Orioles Select Grayson Rodriguez, Four Others
The Orioles announced they have added five players to their roster in advance of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline. They are right-handers Grayson Rodriguez, Seth Johnson and Noah Denoyer, along with lefty Drew Rom and shortstop Joey Ortiz.
Rodriguez is arguably the top pitching prospect in the game, making him one of the easiest additions on Rule 5 protection day. The former first-round pick could’ve factored into the MLB mix at some point this year, but a lat strain threw him off track. He did make 14 starts with Triple-A Norfolk, working to a sparkling 2.20 ERA while punching out an excellent 35.8% of opposing hitters. While there was no intrigue with Baltimore’s decision regarding the Rule 5 draft, it’ll be fascinating to see whether Rodriguez can crack Baltimore’s big league roster out of Spring Training.
Johnson was a supplemental first-rounder of the Rays during the 2019 draft. He landed in Baltimore via the three-team Trey Mancini deal at the deadline. The Campbell product recently underwent Tommy John surgery and is expected to miss all of next year, but the O’s like him enough as a prospect to give him an offseason 40-man spot. He can be placed on the MLB 60-day injured list at the start of the season to reopen the roster vacancy.
Denoyer went undrafted in 2019 out of a California junior college, but he’s pitched his way onto a 40-man roster. He’s a reliever who split the 2022 campaign between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie. Denoyer spent most of the year in Bowie, working to a 2.61 ERA with an excellent 35.4% strikeout rate and a meager 5.6% walk percentage over 51 2/3 innings. He’ll be 25 by Opening Day and could factor into the big league bullpen next year.
Rom, 23 next month, split his season between Bowie and Norfolk. He combined for a 4.43 ERA through 120 innings with a 27.1% strikeout percentage and an 8.9% walk rate. A fourth-round selection out of a Kentucky high school in 2018, he was named the #18 prospect in the Baltimore system midseason by Baseball America. He’s a viable back-of-the-rotation candidate next year.
Ortiz went in the fourth round in 2019 coming out of New Mexico State. A gifted defensive shortstop, he split his season between the minors top two levels. The right-handed hitter put up a cumulative .284/.349/.477 mark across 600 plate appearances, pounding out 35 doubles and 19 home runs. He’s part of an excellent pipeline of upper minors infielders in the Baltimore system.
Yankees To Re-Sign Anthony Rizzo To Multi-Year Deal
The Yankees and Anthony Rizzo are in agreement to reunite on a two-year deal with a $40MM guarantee. That comes in the form of a $17MM salary in 2023 and 2024, followed by a $17MM club option for 2025 with a $6MM buyout.
Rizzo, 33, spent many years with the Cubs, a key part of the club’s core that broke the 108-year curse by winning the 2016 World Series. From 2014 to 2019, he was remarkably consistent and productive, hitting between 27 and 32 home runs in each of those six years. His wRC+ was always between 126 and 155, indicating he was between 26% and 55% above league average at the plate. His wins above replacement tally, according to FanGraphs, was between 3.2 and 5.3 in each of those campaigns.
The next two seasons saw Rizzo slide from those great heights somewhat, though he was still a strong performer. In the shortened 2020 campaign, he hit .222/.342/.414 for a wRC+ of 103. The next year, which included a midseason deal to the Yankees, came in at .248/.344/.440 and a wRC+ of 113.
Despite the slight downturn, he was still above-average at the plate and is generally considered a solid defender at first base. He was ineligible for a qualifying offer because of the midseason trade. He and the Yankees agreed to a deal that would keep him in the Bronx, with Rizzo earning $32MM over two years, though he could opt out of the final year and its $16MM salary.
Despite dealing with various ailments throughout 2022, he ended up having a nice bounceback campaign. His 32 home runs matched a career high and his .224/.338/.480 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 132. Based on that strong showing, he triggered his opt-out and returned to free agency in search of a larger deal. It’s also been speculated that the upcoming ban on aggressive defensive shifts will help him, given that his left-handed bat and low speed make him particularly vulnerable to those. The Yankees extended a $19.65MM qualifying offer to him, which he could have accepted and locked in a slight raise over his expected salary. But it seemed he had other suitors, with the Astros being one club known to have interest in him.
