Nationals Sign Matt Adams
DECEMBER 18: The Nats have announced the signing.
DECEMBER 15, 3:38 PM: The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty tweets that Adams will earn $3MM in 2019, and he’s also guaranteed a $1MM buyout on a mutual option for the 2020 season.
3:18 PM: Free agent first baseman/outfielder Matt Adams has agreed to a one-year, $4MM deal (contract details via Yahoo’s Jeff Passan) with Washington, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Per Rosenthal, the deal is pending a physical.
Adams, 30, was excellent in 277 plate appearances for the Nationals last seasons, slashing .257/.332/.510 (123 wRC+) before moving back to St. Louis on a late-August waiver claim. Despite poor numbers in a minuscule sample upon returning to the Cardinals, a slimmed-down Adams posted his highest hard-hit rate (39.1%) since the 2014 campaign, and displayed, for the first time, an ability to adequately handle a corner-outfield spot, earning decent DRS marks after a dreadful initiation to the spots in 2017.
Adams, though, has long been a near-automatic out against left-handed pitching (career .208/.238/.358 batting line, 59 wRC+), and did little to dismiss the notion in 32 plate appearances versus lefties in 2018. Still, he’s a solid bench option for a team in dire need of upper-level offensive depth, and should be an adequate replacement for an aging Ryan Zimmerman or the injury-prone Adam Eaton, should either fall prey to the DL and/or bouts of ineffectiveness.
The Slippery Rock University product made his MLB debut in 2012 with St. Louis after systematically annihilating minor-league pitching from 2009-12. His rookie season in 2013 was arguably his best, as the then-24-year-old joined a host of lineup-mates in demolishing NL pitching (his 135 wRC+ was third-best on the team) en route to the team’s second pennant in three seasons. Sharp decline followed, though, and an undiscerning eye (5.0 BB% from ’14-’15) relegated the 23rd-round pick to extreme part-time duty.
An increased, 7.6 BB% allowed for a slight rebound in Adams’ 2016 performance, before the slugger dropped 30 pounds and vowed to improve his versatility. There’s hope for more, too: Adams’ 107 wRC+ last season was suppressed by a career-low .245 average on balls in play, with his second-St. Louis-stint results (.167 BABIP in 60 PA despite a 56% hard-hit rate) being an obvious anomaly.
Market Notes: Ross, Harper, Phillies, Realmuto, Minor
Long-time backstop David Ross has agreed to a new, multi-year deal to continue working as an analyst with ESPN. That news would seem to eliminate him from contention as a possible Cubs bench coach target, which is no surprise given recent indications. It would also appear to suggest that Ross won’t be looking to move into a dugout in the near future, though he’ll no doubt remain a popular candidate for significant gigs every time there’s an opening.
Let’s check in on the latest market notes …
- The Dodgers‘ interest in star free agent Bryce Harper remains a storyline to watch. The Los Angeles club doesn’t seem inclined to tantalize Harper with a record-setting overall guarantee, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggests (subscription link). Rather, the club would be more interested in a shorter-term pact with a “high” average annual value and multiple opt-out clauses along the way. ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez heard largely the same late last week, while adding a few intriguing additional details. Harper “badly wants to be a Dodger,” says Gonzalez, but would have to sacrifice years and dollars in order to make that dream a reality. That also meshes with a recent report from ESPN’s Buster Olney, wherein Olney suggested that a front-loaded deal with a huge annual value could be the most appealing scenario to Los Angeles. Details are understandably sparse at this point, but generally, it stands to reason that if Harper and agent Scott Boras were to consider anything shy of a record-setting contract in terms of overall value and/or length, they’d likely need to establish a new high-water mark in terms of AAV by a considerable margin. That doesn’t seem like something that Harper’s camp would consider until a ways down the line, however, as Boras & Co. are quite likely still locked in on a longer-term mega-deal. The timeline for Harper’s signing remains unclear at the moment.
- Harper and Manny Machado will continue to fascinate until they sign, but with both still holding in-person meetings it could take a while for that to come together. What that may mean for the Phillies is worth pondering, as the organization has its sights set on significant improvements in multiple areas. Club president Andy MacPhail says there’s still ongoing interest in both stars, but also notes “there are a lot of different ways to improve,” as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Citing a need to “give yourself enough latitude to deal with each offseason as it comes,” MacPhail certainly struck a somewhat different tone than owner John Middleton did recently. In part, he sought to emphasize the more restrained elements of Middleton’s comments — particularly, those indicating that the club does not feel it must land Harper and/or Machado to have had a productive offseason.
