6:54am: The Nationals are in agreement with infielder Paul DeJong on a one-year deal that guarantees him $1MM, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, DeJong’s deal includes $600K in potential incentives. The Nationals’ 40-man roster is full, but the club has multiple candidates for the 60-day IL who can be placed on the shelf to make room for DeJong once the signing becomes official.

DeJong, 31, was a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2015 and rose through the minors quickly to make his big league debut in 2017 at the age of 23. DeJong looked quite good in his first season in the majors, slashing .285/.325/.532 (123 wRC+) and clubbing 25 homers in just 108 games while splitting time between shortstop and second base. DeJong finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting to Cody Bellinger that year, and by the time 2018 rolled around he had established himself as the Cardinals’ everyday shortstop.

Prior to DeJong’s second season with St. Louis, the sides agreed to a six-year extension that ran through the 2023 season with club options for 2024 and ’25 that guaranteed him $26MM. Over the next two seasons, DeJong clubbed 49 homers in 274 games but hit just .237/.316/.440 (102 wRC+) overall as the .349 BABIP that sustained his star-caliber rookie season crashed down to a below average .271 BABIP. Even as his bat fell to something closer to league average, however, DeJong’s strong work on defense was enough to justify his extension and place in the Cardinals’ lineup as an everyday fixture.

DeJong’s offense continued to take a tumble from there, however. While his defense remained respectable, DeJong hit just .200/.273/.352 (72 wRC+) from 2020 to 2023, and ultimately found himself bouncing between the Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Giants in the final guaranteed year of his contract extension. DeJong eventually signed with the White Sox on a one-year, $1.75MM deal last winter, hoping to rebuild his value while taking over for Tim Anderson as the regular shortstop on the south side of Chicago. 2024 turned into a solid rebound season for DeJong, as he ultimately posted a decent .227/.276/.427 (95 wRC+) slash line with 24 homers in 139 games, his best power output in half a decade. DeJong split his season between the White Sox and Royals. He moved to third base in deference to Bobby Witt Jr. upon being dealt to Kansas City and proved to be a superlative defender at the position despite his glove work at shortstop hovering around the league average.

Now that DeJong is set to join the Nationals for the 2025 season, it seems likely he’ll serve as the club’s everyday third baseman. It’s a role that previously seemed likely to go to a platoon of Jose Tena and Amed Rosario, but Tena’s career wRC+ of just 80 does not inspire confidence in him as a starting caliber player while Rosario has the versatility to move around the infield and outfield as needed while playing primarily against left-handed pitchers. It’s possible Rosario could even be tasked with spelling DeJong against some lefties, as while both veterans are right-handed hitters Rosario is a career .298/.337/.460 hitter against southpaws while DeJong actually has reverse splits both for his career and in 2024. In addition to likely serving as the club’s primary third baseman, DeJong gives the Nationals a viable backup to CJ Abrams at shortstop with better defense at the position than either Abrams or Rosario.

The signing should significantly raise the floor for the Nationals on the infield, offering the club a solid defender at third base who has enough pop in his bat to provide 20 homers a year in spite of below-average on-base ability. That’s an undeniably useful player for a Nationals club that saw its third basemen finish third from the bottom in both wRC+ (67) and fWAR (-0.4) last year. DeJong should be able to easily clear both of those benchmarks, and in doing so allow the club to be patient with top third base prospect Brady House as he establishes himself against Triple-A pitchers this season with an eye toward making his big league debut later this year. Once House is ready to take over at the hot corner, DeJong could become impressive bench depth for the Nationals or a potential trade piece over the summer, depending on where the club is in the standings at that point.

Adding depth is a sensible add for a club that was felled by injuries last year. The Twins were in playoff position for much of the 2024 season but went 9-18 in September, falling four games short of a postseason berth. Key players like Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton and others missed time in the second half as the club failed to tread water. Bolstering that depth makes plenty of sense. The club agreed to a deal with Harrison Bader this week, strengthening the outfield group, with an infield addition perhaps next on the to-do list.

