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Orix Buffaloes May Post Masataka Yoshida For MLB Teams

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The Orix Buffaloes just won the Japan Series, becoming the champions of Nippon Professional Baseball’s 2022 season.  Now, the Buffaloes may immediately face a major roster decision, as GM Junichi Fukura told The Japan Times last week that the team will speak with outfielder Masataka Yoshida about a possible posting for MLB teams.  Yoshida is seeking a move to North America, telling reporters “I’ve always wanted to play at a high level.”

Over his seven seasons with the Buffaloes, Yoshida has become one of NPB’s top hitters, with a .327/.421/.539 slash line and 133 home runs in 3129 career plate appearances.  His resume includes four NPB All-Star appearances, league batting titles in both 2020 and 2021, and four selections to the “Best Nine” roster for the Pacific League (like the AL and NL in the majors, NPB has the Pacific League and Central League).  Yoshida was also the hero in Game 5 of the Japan Series, with a two-homer performance that included a three-run walkoff blast to give the Buffaloes a comeback win.

Yoshida turns 30 next July, so it would seem like he still has some more prime years to contribute as he makes the potential move to Major League Baseball.  He would make an intriguing addition to this year’s free agent market, particularly for teams in need of left-handed hitting.

Because Yoshida hasn’t played enough to earn full free agency, the Buffaloes would have to agree to post the outfielder, and the NPB club would then receive a posting fee based on whatever Yoshida would earn in a Major League contract.  Once posted, Yoshida and his representatives would have 30 days to negotiate with MLB teams, and he would return to the Buffaloes if no deal was reached with a North American club within that 30-day window.  Yoshida would be eligible to be posted again next offseason, and following the 2024 season, he’d have enough service time to enter free agency without the limits of the posting system.

The Opener: Diaz, Injuries, Rule 5

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With the World Series in the rear-view and the offseason officially underway, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on today:

1. Edwin Diaz Sets Records With New Mets Pact

The first major signing of the offseason occurred yesterday evening, with the Mets re-signing star closer Edwin Diaz to a massive five-year, $102MM contract. Diaz now becomes the first relief pitcher to ever secure a nine-figure deal, and the first with a deal of an average annual value north of $20MM. Diaz secured that contract by having a platform season for the ages, throwing 62 innings to a 1.31 ERA and a mind-boggling 0.90 FIP. While the Mets have plenty more to do in rebuilding the bullpen as Trevor May, Seth Lugo, and Mychal Givens depart for free agency, the Diaz re-signing serves as an important first step in that process. The record-setting contract also serves as a reminder of owner Steve Cohen’s willingness to flex financial muscle, which will be important as the Mets look to re-sign or replace players such as Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt, and Brandon Nimmo this offseason.

2. World Series Teams Examine Injuries

Though the 2022 World Series is now a thing of the past, the participants must now turn their focus to the injuries they suffered throughout the season that had been ignored in favor of playing through the postseason run. Most notable among these, of course, is Bryce Harper, who suffered UCL damage in May, with surgery this offseason a possibility. For the World Series champion Astros, three players have injuries to worry about entering the offseason: Alex Bregman suffered a broken finger late in Game 6 on Saturday, Yuli Gurriel missed Game 6 after a sprain to his MCL, and Martin Maldonado played through both a broken hand and a sports hernia this postseason, the latter of which will require surgery according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Bregman’s injury has the least question marks surrounding it, as he will reportedly be ready for Spring Training in 2023. More details could be announced regarding the rest of these injuries in the coming days.

3. Rule 5 Draft Protection Deadline Looms

As Mark Polishuk noted in his offseason preview, the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 draft is November 15th this year. Seeing as there was no R5 draft last offseason, teams will likely have more players to protect than usual, which could lead to roster crunches across baseball. This could also lead to some players getting cut from 40-man rosters a few days ahead of November 18th’s non-tender deadline, and some minor trades such as yesterday’s Sam Hilliard deal between the Rockies and Braves. Overall, with these dates being earlier on the offseason calendar, fans should expect a larger quantity of winter moves to happen in this first week of the offseason than in recent years, though said moves won’t necessarily be at the top of the free agent market.

Phillies Notes: Jean Segura, Payroll, Bryce Harper

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The Phillies came up short in their quest to win their third World Series title, ending a roller-coaster of a season with hot streaks, cold streaks, a managerial replacement, and an injury to their star player.  Despite all this tumult, Philadelphia danced their way to their first playoff appearance since 2011 and their first World Series berth since 2009, defeating the Cardinals, Braves, and Padres en route to the Fall Classic.