- The Astros are “back in the mix” for Marlins star J.T. Realmuto, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (via Twitter). It’s fair to wonder whether the Houston club was ever really fully out of the hunt. The club did add Robinson Chirinos and still has Max Stassi on hand, but that combination surely isn’t sufficient to sap the ‘Stros’ interest in the top catcher in the game. Perhaps it’s not out of the question that the club would consider carrying three catchers if they swing a blockbuster, with Realmuto perhaps representing an option in the DH/first base mix and Chirinos also providing a potent bench bat against left-handed pitching (.258/.353/.485 career slash). Whatever the plan would be, the Astros first need to land Realmuto. As Frisaro hints, the club’s reported deal with Michael Brantley could be seen as an indication that top prospect Kyle Tucker — who’d surely be of keen interest to the Fish — might just be available. Of course, as Frisaro also notes, a variety of other teams remain in pursuit of Realmuto at this stage.
- The Brewers nearly struck a deal with the Rangers for Mike Minor, Rosenthal further reports (subscription link), though it’s largely unclear what shape such an agreement would have taken and whether talks are still open. For Milwaukee, the connection makes clear that boosting the pitching mix remains a goal of the offseason. The organization has quite a few solid pieces in place, many of which could be utilized as needed in the rotation, in the bullpen, or as minor-league depth. Minor would certainly fit that general mold, as he has shown the ability to function as a high-quality reliever or solid back-of-the-rotation starter in recent years. It’s notable that the Texas org seems to be batting around multiple trade scenarios on the lefty, even in a winter in which they have taken further risks on other veteran hurlers.
Checking In On MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agent Predictions
As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently pointed out, at this time last year we had seen no open-market movement from the top of the free-agent pool. There’s still quite a lot of work to be done with regard to the current crop of players, but there also has been quite a bit more movement. With ten of the top twenty players listed on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agent list now having reportedly agreed to terms, it’s a good time to check in on how the market is developing.
Here are the deals that have reportedly been struck do date, not all of which have been finalized:
3. Patrick Corbin, SP — Predicted: 6 years, $129MM. Signed: 6 years, $140MM.
7. Nathan Eovaldi, SP — Predicted: 4 years, $60MM. Signed: 4 years, $68MM.
9. J.A. Happ, SP — Predicted: 3 years, $48MM. Signed: 2 years, $34MM.
10. Michael Brantley, OF — Predicted: 3 years, $45MM. Signed: 2 years, $32MM.
11. Andrew McCutchen, OF — Predicted: 3 years, $45MM. Signed: 3 years, $50MM.
13. Josh Donaldson, 3B — Predicted: 1 year, $20MM. Signed: 1 year, $23MM.
14. Charlie Morton, SP — Predicted: 2 years, $32MM. Signed: 2 years, $30MM.
15. Wilson Ramos, C — Predicted: 3 years, $36MM. Signed: 2 years, $19MM.
17. Jeurys Familia, RP — Predicted: 3 years, $33MM. Signed: 3 years, $30MM.
20. Hyun-Jin Ryu, SP — Predicted: 3 years, $33MM. Signed: 1 year, $17.9MM.
25. Joe Kelly, RP — Predicted: 3 years, $27MM. Signed: 3 years, $25MM.
36. Lance Lynn, SP — Predicted: 2 years, $16MM. Signed: 3 years, $30MM.
43. Garrett Richards, SP — Predicted: 2 years, $10MM. Signed: 2 years, $15.5MM.
44. Jesse Chavez, RP — Predicted: 2 years, $10MM. Signed: 2 years, $8MM.
45. CC Sabathia, SP — Predicted: 1 year, $8MM. Signed: 1 year, $8MM.
48. Kurt Suzuki, C — Predicted: 2 years, $8MM. Signed: 2 years, $10MM.
Total — Predicted: $560MM. Signed: $540.4MM.
It’s possible to look at that slate of signings and believe that the market is humming along. Perhaps the biggest point in favor of an optimistic outlook from the players’ perspective is the fact that many early moves seem to have set teams up for yet more acquisitions. Few if any teams appear “done” with their shopping at this point.
