These so-called “pre-tender deals” usually, although not always, involve players who were borderline non-tender candidates. Rather than run the risk of being cut loose, they can look to sign in the lead-up to the deadline. Those salaries often come in a little below projections, since these players tend to have less leverage because of the uncertainty about whether they’ll be offered a contract at all.

Under the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, players who sign to avoid an arbitration hearing are guaranteed full termination pay. That’s a change from prior CBAs, when teams could release an arb-eligible player before the season began and would only owe a prorated portion of the contract. This was done to incentivize teams and players to get deals done without going to a hearing.

All salary projections in this post come via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. This post will be updated throughout the day/evening as deals are announced and/or reported.

• The Mets announced that they have agreed to a one-year contract with right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, though salary figures have not yet been reported. He was projected for a $900K salary next year after posting a 1.66 ERA but in just 21 2/3 innings due to injury.
• The Rangers announced they avoided arbitration with right-hander Josh Sborz, who was projected for a $1.3MM salary next year. He’ll come in just shy of that at $1.1MM, per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today (X link). He underwent a shoulder debridement procedure recently, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (X link) and will likely miss the first two or three months of 2025.
• The Tigers and infielder Andy Ibanez have agreed to a salary of $1.4MM next year, per Francys Romero (X link). That’s a shade below his $1.5MM projection. Ibanez hit .241/.295/.357 in 99 games for the Tigers in 2024.
• The Guardians avoided arbitration with right-hander Ben Lively, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (X link). He’ll make $2.25MM next year, below his $3.2MM projection. Lively had a 3.81 ERA in 151 innings for the Guards this year.
• The Cubs and right-hander Julian Merryweather have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a salary of $1.225MM, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN (X link). That’s just shy of his $1.3MM projection. Merryweather had a 6.60 ERA in 2024 but was injured most of the time and only made 15 appearances. He had a solid 3.38 ERA the year prior in 72 innings. The Cubs also agreed to terms with catcher Matt Thaiss and righty Keegan Thompson, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (X link), though salary figures have not yet been reported.
• The Blue Jays got a deal done with right-hander Erik Swanson, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet on X. The righty was projected for $3.2MM next year but will make a smidge less than that, with Keegan Matheson of MLB.com (X link) relaying that Swanson will make $3MM. He had a 5.03 ERA in 2024 but was at 2.97 the year prior and also finished this year strong, with a 2.55 ERA in the second half.
• The Yankees reached agreement with center fielder Trent Grisham on a $5MM salary, reports Jorge Castillo of ESPN (on X). The deal contains another $250K in incentives. The two-time Gold Glove winner had been projected at $5.7MM. Grisham had an underwhelming .190/.290/.385 showing during his first season in the Bronx. The Yankees will nevertheless keep him around for his final year of arbitration, presumably in a fourth outfield capacity. The Yankees also announced that they have a deal with righty JT Brubaker, though figures haven’t been reported. He was projected for a salary of $2.275MM, the same figure he made in 2023 and 2024, two seasons he missed while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
• The Rockies reached deals with outfielder Sam Hilliard and lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath, Feinsand reports (on X). Hilliard gets $1MM, while Gilbreath signed for $785K. Both figures come in shy of the respective $1.7MM and $900K projections. Hilliard popped 10 home runs over 58 games as a depth outfielder. Gilbreath only made three appearances after missing the entire ’23 season to Tommy John surgery. He posted a 4.19 ERA across 43 innings two years ago.

