White Sox To Sign Nate Fisher To Minor League Deal
The White Sox have an agreement with left-hander Nate Fisher on a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Fisher will receive an invite to next year’s Spring Training.
As mentioned by Murray, Fisher is known as “The Banker,” a reference to his unusual journey to the big leagues. He was released by the Mariners in May of 2020 and took on a job with the First National Bank of Omaha until re-signing with the Mariners in June of 2021. He was able to throw 37 1/3 innings that year, posting a 2.89 ERA along with a 31.8% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. Though he reached free agency at the end of the year, he intrigued the Mets enough to get a minor league deal with them.
He continued getting good results in the minors this year, enough to get selected to the Mets’ roster and make his MLB debut in August, though he was designated for assignment and outrighted after one scoreless, three-inning appearance. In the minors, he eventually logged 84 2/3 innings with a 4.15 ERA, 22% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate.
After reaching free agency again, he already has a new deal in place with the Sox. The club has five lefties on the roster, with all of those having question marks to some degree. Aaron Bummer has posted strong results in recent years but missed about half the 2022 season due to a lat strain. While he was out, the club acquired Jake Diekman from the Red Sox, who posted a 6.52 ERA after the trade. Garrett Crochet underwent Tommy John surgery in April and will miss at least part of the 2023 campaign. Then there’s Tanner Banks and Bennett Sousa, who both just debuted in 2022 and could potentially be optioned and recalled throughout the season. The club could add to this mix throughout the offseason via free agency or trade, but have bolstered the depth for now by bringing in Fisher.
Nationals Sign Derek Hill To Minor League Deal
The Nationals announced that they have signed outfielder Derek Hill and right-hander Hobie Harris to minor league deals with invites to Spring Training. Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reported on the Hill deal before the official announcement.
Hill, 27 next month, is a former first round draft pick, having been selected by the Tigers 23rd overall in 2014. At that time, he was considered to be an exciting talent due to his speed and defense, with his ultimate ceiling to be determined by the development of his bat.
Unfortunately, the offensive part of his game never really caught up with the other parts. He cracked the majors in 2020 and got into 95 games over the past three seasons. His batting line in that time is .240/.291/.339, production that’s 24% below league average by measure of wRC+. He’s struck out in 29.9% of his plate appearances, well above the league average rate, with this year’s being 22.4%.
His time in the minors this year wasn’t great either, as he hit .220/.294/.386 for a wRC+ of 73. That included time in the Tigers’ system as well as that of the Mariners, who claimed him off waivers in August. Seattle designated him for assignment and outrighted him in October.
For the Nationals, they are deep in the rebuilding process and not expected to be competitive in 2023, meaning they are one of the teams best-suited to take a shot on a former prospect like Hill. His baserunning and glovework give him a decent floor, meaning even a slight improvement at the plate could turn him into a decent piece for the club. He’s out of options and can’t be sent back down if he cracks the roster, but he has less than two years of service time and can be retained cheaply for years to come if he has a breakout. The Nats have Victor Robles penciled into center field for now, though he’s struggled at the plate for years and is in line for a $2.5MM salary via arbitration, per the projections of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
As for Harris, 30 in June, he was a 31st round draft pick of the Yankees in 2015. He stayed in their system until December of 2019, when the Blue Jays grabbed him in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. He spent the next couple of years in the Jays’ system before reaching minor league free agency and signing a minor league deal with the Brewers for 2022.
In each of the two past two seasons, he’s been in Triple-A, getting decent amounts of strikeouts and grounders but struggling with the free passes. In 2021, he registered a 3.92 ERA over 43 2/3 innings with a 27.9% strikeout rate, 11.5% walk rate and 48.1% ground ball rate. This year, his peripherals trended in the wrong direction yet his ERA dropped, likely due to a .203 batting average on balls in play. In 53 frames, he had a 2.04 ERA while striking out 27.1% of batters faced, walking 13.5% of them and getting grounders on 40.5% of balls in play. As mentioned with Hill, the Nats are likely going to be cycling through various players on their roster throughout 2023, looking for hidden gems as part of their rebuild. That means Harris has a chance to make his MLB debut if he keeps putting up decent Triple-A results next year.