As the franchise pivots to off-season mode, they will have a few questions to answer starting with Jean Segura. Previously discussed in MLBTR’s 2022-23 Free Agent Series, Segura headlines a relatively weak second-base free agent class, and the Phillies currently hold a $17MM club option with a $1MM buyout on the veteran’s 2023 service. On the heels of a solid 2022 season which saw him post a .277/.336/386 slash line, the Phillies may opt to save money and use a combination of Edmundo Sosa and Bryson Stott to man second base, having rumored interest in long-time Red Sox Xander Bogaerts.

For his part, Segura has expressed a desire to remain in Philadelphia, having told the media, “to be honest, there’s nothing more special than playing in front of Phillies fans…It’s just a pleasure to be able to play in front of those amazing fans,” reports Tim Kelly of Phillies Nation. Segura went on to add that he “would love to finish my career in Philadelphia.”

The Phillies currently have an estimated 2023 Payroll of $161MM, per Roster Resource. After having spent $242MM this past season, the club is expected to continue to add to their core of Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Nick Castellanos, and Kyle Schwarber along with younger players such as Rhys Hoskins, Alec Bohm, and Stott.

For his part, Harper is sure that President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski and owner John Middleton are going to add to the team, telling reporters that “we’re gonna be the same team but with some more pieces to make us that much better,” per NBC Sports Philadelphia. Manager Rob Thomson shares a similar sentiment, telling reporters after the game that the Phillies roster is “sustainable,” going on to explain that Philadelphia has “a good group of veteran guys, and our system is starting to get loaded up with very good arms at the end of the minor league system,” per Maria McIlwain of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Harper, despite being diagnosed with a tear in his right UCL in early May, slashed a strong .286/.364/.514 with 18 homers, earning his first trip to the All-Star game in a Phillies uniform. He missed additional time during the season, initially landing on the 10-day IL in late June with a fractured left thumb before being shifted to the 60-day IL in mid-August. Nevertheless, due to the introduction of the universal DH, the Phillies were able to use Harper in a DH-only fashion, salvaging a season from their star player. This rule change helped the Phillies reach the postseason, in which Harper slashed an outlandish .349/.414/.746 with 6 homers in 63 at-bats.

Now that the 2022 season is officially over, Harper’s rehabilitation plan will likely come to light in the upcoming days. Position players that have recently suffered damage to their UCL include Dodgers’ infielder Max Muncy at the end of the 2021 season and Rangers’ shortstop Corey Seager at the start of the 2018 season. Muncy opted not to undergo surgery and said that the recovery was not as quick as he had hoped and that six months after the injury, he wasn’t fully recovered. In contrast, Seager underwent surgery and missed the remainder of the season before returning for the 2020 season. Harper and the Phillies have not indicated which route he will take, but, depending on the severity of the injury, the start of his 2023 season may be delayed.

Astros Owner Nixed Willson Contreras Deal At Trade Deadline

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Cubs catcher Willson Contreras was one of the biggest trade candidates not to be moved at the summer trade deadline, but according to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Astros came close to completing a deal for the All-Star. Astros starter Jose Urquidy would’ve gone to Chicago in a straight one-for-one swap, which was agreed upon pending ownership approval. The Astros never got the green light from ownership, the deal collapsed, and the players remained with their respective teams.

The Astros were clearly in the market for a catcher at the deadline, and while they missed out on acquiring Contreras, they did turn around and acquire Christian Vazquez from the Red Sox. Vazquez and Contreras profile as very different catchers though, with Vazquez a defense-first player and Contreras posing more of a threat with the bat. There’s little consequence of course, as the Astros won their second World Series title last night but the proposed trade and the reasons it fell through sheds some interesting light on the front office workings of the Astros, particularly given the future of GM James Click is far from certain.

Contreras seemed almost certain to be traded at the deadline. He was, after all, a pending free agent who was hitting .252/.365/.453 with 14 home runs on July 31 for a Cubs team that was 41-60 at the time. While there were some concerns around his defense, his bat made up for that, and he seemed an ideal guy to split time between catcher and designated hitter for a team looking for an offensive boost. Given the Astros already had Martin Maldonado entrenched as their regular catcher, that sort of role may have been exactly what the Astros were looking for from Contreras.

The cost for Houston would have been Urquidy, a mid-rotation starter who still had three years of club control remaining (after the 2022 season). Urquidy, signed out of Mexico as an international free agent in 2015, wound up tossing 164 1/3 innings of 3.94 ERA ball this year for Houston. Urquidy strikes out around 20% of batters, while walking them just 5% of the time. He is a bit prone to the home run ball, and gave up just over one per start in 2022. On the whole though, Urquidy was a dependable starter who had a big fan in manager Dusty Baker.

“Much as I like Willson Contreras, Urquidy was one of our best pitchers then,” Baker told Passan. “I needed a guy that wasn’t going to complain about not playing every day. And this is his [free agent] year. See, that’s tough. When you trade for a player in his [free agent] year. Everybody’s about numbers and stuff, and I can’t blame them, no doubt. But that’s not what we needed.”

