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Yankees, Phillip Evans Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees have agreed to a deal with infielder/outfielder Phillip Evans, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Greg Joyce of the New York Post tweeted yesterday that Evans had been spotted at Yankees camp. Presumably, it’s a minor league pact for the CAA client.

Evans, 29, had a huge shoeing in a tiny sample with the Pirates in 2020 when he batted .359/.444/.487 through 45 plate appearances. He got out to a decent start in his second season with the Bucs last year but ultimately wound up finishing the year with a .206/.312/.299 batting line in a career-high 247 plate appearances. Overall, Evans is a career .231/.331/.319 hitter in 353 plate appearances between the Mets and Pirates. He played all four corner positions with Pittsburgh this past season, but the majority of Evans’ professional innings have come at shortstop, third base and second base — in that order.

Evans will give the Yankees some versatile depth with a reasonably productive track record in the upper minors to stash in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He’s a career .274/.349/.441 hitter with 42 homers, 74  doubles and seven triples in 1438 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.

Rays Among Teams Interested In Matt Chapman, Seiya Suzuki

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The Rays are among the teams with interest in Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, and they’re also one of the teams still bidding on star NPB outfielder Seiya Suzuki. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal hears the same, adding that Tampa Bay has also spoken to Oakland about right-hander Frankie Montas.

Either of the two bats listed would represent large-scale expenditures, at least by the Rays’ generally modest standards. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $9.5MM salary for Chapman this season, and he’d be eligible for arbitration one final time next offseason before reaching the open market upon conclusion of the 2023 season. Suzuki, meanwhile, is drawing interest from a wide field of teams and figures to command a weighty multi-year deal himself.

The 28-year-old Chapman’s offensive production has taken a nosedive in recent years after a pair of MVP-caliber seasons in 2018-19. Since Opening Day 2020, Chapman has managed a .215/.306/.431 batting line, still showing good power (.216 ISO, 37 homers in 774 plate appearances) but with an alarming jump from a 22.8% strikeout rate to a 33.1% mark. Chapman’s 2020 season was cut short by hip surgery, though, and it’s possible that the injury which led to that operation and the lingering aftereffects have hampered him at the dish.

Where Chapman hasn’t missed a beat is with the glove. A two-time Platinum Glove winner and three-time Gold Glover at the hot corner, Chapman is widely regarded as one of the best defensive players in the sport. His 78 Defensive Runs Saved since debuting in 2017 are the third-most in baseball, at any position, trailing only Mookie Betts (81) and Andrelton Simmons (79). Chapman ranks third in MLB in Ultimate Zone Rating during that time as well, trailing that same pair. Meanwhile, Statcast ranks him 10th among all big leaguers with 49 Outs Above Average in that same time.

As for Suzuki, he’s been posted by the Hiroshima Carp and will head to the Majors in the midst of his prime, at age 27. Suzuki is generally regarded as one of the best players in Japan at the moment, if not the best overall. He turned in a mammoth .317/.433/.636 batting line with 38 home runs, 26 doubles and nine steals in 533 plate appearances this past season in NPB, all while walking 87 times against 88 strikeouts (16.3% vs. 16.5%). This was far from a one-year fluke; dating back to 2018, Suzuki’s right-handed bat has produced a dominant .319/.435/.592 slash line with 121 home runs, 115 doubles and four triples in 2179 plate appearances.

Rays fans may be a bit skeptical after seeing their team’s two-year, $12MM investment in Yoshi Tsutsugo quickly go south. However, Suzuki is younger and far more highly regarded as a player than Tsutsugo was at the time of his own free-agent foray. Even in NPB, Tsutsugo came with considerable strikeout concerns and minimal defensive value. The variance in opinions seems likely to be reflected in the size of contract Suzuki ultimately commands. Prior to Suzuki’s formal posting, multiple team evaluators told MLBTR that Suzuki could be an everyday corner outfielder in the big leagues. One particularly bullish evaluator called Suzuki the best player to come out of Japan since Shohei Ohtani (not a direct comparison between the two, to be clear).

Looking to Montas, he’d give the Rays a big-time arm to plug into a rotation that looks heavily reliant on younger talent. Tampa Bay is hoping for a bounceback from Ryan Yarbrough and better health from offseason signee Corey Kluber, but the group beyond that pairing consists of Yonny Chirinos (returning from Tommy John surgery), Shane McClanahan, Luis Patino, Drew Rasmussen and Shane Baz. It’s an undeniably talented collection of starters, but Montas would provide some more stability and arguably more upside than some of those current options.