Earlier Agreements

• The Dodgers and right-hander Tony Gonsolin have agreed to a $5.4MM salary for 2025, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link), an exact match for his projection. He had signed a two-year, $6.65MM deal to cover the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He made 20 starts for the Dodgers in the first year of that pact but he missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
• The Guardians and Sam Hentges have agreed to a $1.337MM deal, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. That’s right in line with his projected $1.4MM salary. The left-hander has been an effective reliever for Cleveland over the past three seasons (2.93 ERA, 2.82 SIERA, 138 IP), but he missed the latter half of 2024 with a shoulder injury. After undergoing surgery in September, he will miss the entire 2025 season.
• The Orioles and infielder Emmanuel Rivera agreed to a $1MM deal, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’d been projected at $1.4MM. He hit .238/.312/.343 this year.
• Right-hander Brock Stewart and the Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth $870K, MLBTR has learned. He’d been projected at $800K. Stewart, who missed much of the season due to injury, can earn another $30K via incentives. He’s been lights-out for the Twins when healthy over the past two seasons (2.28 ERA, 33.5 K%, 10.8 BB%). Minnesota and righty Michael Tonkin also agreed to a $1MM deal, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’d been projected at $1.5MM. The Twins later announced that they had reached deals with Stewart, Tonkin and righty Justin Topa. Hewas projected for $1.3MM next year but will come in just shy of that in terms of guarantee. Per Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune (Bluesky link), it’s a $1.225MM guarantee in the form of a $1MM salary and then a $225K buyout on a $2MM club option for 2026.
• The Padres and Tyler Wade agreed to a one-year deal worth $900K, Heyman tweets. There’s a club option for an additional season. Wade, who hit .217/.285/.239 in 2024, was projected for that same $900K figure.
• Infielder Santiago Espinal and the Reds settled on a one-year deal at $2.4MM, Heyman tweets. That’s well shy of his $4MM projection and actually represents a slight pay cut after Espinal hit .246/.295/.356 for Cincinnati.
• The Rangers and righty Dane Dunning agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.66MM, Heyman reports. It’s a 19% cut after Dunning struggled to a 5.31 ERA in 95 innings this past season. He was projected at $4.4MM.
• The Giants and right-hander Austin Warren agreed to terms on a one-year deal, reports Justice de los Santos of the San Jose Mercury News. He missed most of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery but returned late with 10 2/3 innings of two-run ball out of the bullpen.
• The Brewers announced that they’ve signed catcher/outfielder Eric Haase to a one-year deal for the upcoming season. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that the deal guarantees Haase $1.35MM with the chance to earn more via incentives. He’d been projected for a $1.8MM salary. Haase will fill the backup catcher role in Milwaukee next season. He’s controllable through the 2027 season.
• The Dodgers and right-hander Dustin May settled at $2.135MM, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (X link). That’s the exact same salary he had in 2024. May will be looking to bounce back after spending all of this year on the injured list.
• The Phillies and right-hander José Ruiz settled at $1.225MM, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). That’s slightly above his $1.2MM projection. The righty can also unlock a $20K bonus for pitching in 30 games and $25K for pitching in 40. He made 52 appearances for the Phils in 2024 with a 3.71 ERA. Philadelphia also announced agreement with backup catcher Garrett Stubbs on a one-year deal. The Phils did not reveal the salary figure. Stubbs hit .207 in 54 games this year.
• The Tigers and infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry agreed to a $1.65MM salary for 2025, per Robert Murray of FanSided (hat tip to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press on X). That’s slightly ahead of his $1.3MM projection. He hit .215/.277/.337 this year while stealing 16 bases and playing each position except or first base and catcher,

Considering how injuries have often wrecked havoc on Stanton’s career, missing “only” a month counts as a relatively good outcome for the former NL MVP.  Leg and hamstring injuries in particular have plagued Stanton, and (as Hoch noted) this is the eighth time Stanton has visited the injured list during his six seasons in a Yankees uniform.

These injuries started to impact Stanton’s production in 2022-23, but he got off to a nice start this year, hitting .246/.302/.492 with 18 homers in 281 plate appearances.  Usually hitting either fifth in the lineup or as the cleanup hitter behind Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, Stanton provided some pop to a New York batting order that has been lacking in consistency apart from those two superstars.  In the 19 games since Stanton hit the IL, the Yankees have gone 6-13, and enter the All-Star break a game behind the Orioles for the AL East lead.

The trio of Soto, Judge, and Stanton is a fearsome sight for opposing pitchers, but beyond Stanton’s hamstring issue, Soto is also not exactly 100 percent as he continues to play through soreness in his right hand.  Soto has been bothered by the injury since hurting his hand on a slide into home plate in a June 28th game against the Blue Jays, even he has continued to mash at the plate.

“I’ve been grinding through it,” Soto told Hoch and other reporters today.  “It’s right there.  It’s been good so far.  I’ve just got to make sure I hit the ball.”  The star outfielder is still planning to play in the All-Star Game, which Boone said is fine with the team as long as Soto is comfortable.

In other Yankees injury news, JT Brubaker’s recovery from Tommy John surgery has hit a roadblock in the form of an oblique strain.  Brubaker suffered the injury during his Triple-A rehab outing last Thursday, and has been shut down for the time being.

It’s another tough blow for Brubaker, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022 and missed all of the 2023 season recovering from his TJ procedure.  New York acquired the right-hander from Pittsburgh at the start of this season with an eye towards using Brubaker as rotation depth once he was healthy, and he has tossed 13 2/3 innings over five rehab games to date.  The severity of the strain isn’t yet known, but given how more serious types of oblique strains can linger, it is possible that Brubaker might not be able to return to action this season.

Last month, the Bucs sent the right-handed Brubaker to the Yankees, along with international bonus pool space, for a player to be named later. Brubaker has not yet pitched for the Yanks as he is still recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery and on the 60-day injured list.