It appears that owner Jim Crane thought the same, and did not give Click approval to go through with the trade. Given both Click and Baker are now off-contract, it’s an interesting insight into the inner workings of the Astros as they prepare to make some key decisions on the future of the franchise following their championship.

As it turned out, the trade didn’t go through, Contreras played out a strong platform year with the Cubs and the Astros picked up Vazquez for minor leaguers Wilyer Abreu and Enmanuel Valdez. The Cubs will surely tender Contreras a qualifying offer which he’ll likely reject, and instead hit the open market as the top free agent catcher available. Vazquez, too, will be a free agent, though may be not as sought after as Contreras. Urquidy will go through arbitration for the first time, and look to build off a solid season in the Astros’ rotation.

Matt Holliday Returns To Cardinals As Bench Coach

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Former Cardinal Matt Holliday will return to the team he spent eight seasons playing for, signing on as bench coach under manager Oliver Marmol, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The team has also promoted Dusty Blake to pitching coach, while Turner Ward will take over as hitting coach.

Holliday, 42, last appeared in the big leagues in 2018, and has been recently coaching at Oklahoma State with his brother. He hit 156 home runs for the Cardinals between 2009-16, going to the All-Star game four times and earning MVP votes in four of his seasons there. Originally drafted by the Rockies in the seventh round of the 1998 draft, Holliday spent six years in Colorado, including a memorable 2007 season. That year he hit .340/.405/.607 with 36 home runs and finished second in NL MVP voting. The Rockies traded him to Oakland in 2009 with Holliday one year away from free agency, but when the Athletics scuffled that year he was traded to the Cardinals at the deadline. He went to free agency that winter, but re-signed with the Cardinals on a seven-year, $120MM deal, continuing what would be a memorable time with the Cardinals which included a championship in 2011.

He’d gone on to have a season with the Yankees, before retiring in 2018 after a short second stint with the Rockies. There had been speculation that the Cardinals would turn to him as their hitting coach, but instead he’ll wind up as bench coach in Marmol’s overhauled staff.

Current assistant hitting coach Turner Ward will instead assume the hitting coach responsibility. He replaces Jeff Albert, who elected not to return for another season in 2023. Ward spent twelve years in the big leagues between 1990-2001, appearing for six teams. He worked with the Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Reds in various coaching positions, before the Cardinals hired him as their assistant hitting coach a year ago.

Blake, 40, worked as a pitching coach at Duke university, before the Cardinals hired him prior to the 2021 season. He had been working as the team’s pitching strategist, but is promoted to the pitching coach role after Mike Maddux’s departure.

 

Alex Bregman Suffered Broken Finger In Game 6

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Astros third baseman Alex Bregman suffered a broken left index finger sliding into second base in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the World Series, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The injury won’t require surgery, but Bregman faces an eight week recovery timeline, meaning he won’t have any concerns being ready by spring training. Bregman stayed in the game after the injury, and got to enjoy the celebrations as he picked up his second World Series ring with the Astros.

Bregman had another strong season in Houston, hitting 23 home runs and posting a .259/.366/.454 line in 155 games. He was a consistent contributor through the post-season as well, going 15-for-51 and hitting a home run in each of the three series Houston played in. While his 2022 campaign wasn’t a return to the MVP-level production he put up between 2018-19, it was a solid bounce back nonetheless from an injury-plagued campaign which saw him appear in just 91 games a year ago.

While no injury is a good thing, it has come at an ideal time for Bregman, as he can now rehab it over the off-season and look forward to returning fully fit in 2023 to aid Houston’s World Series defense. The 28-year-old is also due a significant raise in salary next season, going from $13MM this year to $30.5MM for 2023-24, the final two years of a five-year, $100MM extension signed in 2019.

Carlos Rodon Opts Out Of Contract

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Giants starter Carlos Rodon has opted out of his contract and entered free agency, per Maria Guardado of MLB.com. Rodon had a player option for $22.5MM in 2023, but given his exceptional performance this year, it’s no surprise he’s chosen to enter the open market.

Rodon turned in 178 innings of 2.88 ERA ball in 2022, proving the decision to take a shorter deal last winter and bet on himself was the correct one. He’ll now enter free agency as one of the top players available, and should cash in with a long term deal. After an injury-plagued career, Rodon was strong for the White Sox in 2021, throwing 132 2/3 innings of 2.37 ERA ball. Given he’d only been able to make 41 starts in the previous four seasons, there was still some hesitancy of his durability, and he inked a short term deal with the Giants. That deal guaranteed him $21.5MM in 2022 and $22.5MM in 2023, with the ability to opt-out included if he pitched 110 innings in ’22. He passed that mark with ease, and it seemed inevitable he’d exercise the opt-out and test free agency, as he did today.