3pm Central time today was the deadline for players to accept or reject qualifying offers, with Rizzo among the 12 who declined, though reports emerged shortly thereafter that he and the Yankees agreed to a longer pact. Rizzo will return to his post at first base and earn $17MM per year, so very close to the QO, but he’ll actually have an AAV slightly ahead of it thanks to the buyout. His $40MM guarantee over two years comes out just barely ahead of the two years and $36MM projected by MLBTR.
By getting Rizzo to put pen to paper, the Yanks have prevented a key bat from departing in free agency. Of course, Rizzo is only the second most important player in this camp, as all eyes are squarely focused on Aaron Judge and whether the Yanks can convince him to stay. With Rizzo’s contract on the books, the club’s 2023 payroll is now around $207MM in the estimation of Roster Resource. Last year, they opened the season at $246MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, leaving them about $40MM in space before they’re caught up to that difference. Of course, if they are willing to increase their spending beyond last year’s levels, they should have even more to work with.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Rizzo and the Yanks were reuniting on a multi-year deal. Andy Martino of SNY first relayed the two-year plus a club option framework. Jack Curry of YES Network was first on the dollars.
Image courtesy USA Today Sports.
Angels Select Kolton Ingram, Jose Soriano, DFA Three Players
Ahead of the upcoming Rule 5 protection deadline, the Angels have announced that they’ve selected the contracts of Kolton Ingram and Jose Soriano to their 40-man roster. They’ve also announced that Touki Toussaint, Rob Zastryzny and Nash Walters have all been designated for assignment.
Ingram, 26, was originally drafted by the Tigers in the 37th round of the 2019 draft. He didn’t last long in the Tigers system, pitching just a season in rookie ball before being released in July of 2020. The Angels picked him up before the 2021 season, and he’s blossomed into an excellent relief pitcher in their minor league system. In more than a season’s worth of action at Double-A, Ingram has a 2.40 ERA across 75 innings pitched, giving up just six home runs in that time and posting strong strikeout (10.8 SO/9) and walk (2.8 BB/9) rates.
Soriano, 24, is a hard throwing right hander coming off back-to-back Tommy John surgeries. In 2021, the Pirates picked him up in the Rule 5 draft as he worked his way back from the first surgery, but midway through the 2021 campaign while on a minor league rehab assignment, Soriano re-injured himself and wound up needing a second surgery. The Pirates DFA’d him at the end of the season and he was returned to the Angels, although he does now have a full year of MLB service time to his name. Soriano’s spent much of 2022 rehabbing, but he did feature in seven minor league games, pitching to a 2.08 ERA with 17 strikeouts across 13 innings between rookie and A ball.
Toussaint was once one of baseball’s most prized prospects in the Braves’ system, regularly featuring on top-100 lists in the last decade. It hasn’t worked out for him in the big leagues though. He threw 145 innings of 5.46 ERA ball across four seasons with the Braves before the Angels purchased him in July this year. He didn’t have much success with the Angels either, pitching to a 4.62 ERA in 25 1/3 innings, walking 19 batters and striking out 26. He didn’t go much better in his time at Triple-A either, winding up with a 5.69 ERA across 55 1/3 innings between the Angels’ and Braves’ affiliates.
Zastryzny was claimed off waivers from the Mets late in the season, and only pitched three innings for the Angels in 2022. He’d only pitched a single inning for the Mets as well, but was a solid performer at the Triple-A level, where he spent most of the season. There, Zastryzny had 3.42 ERA across 55 1/3 innings, striking out 11.1 batters per nine innings while walking 3.3. Originally drafted by the Cubs back in 2013, Zastryzny impressed in a small sample in his rookie season, pitching to a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings. He hasn’t been able to follow that up since though, and on the whole owns a 4.66 ERA across 38 2/3 big league innings.
The Angels purchased Walters from the Brewers in September, and the 25-year-old faced just three batters in the big leagues, giving up a hit and walk and recording one out. That’s not quite a big enough sample size to cast meaningful judgement, so Walters threw 47 innings out of the bullpen at Double-A in the Brewers’ system for a 4.60 ERA. He struck out batters at a good clip (33%) and walked them at a 7.5% rate. The Angels used him at Triple-A after acquiring him, where he threw just 5 1/3 innings.