Delgado, 20, was signed by the Yankees as an international amateur out of Venezuela in 2021. He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2022, taking 238 plate appearances over 52 games. He drew walks at an incredible 24.4% rate while striking out just 11.8% of the time. He hit just three home runs but slashed .310/.504/.506 for a wRC+ of 178 while stealing 34 bases.

Last year, the Yanks moved him to the Complex League, where he got another 239 plate appearances. He again walked more than he struck out, 15.1% rate to 13% rate, while more than doubling his home run tally by hitting eight on the year. He finished the year with a line of .293/.414/.485 and 36 stolen bases. Defensively, he’s played a bit of second base, third base and shortstop.

Coming into 2024, Delgado was ranked the #22 prospect in the Yankees’ system by Baseball America, #20 by MLB Pipeline and #22 by FanGraphs. The most bullish prospect evaluator seems to be Keith Law of The Athletic, who had Delgado all the way up in the #7 spot a couple of months ago. Law praises the switch-hitter’s work from both sides of the plate and adds that there’s a chance Delgado could stick at shortstop, while other evaluators seem to think he will most likely end up at second base or in a utility role.

He will now move over to the Pirates’ system and will be a long-term project for them, given his youth and that he has yet to even crack full-season ball. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft after the 2025 season, per FanGraphs.

Brubaker, 30, missed the entire 2023 season after requiring Tommy John in mid-April. In the three preceding seasons, he had been one of the steadier arms on Pittsburgh’s staff. He tossed 315 2/3 innings over the 2020 to 2022 campaigns, one of which was shortened by the pandemic, with an earned run average of 4.99.

Though that ERA may not be terribly exciting, it’s possible that it doesn’t represent his true skill level, with some underlying metrics painting a more favorable picture. He struck out 23.3% of batters faced in that stretch and walked 7.8%, with both of those numbers being slightly better than average for a starting pitcher in the modern game. His 44% ground ball rate was also right around typical league average.

The discrepancy may be down to luck, as his .313 batting average on balls in play and 70.1% strand rate have both been on the unfortunate side of par. ERA estimators like his 4.43 FIP and 4.04 SIERA suggest he may have deserved better. That was especially true in 2022, when he had a 4.69 ERA but a 3.92 FIP and 3.97 SIERA.

But it’s also possible the difference is down to Brubaker’s struggles with lefties, something explored by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco prior to Brubaker’s surgery. He only throws his changeup about 5.5% of the time and hasn’t had great results with it, meaning he doesn’t have a great weapon for tackling lefty hitters. They have hit .269/.339/.481 against him, compared to a line of .272/.342/.391 from righty-swinging opponents.

Whether the Yankees can help Brubaker find another gear remains to be seen, but there’s likely some appeal even if he remains a back-of-the-rotation kind of guy. The Yankees were looking for starting pitching this offseason, even after signing Marcus Stroman. Their need for rotation reinforcements was only increased with the recent news that Gerrit Cole is going to miss some time with an elbow issue.

Cole and Brubaker may be on somewhat similar timelines, as Cole was also placed on the 60-day IL, putting him on the shelf until at least late May but with an uncertain timeline after that. Brubaker won’t be able to help out during Cole’s absence but other injuries could crop up throughout the season that could require reinforcements. The Yankees currently have Stroman, Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón in three rotation spots, all three of whom missed significant time last year. Luis Gil won a rotation spot out of camp despite missing most of the past two seasons recovering from his own Tommy John surgery.

Brubaker comes into 2024 with exactly four years of service time. He first qualified for arbitration going into 2023 and earned a salary of $2.275MM. After sitting out the whole campaign, he agreed to the same mark this year, with one more arbitration season remaining.

For the Bucs, they were looking at another season and a half of Brubaker’s services, including next year and the post-All-Star portion of 2024. Once healthy, he would have been entering a rotation mix that currently consists of Mitch Keller, Martín Pérez, Marco Gonzales, Jared Jones and Bailey Falter, but prospects like Paul Skenes and Quinn Priester might be in there by midseason. Bubba Chandler will be a bit behind that group and Johan Oviedo, who will miss 2024 due to his own Tommy John, will be back in the picture next year.

General manager Ben Cherington spoke to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, saying that the club preferred to get something in return now. That return is unknown at this time but will become more clear when the PTBNL is revealed. In the meantime, they will save a small amount of money.

The Yanks will be taking on slightly more than the Bucs are saving, since they are over the fourth line of the competitive balance tax and a third-time payor. That means they are paying a 110% tax on any money they add to the payroll at this point. On top of Brubaker’s $2.275MM salary, they will also have to pay $2.5025MM in taxes.

