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Orioles Outright Ryan O’Hearn

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The Orioles announced that first baseman Ryan O’Hearn has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He had been designated for assignment last week when the O’s claimed Lewin Díaz a second time.

O’Hearn, 29, had a strong debut in 2018. Over 44 games in that season, he hit 12 home runs and produced a batting line of .262/.353/.597. Unfortunately, he’s been struggling since that time, slashing .211/.282/.351 over the past four seasons while striking out in 26.9% of his plate appearances.

Despite that poor run of late, the Royals still believed in O’Hearn enough to tender him a contract. He and the club avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.4MM salary for this year. They later designated him for assignment, perhaps hoping to pass him through waivers and keep him in the organization but without him taking up a roster spot. Instead, the Orioles grabbed him off waivers and are now are the beneficiaries of that plan.

O’Hearn can technically reject this outright assignment and elect free agency, since he has over three years of MLB service time. However, only players past the five-year mark can both opt for free agency and retain their salaries. Since O’Hearn is in between those two thresholds, he would have to leave that $1.4MM on the table in order to head to the open market. If there were a team in the majors that thought he was worth something in that range or higher, they surely would have put in a claim this week. That means O’Hearn’s smartest play, from a pure financial point of view, is to head to Norfolk and try to earn his way back onto the roster.

The O’s have been trying for quite some time to pass a left-handed bat through waivers to improve their depth at first base. They have twice claimed Díaz and then designated him for assignment shortly thereafter. The first time didn’t work since the Braves clearly indicated they were interested and sent cash considerations to Baltimore to acquire him. But the Braves then quickly put him on waivers themselves and the O’s swooped in with a claim yet again. Díaz has since been sent into DFA limbo by the O’s for a second time, his fifth of the offseason overall, and is still there for now. If he clears, he and O’Hearn would seemingly have to battle each other to be the one to get the call whenever the O’s feel they are ready to commit a roster spot to one of them.

Mets Interested In Trey Mancini, Adam Duvall

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The Mets have Trey Mancini and Adam Duvall “on their radar,” according to Andy Martino of SNY.

Mancini, 31 in March, put up a monster season in 2019, hitting 35 home runs and batting .291/.364/.535. Although that was the “juiced ball” season, that production was still 32% better than league average, as evidenced by his 132 wRC+. He then missed the 2020 season while undergoing treatment for a colon cancer diagnosis, but he made an inspiring return to the field the following year.

Over the past couple of seasons, Mancini has settled in as a cromulent player, although a notch below that excellent 2019 showing. He’s produced a combined .247/.323/.412 batting line in 2021 and 2022, leading to a wRC+ of 104. He’s provided some above-average defense at first base while also playing the outfield corners on occasion. His market has been fairly quiet thus far this winter, with the Cubs lone team showing reported interest. However, that was before they signed first baseman Eric Hosmer, which perhaps dampens their interest in Mancini.

Duvall, 34, is coming off a down year, though he had a good showing in the prior campaign. He’s always been a high-strikeout guy and that was indeed the case again in 2021. He was punched out in 31.4% of his plate appearances but also hit 38 home runs. That led to a batting line of .228/.281/.491 for a wRC+ of 103. He also provided excellent outfield defense, winning a Gold Glove in right field as a result.

Unfortunately, Duvall took a step back last year. He hit .213/.276/.401 for a wRC+ of 87 before his season was cut short by wrist surgery in July. That’s certainly not an ideal platform for this trip into free agency but he showed what he’s capable of the year before. Like Mancini, his market has been relatively quiet this offseason, with this appearing to be the first public connection to a team.

The Mets have seemingly been on the lookout for a complementary player to add to their outfield mix. Their interest in Andrew McCutchen was reported yesterday, and now this interest in Mancini and Duvall adds a couple more names into the mix. All three players are right-handed bats who have at least some capability to spend some time in the outfield. The current outfield should feature Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte and Mark Canha taking up the bulk of the time, but it makes sense to add to it for injury insurance. Khalil Lee could be used as a fourth outfielder but he had a poor season in Triple-A last year and still has an option remaining.