The 28-year-old (29 next week) just wrapped up a 2021 season that saw him post a career-high 187 frames with a 3.37 ERA, a 26.6% strikeout rate and a 7.3% walk rate. Projected by Swartz to earn $5.8MM next season, Montas is controlled through 2023 and is one of many players the rebuilding A’s are open to moving. He missed the second half of the 2019 season while serving an 80-game PED suspension and struggled in his 2020 return, but last year’s standout showing netted Montas a sixth-place finish in American League Cy Young voting. Unlike Chapman and Suzuki, his current salary is a bit more in the Rays’ general wheelhouse.

Ultimately, though, the payroll is going to be pivotal in determining just how big the Rays can go. Tampa Bay is currently projected for an $85.4MM Opening Day mark that would represent a new franchise record. That said, there have also been reports about possible trades of Kevin Kiermaier ($12MM salary), Austin Meadows (projected $4.3MM) and/or Tyler Glasnow (projected $5.8MM — any of which could alter the team’s immediate and 2023 financial outlooks. Glasnow, notably, is expected to miss most of the 2022 season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

Diamondbacks Sign Grayson Greiner To Minor League Deal

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The D-backs have signed catcher Grayson Greiner to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training, per an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate.

Greiner, 29, was a third-round pick of the Tigers in 2014 and has spent his entire career in that organization up until now. Listed at a towering 6’6″ and 238 pounds, Greiner has seen some big league time in each of the past four seasons but has yet to produce at the MLB level. In 477 trips to the plate, he’s a .201/.274/.309 hitter with a solid 8.8% walk rate but a lofty 32.1% strikeout rate.

Greiner has spent parts of four seasons in Triple-A, where he’s logged solid framing marks and thrown out a third of runners who’ve attempted to steal against him. He’s a .233/.314/.347 hitter through 388 plate appearances of Triple-A ball.

With Carson Kelly set to serve as the regular catcher in Arizona and another pair of options — center fielder/catcher Daulton Varsho and prospect Jose Herrera — on the 40-man roster, Greiner doesn’t have much of an immediate path to playing time. He joins veterans Juan Centeno and Juan Graterol as non-roster invitees to D-backs camp.

Cardinals Sign Zach McAllister To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals have agreed to a minor league deal with righty Zach McAllister, the team announced this morning. He’ll report to Major League Spring Training and provide some depth in the rotation and bullpen.

Three full seasons have passed since McAllister last pitched in the Majors. He spent some time with the Phillies organization in 2021 but logged just 10 2/3 innings in the minors. The 34-year-old was a mainstay on the Cleveland pitching staff from 2012-17, first spending some time in the rotation before solidifying himself as a quality reliever. From 2015-17, McAllister posted a 2.99 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate against an 8.6% walk rate — often pitching more than an inning at a time.

Now 34 year old, McAllister will give St. Louis some depth both in the rotation and in the bullpen. The Cards’ rotation is largely set, with Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas the likeliest quintet to start games. Righty Drew VerHagen, signed to a two-year deal after a strong run in Japan, could also vie for some rotation work but may begin in the bullpen. In-house options like Jake Woodford and Johan Oviedo add further depth to the rotation, as does non-roster invitee Aaron Brooks. McAllister has a ways to go before he pushes his way into consideration for a big league roster spot, but he’ll give the Cards some experience depth to stash in Triple-A Memphis even if he doesn’t make the club out of camp.

Red Sox Reportedly Showing Interest In Freddie Freeman

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The Freddie Freeman bidding has a new entrant, as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Red Sox have joined the fray. They’ll join a field that has already included the Yankees, Blue Jays, Dodgers and, somewhat surprisingly, the Rays. Tampa Bay reportedly made an offer to Freeman prior to the lockout, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported last night that the Rays remain interested. However, he suggests their interest is limited to a shorter-term deal — presumably at what would be a massive annual rate. That doesn’t appear too likely, of course, given the interest from larger-market clubs with deep pockets. As of yesterday afternoon, reports indicated that the Yankees were “pessimistic” about their chances of signing Freeman, while other clubs viewed the Blue Jays as a serious threat.