If Brubaker is healthy in a few months but the Yankee rotation is in decent shape, he has a couple of options and could be sent to Triple-A. That could provide the club with some extra depth, it could also give them an extra year of control. As mentioned, Brubaker is coming into 2024 with exactly four years of service time. He’s currently accruing more service time while on the 60-day IL but an optional assignment of a few weeks would prevent him from getting to the five-year mark this year.

Regardless of how that plays out, the Yankees are adding some rotation depth for the latter half of this year and for the future as well. Additionally, they’ve added some unknown amount of international bonus pool space. The Bucs have saved a bit of money and bolstered their system with another player who is presumably younger and more controllable than Brubaker, though the details of their return have not yet emerged.

Smith-Njigba, 25 in April, returns to the Pirates after a brief uncoupling. He originally joined the club in the January 2021 trade that sent Jameson Taillon to the Yankees and was with the Bucs for about three years before being designated for assignment last month. He was claimed off waivers by the Mariners about two weeks ago, which briefly had him employed in the same city as his brother, Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seahawks. But the Mariners bumped Canaan off the roster when they claimed Levi Stoudt over the weekend.

The Bucs needed Smith-Njigba’s roster spot a couple of weeks ago to add Aroldis Chapman. At the time, the 60-day IL had not yet opened, as clubs can’t use it between the end of the World Series and the time when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. Now that they do have access to the 60-day IL, they were able to move Brubaker there and fit Smith-Njigba back onto the roster. Brubaker had Tommy John surgery in April of last year and it appears the club isn’t expecting him back soon. The “60 days” don’t start until Opening Day, so he won’t be eligible to return until late May.

If Smith-Njigba can stick on the Pirates’ roster this time, he’s likely to serve a depth role for the club this year. He’s hit just .135/.250/.243 in his 44 major league plate appearances thus far but still has an option remaining. He’s hit .279/.373/.452 in Triple-A over the past two years, leading to a 112 wRC+. He also stole 29 bases in those 157 games while playing all three outfield slots.

The Bucs are slated to have Bryan Reynolds in left and Jack Suwinski in center, but right field is a little bit more open. Players like Joshua Palacios, Edward Olivares, Connor Joe and Ji Hwan Bae are candidates to take some outfield playing time but Smith-Njigba will be in that mix as well, along with non-roster players like Billy McKinney and Gilberto Celestino. The designated hitter spot is likely to be taken by Andrew McCutchen on most days.

Friday is the deadline for clubs and arbitration-eligible players to submit salary figures, with hearings set to take place in late January. Many cases will be resolved as that deadline approaches, such as this one.

Brubaker, now 30, pitched 315 2/3 innings for the Pirates from 2020 to 2022. He had a 4.99 earned run average in that time, along with a 23.3% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate. He qualified for arbitration for 2023 and made a salary of $2.275MM last year.

Unfortunately, it was a totally lost year for the righty. He had some elbow/forearm discomfort in the spring and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-April, missing the entire season. That has led him to have the same salary in 2024 as he did last year.

He will likely start 2024 on the injured list and could return at some point in the middle of the season. The Pittsburgh rotation currently projects to feature Mitch Keller, Marco Gonzales and Martín Pérez, with guys like Bailey Falter, Luis Ortiz, Roansy Contreras, Quinn Priester, Jackson Wolf and Paul Skenes in competition for spots at the back end. Brubaker will jump into that mix whenever he’s healthy. He can be retained via arbitration for one more season before he’s slated for free agency after 2025.

As frustrating as this news is for Brubaker and the Pirates, it doesn’t come as a shock. Brubaker landed on the 15-day injured list at the start of the season with elbow discomfort and was transferred to the 60-day injured list a few days later. It was reported over a week ago that Tommy John surgery was on the table, then reported just yesterday that Brubaker was seeking a second opinion on his elbow. It seems that his fate could be avoided no longer and he finally underwent the procedure today.

This will now wipe out the entirety of his 2023 season and at least a portion of his 2024 campaign as well. It’s a frustrating setback as Brubaker was looking to build off a strong 2022 campaign. He made 28 starts for the Bucs last year with a 4.69 ERA that probably doesn’t do him justice. He struck out 22.8% of batters faced while walking just 8.4% of them and getting grounders at a 44% clip. His .334 batting average on balls in play and 66.8% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side of league average, which is why his 3.92 FIP and 3.97 SIERA came in well below his ERA.

He’ll now have to go through an extensive rehab process before getting the chance to take a step forward. He finished last year with exactly three years of MLB service time, allowing him to qualify for arbitration for the first time. He and the club agreed to a $2.275MM salary for 2023 and he’ll likely be looking at a similar rate for next year. The arbitration system works to push salaries up year over year and players usually wind up at the same price point after missing an entire season. Brubaker is currently slated for two more passes through arbitration before reaching free agency after the 2025 season.