Darin Ruf is in the mix as someone who can occasionally play outfield and platoon with lefty Daniel Vogelbach at designated hitter. However, he struggled badly after coming over to the Mets in a trade with the Giants. He was hitting .216/.328/.373 at the time of the deal but produced an ice-cold line of .152/.216/.197 after. It seems the club is hoping to bring in another option for that job, with McCutchen, Mancini and Duval three names under consideration. Some other options still available in free agency include Tommy Pham, Brian Anderson and the switch-hitting Jurickson Profar.

Red Sox, Josh Taylor Avoid Arbitration

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The Red Sox and left-hander Josh Taylor are in agreement on a contract for 2023, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Taylor will earn a salary of $1.025MM in the upcoming campaign.

It’s been a rollercoaster for Taylor over the past few seasons. He made his MLB debut in 2019 and made 52 appearances with a solid 3.04 ERA. However, he went to the injured list multiple times in 2020 and was only able to get into eight games, posting a 9.82 ERA in those. He was able to get back on track in 2021 by getting into 61 games with a 3.40 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate, 11% walk rate and 43.4% ground ball rate.

He reached arbitration for the first time as a Super Two player and agreed to a salary of $1.025MM for 2022. Unfortunately, a low back strain kept him on the injured list for the entire season. Since the arbitration system is designed so that salaries effectively never go down, Taylor and club have agreed at the exact same price point for the upcoming campaign.

Taylor will look to get back to health and back on track in 2023, before going through the arbitration process two more times, slated to reach free agency after 2025. Despite the modest price point, he might be a key member of the club, as he and Joely Rodriguez are the only southpaws that currently seem likely to be in the Boston bullpen.

Rangers, Zack Littell Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers and free-agent righty Zack Littell are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. The CAA client will be invited to Major League camp with Texas this spring.

Littell has appeared in parts of five big league seasons, all with either the Twins or Giants. The 27-year-old has had something of a rollercoaster career, with wild year-to-year swings in his ERA. He’s twice posted a sub-3.00 mark, however, most recently with the 2021 Giants, for whom he logged a 2.92 earned run average with a 25% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 46.9% ground-ball rate while averaging 95 mph on his heater.

Unfortunately, Littell wasn’t able to replicate that success in 2022. He logged 44 1/3 innings out of the Giants’ bullpen but was tagged for a 5.08 ERA with noticeable drops in strikeout rate (20.5%) and fastball velocity (94.4 mph).

Littell’s struggles boiled over into a late-season incident where he had some words for manager Gabe Kapler upon being pulled from a relief appearance, which prompted a heated conversation between the two in the dugout tunnel shortly thereafter. Littell apologized for the behavior, noting that he was more frustrated with himself for his performance than anything else. Nonetheless, that proved his final game with the Giants, who optioned him to Triple-A the next day and outrighted him off the 40-man roster following the season. He elected to become a minor league free agent.

All in all, Littell has pitched 169 2/3 innings in the Majors with a 4.08 ERA, 21% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 42.8% ground-ball rate. He has 3.067 years of Major League service time, so if the Rangers select his contract to the big league roster at any point, he’ll be controllable through at least the 2025 season (and, depending on the timing of that promotion, perhaps through the 2026 campaign). He’d need to find the consistency that has eluded him to this point in his career for those additional years of control to prominently come into play, but Littell has shown at multiple points in the past that he has the potential to be a quality bullpen arm.

Josh Lindblom Announces Retirement

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Right-hander Josh Lindblom took to Twitter today to announce his retirement as a player. “For 30 years of my life, I played a game that taught me about more than balls and strikes, hits and runs, and wins and losses,” he wrote. “It taught me about life and made me the person writing this letter.” He then goes on to thank everyone with whom he’s interacted over that time, before concluding “I might be done, but I’m not finished.”

Lindblom, now 35, was first drafted by the Astros, who selected him out of high school with a third-round pick in 2005. Lindblom instead went to the University of Tennessee, later transferring to Purdue University. The Dodgers then selected him in the second round of the 2008 draft.

He was considered one of the club’s better prospects and would make it to the major leagues with the Dodgers in 2011. He did some solid work out of their bullpen that year, making 27 appearances with a 2.73 ERA. He made another 48 appearances for them through July of 2012, posting a 3.02 ERA in that time. He was then flipped to the Phillies at the deadline as part of the trade that sent Shane Victorino to Los Angeles.

His results took a downturn at that point, as his ERA after the trade was 4.63. Another trade sent him to the Rangers for the 2013 season, which he spent working primarily as a starter in Triple-A but struggling in brief MLB appearances. Yet another trade sent him to the A’s for 2014, where he was only able to make a single appearance in the majors, spending the rest of his time in Triple-A.