Health has long been a focus for Correa. As a free agent, he famously had a couple of mega deals scuttled by concerns around his lower right leg. The Giants walked away from a 13-year, $350MM agreement with Correa after growing concerned about his right ankle going into the 2023 season. That led him to work out a 12-year, $315MM pact with the Mets, though they also had enough concern with the ankle to walk away. That led Correa back to the Twins on a six-year, $200MM pact with four vesting options.

In the first year of that deal, Correa got into 135 games but battled plantar fasciitis in his right foot. That seemed to impact his performance, as he hit .230/.312/.399 for a wRC+ of 95, his worst performance in a full season. He got back on track last year with a .310/.388/.517 line and 155 wRC+, but that plantar fasciitis and an oblique strain limited him to just 86 contests.

While Correa was away, Willi Castro got a lot of his playing time. He had a good season at the plate, slashing .247/.331/.385 for a 108 wRC+, but is overmatched as a defender at short. He has 1,187 2/3 innings at the position in his career, with more than a third of that coming in 2024. Defensive Runs Saved has given him a -21 grade at the position in his career, including -9 last year. Outs Above Average hasn’t been quite as negative, giving Castro +3 last year, but -3 in his career.

Since he can play other positions, Castro is perhaps better suited to being a super utility player who could play shortstop in a pinch, with the Twins adding a firmer backup at the position. They also have Edouard Julien and Austin Martin on the roster, though neither is considered a capable big league shortstop.

DeJong, 31, would certainly qualify based on his overall track record. He has logged 6543 1/3 innings at short in his career with +32 DRS and +2 OAA. DRS did drop him down to -9 last year, though that was his first negative score from that metric in his career.

Offensively, DeJong’s profile is well established, with lots of home runs and lots of strikeouts. That continued last year, as he launched 24 home runs between the White Sox and Royals but was also punched out at a massive 32.4% clip. Zack Gelof and Tyler O’Neill were the only two players with at least 450 plate appearances and a higher strikeout rate. In spite of the punchouts, the power helped him put up a .227/.276/.427 line and 95 wRC+. That was actually a nice upswing for him, since he hit a combined .189/.253/.330 for a 61 wRC+ in the previous two seasons.

Urías, 28 in June, would similarly come with concerns about inconsistency. He hit a combined .244/.340/.426 over 2021 and 2022 with the Brewers, production that translated to a 111 wRC+. He dipped to .194/.337/.299 and an 83 wRC+ between the Brewers and Red Sox in 2023. He was traded to the Mariners last year but kept in the minors until the end of August. He had a strong .260/.378/.413 line in Triple-A but then produced a .191/.303/.394 slash in 109 major league plate appearances down the stretch. That latter line came with four home runs but a 31.2% strikeout rate.

Defensively, Urías doesn’t have the same track record as DeJong. He has 1,116 innings at the shortstop position with marks of -6 DRS and -15 OAA. He hasn’t played there at the big league level since 2022.

Both DeJong and Urías can play other infield positions as well, which is likely important. Lewis projects as the club’s third baseman and has long-standing injury issues of his own. He has only played 152 games over his three-year career thanks to various ailments. Projected second baseman Brooks Lee dealt with a lower back strain and biceps tendinitis last year, only getting into 50 games. First baseman José Miranda had much of his 2023 wiped out by shoulder surgery. He bounced back in 2024 but was still limited to 121 games with a couple of IL stints for lower back strains.

Though adding more depth makes sense, the budget is still an ongoing question. For much of the winter, it seems as though the club might have to cut payroll before making any additions, leading to rumors involving Castro, catcher Christian Vázquez and righty Chris Paddack. More recently, Hayes reported last week that the club could actually add about $5MM to the payroll without subtractions. Since then, they agreed to deals with Bader and lefty Danny Coulombe worth $6.25MM and $3MM respectively.