A Freeman signing would give the BoSox an elite heart-of-the-order grouping, as he’d join Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez in composing the team’s two-through-five hitters. Adding Freeman to the fold would likely mean supplanting 26-year-old Bobby Dalbec at first base, though even with his big finish to the 2021 season, Dalbec isn’t going to serve as a roadblock to a superstar of Freeman’s caliber. Dalbec struggled through a dismal first half before slashing .269/.344/.611 in his final 195 plate appearances, although he did so in spite of a 31.3% strikeout rate and still finished the year with an overall batting line of .240/.298/.494.

The larger question for the Red Sox is likely a matter of payroll — more specifically, the luxury tax. Last week’s newly ratified collective bargaining agreement bumped the tier-one threshold for penalization from $210MM to $230MM, but the Sox are already at about $209MM of luxury obligations (via Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez). Adding Freeman to the mix would send Boston soaring past that mark. The Sox have paid the tax in the past, but more recently ownership has been staunchly against doing so. Freeman is the type of player for whom many clubs might consider an exception, but it’s not yet clear whether Boston would feel that way or whether any Freeman interest is contingent on moving other salary.

If the Sox are indeed willing to pay the tax, it’d likely only be a one-year dip into those waters. Boston’s luxury obligations will plummet following the season, dropping from the current $209MM level all the way to $75MM. That doesn’t even include the possibility of Bogaerts opting out of his six-year, $120MM contract — which seems quite likely and would further shave another $20MM from that luxury ledger. The Red Sox have Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi, Jackie Bradley Jr., Christian Vazquez, Enrique Hernandez, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill, Matt Strahm and Kevin Plawecki all coming off the books following the 2022 season.

Again, that doesn’t make it any kind of lock that they’ll be comfortable putting forth a multi-year deal of six years in the $30MM annual value range, which is generally believed to be where Freeman’s asking price currently lies. But there’s a clear on-paper fit and the long-term payroll flexibility to make it work, as MLBTR’s Anthony Franco noted when picking the Sox to sign Freeman back in November.

Wherever  Freeman lands, it’s become quite clear that he’s set to move on from the only organization he’s ever known. The Braves acquired Matt Olson in a trade with the Athletics yesterday — a move that president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos called the toughest transaction of his lengthy executive career while fighting back tears (video link via Bally Sports). Anthopoulos noted multiple times that he couldn’t “get into specifics” as to why the deal was so difficult to make, though the implication was clear.

Contreras: No Extension Talks Yet With Cubs

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The Cubs have a decision to make regarding Willson Contreras, who’s heading into his final season of club control. Contreras is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an arbitration salary in the $8.7MM range this year. Amidst an organizational reboot, the Chicago front office finds themselves in something of an awkward spot with their longtime catcher.

Chicago signed Yan Gomes, perhaps the best catcher in this year’s free agent class, to a two-year contract in November. That seemed to position Contreras as one of the likeliest trade candidates around the league on-paper, but there’s been no real indication the Cubs have shopped him. That could indicate they’re not looking to move on from Contreras, although they’ve also not yet broached the topic of extending the relationship.

Speaking with reporters (including Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic) yesterday, the 29-year-old backstop said the organization and his reps at Octagon haven’t discussed a potential long-term deal. “No, there haven’t been any talks. I’m good with it” he said. “They know what they’re doing, they know what’s best for the team. I’m here because I love my team. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen.” Contreras went on to indicate he’d be willing to have those discussions. “I’m always open. You know me, I’m not focused on that. I’m focused on having a good year, having fun with my team and trying to win.”

The Cubs stripped down a good portion of the 2016 World Series winning club at last summer’s trade deadline, moving Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Báez. Those departures kicked off what one might consider a new era of Cubs baseball, but president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer maintained there were no plans for a full rebuild. Hoyer, GM Carter Hawkins and the rest of the front office have largely backed up those assertions this winter. In addition to Gomes, they also signed Marcus Stroman to a three-year deal, added Andrelton Simmons on a one-year pact and claimed Wade Miley off waivers. They don’t seem done, as Hoyer told reporters (including Jesse Rogers of ESPN) this morning they’re still on the hunt for pitching help.

Even in the event the Cubs are trying to hang around the periphery of contention this season, there’s a case to be made for moving Contreras. Gomes is a capable #1 catcher in his own right; getting both players regular reps probably involves Contreras seeing a lot of time at designated hitter. He’s a good hitter, particularly in comparison to his peers at catcher, but he’s not the kind of elite bat for whom teams have been inclined to set aside the DH role.