Cardinals Select Connor Thomas
The Cardinals announced that they have selected left-hander Connor Thomas to their 40-man roster. That protects him from being selected in the upcoming Rule 5 draft.
A fifth-round selection out of Georgia Tech in 2019, Thomas spent the entire season with Triple-A Memphis. He started 25 of his 28 outings, tossing 135 innings of 5.47 ERA ball. He only punched out 17.9% of opponents, but he induced grounders on over half the batted balls he allowed and has excellent control. The Cardinals have valued that kind of strike-throwing and grounder ability on their pitching staff, thanks in large part to the strong infield defense behind them.
The 24-year-old can serve as rotation or long relief depth for the Cards. He’s the only prospect St. Louis protected from the Rule 5 draft, bringing their 40-man roster count to 39.
Braves Acquire Dennis Santana From Rangers
The Rangers announced they’ve traded reliever Dennis Santana to the Braves in exchange for cash considerations. Atlanta designated Jackson Stephens for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move.
Santana soaked up plenty 0f middle relief innings in Arlington, pitching 58 2/3 frames across 63 outings. He generally struggled over that stretch, posting a 5.22 ERA with a below-average 21.2% strikeout percentage and an elevated 11% walk rate. The right-hander has posted subpar strikeout and walk marks throughout his parts of five seasons in the majors with the Dodgers and Rangers, contributing to a career 5.12 ERA over 139 innings.
The 26-year-old has flashed some interesting traits that suggest he could yet be a productive MLB bullpen arm. He’s gotten swinging strikes between 11% and 12% of his total offerings the past couple seasons, a solid enough rate. Santana has also induced ground-balls on almost half the batted balls against him the last couple years, and his sinker sat just under 97 MPH this past season. He had some success against left and right-handed hitters alike, but he was victimized by an extremely low strand rate that’s likely to bounce back moving forward.
Santana is out of minor league option years, so he’ll have to break camp on the Atlanta roster or be made available to other teams. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to receive a $1.1MM salary if tendered an arbitration contract, and the Braves’ acquisition suggests they could be prepared to do so this week. That’d figure to give him an inside shot at securing a middle relief role out of Spring Training.
Stephens inked a minor league deal with Atlanta over the offseason. He cracked the big league roster a few days into the year and wound up tallying 53 2/3 innings across 39 outings. The 28-year-old had a solid 3.69 ERA with a decent 46.3% grounder percentage but a 20% strikeout rate. Stephens’ swing-and-miss rate also sat at a subpar 9.3%, and the Braves have elected to roll the dice on Santana’s upside in swapping out potential middle innings arms.
Atlanta will have a week to deal Stephens or run him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to become a minor league free agent.
Brewers Select Brice Turang and Abner Uribe
The Brewers announced that they have selected a couple of players to their 40-man roster ahead of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline. They are infielder Brice Turang and right-hander Abner Uribe.
Turang was the Brewers’ first round pick back in 2018 (21st overall) out of Santiago High School in California. Predominantly a shortstop, Turang has also spent time at second base coming through Milwaukee’s system, while he also logged a handful of games in center field this season. In 131 games at Triple-A this year, Turang hit .286/.360/.412 with 13 home runs and was an impressive 34/36 on stolen base attempts. The 22-year-old (23 next week) doesn’t strike out much (19.6% of the time) and walks a solid amount (10.8% of the time).
MLB.com ranks Turang as the Brewer’s fourth best prospect, and their report on him also notes he projects as an above-average shortstop, citing “improved range and overall playmaking ability”. It’s not a huge surprise to see Turang added to the 40-man in Milwaukee, as his strong showing in Triple-A this past season make him a likely candidate to make his big league debut next summer.
Uribe, 22, is a Dominican born pitcher who’s posted big strikeout numbers in the past few seasons but also struggled with injuries. The Brewers’ 26th prospect according to MLB.com underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus earlier in the year, and missed most of the 2022 campaign. He only tossed three innings at Double-A this year, but in 33 2/3 innings at Single-A last year he struck out 52 batters, although he did walk 25.