Lindblom then signed with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization. His first stint overseas was a successful one, as he threw 210 innings over 32 starts there with a 3.56 ERA. He couldn’t quite repeat that performance in 2016, as his ERA ticked up to 5.28 over 30 starts. A brief MLB comeback didn’t lead to much, with Lindblom signing a minor league deal with the Pirates. He was selected to the club’s roster and made four appearances but was eventually outrighted and returned to the Lotte Giants for the final months of the 2017 campaign.

2018 would prove to be a pivotal turning point for Lindblom. He signed with the Doosan Bears of the KBO and posted a 2.88 ERA over 26 starts and 168 2/3 innings. He returned to the club for 2019 and was even better. He made 30 starts in his second year as a Bear and registered a 2.50 ERA over 194 2/3 frames. He was voted the MVP of the league that year and the Bears won the Korean Series title.

He was able to parlay that strong stretch in the KBO into a three-year deal with the Brewers, which came with a $9.125MM guarantee and incentives that could have allowed him to earn $18MM. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite replicate that production in North America, at least not at the big league level. He posted a 5.16 ERA in the shortened 2020 season and then a 9.72 mark over eight relief appearances the year after. He was outrighted in May of 2021 and has been pitching in Triple-A since then. Though he’s had some decent results at that level, the Brewers never selected him back to the roster.

It’s certainly been a circuitous journey for Lindblom, as his career path took him to six different MLB teams and a couple of KBO squads. He hangs up his spikes having played in 134 major league games and 130 in Korea. We at MLBTR congratulate him on a unique and interesting time as a professional athlete and wish him the best in whatever he gets up to next.

Dodgers Release Trevor Bauer

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The Dodgers announced Thursday that they’ve given right-hander Trevor Bauer his unconditional release. Los Angeles designated Bauer for assignment last week and explored trade possibilities for the right-hander but was unable to find a match. He’ll now become a free agent who can sign with a new team for the league minimum. The Dodgers will remain on the hook for the rest of the $22.5MM still left on Bauer’s deal.

Bauer’s release marks the conclusion of the Dodgers’ relationship with the righty, whom they signed to a three-year, $102MM contract in the 2020-21 offseason. Bauer, then heading into his age-30 season, had just been named the National League Cy Young winner in the shortened 2020 season, when he pitched 73 innings of 1.73 ERA ball for the Reds. The contract contained opt-out opportunities for Bauer after each season — similar (but greater in scope) to prior free-agent deals seen between the Dodgers and Scott Kazmir (three years, $48MM) and the Mets and Yoenis Cespedes (three years, $75MM).

Bauer was effective through 17 starts with Los Angeles, pitching to a 2.59 ERA in 107 2/3 innings to begin the 2021 season. That summer, it came to light that a woman in California had filed a restraining order against Bauer and accused him of sexual assault, which prompted a tumultuous investigation by both Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. He spent the remainder of the season on paid administrative leave — a mutually agreed-upon placement that is common practice when players are being examined for alleged violations of the league’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. Two other women, both in Ohio, eventually came forth with similar allegations against Bauer.

The California plaintiff’s request for a long-term restraining order was denied in Aug. 2021, with a judge ruling that Bauer did not pose an ongoing threat to his accuser. The L.A. district attorney declined to pursue criminal charges, stating that: “After a thorough review of the available evidence, including the civil restraining order proceedings, witness statements and the physical evidence, the People are unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Despite the lack of criminal charges, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred opined that Bauer had indeed violated the league’s policy, implementing a record 324-game suspension back in April. Bauer appealed the suspension, and after sitting out the entire 2022 season, his ban was reduced to 194 games — which had already been served in full. Bauer was reinstated and is eligible to return to the mound immediately for any team that wishes to sign him.

The Yankees and Mets have no plans to pursue Bauer, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Padres are also uninterested, per Bryce Miller of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and the same goes for the Guardians, per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets that the Twins also have no plans to speak with Bauer.

Brewers, Thyago Vieira Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers and hard-throwing righty Thyago Vieira are in agreement on a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (via Twitter).