Contreras has been an above-average hitter by measure of wRC+ in each of his six career seasons. Going back to the start of 2020, he owns a .239/.345/.429 line, numbers that check in nine percentage points above the league average. That’s markedly better than the .230/.307/.392 figure put up by catchers around the league, but it’s not elite middle-of-the-order output overall. Defensively, Contreras has typically been adept at throwing out attempted base-stealers, although he struggled in that regard last season. His pitch framing metrics, per Statcast, have checked in right around the league average over the past two years after he struggled mightily in that regard early in his career.

All told, the Cubs have to decide whether they view Contreras as a potential long-term building block. Recent free agent pickups notwithstanding, they’ve pared back payroll over the past twelve months. With only around $72MM in guaranteed commitments on the books in 2023 (per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource), the flexibility should be there for Chicago if they want to make a run at an extension.

Yet if the Gomes signing signaled a changing of the guard behind the plate on the North Side, Contreras could find himself switching uniforms over the coming weeks. If he doesn’t sign an extension, he’d be on track to hit free agency as one of next winter’s top available catchers — part of a group that could also include Gary Sánchez, Mike Zunino, Christian Vázquez and Max Stassi.

Orioles Notes: Infield, Rotation, Hall

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Orioles general manager Mike Elias spoke to reporters today, including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, about the team and their future plans for roster construction. (Links from Twitter)

Broadly speaking, Elias said it’s unlikely that the club will be doling out any multi-year contracts. That’s hardly surprising given the state of the franchise. The club has had five straight miserable seasons, finishing in the AL East basement in four of those, only narrowly avoiding the same fate in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Last year, they finished 52-110, tied with the Diamondbacks for the worst record in baseball, while their four division rivals each each won at least 91 games. As the club has been firmly committed to the rebuilding process in recent years, they remarkably haven’t given out a multi-year deal since they signed Alex Cobb four years ago.

Moving from what they won’t do to what they might do, Elias said that the club is still looking to add to their shortstop competition. As the roster currently stands, Ramon Urias and Jorge Mateo would likely be the frontrunners for the position. However, each of them has only around 100 games of MLB experience, making it fairly sensible for the club to consider a more seasoned option. Leaving aside Carlos Correa and Trevor Story, some shortstop-capable options on the free agent market include Jonathan Villar, Matt Duffy and Ronald Torreyes.

Elias also added that they could add another pitcher to their starting rotation. The market for starters has been red hot for the entire offseason, both before and after the lockout, with some of the best remaining options being Tyler Anderson, Johnny Cueto and Michael Pineda. There would certainly be room for another arm of that caliber in Baltimore, given that John Means and Jordan Lyles are the only names currently on the depth chart with more than two years of MLB service time. Younger pitchers like Bruce Zimmermann, Keegan Akin, Zac Lowther and Dean Kremer will likely be competing for spots at the back end.

However, there is hope for the future of the rotation, as Elias had this to say about prospect D.L. Hall: “We may see him in the big leagues this year and we may see him quick.” The club’s first round selection in the 2017 draft, Hall has put up impressive numbers in the minors, though he was sidelined this year due to a stress reaction in his elbow, making his last appearance on June 12th. Despite that, he’s still highly regarded by prospect evaluators, being ranked the #72 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, #52 by Baseball America and #27 by FanGraphs. After throwing just 31 2/3 innings in Double-A last year, the fact that Elias is so bullish about his debut is surely encouraging news for Orioles fans.

Orioles To Sign Conner Greene To Minors Deal

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The Orioles are signing right-handed pitcher Conner Greene to a minor league deal, per Robert Murray of FanSided. Greene will be a non-roster invitee in the Orioles’ spring camp.

Drafted by the Blue Jays in 2013, Greene started to garner some attention from prospect evaluators as he made his way up the minor league ranks. In 2016, Baseball America ranked him as the second-best prospect in Toronto’s system, though he fell to #5 and #16 in the next two seasons as he struggled to succeed in the upper levels of the minors.

In 2018, he was sent to the Cardinals as part of the Randal Grichuk trade, but was designated for assignment after just one season in the Cards’ system. He was claimed by the Royals but they, too, cut him loose after just one year.