Of course, one could also argue that the earliest-to-sign free agents naturally outperformed expectations, since strong early interest is what drove their market. It could be that other names on the T50 list will find tougher going. Plus, the top of the position-player market and much of the relief market remain unresolved. And there’s a big group of mid-level free agents (and below) that are still waiting to see how things will shake out up top.
Timing is also an interesting topic to consider. Players are no doubt resolved not to allow the ticking clock to become too strong a lever for teams, who made clear last winter that patience isn’t going to be in short supply. Perhaps there’s still some feeling-out to be done in light of last year’s market shock, and there’s at least one significant trade chip (J.T. Realmuto) who could be holding things up a bit, but we may also simply be in an era when more of the offseason business tends to be completed later on the calendar.
MLBTR Poll: Andrew McCutchen / Michael Brantley Contracts
As the MLBTR team put together this year’s ranking of the top fifty free agents, it became clear that there were a few bunchings of multiple players in similar market positions. That’s apparent most obviously at the top, where Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are both trying to push the bounds of what a 26-year-old star can earn (albeit at different positions), and in the sub-elite tier of the relief market, where there are a variety of very good pitchers who possess at least one or two obvious limitations on value.
It may be, though, that the tightest race between any two players — at least, in terms of ink spilled in relation to the level of contract we were debating — was between Andrew McCutchen and Michael Brantley. Proof? Tim Dierkes wrote Steve Adams and me an email on October 25th entitled, “Brantley vs Cutch revisited.”
In such situations, at some point, you’re forced to pick between the players — unless you take the easy way out (as I often do in our summer trade ranking list!) by grouping multiple players at one spot. Since Tim is made of sterner stuff than I, he was determined to put one ahead of the other — even if they ended up at the same predicted contract, as ultimately proved to be the case. I thought it’d be interesting to look back at some of our lengthy debate on the topic, and use it as a jumping-off point for a poll now that we’ve seen both players agree to deals.
It was something of an upset that Tim decided to place Brantley first. After all, he led off that aforementioned email with a series of power arguments that’d make Cutch’s agents blush: McCutchen has more power, doesn’t have platoon issues, “is indestructible,” and is a more versatile defender. Pop, offensive balance, durability, flexibility … seemed like a closed case.
Of course, there are counter-arguments in favor of Brantley, and Steve was happy to provide them in exhaustive detail. He summed up the main thrust of his viewpoint thusly: “Even if you look at their last three seasons, the only thing Cutch has on Brantley is volume of games played. Brantley has been a better hitter (same wRC+, but I’ll take the one that comes with a .300 average and half the strikeout rate) and a wildly better baserunner and defender.” With a slight age advantage to boot, there was quite a bit to like about Brantley.
It was a lively debate — and one that I was glad mostly to sit out while making observations that would keep me in the good graces of both of the warring MLBTR factions. Pro-Brantley: “He doesn’t walk. But he has super-elite contact ability that has allowed him to be a steadily outstanding producer of OBP.” Pro-Cutch: “.360+ OBP the past two years and still above-average power (which might play up in a smaller park). Plate discipline is as good as ever. Durability is a very fair point as well. Lack of platoon splits is nice.”
Ultimately, we predicted three-year, $45MM deals for both players. But that’s not how it has turned out. McCutchen secured a surprisingly hefty $50MM guarantee from the Phillies, who’ll bank on him as a steady and reliable (if not literally “indestructible”) asset for at least the next three seasons. That left us feeling optimistic about Brantley’s market, but word emerged this evening that he will not secure a third guaranteed season, reportedly agreeing to a two-year, $32MM-ish deal with the Astros. Though Houston wants to get the bat in the lineup as much as possible, it wasn’t forced to take on extra injury risk with another promised campaign in order to lure Brantley.
All that being said … how do you view the predictions and signings? (Response order randomized; poll link for app users.)
How Would You Characterize The McCutchen & Brantley Outcomes?
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Phillies overpaid; Astros got good value 64% (12,393)
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Astros took more risk; Phillies got the better/more reliable player 20% (3,849)
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Both contracts are fair -- MLBTR just whiffed on its predictions! 17% (3,240)
Total votes: 19,482
Mets Sign Wilson Ramos
Dec. 17, 9:28pm: The deal includes a $2MM signing bonus, meaning Ramos’ 2019 salary will technically be $6.25MM, per Heyman (Twitter link).