Vieira, one of just five Brazilian-born pitchers in MLB history, appeared in parts of three MLB campaigns with the Mariners (2017) and White Sox (2018-19) before signing with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for the 2020 season. The flamethrowing righty at one point ranked within the top 20 prospect in both Seattle’s and Chicago’s systems, due in no small part to a power fastball that averaged 97 mph during those three big league seasons and can at times crack triple digits.

As is so often the case for flamethrowing young prospects, however, command has been an issue for Vieira. The right-hander has walked just over 11% of his opponents both in Triple-A and the Majors, and he’s also been susceptible to plunking batters with errant pitches. He’s tossed just 25 2/3 innings at the MLB level but has hit three batters and snapped six wild pitches in that brief time. Overall, Vieira logged a 7.36 ERA in those 25 2/3 innings.

Vieira has fared much better in parts of three seasons in Japan. While his walk issues actually worsened in his debut campaign with the Giants, he’s since pared them back. Vieira notched a 2.93 ERA and saved 19 games in 2021, and while injury limited his time on the field in 2022, he was outstanding when healthy. In 20 innings with the Giants this past season, he posted a pristine 0.90 ERA with a 37.3% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate. All told, Vieira leaves Japan with a 3.61 ERA, a 26.2% strikeout rate and a 13.2% walk rate.

Vieira is a clear project for the Brewers’ development staff, but he’s an intriguing one who’s armed with a blistering heater who won’t turn 30 years old until July. The Brewers surely aren’t banking on anything from him right now, but he’ll get the opportunity to compete for a bullpen role this spring. If he doesn’t make the club, he can work on honing his command in Triple-A Nashville while awaiting an MLB opportunity in Milwaukee.

Matt Holliday Resigns As Cardinals’ Bench Coach; Joe McEwing Hired As Replacement

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The Cardinals announced Thursday that Matt Holliday has resigned from his position as the team’s bench coach. He’ll be replaced by Joe McEwing, who’s spent the past 15 years on the White Sox’ coaching staff. It’s a surprising announcement, given that Holliday was only hired to the post back in early November. Both Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Katie Woo of The Athletic suggest that Holliday’s decision came down to a matter of wanting to spend more time with his family (Twitter links).

Holliday, 43 this weekend, played in the big leagues from 2004 to 2018, donning a Cardinals uniform for much of that time. It thus made for an exciting return to the franchise when it was reported in November that he would take over the bench coach job that was left vacant when Skip Schumaker left to become manager of the Marlins.

However, with Spring Training now just over the horizon, it appears that Holliday has had a change of heart. Instead of returning to the MLB life of constantly being on the move from roughly January/February through October/November, he will choose a less-nomadic path and spend more time with his family. Holliday has four children with the eldest of those four, Jackson Holliday, having just been selected by the Orioles with the first overall pick in the 2022 draft.

As for McEwing, 50, he spent some time with the Cardinals as a player back in 1998 and 1999. He went on to suit up for the Mets, Royals and Astros. He’s since transitioned into coaching, starting in the minor leagues of the White Sox system in 2008. He jumped up to the big league team for the 2012 season, spending time as third base coach and bench coach through 2022.

Red Sox Designate Connor Seabold For Assignment

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The Red Sox have designated right-hander Connor Seabold for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Corey Kluber, per a team announcement.

Seabold’s DFA registers as something of a surprise, as the 26-year-old (27 later this month) is generally regarded as one of the better pitchers in Boston’s system. While he’s certainly older than most “prospects” at this juncture, each of Baseball America (No. 23), MLB.com (No. 21) and FanGraphs (No. 7) ranked Seabold favorably within the Red Sox’ farm as recently as midway through the 2022 season.

Granted, Seabold has been rocked for 25 runs in just 21 1/3 big league innings to this point in his career. However, the right-hander also turned in a strong 3.32 ERA with a 24.7% strikeout rate and an excellent 5.3% walk rate in 86 2/3 innings of Triple-A ball in 2022. That marked the second straight Triple-A season in which he’s pitched to an ERA in the mid-3.00s with average or better strikeout and walk rates.

Seabold, however, has battled injuries throughout his career — including some elbow troubles in 2021 and a forearm strain in 2022. Those recent arm troubles surely played into this decision, even if Seabold finished out the 2022 season in what appeared to be good health. Durability has been a concern that’s been cited on multiple scouting reports for the 6’2″, 190-pound righty. The fact that he’s tossed just 364 innings, between the big leagues and the minors combined, since being drafted in 2017 speaks to those concerns. Even accounting for a half season in his draft year and he lack of minor league games in 2020, that’s a fairly light innings total for a pitcher who’s worked as a starter over the course of four full professional seasons.