The Pirates will now be navigating the rest of the year without Brubaker in their rotation mix. That leaves them with Mitch Keller, Rich Hill, Vince Velasquez, Roansy Contreras and Johan Oviedo for now, though Hill and Velasquez are both one one-year deals. Assuming the Bucs don’t stay in the playoff race all summer, they would each be logical trade candidates, which could open opportunities for younger arms like Luis Ortiz or Quinn Priester.

It’s not a surprising development in Brubaker’s case. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported last week that Brubaker was weighing whether to undergo Tommy John surgery. That he’s now headed for a second opinion wouldn’t appear to bode well for his chance of avoiding going under the knife, though the club hasn’t definitively stated whether surgery is likely.

Brubaker had been one of Pittsburgh’s more durable arms over the past few seasons. He finished second on the team in innings in 2022 and topped 120 frames in each of the last two years. Brubaker has never posted an ERA better than last year’s 4.69 mark, but he’d shown decent strikeout and walk numbers while handling right-handed hitters reasonably well. If healthy, there was never much doubt he’d have secured a spot towards the back of the starting five again to enter the year.

That was put on hold this spring. Brubaker reported discomfort in his forearm/elbow area and was immediately shut down. The Bucs quickly placed him on the 60-day injured list, ruling him out at least until the end of May. With surgery seemingly a strong consideration, it’s possible he won’t be a factor at all this season.

Burrows hasn’t yet reached the major league level. An 11th round pick in 2018, the Connecticut native has been one of the Bucs’ more interesting pitching prospects. Baseball America slotted him ninth among Pittsburgh farmhands last offseason, praising his fastball-slider combination and solid control. BA suggests he could be a back-of-the-rotation starter if his changeup develops, although he’d probably be better suited for a bullpen role if he can’t find an average or better third pitch.

Pittsburgh added Burrows to the 40-man roster over the offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He started the year on optional assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis. After throwing five innings of one-run ball in his first outing, he was pulled in the second inning of his following appearance. Even if he can avoid surgery, the 23-year-old figures to be out for an extended period after imaging revealed some damage to the elbow ligament.

Burrows will continue to count against Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster while on the minor league injured list. If the Bucs wanted to clear a roster spot, they could recall him and place him on the major league 60-day IL. That’d require paying him at the prorated MLB minimum rate of $720K and allow him to accrue major league service.

While the Pirates haven’t yet provided a formal diagnosis or treatment plan, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Tommy John surgery is among the considerations. That’s not to say surgery is inevitable or necessarily likely, but it affirms Brubaker is dealing with a potentially serious issue.

Brubaker had entered spring camp assured of a spot in the Pittsburgh rotation. He took the ball 28 times last year, ranking second on the team with 144 innings. He allowed 4.69 earned runs per nine. That uninspiring mark was paired with more interesting peripherals, as he posted roughly average strikeout, walk and grounder rates. Brubaker punched out 22.8% of opponents, walked batters at an 8.4% clip and kept the ball on the ground 44% of the time.

An elevated .334 batting average on balls in play contributed to Brubaker’s mediocre results. Had his ERA more closely approached his passable underlying marks, he could have generated some attention at this summer’s trade deadline. Instead, Brubaker is going to miss at least a good chunk of the first half and could wind up needing season-ending surgery. He has exactly three years of major league service and qualified for arbitration last offseason, agreeing to a $2.275MM salary. He remains controllable through 2025.

With Brubaker on the shelf, righty Johan Oviedo has stepped into the starting five. Acquired from the Cardinals in last summer’s José Quintana/Chris Stratton trade, the 25-year-old Oviedo started seven games for Pittsburgh down the stretch. In 30 2/3 frames, he put up a 3.23 ERA despite walking nearly 12% of opponents. His ’23 season debut didn’t go well, as he was tagged for five runs (including three homers) over 4 2/3 innings during tonight’s outing in Boston. Mitch Keller, Rich Hill, Vince Velasquez and Roansy Contreras round out the present starting staff.

Brubaker had previously been placed on the 15-day IL to open the season due to what the Pirates termed as “elbow discomfort”. No timetable was given for Brubaker’s return, but given his transfer to the 60-day IL, it’s safe to say he won’t return until at least June. Though Brubaker has been part of the Pirates rotation since the shortened 2020 season with an unimpressive career ERA of 4.99, there was reason for optimism headed into 2023, as his 2022 season featured solid peripherals that indicated he could be a quality starter going forward: despite a 4.69 ERA, he had a solid 3.92 FIP along with a 44% groundball rate, a 22.8% strikeout rate, and a 8.4% walk rate that all paint him as a roughly league average starter for the 2022 campaign. With Brubaker set to miss an extended period of time, Johan Oviedo, who the Pirates acquired from the Cardinals in last summer’s Jose Quintana deal, figures to have a more secure hold on a rotation spot.