The Opener: Cy Young Awards, Free Agent Contest, Starting Pitching Market
In the wake of yesterday’s deadlines, here are three things to keep an eye on throughout the baseball world today:
1. Cy Young Award Results Announced Tonight
Awards season continues tonight with the AL and NL Cy Young awards being announced this evening. In the AL, Justin Verlander, Dylan Cease, and Alek Manoah are the finalists. Verlander led all of baseball with an ERA of just 1.75 this year and stands as the likely favorite over Cease and Manoah, despite their own impressive seasons. One thing Cease and Manoah have going for them is volume: Both made more than 30 starts in 2022, while Verlander made just 28. Over in the NL, Sandy Alcantara, Max Fried, and Julio Urias are the three finalists. Alcantara is the clear favorite here after pitching a whopping 228 2/3 innings in 2022, pacing all of baseball by more than 20 innings. Alcantara’s season wasn’t just about volume, however; he was also dominant, posting a 2.28 ERA and 2.99 FIP on the year. Urias posted a lower ERA than Alcantara, leading the NL with a 2.16 mark (though his 3.71 FIP tells a somewhat different story), while Fried beats out Alcantara in terms of FIP with a 2.70. Neither one managed to beat Alcantara in both categories, though, and both trail him by more than 40 innings pitched in 2022.
2. MLBTR’s Free Agent Prediction Contest Submissions Close Tonight
Today is the last day you can sign up for the MLB Trade Rumors Free Agent Prediction Contest. For this contest, you’ll predict where our Top 50 Free Agents will go, with cash prizes awarded to the top three finishers and a one year membership to Trade Rumors Front Office available to everyone who finishes in the Top 15. Much of the MLBTR staff also participates, so you can see how your predictions stack up compared to those of our writers!
3. Anderson, Martinez Deals Signal Movement On The Starting Pitching Market
Yesterday’s qualifying offer deadline spurred movement on the starting pitching market, as Martin Perez accepted the QO from the Rangers, re-upping with them on the one year, $19.65MM deal. Tyler Anderson, meanwhile, agreed to a three-year, $39MM deal with the Angels in lieu of accepting the QO from the Dodgers. This move came as something of a surprise; Anderson was predicted to accept the QO by the MLBTR team along with Perez and Joc Pederson, both of whom did so. That Anderson earned a $39MM guarantee may indicate that the strong market relievers have found this offseason could extend to starters, though early deals have a tendency to be strong, and that momentum doesn’t always carry throughout the winter. Nick Martinez, meanwhile, secured a three-year deal with the Padres that’ll guarantee him a reported $26MM — comfortably outpacing the three years and $18MM from which he opted out. As for other implications across the market, the Dodgers are perhaps likelier to be in search of another arm to replace Anderson in the rotation. The Padres could yet be open to adding some rotation depth, though Martinez gives them a solid one through four on which to rely (assuming he’s indeed ticketed for the rotation). The Rangers aren’t expected to stop after retaining Perez at a premium rate; they’ll remain active players in the rotation market.
Terry Francona, Buck Showalter Win Manager Of The Year Awards
The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the results of Manager of the Year voting Tuesday evening. Guardians skipper Terry Francona claimed the award in the American League, while Buck Showalter received the National League honor.
While Francona and Showalter are each veteran managers with decades of experience, they were in rather different situations for 2022. Francona is the longest-tenured active manager with one team, having held the position in Cleveland since the start of the 2013 season. Showalter, on the other hand, took over the job in Queens last winter.
The two clubs were also at dramatically different ends of the payroll spectrum. Francona was tasked with overseeing a young Guardians roster that ranked near the bottom of the league in player payroll. Cleveland didn’t enter the season with particularly strong general expectations — at least among those outside the organization and its fanbase — but the Guardians ran away with the AL Central in September after a tightly-contested race with the Twins and White Sox for the first five months. Cleveland finished the year 92-70 to claim their first division title since 2018.