While the control is certainly a concern, there’s no doubt Uribe has a lot of raw potential. He’s flashed three digits on the speed gun in the minor leagues, and in the 2021 Arizona Fall League he had 13 of the 14 hardest thrown pitches per Statcast. While Turang looks closer to the majors at this point, if the Brewers can get Uribe fit and hone his control, his ability to miss bats could make him an option for their bullpen in the not-too-distant future.
White Sox Select Bryan Ramos And Jose Rodriguez
The White Sox announced they have added a couple of players to their roster in advance of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline. They are infielders Bryan Ramos and Jose Rodriguez.
Ramos signed with Chicago out of Cuba during the 2018-19 international signing period. A power-hitting third baseman, he’s played his way to Double-A by age 20. The right-handed hitter spent most of the year with High-A Winston-Salem, posting a .275/.350/.471 line with 19 home runs and a strong 16.4% strikeout rate. Baseball America considers him the #3 prospect in a generally weak Chicago farm system.
Rodriguez is a native of the Dominican Republic. Also a member of the 2018-19 international class, he played most of the season as a 21-year-old with Double-A Birmingham. In 484 plate appearances, the right-handed hitter put up a .280/.340/.430 line with 11 home runs and a meager 13.6% strikeout rate. He also swiped 40 bases and played mostly middle infield. BA considers him the #5 prospect in the Sox’s system, suggesting he’s likely to be a utility infielder.
12 Players Reject Qualifying Offers
Twelve of the 14 players who received qualifying offers have rejected those one-year, $19.65MM contracts in favor of testing the open market, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Martin Perez and Joc Pederson are the only two who accepted a QO. Each of Aaron Judge, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Dansby Swanson, Jacob deGrom, Carlos Rodon, Brandon Nimmo, Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo, Chris Bassitt, Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Anderson have rejected the deal. Anderson is already in agreement on a three-year contract with the Angels.
None of the news is all that surprising, aside from perhaps Anderson’s early multi-year strike with the Halos. Perez and Pederson were two of the three most likely candidates to take the QO. That the Giants tagged Pederson at all was a move few saw coming, and most believed he’d indeed take the QO once it was put forth.
None of Judge, Turner, Bogaerts, Swanson, deGrom, Rodon, Nimmo, Bassitt or Contreras likely gave much thought to the possibility. Eovaldi and Rizzo were more borderline candidates, but the latter quickly returns to the Yankees on a multi-year deal that’ll pay him around the QO rate over two guaranteed seasons. Eovaldi has yet to sign, but he’ll presumably continue to search for a longer-term contract after taking advantage of the five days to scour the market.
The clubs that saw a free agent decline a qualifying offer now stand to receive draft compensation if that player signs elsewhere. The value of the compensatory pick depends on a team’s status as a revenue sharing recipient and/or whether they paid the luxury tax in 2022. That’s also true of the draft choices and potentially international signing bonus space a team would have to forfeit to sign a qualified free agent from another team.
MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes broke down the forfeiture each team would have to surrender to sign a qualified free agent earlier this month. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk looked at the compensation each club would receive if one of these players signed elsewhere.
Nationals To Make Several Roster Moves
3:07pm: In addition to the moves below, the Nats added left-hander Jose Ferrer and right-hander Jake Irvin. To create roster space, they designated right-hander Tommy Romero for assignment while outfielder Yadiel Hernandez, lefty Evan Lee and righty Jackson Tetreault cleared outright waivers and were assigned to Triple-A Rochester. Additionally, the club avoided arbitration with infielder Ildemaro Vargas by agreeing to a one-year deal. Vargas will make $975K, reports Andrew Golden of the Washington Post (Twitter link). That’s a touch below his $1.1MM arbitration projection.
3:00pm: Talk Nats adds that Alu has indeed been added. 26 in April, Alu is an infielder who had a great year at the plate. Between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit .299/.365/.506 for a wRC+ of 132.