As for Uceta, the 25 year-old right-hander has seen big league action in each of the past two seasons, but has struggled in a small sample both times. Between his time with the Dodgers in 2022 and the Diamondbacks in 2022, Uceta has posted a 6.27 ERA in 37 1/3 innings, though his 4.46 FIP indicates there may be some bad luck baked into those results. The Tigers claimed him on waivers this offseason before designating him for assignment after he posted a 4.91 ERA in camp, though he did strike out 29.2% of batters faced during his 11 innings of work this spring. Uceta has demonstrated the ability to work in either short relief or multi-inning long relief during his career and figures to serve as depth for the Pirates bullpen in Triple-A.

Vilade, 24, was claimed off waivers from the Rockies back in November. He ranked among Colorado’s best prospects just one year ago but struggled in his second go through the Triple-A level, slashing a tepid .249/.345/.352 with five homers and ten steals through 99 games in that hitter-friendly setting. Originally drafted as a shortstop, Vilade has moved down the defensive spectrum, first shifting to third base before a move to the outfield corners. He went just 3-for-18 without an extra-base hit this spring, finishing with a .167/.211/.167 line in 19 trips to the plate. The Pirates will have a week to trade Vilade, release him or pass him through outright waivers.

Zastryzny, 31, returned to the Majors in 2022 after a three-year layoff and tossed four innings between the Mets and Angels. He’s making the first Opening Day roster of his 10-year professional career, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic points out (Twitter link). Zastryzny earned it this spring, punching out 10 of his 29 opponents against one walk while firing 7 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run.

In parts of four big league seasons, mostly with the Cubs, Zastryzny has a 4.66 ERA and a 34-to-17 K/BB ratio in 38 2/3 innings of work. His Triple-A numbers across six seasons are generally similar, albeit with slightly better strikeout and walk rates. Zastryzny will give manager Derek Shelton a second lefty in the ’pen, joining Rule 5 pick Jose Hernandez.

Delay, 28, made his big league debut with the Bucs in 2022 but was removed from the 40-man roster and re-signed to a minor league deal. He had a rough showing in camp, going just 3-for-20 with three walks, but he’s a strong defensive backstop and likely landed the backup gig by virtue of his glove. Delay posted plus framing marks last season, has a career 31% caught-stealing rate in the minors and was credited with two Defensive Runs Saved in 436 innings behind the dish last year. He beat out fellow non-roster invitees Kevin Plawecki and Tyler Heineman and will open the season as the backup to defensive standout Austin Hedges.

Garcia’s placement on the 60-day IL comes as little surprise. The team announced he’d be shut down midway through camp, and after a ten days of not throwing, they further announced that he was dealing with a nerve injury in his biceps and would continue to be shut down for as many as four to five weeks. He’ll need to completely build back up after that delay. Stephenson pitched just two innings this spring and was slowed by elbow discomfort, and Shelton acknowledged last week that an IL stint was likely.

There’s more concern with regard to Brubaker. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweeted this morning that Brubaker’s elbow injury is “not minor” and the Pirates fear there’s a chance he could be lost for the season. The team hasn’t provided a formal diagnosis or update beyond today’s placement on the injured list, but additional news on Brubaker will likely follow in the near future. The 29-year-old Brubaker made 28 starts last season and pitched to a 4.69 ERA but with much more encouraging marks in FIP (3.92) and SIERA (3.97).

Brubaker, 29, has been part of the club’s rotation for the past three seasons. Last year, he made 28 starts with a 4.69 ERA that might not look too impressive at first glance. However, it’s possible that figure masks his true talent, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently explored. His 22.8% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate were all pretty close to league average last year. Some bad luck may have been in play, as his .334 batting average on balls in play and 68.8% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side of average. His 3.92 FIP and 3.97 SIERA suggest that better results could have been possible going forward.

The Bucs would have loved to have seen that materialize here in 2023 but it will have to wait. It’s unknown exactly how long Brubaker will be on the shelf but an injury to a pitcher’s throwing elbow or forearm is always concerning. The club will surely do some further testing and figure out the next steps forward.