Durability concerns notwithstanding, Seabold is a more or less MLB-ready arm with a solid track record in Double-A/Triple-A and with one more minor league option year remaining. That seems likely to generate interest from another club, be it via a trade or waiver claim. The Red Sox will have a week to trade Seabold, pass him through outright waivers or release him.

Mariners Sign AJ Pollock

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The Mariners added a right-handed bat to their outfield mix Thursday, formally announcing their previously reported one-year signing of veteran AJ Pollock.  The Excel Sports Management client will be guaranteed $7MM on the deal and can earn an additional $3MM via incentives.

The Twins and Rangers were also known to have interest in Pollock, whose entry into the offseason market was at least somewhat unexpected.  Pollock batted a disappointing .245/.292/.389 over 527 plate appearances with the White Sox in 2022, yet he still opted to decline his $13MM player option for the 2023 season.  That option contained a hefty $5MM buyout, so between that money and the $7MM salary Pollock is receiving on his new deal with Seattle, the 35-year-old’s opt-out decision left $1MM in guaranteed money on the table.  With enough playing time to reach his contract’s incentives, however, he could match or even surpass that sum.

Pollock catches on with an intriguing Mariners team that reached the ALDS last season and is hopeful of taking more steps forward into World Series contention.  Seattle president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto is no stranger to Pollock, as Dipoto was working in the Diamondbacks’ front office when Arizona drafted Pollock with the 17th overall pick of the 2009 draft.

With center fielder Julio Rodriguez established as the bedrock of the Seattle outfield, the M’s have spent a lot of their offseason business on reinforcing and sorting out the corner outfield positions.  Mitch Haniger departed in free agency and Kyle Lewis and Jesse Winker were traded, while the Mariners acquired Teoscar Hernandez from the Blue Jays to act as the new everyday right fielder (and probable part-time DH).  Signing Pollock puts another right-handed bat into left field, with Jarred Kelenic and Taylor Trammell adding left-handed depth as platoon partners for Pollock or as bench options.

Some level of platoon shielding might be necessary given how Pollock’s numbers against right-handed pitching drastically fell off in 2022.  Always a solid bat against righty pitching in the past, Pollock hit only .231/.284/.309 over 394 plate appearances against righties last year.  This was the root of Pollock’s offensive struggles, as he continued to mash lefties to the tune of a .286/.316/.619 slash line and 11 homers over 133 trips to the plate.

In terms of overall Statcast metrics, Pollock’s 2022 performance didn’t differ all that greatly from previous seasons, though his hard-contract rate took a notable drop from 2021.  His speed and baserunning also took a hit, perhaps due to hamstring injuries in each of the last two seasons.  The biggest issue was a lack of power, as after posting a .227 Isolated Power number from 2017-21, Pollock dropped to only .143 in 2022.

Playing at spacious T-Mobile Park might not help Pollock regain all of that power stroke, though there are some reasons the Mariners can be hopeful about a rebound.  If Pollock is “only” a lefty-masher again, the M’s theoretically have enough left-handed outfield candidates to pick up the slack.  Moving back from less than a full-time role might be helpful for Pollock, as his 138 games played last season represented the second-highest total of his 11 MLB seasons — it could be that staying relatively healthy last year actually hampered Pollock or wore him down to some extent.  A normal offseason and Spring Training routine heading into 2023 would be just what the 35-year-old needs to produce a bounce-back year.

Just yesterday on MLBTR, Steve Adams wrote about the Mariners’ search for a right-handed hitting outfielder, and the broader sense that the M’s were having a strangely quiet offseason for a team that seemed poised to make some splashy final touches to a contender.  Adding Pollock for $7MM won’t quell speculation that ownership isn’t stretching the budget as much as expected, and yet the signing can also be viewed as a relatively inexpensive but smart investment.  Pollock was posting big numbers as recently as 2021, he has been a solid performer for most of his career, and he brings some more veteran experience and championship pedigree (Pollock was a big part of the Dodgers’ 2020 title team) to the young Mariners.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the agreement and the base terms (Twitter link). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the additional incentives.

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