Showalter inherited a polar opposite of a roster, one with sky-high expectations after an offseason spending spree that brought in a number of stars. The Mets had come up empty with talented teams in the past, failing to reach the playoffs every year from 2017-21. That wasn’t an issue in 2022, as Showalter guided the club to a 101-win season — their first year topping triple-digits since 1988. The season ended on a bit of a sour note, as the Mets were swept in a three-game set by the Braves late in the year to blow a division lead that once had exceeded 10 games. Nevertheless, they still coasted to a Wild Card berth.
The voting in both leagues was fairly tightly contested. In the AL, Francona topped Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde and Seattle’s Scott Servais. The Cleveland skipper earned 17 of 30 first-place votes, while Hyde picked up nine for helping the O’s to a surprising above-.500 finish. Servais got one first-place nod but appeared on 23 ballots overall, while Houston’s Dusty Baker picked up three first-place votes but was on just 13 ballots in some capacity. Aaron Boone (Yankees) and Kevin Cash (Rays) also garnered some support.
Turning to the NL, Showalter tied with the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts with eight first-place votes apiece. He edged out Roberts with 10 second-place nods and appeared on 25 ballots overall. Atlanta’s Brian Snitker was the other finalist, grabbing seven first-place votes. Oli Marmol (Cardinals) and Rob Thomson (Phillies) also got decent support, while San Diego’s Bob Melvin grabbed one third-place vote.
Francona claims the award for the third time in his career. Despite winning two World Series during his time leading the Red Sox, he didn’t claim his first Manager of the Year nod until landing in Cleveland in 2013. He won again in 2018 and adds a third to his resume, becoming the ninth man in history to do so.
Showalter, meanwhile, has remarkably won Manager of the Year four times — each with a different team. He’d previously picked up the nod in 1994 with the Yankees, 2004 with the Rangers and 2014 with the Orioles. Showalter joins Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa as the only four-time winners, and he’s the only one to achieve it with four different organizations.
Full voting breakdown: American League, National League
Astros Select J.P. France
The Astros announced this evening they’ve selected right-hander J.P. France onto the 40-man roster. The move keeps him from being eligible for the Rule 5 draft.
A 14th-round pick from Mississippi State in the 2018 draft, France spent all of this year at Triple-A Sugar Land. He worked in a swing capacity for the Space Cowboys, starting 15 of his 34 outings. France pitched to a 3.90 ERA across 110 2/3 innings, punching out an above-average 28.3% of opponents against a slightly elevated 10.6% walk rate.
France turns 28 years old in April, putting him on the older side for a prospect. However, that he’s carved out a 40-man roster spot clearly indicates the Astros view him as a viable rotation or long relief depth option going into next season. Houston already has one of the league’s top rotations — even with Justin Verlander in free agency — but France could return to Sugar Land to provide some cover against injuries in the starting staff.
Yankees Select Randy Vasquez
The Yankees announced this evening they’ve selected right-hander Randy Vásquez onto the 40-man roster. The move keeps him from being eligible for the Rule 5 draft.
Vásquez signed as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic during the 2018-19 international signing period. A curveball specialist, he recently ranked as the #9 prospect in the New York farm system at Baseball America. The outlet credits him with a low-mid 90s fastball and suggests he could develop into a back-of-the-rotation starter if he makes some strides with his control.
The 24-year-old spent this past season at Double-A Somerset. He made 25 starts and worked 115 1/3 innings, pitching to a 3.90 ERA with a 24.2% strikeout rate and a 48.3% ground-ball percentage. Those are both solid marks, as is his 8.3% walk rate. He figures to start next season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre but has a good chance at debuting in the majors at some point in 2023.
Twins Select Four Players
The Twins announced this evening they’ve selected four players onto the 40-man roster to prevent them from being eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Joining the roster are infielder Edouard Julien and pitchers Matt Canterino, Brent Headrick and Casey Legumina.