In the meantime, the Pirates will have to proceed with one less starter in their rotation. The four other spots figure to be occupied by Mitch Keller, Rich Hill, Vince Velasquez and Roansy Contreras. While Brubaker is out, it’s possible that Johan Oviedo steps up and takes a few starts, though the club also has Luis Ortiz and Mike Burrows on the 40-man roster. “I think there’s a good chance it could be Oviedo,” Shelton tells Mackey. “We’re still working through things as we finalize our roster. With the fact that he’s been lengthened out, he’s the most likely one out of the group. I think there’s a good chance we could see that.”

Oviedo, 25, came over to the club in the trade that sent José Quintana to the Cardinals. Though the Cards had moved him to a relief role, the Pirates gave him another chance to start. He took the ball seven times after the trade and posted a 3.23 ERA. He may now get a chance to build on that at the start of the 2023 campaign.

Whether Reynolds gets dealt is one of the bigger remaining storylines of the offseason, but he’s certainly not the only player on the Pittsburgh roster who could attract attention. The Bucs have stockpiled a number of veterans on one-year commitments — Ji-Man Choi, Vince Velasquez and Austin Hedges among them — who could be midseason trade candidates. Star closer David Bednar would have a ton of appeal in the unlikely event the Pirates made him available. One player who has seemingly flown under the radar in rumors is JT Brubaker, but he seems the most plausible trade candidate in Pittsburgh’s rotation.

At first glance, it looks obvious why Brubaker hasn’t been the subject of much public trade speculation. He has pitched in three big league seasons and has a 4.99 ERA through 315 2/3 innings. The righty hasn’t posted an ERA better than this past season’s 4.69 mark in any of those years. Despite pitching his home games in a very favorable park, Brubaker hasn’t managed to keep runs off the board consistently. He’s not going to be a primary target for a win-now club that feels they’re a starter away from contention.

That said, teams will obviously look beyond a pitcher’s ERA in evaluating that player, and Brubaker has shown more promise than one might surmise with a cursory glance at his Baseball Reference page. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA have viewed the Akron product more favorably than his ERA would suggest in all three of his big league campaigns. That’s a reflection of strikeout and walk numbers that’d look right in line with what one would expect from their fourth starter.

Brubaker has struck out 23-24% of opponents in all three seasons, while he’s kept his walk percentage in the 7-8% range. Over 144 innings in 2022, the former sixth-round draftee put up a 22.8% strikeout rate that was narrowly better than the 21.6% league average for starters. He walked 8.4% of batters faced, slightly higher than the 7.5% league mark. On a pitch-for-pitch basis, Brubaker also fared reasonably. He generated swinging strikes on 11.8% of his offerings, right in line with the rate from his prior two seasons. That’s a tick better than the 10.7% league figure.

It’s a fairly similar story from a batted ball perspective. Brubaker’s 44% grounder rate is fine, marginally better than par. Even his pitches themselves seem almost exactly average. His sinker checked in at 93.1 MPH this past season, which is middle-of-the-pack. Brubaker’s mid-80s slider is the highlight of his arsenal, a quality swing-and-miss pitch he uses with frequency against same-handed hitters. That’s his go-to offering once he gets ahead in the count against righties, and it has been effective at finishing off opponents when he needs a strikeout.

While Brubaker’s strikeout/walk profile is solid, his run prevention has yet to match up. That’s not entirely poor luck, as he’s given up a decent amount of hard contact. Left-handed hitters have given him real trouble, which isn’t especially surprising for a sinker-slider specialist who doesn’t regularly feature a changeup in his arsenal. Brubaker doesn’t have a great weapon to stay off barrels against lefty hitters, and they hit him hard in 2022. Over 298 plate appearances, opposing southpaws put a .269/.339/.481 line. While Brubaker induced grounders on over half his batted balls against right-handed opponents, lefties got the ball in the air roughly 65% of the time. Despite facing 50 more right-handed hitters on the season, he allowed three more homers to left-handed batters.

That’s a legitimate concern, and that contact profile partially explains the gap between his 4.99 career ERA and the more favorable marks from FIP (4.43) and SIERA (4.04). Without finding a better weapon against lefties, he’ll probably underperform those estimators to some extent. That said, he’s likely due for some positive regression, even if it’s not all the way to the 4.04 mark SIERA would suggest. Brubaker finished in the bottom 20 starters in left-on-base rate this year, and more favorable sequencing of the baserunners he allows should naturally improve his ERA. If another team feels confident in their ability to tinker with his repertoire or improve his changeup to better handle southpaws, they could eye him as an interesting change-of-scenery play.

To be clear, Brubaker isn’t going to come anywhere close to attracting the attention Reynolds or Bednar would on the trade market. Yet there’s some appeal for clubs in securing average to slightly below-average innings at little financial cost. The market for mid-tier starting pitchers has been extremely strong. Players like Taijuan Walker and Jameson Taillon secured four-year deals with underlying marks not much better than Brubaker’s. Brubaker wouldn’t have commanded that kind of outlay as a free agent given his platoon/hard contact issues. Yet one could argue he’s better than Kyle Gibson, who landed a $10MM guarantee from the Orioles for his age-35 season, or Jordan Lyles, who has agreed to terms on a two-year, $17MM pact with the Royals.