3:45pm: The Mets announced that Ramos will be introduced at a press conference Monday at 11 a.m. ET. Rosenthal tweets that in addition to the salary parameters reported by Wagner below, Ramos will earn an additional $500K if he’s able to make 100 starts at catcher in a given season.
Dec. 16, 4:44pm: It is indeed $19MM guaranteed, tweets the New York Times’ James Wagner, who adds that Ramos will earn $8.25MM next season and $9.25MM in 2020. The contract also includes either a $10MM club option or a $1.5MM buyout for 2021. The max value is $27.5MM.
3:45pm: The Mets have reached an agreement with free-agent catcher Wilson Ramos, pending a physical, according to Andy Martino of SNY. Daniel Alvarez Montes of ElExtrabase previously reported the two sides had agreed to a contract. It’s a two-year pact for the Octagon client, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. The deal is worth $19MM, per Jon Heyman of Fancred, though Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports Ramos will receive a $19.5MM guarantee and an option for 2021. Post colleague Ken Davidoff adds that Ramos could make up to $26MM.
The Mets’ addition of Ramos takes them out of the running for Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, whom they had been aggressively pursuing this week, as Martino notes. They’re the second team to reportedly drop out of the Realmuto sweepstakes in the past couple days, joining the NL East rival Braves.
For the Mets, losing out on Realmuto means they’ll get to keep major league assets such as Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto and Amed Rosario, all of whom had piqued the Marlins’ interest in talks. At the same time, they won’t end up with arguably the majors’ best catcher. Still, while the 31-year-old Ramos’ isn’t the prize Realmuto would have been for New York, he should provide the team with a quality starter behind the plate.
Ramos, set to join his third NL East team (he was previously with Washington and Philadelphia), has batted .273/.317/.439 (103 wRC+) across 2,944 major league plate appearances, making him an easily above-average offensive catcher. Defensively, Ramos has caught a lifetime 32 percent of would-be base stealers, beating out the 28 percent league average, and earned positive marks behind the plate from Baseball Prospectus for the majority of his MLB career.
In 2018 – which he divided between the Rays and Phillies – Ramos enjoyed arguably his best offensive season, slashing .306/.358/.487 (130 wRC+) with 15 home runs in 416 PAs. Ramos also caught 29 percent of would-be base thieves and received decent overall grades from BP. It was clearly a strong rebound campaign for Ramos, who only appeared in 64 games in 2017 with the Rays as he worked his way back from the torn right ACL he suffered as a member of the Nats late in 2016.
Ramos has torn his right ACL twice in his major league career, which is especially troubling for an aging backstop. But he still doesn’t come with the injury concerns of fellow Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who missed all but four games last year as a result of a partial UCL tear, has only appeared in upward of 100 games twice in his career and, when healthy, hasn’t lived up to the hype he had as a prospect. D’Arnaud now figures to back up Ramos, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, calling into question what the Mets will do with fellow catchers Kevin Plawecki and Tomas Nido. Speculatively, the out-of-options Plawecki – a former top-100 prospect – could be a trade candidate.
Entering the offseason, MLBTR forecast a three-year, $36MM guarantee for Ramos, who will fall short of that with his new club. His departure from the open market easily leaves Yasmani Grandal as the premier catcher available in free agency. The Mets also had interest in Grandal, but as a qualifying offer recipient, signing him would have forced them to surrender their second-highest draft pick in 2019, $500K in international bonus space and a significant amount of their major league payroll room. Ramos only cost money, on the other hand, but his signing still counts as yet another major move in the Brodie Van Wagenen era. The rookie GM had been aggressive even before the Ramos agreement, as he acquired Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia over the past couple weeks. Van Wagenen’s likely not done yet, either, as he attempts to construct a roster capable of trumping the sub-.500 versions the Mets fielded from 2017-18.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/17/18
Here are some of the day’s notable minor transactions …
- The Yankees have a minors deal in place with veteran southpaw Rex Brothers, per Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). Brothers, who’ll turn 31 tomorrow, still has an intriguingly high-powered left arm — he pumped 97 in his lone MLB appearance in 2018 — that’s capable of racking up swings and misses. Unfortunately, Brothers has also been exceedingly prone to issuing free passes over his career. Last year, at Triple-A, he recorded a 56:44 K/BB ratio in 40 2/3 frames. It’s an extreme profile, but the Yanks will take a shot at trying to harness the upside. At a minimum, the team will add an experienced reliever to its depth mix.