DeJong or Urías shouldn’t cost much. Last winter’s deal with the White Sox only guaranteed DeJong $1.75MM. On the heels of a relative bounceback, he might be able to earn a raise, but it shouldn’t be massive. Urías was arbitration eligible this winter, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a $5MM salary, but the Mariners outrighted him off their roster at season’s end.

The club has already spent a bit more than the $5MM Hayes was expecting as of a week ago. Whether they can add another modest deal remains to be seen, but some roster creativity might come up regardless. The Bader and Coulombe deals are still unofficial and the 40-man roster is full, so couple of spots have to be opened. If the club wants to add an infielder, that means a third spot will be required. Perhaps the combined payroll/roster crunch will lead to some maneuverings for the Twins in the final days before spring training gets rolling.

DeJong, 31, has spent the vast majority of his career with the Cardinals to this point. After being selected in the fourth-round of the 2015 draft by St. Louis, he rose through the ranks of the minor leagues quickly and made his debut during the 2017 season. The first few years of his career went quite well, as he hit a solid .251/.318/.467 (108 wRC+) in his first three years with the club while working his way into the Cardinals lineup as their everyday shortstop. He enjoyed a particularly strong season in 2019, when he slugged 30 home runs and put up fantastic numbers on defense en route to an All-Star appearance.

Things started to take a turn for the worse starting with the shortened 2020 season, however, and his offense took a major step back until he ultimately lost his starting job with the Cardinals. Eventually, he was traded midway through the 2023 season having slashed just .207/.285/.368 (80 wRC+) over his final four years with the club. He bounced around the Blue Jays and Giants down the stretch and hit just .129/.128/.183 over the season’s final two months before reaching free agency, where he eventually signed with the White Sox.

While 2024 was a season to forget on the south side of Chicago, that had nothing to do with DeJong’s performance. Taking over for Tim Anderson as the club’s starting shortstop in the first half, DeJong enjoyed the best season he’s had since his aforementioned 2019 All-Star campaign. That strong performance earned him a trade to the Royals, and he shifted to third base in deference to Bobby Witt Jr. down the stretch as the Royals made their first playoff appearance since winning the World Series in 2015. Overall, he slashed a decent .227/.276/.427 (95 wRC+) in 482 plate appearances that brought his offensive contributions within spitting distance of league average. That combined with strong glovework at both shortstop and third base made DeJong a 1.7 fWAR player in 2024, or a roughly average regular.

A player whose best season in half a decade saw him become more or less average is sure to come with warts, and DeJong is no exception. His .276 on-base percentage last year was the eighth-lowest figure among all hitters with at least 450 trips to the plate, and his 32.4% strikeout rate was third-highest among that same group. DeJong’s excessive whiffs and difficulty getting on-base are somewhat made up for by his considerable pop; he clubbed 24 homers last year, good for eighth among shortstops and ninth among third baseman despite him not getting enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. With his combination of power and defense, DeJong seems like a good bet to earn at least semi-regular playing time in 2025.

Whether that playing time will ultimately come with the Yankees is unclear. DeJong is unlikely to cost much even after a solid enough platform season, and that’s sure to be appreciated by a Yankees club that seems to be stretched thin financially as things stand. Heyman suggests that offloading some of right-hander Marcus Stroman’s salary could allow the Yankees to spend a bit more in their search for infield help, though even if they’re successful in their efforts to shop the veteran hurler it stands to reason they’ll remain out on top-of-the-market options like Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado.

While the Yankees apparently don’t have much desire to pay a premium in free agency or trade to add infield help, there’s a clear need for another option at either second or third base. Jazz Chisholm Jr. can be a solid regular at either position and appears to be ticketed for the keystone as things stand, but that would leave third base to some combination of DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Oswald Peraza. LeMahieu turns 37 in July and is coming off a 2024 season where he was among the worst hitters in baseball (52 wRC+), while Peraza has just 74 games of experience at the big league level. That leaves Cabrera as the club’s best option at present, but his .247/.296/.365 (88 wRC+) leaves much to be desired as an everyday player despite his value on the bench.