The 2014 third overall pick was utterly dominant in 2022. He struck out batters 33.4% of the time, walked just 7.3% of batters, and posted the best home run rate of his career, giving up just 12 all year. Durability was one of the biggest concerns over Rodon, but he only hit the injured list once all season, and that was due to an illness that forced him to miss his final start of the campaign, and the Giants only placed him on the IL to free up an active roster spot.

He’ll enter the market as one of the most sought-after arms available. The Giants will assuredly issue him a qualifying offer in the coming days which he’ll certainly decline. The Giants could well be one of the teams pushing to sign him, but should they lose him, they’ll at least receive some draft pick compensation.

Braves Acquire Sam Hilliard

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In the first trade of the 2022-23 off-season, the Braves have acquired outfielder Sam Hilliard from Colorado, per an official announcement from the Rockies. Minor league pitcher Dylan Spain is heading back to the Rockies in the deal.

Hilliard, 28, hit .184/.280/.264 with two home runs across 200 plate appearances for the Rockies in 2022. He went much better at their Triple-A affiliate, slashing .308/.405/.669 with 13 home runs. While he’s never really hit at the major league level, his performance in 2022 was someway below his career line of .212/.294/.423 as he’s generally shown more power in the bigs than he showed this season. He did appear at all three outfield positions, but spent most of his time in left where he was worth ten Defensive Runs Saved across 377 innings.

Spain was a tenth round pick for the Braves in the 2021 draft. He spent all of 2022 at their High-A affiliate, tossing 56 innings of 5.30 ERA ball across 36 appearances, most of which came out of the bullpen. The 24-year-old struck out batters 24.7% of the time and walked 5.3%. He struggled a fair bit with the long ball, giving up 11 home runs.

For the Rockies, the trade clears a spot on the 40-man roster, which now stands at 37 players. For the Braves, they get a depth outfielder who could compete for a roster spot in spring training. Hilliard is out of options, but his form at Triple-A shows there’s enough upside for the Braves to give him a shot to potentially land on their bench in 2023.

Chris Bassitt To Decline Mutual Option

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Mets’ starter Chris Bassitt is expected to decline his $19MM mutual option per Jon Heyman of the NY Post. Bassitt will receive a $150K buyout and head to free agency for the first time in his career.

Following a trade from the Athletics, Bassitt agreed to a one-year, $8.65MM contract with a $19MM mutual option for the 2023 season ($150K buyout if either team declined) in his final trip through the arbitration process. During his first season with New York, the 8-year veteran led the Mets in starts (30) and innings pitched (181 2/3) while pitching to a 3.42 ERA with a 22.4% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate, and a 49.1% groundball rate.

Bassitt, who will be 34 on Opening Day, has been a reliable pitcher over the last four seasons. Since 2019, he has made at least 27 starts (excluding the 2020 season) paired with a 3.31 ERA in 546 innings, a 23.2% strikeout rate, a 6.7% walk rate, and a 44.1% groundball rate.

On the heels of a strong season, the Mets will likely attach a Qualifying Offer to Bassitt (a one-year, $19.65MM contract). While this sum is more than double what Bassitt was paid in 2022, he will likely opt to find a longer contract with an annual salary similar to the value of the QO.

As for the Mets, they enter the 2022-23 offseason with big questions surrounding their rotation. Two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom and former All-Star Taijuan Walker both hold player options that they are expected to decline, and the Mets hold a $14MM club option on Carlos Carrasco’s 2023 services that they must make a decision on in the next few days. Tylor Megill is a candidate to fill one of the spots in the rotation, but owner Steve Cohen will likely open his wallet again this offseason to buff his team’s starting pitching.

Mets To Pick Up Daniel Vogelbach’s Club Option

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The Mets are reportedly picking up Daniel Vogelbach’s $1.5MM club option for the 2023 season, per Jon Heyman of the NY Post.

Acquired in a midseason trade from the Pirates, Vogelbach slashed a strong .255/.393/.436 in New York to finish his 2022 season with a collective .238/.360/.433 line with 18 homers across the two teams. Interestingly, Vogelbach spent the 2022 season as full-time DH, logging only five innings at first base after playing over 400 innings at the corner infield position in 2021.

After a breakout year in 2019 with Seattle where he hit .208/.341/.439 with 30 homers and earned a trip to the All-Star game, Vogelbach has bounced around the league, spending time with the Blue Jays, Brewers, Pirates, and now the Mets. He has largely become a platoon player, hitting .261/.382/.497 against right-handed pitchers in 2022, compared to .139/.262/.153 against lefties.

Vogelbach, who has one more arbitration-eligible season after 2023, may become a trade candidate for the Mets, who currently have three other 1B/DH options on their 40-Man Roster in Darin Ruf, Dominic Smith, and starter Pete Alonso. However, out of the trio of backups, Vogelbach had the strongest 2022 season and GM Billy Eppler might opt to keep him as a left-handed bench bat.

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