- As expected, the Royals have brought back a trio of recently non-tendered (non-arb-eligible) players. The club announced minor-league pact with former top prospect Bubba Starling, righty Jason Adam, and first bagger Samir Duenez. Starling, certainly, is the most notable member of this group given his status as a former fifth overall draft pick. He’s now 26 years of age and still trying t work things out in the upper minors. The Royals are obviously still pleased with his effort level and think there may be something more in the tank. At a minimum, the organization would surely like to see what he can do if he’s at full health for a complete season.
Yankees Pay CC Sabathia $500K Bonus For 2018 Season
It largely goes without saying that the Yankees enjoy a warm relationship with veteran lefty CC Sabathia, but the point was driven home again today. As Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports, the club recently paid Sabathia a $500K bonus for his work in 2018 that was not technically required by his contract.
You may recall that Sabathia was tossed from a late-September start — his final of the season — for plunking an opponent in retaliation. When he did so, Sabathia cost himself a clear shot at reaching his 155th inning on the season and thereby triggering a $500K bonus. He also endeared himself yet further to his teammates and got his money’s worth on the way off the mound.
It turns out that the Yanks quietly slipped Sabathia a check for the $500K even though the incentive provision was not actually triggered. That’s but a fraction of the monstrous sum the organization has paid the lefty over the years. It seems that pushes him past the $216MM mark over ten years in the Bronx, with another $8MM still to come for his 2019 efforts after the sides lined up on their fourth separate contractual arrangement.
Still, it’s a nice chunk of change. Sabathia’s rep says that the southpaw “was very appreciative.” Yankees GM Brian Cashman indicated that “it was something that we did very private and weren’t looking to publicize.” As Blum notes, the existence of the payment was only sussed out because of the team’s luxury tax filings.
Mets Sign Rajai Davis
The Mets announced today that they have inked a minor-league deal with veteran outfielder Rajai Davis. He’ll receive an invitation to Spring Training.
The 38-year-old Davis has played in the big leagues for each of the past 13 seasons. He’s known best for his quality glovework and game-changing speed, with 415 career stolen bases in just over fourteen-hundred total games.
Given those other carrying skills, Davis has carried a respectable-enough .262/.311/.379 slash for his career, which translates to an 86 wRC+. Unfortunately, he has dipped beneath that average in each of the past three seasons. In 2018, Davis managed only a .224/.278/.281 batting line.
With his work at the plate lagging, Davis received only 216 plate appearances last year — his lowest tally since he got his first, brief taste of the bigs in 2006. Still, the Indians found a way to get him into 101 games, which speaks to the other ways he can still contribute.
No doubt Davis had interest from other organizations, many of which surely would have seen him as among the more appealing depth options available without the commitment of a 40-man roster spot. That the Mets landed him seemingly indicates that the veteran sees a real chance to earn MLB time in New York if he shows well in camp. Of course, the expectation remains that other moves will still impact the Mets’ outfield picture.
Free Agent Rumors: Harrison, Kimbrel, Norris, Angels
The Nationals have had a pair of “brief” meetings with Josh Harrison‘s representatives at MSM Sports, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. While there’s mutual interest, Dougherty reports that Harrison’s camp is also looking “closely” at other landing spots as well. Whether that’s due to what the Nats would be willing to offer, how they’d plan to use Harrison or another factor remains to be seen. The Nats have some uncertainty at second base, where Wilmer Difo and Howie Kendrick (who missed most of 2018 due to a ruptured Achilles) currently sit atop the depth chart. Top prospect Carter Kieboom may not be far from the big leagues, but adding a stable short-term option still makes plenty of sense for Washington. The Nats have been connected to Harrison several times over the past couple of weeks, but the versatile 31-year-old surely has other teams interested in his services. He’s been tied to the Yankees and Reds at various points this winter.
A few more notes on the free-agent market…
- Craig Kimbrel‘s lofty asking price — a reported six years and $100MM — and the lack of big-market clubs currently willing to spend on a late-inning reliever could present the right-hander with a difficult market this winter, Buster Olney of ESPN.com writes. Olney likens the situation to last year’s tepid market for J.D. Martinez — a similarly elite player for his position (designated hitter) who lingered on the open market until landing in Boston in late February — a match that long seemed inevitable. The Red Sox may be the best bet for Kimbrel, too, Olney opines, especially given the plethora of more affordable options for smaller and mid-market clubs to pursue even if they do want to bolster the back end of their bullpens.