2:51PM: The Royals have bolstered their infield depth by acquiring shortstop Paul DeJong from the White Sox, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via X).  Right-handed pitching prospect Jarold Rosado is headed to the Sox in return, as per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.  The deal will become official after a medical review.  Since the Royals and White Sox are playing each other tonight in Chicago, DeJong might be able to make a quick debut for his new club against his old club.

In a dismal White Sox season, DeJong has been a relatively bright spot, hitting .228/.275/.430 with a team-leading 18 homers in 363 plate appearances.  While his 95 wRC+ is still below the league average, it still represents a significant step up from the 73 wRC+ DeJong posted over the 2020-23 seasons, while hitting .200/.273/.352 in 1213 PA for the Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Giants.

DeJong’s strikeout and walk rates are among the worst in baseball, but he still makes a decent amount of hard contact and can generate power when he does square up.  Beyond the power-centric offensive profile, DeJong doesn’t offer much in the field, as his glovework has sharply declined after once being one of the sport’s better defensive shortstops.

While the Royals are more than set already at shortstop with Bobby Witt Jr., DeJong brings some extra pop to a K.C. team that ranks 19th of 30 teams in homers.  Witt and Salvador Perez (each with 19 round-trippers) are the only Royals players with more home runs than DeJong, so he could bring some power off the bench, or in a part-time capacity at second or third base.

The right-handed hitting DeJong could pair with the left-handed hitting Michael Massey for a natural platoon at the keystone, or DeJong could get some at-bats ahead of the offensively-struggling Maikel Garcia at third base.  DeJong hasn’t played much second base in his career and had never played any third before this season, but another infield position might be the better option given the decline in his shortstop work.

DeJong is a free agent after the season, making him one of the more clear-cut players to be dealt by the rebuilding White Sox.  The infielder (who turns 31 later this week) signed a one-year, $1.75MM deal with Chicago last winter, so the remaining $580K or so on his deal represents a pretty small financial burden for Kansas City to assume.

Rosado just turned 22 earlier this month, and the former international signing has a 1.85 ERA, 29.4% strikeout rate, and 7.2% walk rate over 39 relief innings for A-level Columbia this season.  Injuries cost Rosado the entire 2022 season and limited him to 10 innings in 2021 and 26 innings last year, but he has looked much sharper and reduced his walk rate significantly in his first healthy pro season.

Signing the 30-year-old DeJong is a clear buy-low move for the Sox, as he has struggled badly in recent seasons. He had an incredible debut with the Cardinals in 2017, hitting 25 home runs in his first 108 major league games. His 28% strikeout rate and 4.7% walk rate were not great, but his overall line of .285/.325/.532 translated to a wRC+ of 123.

The Cards made a bet that DeJong could be their shortstop for many years to come, signing him to a six-year, $26MM extension prior to 2018. Unfortunately for them, DeJong’s production slid downhill from the moment that deal was signed. His wRC+ dropped to 103 in 2018, then 101, 87, 84 and 54 through 2022.

In 2023, he seemed to get back on track somewhat. Through 81 games for the Cards, he hit 13 home runs and slashed .233/.297/.412 for a wRC+ of 94. Though he was still below the league average hitter, that kind of production for a strong defensive shortstop was still welcome, and an obvious boost from his previous nosedive.

However, the Cards flipped him to the Blue Jays prior to the deadline, which was the start of another frustrating run for him. The Jays had recently lost Bo Bichette to the injured list and tried to use DeJong to fill the gap, but the move to Toronto didn’t go well, to put it mildly. DeJong hit .068/.068/.068 in his 44 plate appearances, striking out in 40.9% of them without drawing a walk. Once Bichette was reinstated from the injured list, the Jays designated him for assignment and eventually released him. The Giants took a shot on him but he continued to struggle, hitting .184/.180/.286 for that club, striking out at a 32% clip and not drawing a walk for them either. He was released again near the end of September.