The Orioles signed him to a minor league deal prior to the 2021 season. Greene eventually had his contract selected, got claimed off waivers by the Dodgers and re-claimed by the Orioles. In between those stints on the waiver wire, he managed to throw 25 1/3 MLB innings between the two clubs, putting up an ERA of 7.11, along with mediocre strikeout and walk rates of 21.5% and 9.9%. His numbers in 28 Triple-A innings were somehow worse, as he had a 7.39 ERA, 20.4% strikeout rate and 12.4% walk rate. The Orioles outrighted him at the end of the season.

Despite the lack of results, Greene continues to intrigue teams due to his stuff, with his fastball landing in the 86th percentile of MLB hurlers in terms of velocity and 70th percentile in terms of spin. He’s also still young (turning 27 in a few weeks), has less than a year of MLB service time and one option year remaining. For a team that seems destined for another year in the basement of the AL East, there’s little harm in taking a chance on Greene and seeing if he can harness his talents into better outcomes. If he succeeds, they could keep him around for years to come.

Tigers Sign Chase Anderson, Ryan Lavarnway To Minor League Deals

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The Tigers have signed Chase Anderson to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to big league Spring Training, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. Additionally, veteran backstop Ryan Lavarnway announced on Instagram he has signed with Detroit. Jason Beck of MLB.com tweets that’s also a minors deal with an NRI to MLB camp.

Anderson, 34, has been a durable member of big league rotations dating back to 2014. Never an overpowering arm, Anderson nevertheless outperformed his peripherals for a few seasons with the D-Backs and Brewers. The changeup specialist threw plenty of strikes and generally avoided hard contact en route to an ERA right around 4.00 for much of his early career. He even posted a 2.74 mark over 141 1/3 innings with the Brew Crew in 2017 and remained a solid starter through 2019.

The past couple seasons have been tough for the University of Oklahoma product. Despite career-best strikeout and swinging strike rates with the Blue Jays in 2020, he was tagged for a 7.22 ERA in 33 2/3 innings, allowing a staggering 11 longballs in that time. The Phillies rolled the dice on a bounceback, guaranteeing Anderson $4MM in hopes he’d right the ship. He continued to struggle in Philadelphia, though, working 48 innings of 6.75 ERA ball.

Philadelphia released Anderson in late August. He caught on with the Rangers on a minor league deal but didn’t get another look at the highest level. He’ll take another crack at it this spring with Detroit, which has an uncertain group at the back of the rotation. At present, Tyler Alexander looks the favorite for the #5 starter’s job behind Casey Mize, Eduardo Rodríguez, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning. Alex Faedo and Joey Wentz are the top depth options, but neither has yet appeared in the majors. Of course, Detroit could still add to the rotation over the next three weeks.

A quintessential third catcher, Lavarnway has appeared in the big leagues in ten of the past eleven seasons. He has tallied 486 cumulative plate appearances, hitting .217/.272/.345 with nine home runs. The righty-hitting backstop played in nine games with Cleveland last season. He spent more time with their top affiliate in Columbus, posting a .260/.338/.520 mark in 199 Triple-A plate appearances.

Guardians Hire Neal Huntington As Special Assistant

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The Guardians have hired former Pirates general manager Neal Huntington as special assistant, baseball projects, reports Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic.

This is something of a homecoming for Huntington, as he spent about a decade working for the club, then known as the Indians, as part of his ascent to becoming a GM. He got his feet wet with the Expos, working as assistant director of player development in 1995, jumping to Cleveland in 1998, becoming assistant director of minor league operations, then director of player development, assistant general manager and special assistant to the general manager.

In 2007, the Pirates hired him to be their general manager, at a time when the club hadn’t made the playoffs since 1992. With Huntington at the helm, the club eventually managed to break that streak, finishing second in the NL Central and qualifying for the Wild Card game in three straight years, beginning in 2013. Unfortunately, that was the peak of the team’s success during Huntington’s time, as they faded in subsequent seasons, which included his most infamous transaction, sending Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and Shane Baz to the Rays in exchange for Chris Archer. The club went on a firing spree in 2019, with Huntington being one of the casualties, along with the team’s president, manager and a few coaches, as the franchise underwent a massive overhaul. Ben Cherington was hired as the club’s new GM to undertake a total rebuild that is still ongoing, with the club finishing in the basement of the division the past three years.

Huntington now returns to an organization where he got his first sizable taste of front office work, though surely in a role that will be less forward-facing than his job in Pittsburgh.

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