- The Marlins are one of several teams that has reached out to free-agent right-hander Bud Norris, tweets Craig Mish of SiriusXM. Miami has thinned out its bullpen this offseason by trading Kyle Barraclough (to Washington), and there’s a definitive lack of experienced arms at the back end of the organization’s bullpen. At present, Drew Steckenrider is the presumptive favorite to close games for skipper Don Mattingly, although the right-hander struggled down the stretch in 2019. Even as the Marlins rebuild the organization, there’s still an obvious opportunity to add some low-cost bullpen options to help take the stress off younger arms and, potentially, to be traded for further minor league talent down the line. The 33-year-old Norris has a 3.91 ERA with 10.6 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and 47 saves over the past two seasons — the most recent of which was spent with the Cardinals.
- The Angels‘ best offer to J.A. Happ topped out at two years and a total of $28MM, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). That checks in $6MM shy of the two-year total that Happ received to return to the Yankees, so it’s hardly surprising that Happ opted for the familiarity of an organization he already knew and a greater guarantee. Both offers contained vesting options, Fletcher notes. With Happ, Patrick Corbin, Nathan Eovaldi, Charlie Morton and Lance Lynn all off the board, the Halos have begun to see some of their free-agent options dwindle. Dallas Keuchel and Yusei Kikuchi are the top two starters from MLBTR’s Top 50 free agent list remaining, though as can be seen in our Free Agent Tracker, there are plenty of available options beyond that pairing. And, of course, the trade market will offer various options for the Angels, whose rejuvenated farm system should appeal to many clubs with pitching to spare.
Pirates Interested In Troy Tulowitzki
The Pirates are among the teams with interest in free-agent infielder Troy Tulowitzki, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Tulowitzki was released by the Blue Jays earlier this month.
Pittsburgh skipper Clint Hurdle is quite familiar with Tulo from the pair’s days with the Rockies, when Tulowitzki was among the game’s brightest young stars. At 34 years of age and coming off a season in which he did not play after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs in both feet, Tulowitzki is a far cry from his days as an MVP candidate. However, he’d cost the Pirates (or any signing team) only the league minimum, as the Blue Jays are on the hook for the remainder of his salary in 2019-20. Presumably, there are at least a handful of clubs intrigued to see how Tulo would hold up now that he’s a ways removed from surgery and not playing his home games on the artificial turf at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.
That said, it’s been quite some time since Tulowitzki was viewed as an above-average regular at the big league level. He hit just .249/.300/.378 through 266 plate appearances with the Blue Jays back in 2017 — his last taste of Major League work. Tulo made All-Star teams in both 2015 and 2016, though his overall offensive output in both of those seasons was roughly equivalent to a league-average hitter when weighting his production for the hitter-friendly environments he called home in Colorado and Toronto. Paired with his then-strong defensive contributions, that still made him quite a valuable asset, but you’d have to go all the way back to the 2014 season for the last time that Tulowitzki turned in a star-caliber performance.
The Pirates, of course, wouldn’t be expecting an All-Star showing from Tulowitzki, but rather the opportunity to buy low on a player who not long ago was viewed as a premier big league talent. If Tulowitzki can function even as an average regular in the infield, that’d be a steal at a league-minimum rate. And the Pirates, it should be noted, are facing uncertainty in the infield.
[Related: Pittsburgh Pirates depth chart]
Adam Frazier impressed last year in semi-regular work at second base, but shortstop is far less settled with Kevin Newman and Erik Gonzalez among the current options. Third base doesn’t offer much more stability, with Jung Ho Kang looking to re-establish himself following a DUI arrest in his native South Korea that cost him more than a season of action in the Majors. Meanwhile, Colin Moran, acquired in last winter’s Gerrit Cole swap, didn’t exactly take the third base job and run with it.
While Tulo wouldn’t offer any more certainty than most of those options in the wake of a lost season, his agent has indicated his client’s willingness to play either second base or third base in 2019 (link via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser), so he’d be an interesting depth option for the Pittsburgh organization to add at a minimal cost.