Brubaker turned 29 in November, and he’s controllable for three more seasons. Entering his first year of arbitration eligibility, he’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an even $2MM salary. He’s affordable enough for any team, and while that includes the Pirates, they don’t seem likely to take an arbitration-eligible starter off the table as they continue their rebuild. Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington and his staff don’t need to make a deal, but Brubaker’s not the type of player they’d steadfastly refuse to entertain relinquishing.

The free agent rotation market has gained plenty of steam the past few weeks. There hasn’t been any movement on the trade front for starting pitching, although that figures to pick up with the number of free agent hurlers dwindling. Brubaker wouldn’t be as exciting an addition as landing Pablo López or Trevor Rogers from the Marlins, but he should be on teams’ radars as a fallback target later in the winter.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

• The Pirates placed right-hander JT Brubaker on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 16.  Right-hander Luis Ortiz was called up to take Brubaker’s spot on the active roster.  Brubaker was officially listed as sidelined due to right arm inflammation, though lat soreness was given as the reason for his early exit from Thursday’s game, when he lasted just three innings.  Over 141 1/3 innings and 27 starts for the Bucs this season, Brubaker has a 4.58 ERA and some unimpressive Statcast numbers, though his SIERA is a more favorable 3.95.  His ability to eat innings could put him in the conversation for a spot in Pittsburgh’s rotation next season, even if he doesn’t make it back for one more start in 2022.
• The Diamondbacks placed right-hander Keynan Middleton on the 15-day IL due to a sprained left big toe.  Righty Luis Frias was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  The toe sprain will likely end what has been an injury-plagued season for Middleton, who missed a couple of months due to elbow inflammation and a right ankle sprain.  Between the injuries and time in the minor leagues, Middleton was limited to 17 innings in 18 appearances with the D’Backs, and he posted a 5.29 ERA over that rather small sample size.  Now in his sixth MLB season, Middleton has yet to regain the early promise of his first two seasons with the Angels, before Tommy John surgery sidelined him in 2018.  He inked a minors deal with the D’Backs last winter and probably seems likely to be back on the open market this offseason in search of another non-guaranteed deal.

AUGUST 27: The Pirates have claimed right-hander Robert Stephenson off waivers from the Rockies.  Infielder Kevin Padlo was designated for assignment in the corresponding 40-man roster move, and the Pirates will make another move on their active roster when Stephenson joins the team.

Stephenson was DFA’ed by Colorado earlier this week, and didn’t last long on the waiver wire before the Pirates snatched him up.  It isn’t surprising to see the Bucs take a chance on a live arm who has some of the highest velocity of any pitcher in baseball, and Stephenson was also a former top prospect for the division-rival Reds during his minor league career.

That early promise led to some good results as a reliever in 2019 and 2021, but this season has been a struggle for the right-hander.  Stephenson has a 6.04 ERA over 44 2/3 innings, due to a below-average 18.8% strikeout rate and a lot of hard contact allowed.  As fast (97mph) as Stephenson’s average four-seamer may be, batters have hit .379 against the pitch.

If Pittsburgh’s coaching staff can get Stephenson back to his 2021 form, he’ll be a nice bullpen addition for the Pirates both for the remainder of this season and in 2023, as Stephenson still has a third and final season of arbitration eligibility remaining.  The righty is out of minor league options, so the Pirates would have a DFA decision to make of their own if they wanted to move Stephenson to the minors and off their 40-man roster.

Padlo is no stranger to the DFA carousel, as he has now been designated for assignment for the fifth time in a little over a year.  The Mariners claimed Padlo off waivers from the Rays in August 2021, starting a cycle that has been Padlo go from Seattle to the Giants, back to the Mariners, and then to Pittsburgh earlier this month when the Bucs claimed Padlo away from the M’s.

All of the movement has resulted in only 34 Major League plate appearances for Padlo this season (split over the Pirates, Mariners, and Giants), but he has performed well over 278 Triple-A PA.  The infielder has hit .270/.345/.484 with 12 homers and 13 doubles at the highest minor league level, continuing what has been a solid set of career Triple-A numbers.

Between that production and Padlo’s versatility as a third baseman who can be moved around the infield and into left field, it isn’t hard to see why teams keep having interest in Padlo, even if that interest has yet to manifest itself into a regular MLB job.  As such, it seems quite possible that another club might claim Padlo away from the Pirates.