11:57am: The deadline for MLB teams to add players to their 40-man roster in order to protect them from selection in the Rule 5 draft is tonight at 5pm Central. The Nationals are set to add at least three players, according to Talk Nats. They are right-hander Jackson Rutledge, left-hander Matt Cronin and outfielder Jeremy De La Rosa. It’s possible more moves are still coming, with Talk Nats identifying Jake Alu and Jose Ferrer as possibilities.
Rutledge, 24 in April, was the club’s first round selection in 2019, going 17th overall. He got some work in affiliated ball after that draft but then saw the minor leagues get wiped out by the pandemic in 2020. Shoulder tightness and recurring blisters then limited his workload and effectiveness in 2021. He got things back on track somewhat here in 2022 by making 20 starts, but they were in Single-A and he only posted a 4.90 ERA. His peripherals were much stronger though, with a high BABIP and low strand rate likely pushing his ERA higher than deserved, as indicated by his 3.89 FIP and 3.93 xFIP.
He has yet to reach Double-A and is still likely not close to making his major league debut. Still, based on his previous prospect stock and ability to hit triple-digits with his heater, the Nats have decided they don’t want to risk losing him in next month’s draft. With the big league club mired in rebuild mode anyway, there’s little harm in dedicating a roster spot to someone who is unlikely to contribute in 2023 if the club thinks he can provide future value some day. He’s currently ranked the club’s #9 prospect at Baseball America and #10 at FanGraphs.
Cronin, 25, was a fourth round pick in that same 2019 draft. He’s worked exclusively as a reliever since then, working his way up the minor league ladder. In 2022, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, throwing 52 combined innings. In that time, he posted a 2.42 ERA with a 26.9% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate. He’ll give the club a left-handed relief option that can potentially be optioned between the majors and minors for the next few years. He’s 17th on the BA list and 30th at FanGraphs.
De La Rosa, 21 in January, was signed as an international free agent in 2018. He started 2022 in Single-A and completely mashed, producing a batting line of .315/.394/.505 with 26 steals. A midseason promotion to High-A didn’t produce immediate results, as he hit just .195/.273/.271, though he did swipe another 13 bags. In the field, he played primarily in center field and could have a decent floor with his speed and defense. BA slots him in at #10 on their list while FanGraphs has him at #8.
Joc Pederson Accepts Qualifying Offer
Outfielder Joc Pederson has accepted the $19.65MM qualifying offer he received from the Giants, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
Pederson was drafted by the Dodgers and spent seven seasons there, largely serving as a productive member of the lineup. He had an ill-timed down year in 2020, just as he was about to reach free agency. That led to him settling for a one-year, $7MM deal to join the Cubs for 2021. He bounced back slightly that year but was still below average at the plate overall, leading to another one-year deal for 2022, this time getting $6MM from the Giants.
He was able to get back on track in a huge way this year, having the best offensive season of his career. His .274/.353/.521 slash line included career highs in both batting average and on-base percentage. The resulting wRC+ of 144 means he was 44% above league average, and that was 16 points beyond anything he’d done previously in his career.
Despite that huge showing with the bat, it was somewhat surprising to see him extended the QO, given his recent struggles and poor defensive metrics. Nonetheless, the Giants felt good enough about his output to make a $19.65MM bet that he could have another strong performance in 2023. They would have received draft pick compensation if Pederson had declined the offer and signed elsewhere, but that’s a moot point now as he’ll return to the Giants next year, earning a salary almost three times as high as his previous best.
For the Giants, it’s possible that this is the first of many moves for them, with rumors swirling that they are going to be very active this winter. For now, Pederson will join an outfield/designated hitter mix that includes Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr., Luis Gonzalez and Austin Slater, though the club tends to favor players with defensive versatility and have several infielders that could move to the grass.
With Pederson’s $19.65MM added to the ledger, the 2023 payroll is now sitting at $134MM, in the estimation of Roster Resource. They began last year with an Opening Day mark of $155MM and have been above $200MM in the recent past, according to figures from Cot’s Baseball Contracts. If they are willing to get back up to those levels, they should have plenty to work with. Rumors have connected them to the top free agent shortstops as well as Bay Area native Aaron Judge, making for a very interesting offseason ahead. But for now, they’ve brought back a very productive hitter for another season in black and orange.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.