Julien was an 18th-round draftee out of Auburn in 2019. He’s hit very well in the minor leagues the last two years, including a .300/.441/.490 line with 17 home runs across 508 plate appearances at Double-A Wichita. The Quebec native walked in a stellar 19.3% of his plate appearances against a manageable 24.6% strikeout rate. He’s played each of second, third and first base and gotten some time in left field. Better suited for a corner, Julien’s a bat-first utility prospect. He checked in 10th on Minnesota’s midseason farm rankings at Baseball America.
Canterino went in the second round of the same draft coming out of Rice. The right-hander has an intriguing four-pitch mix but hasn’t logged many professional innings after spending time on the injured list in each of his seasons. He tossed 34 1/3 innings through 11 outings with Wichita this year, posting a 1.83 ERA with a huge 34.7% strikeout rate but walking 15.3% of opponents.
Headrick, 25 next month, was a ninth-rounder in 2019 from Illinois State. The 6’6″ left-hander split the year between High-A Cedar Rapids and Wichita. He combined for a 3.32 ERA through 108 1/3 innings, fanning just under 31% of opponents with only a 5.7% walk percentage.
Legumina was an 8th-rounder in that class out of Gonzaga. The 25-year-old joined Headrick in splitting his season between Cedar Rapids and Wichita. He posted a 4.80 ERA while working primarily in multi-inning relief. Legumina struck out roughly 24% of opponents with a 9.4% walk percentage.
Dodgers Select Four Players
The Dodgers have selected catcher Diego Cartaya, infielder Michael Busch and outfielders Andy Pages and Jonny DeLuca to the 40-man roster, per a team announcement. That quartet is now protected from being taken in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
It’s a notable group to join the 40-man roster. Cartaya, Busch and Pages, in particular, all rank among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects in the game, with Cartaya drawing a particularly impressive placement at No. 9 overall.
The 21-year-old Cartaya split his 2022 season between Class-A and High-A, where he was notably younger than the league average at both levels. The age gap didn’t deter him, however, as he turned in a combined .254/.389/.503 batting line with 22 home runs and doubles alike. Cartaya is considered a work in progress with the glove but boasts huge raw power and a keen eye at the plate, evidenced by a walk rate north of 14% in 2022.
Busch, meanwhile, is a second baseman who slugged 32 home runs, walked at an 11.5% clip and struck out in 26% of his plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A in 2022. His combined .274/.365/.516 batting line shows plenty of promise, even though scouting reports question his overall defensive value. BA lists him 46th on its top 100.
Pages, ranked 72nd by BA, hit .236/.336/.468 in 132 games as a 21-year-old in Double-A, more than holding his own against more advanced pitching. He also fared well in the Arizona Fall League, batting .296/.398/.506 in his 98 plate appearances there. He swatted 26 home runs in Double-A this year and 31 in High-A a year ago, and BA notes that Pages has some of the best raw power of any prospect in baseball.
As for DeLuca, the 24-year-old doesn’t draw the same fanfare as today’s other three additions, but his .260/.347/.541 batting line, 25 homers, 22 doubles, five triples and 17 stolen bases were convincing enough for the Dodgers to protect him. DeLuca fanned in just 14.3% of his 119 plate appearances in Double-A this year, and while that’s a small sample from a late-in-the-year promotion, it likely tickets him for a return effort there to begin the 2023 season. With a strong showing, he could be in Triple-A before long, and a look in the Majors next season is certainly plausible now that he’s in the upper minors and on the 40-man.
Padres Select Tom Cosgrove
The Padres have selected the contract of left hander Tom Cosgrove and added him to the 40-man roster.
A 12th round pick in 2017, Cosgrove initially worked as a starting pitcher in the Padres system, but was moved to a relief role last year. He split time this season between Double-A and Triple-A. His promotion to the top level of the minor leagues came after he tossed 25 2/3 innings of 2.45 ERA ball, striking out 38.2% of batters and walking 12.7%. While the strikeout rate was impressive, he certainly benefited from an 88.2% LOB rate and a .205 BABIP.
