.  Infield depth is also an item on the to-do list, since Gio Urshela, Eduardo Escobar, and Mike Moustakas are all free agents and David Fletcher was traded to the Braves.

Latest On Shota Imanaga

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Jan. 9: Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports this morning that both the Giants and Angels now “appear to be looking elsewhere” (Twitter links). Heyman suggests that both the Red Sox and Cubs are “very much” still alive in the Imanaga bidding. That runs counter to reports from the weekend and from yesterday, though bidding on any free agent is, of course, quite fluid. Imanaga has a bit more than 48 hours remaining to come to terms with a team.

Jan. 8, 3:55pm: Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that the Sox are considered a “long shot” to get Imanaga as things currently stand.

3:45pm: Star NPB left-hander Shota Imanaga will see his 45-day posting window come to a close on Thursday, meaning it’s only a matter of days before the 30-year-old will decide on his first big league team. Bidding for Imanaga has reportedly been strong, as he’s drawn interest from a wide range of teams thus far in his first foray into MLB’s open market. As the bidding period winds down, Imanaga’s market has unsurprisingly begun to take firmer shape.

Sankei Sports in Japan reports that the Angels and Giants are currently the leading candidates to sign Imanaga, although no decision has been made just yet. Similarly, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand suggests that the Giants are emerging as the favorites to sign the southpaw, though Feinsand adds that each of the Angels, Cubs and Red Sox remain in the fold to some extent. While there’s still a number of ways which the left-hander’s final decision could go, it’s at least notable that Feinsand characterizes a final four of sorts, while the reports out of Japan have the field narrowed further yet.

The Giants and Angels are both strong fits for Imanaga, who’s expected to top countryman Kodai Senga’s five-year, $75MM contract with the Mets. San Francisco acquired former AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray on Friday in a surprising trade with the Mariners, but Ray isn’t expected to pitch until midseason as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Similarly, right-hander Alex Cobb will open the year on the injured list while recovering from October hip surgery.

That leaves the Giants with ace Logan Webb as the most (arguably only) solidified member of the rotation. Veteran Ross Stripling, top prospect Kyle Harrison and 2023 rookies Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck are among the candidates to round out the staff, but there’s a good deal of uncertainty beyond that group. It’s true that Imanaga himself comes with his own uncertainty — he’s untested against big league hitters — but MLB scouts are intrigued enough by him that some believe his contract could approach nine figures. Clearly, there’s a prevailing belief throughout MLB that Imanaga is a legitimate mid-rotation arm, at the least.

A few hundred miles to the south, the Angels are facing some rotation questions of their own. Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning and Patrick Sandoval are all locked into spots, although Detmers and Sandoval both had down 2023 showings relative to their 2022 performance. That’s even more true of veteran Tyler Anderson, who had an All-Star ’22 showing with the Dodgers before posting a 5.43 ERA in year one of a three-year, $39MM free agent deal with the Halos. The Angels recently took a low-cost flier on Zach Plesac and have reportedly been prioritizing Blake Snell in the wake of Shohei Ohtani’s departure, but Imanaga presents a mid-rotation option for them as well.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, will roll out a new-look rotation with or without Imanaga. Gone is oft-injured ace Chris Sale, who was shipped to the Braves (with cash) in exchange for second baseman Vaughn Grissom. He was quickly replaced by newly signed Lucas Giolito, who’s currently in line to be joined by some combination of Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock and Kutter Crawford.

As for the Cubs, they’ve been MLB’s least-active team this winter — at least when it comes to actually pushing deals across the finish line. Chicago has been connected to a litany of free agents and a handful of trade targets, but thus far the Cubs haven’t added a single player to their roster aside from catcher Brian Serven, whom they claimed off waivers from the Rockies last week. Chicago’s rotation currently includes Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks and Jameson Taillon, with veteran Drew Smyly and young arms like Hayden Wesneski, Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown and Javier Assad all in the mix for starts as well. It’s a relatively solid group, but the Cubs figure to make some kind of move to replace the outgoing Marcus Stroman.

Dating back to 2019, Imanaga boasts a 26.2% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate in addition to a cumulative 2.79 earned run average — including a no-hitter in the 2022 season. He’s not overpowering in terms of velocity, though MLBTR contributor Dai Takegami Podziewski noted back in September that he’d added some life to his heater and was averaging between 92-93 mph during the 2023 campaign. In addition to the guaranteed money owed to the pitcher himself, Imanaga’s new team will need to pay a release fee to his former team, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, which would be equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter.

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