He struggled a bit at Triple-A, although he still managed to strike out 33.6% of batters faced. However, his walks remained an issue and he gave up a home run every five innings. On the whole, he finished with a 4.80 ERA across 30 innings at the higher level.
While Cosgrove hasn’t exactly dominated the minor leagues, the Padres 40-man roster stands at 34 after this addition, so it certainly didn’t hurt to add Cosgrove and avoid losing him in the Rule 5 draft. As a lefty with strong strikeout numbers, Cosgrove could provide some helpful bullpen depth next season.
Rockies Acquire Nolan Jones From Guardians
The Guardians have traded infielder Nolan Jones to the Rockies for infield prospect Juan Brito, according to an announcement from Cleveland. It’s an out-of-the-blue swap of talented young players.
Jones, a former second-round pick, appeared among Baseball America’s list of the game’s top 100 prospects each season from 2019-21. He consistently put up quality numbers in the minor leagues, posting some of the game’s highest walk rates to run top-tier on-base marks. Jones struggled a bit during his first crack at Triple-A in 2021 but still entered this year among BA’s top ten Cleveland prospects.
The 24-year-old started the season back at Triple-A, but he performed better in his second go-around at the level. In 248 plate appearances, he put up a .276/.368/.463 line with nine home runs. The Guardians called him up for the first time in July, and he picked up his first 92 big league trips to the plate. Jones hit only .244/.309/.372 while striking out a third of the time in that limited look, but there’s still plenty to be intrigued about in his long-term profile.
Jones owns a .252/.361/.443 mark across 655 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He’s walked in 13.7% of his trips to the dish there while connecting on 22 home runs and 36 doubles. A lofty 28.4% strikeout rate leads to some questions about his bat-to-ball skills, but the combination of power and plate discipline makes him an intriguing addition for the Rox.
The Philadelphia native came up as a third baseman, although he increasingly saw more action in the corner outfield this year. Prospect evaluators have long suggested he could be an adequate defender at the hot corner, but the position was obviously spoken for long-term in Cleveland by José Ramírez. The Rockies already have a franchise third baseman of their own — albeit not one of Ramírez’s caliber — in Ryan McMahon. With McMahon playing elite defense at the hot corner, Jones will probably factor more immediately into the corner outfield and designated hitter mix. The Rockies have Charlie Blackmon for another year to split time between right field and DH, while Kris Bryant will hopefully stay healthy and lock down left field. C.J. Cron is the presumptive starter at first base, but Colorado can rotate Jones’ left-handed bat into the mix alongside Cron while also keeping Blackmon off his feet more often.
Turning to Cleveland’s end of the swap, they land an interesting lower-level prospect from an improving Colorado farm system. Brito, who recently turned 21, spent the entire 2022 season in Low-A. He hit .286/.407/.470 with 11 home runs through 497 plate appearances, walking in an excellent 15.7% of his trips against a meager 14.3% strikeout percentage. Baseball America only placed the Dominican Republic native 30th on its midseason ranking of the Colorado farm system, but Guardians evaluators are clearly far more bullish on his upside.
Brito has played almost exclusively second base in the minors. He’s not regarded as a particularly impressive defender or athlete, but he’s a switch-hitting middle infielder with an excellent minor league track record. The Guardians have prioritized players with impressive bat-to-ball skills and the ability to play a key defensive position, and Brito certainly fits that mold.
With Brito already eligible for the Rule 5 draft, Cleveland immediately selected him onto the 40-man roster. The Guardians often navigate roster churn around the Rule 5 date as they swap out depth types or players who are becoming more costly via arbitration for further away talent. This is not that kind of move, however. Both players occupy a 40-man spot, and neither is within two years of reaching arbitration. Both can still be optioned to the minor leagues — Jones for one more year, Brito three times. Brito surely won’t factor into the MLB mix right away, but this marks a fascinating swap of unproven young players — one seemingly motivated by each team simply valuing the player they’re bringing in more than the player they’re shipping away, not by contractual provisions or roster reshuffling.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.