The White Sox just moved on from a different shortstop who also endured an awful season in 2023. Tim Anderson had been an above-average hitter from 2019 to 2022 but hit just one home run this past year while batting .245/.286/.296 overall. His wRC+ of 60 was the worst such number from any qualified hitter for the year. The Sox could have retained Anderson via a $14MM buyout and hoped for a bounceback but decided to move on, declining that option.

A couple of weeks ago, general manager Chris Getz said the club would be looking for a veteran with good defense to take over for Anderson, ideally on a short-term deal to bridge the gap to prospect Colson Montgomery. DeJong certainly fits the bill there, having racked up 41 Defensive Runs Saved, four Outs Above Average and earned a grade of 30.5 from Ultimate Zone Rating in his career. He has shown some offensive potential in the past but the recent results have been grisly.

Perhaps the club will only keep DeJong around until the job is wrested away from him, as Montgomery is considered one of the top prospects in the league. He’s currently listed #14 overall at Baseball America, #12 at FanGraphs and #17 at MLB Pipeline, while midseason updates saw him get the #21 spot from Keith Law of The Athletic and #2 from ESPN. Montgomery hit .287/.455/.484 in the minors this year, posting matching strikeout and walk rates of 19%. He finished the year at Double-A and then went to the Arizona Fall League for a bit more action.

Montgomery is still young, turning 22 in February, and has yet to reach Triple-A. But it’s possible he’s not too far away and DeJong may just be a placeholder. The Sox don’t have an obvious solution at second base either, so perhaps DeJong could move across the bag if he is in decent form, but it’s also possible the club could move on if the guarantee isn’t especially burdensome.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the White Sox and DeJong were nearing a major league deal. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first confirmed a deal was in place. Bob Nightengale of USA Today specified it was a one-year contract, and Heyman first reported the terms — which were subsequently publicly confirmed by the club.

Crawford, 36, exited yesterday’s contest after experiencing discomfort and acknowledged his frustration with the injury following the game (link via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). A free agent at season’s end, Crawford is perhaps playing out his final days as a Giant. That he’s eligible to return on the final game of the season could give him the opportunity to still get back in front of the home crowd for a potential sendoff. The Giants host their archrival Dodgers on Oct. 1. “It’s the most frustrating timing I’ve probably ever had with an injury,” Crawford told Slusser.

The 2023 season has been the least-productive of Crawford’s career. He’s posted a .197/.276/.319 batting line with a career-high 25% strikeout rate in 316 plate appearances. It’s a step down from last year’s output and a major departure from the 2021 season, when Crawford was a bona fide MVP candidate, placing fourth in the National League voting that year. Crawford’s .298/.373/.522 slash and world-class defense in ’21 prompted the Giants to sign him to a two-year, $32MM extension covering his age-35 and age-36 seasons, but he’s batted just .217/.295/.334 in 774 plate appearances over the life of that contract.

It’s not clear whether Crawford will continue his playing career beyond the current season. He’s spoken in the past about the possibility of spending his entire career with the Giants, which surely holds extra appeal given that he’s a Bay Area native who grew up following the team. However, Luciano has ranked among the organization’s top prospects for several years now and could be ready for a full-time audition.

It’s possible the Giants could bring in a stopgap in the event that the 22-year-old still needs more minor league seasoning, but that’d likely be an awkward role for both Crawford and the organization; it’s feasible he could shift to a bench role if and when Luciano proves ready, but it’d be hard for the Giants to carry Crawford in a part-time role if his production mirrors his 2023 output. Similarly, it’d be hard for them to move on somewhat unceremoniously midway through the ’24 campaign. The Giants faced a similar situation with Crawford’s longtime teammate Brandon Belt this past offseason and ultimately opted to let him walk. Belt signed a one-year deal with the Blue Jays and has had a highly productive but also injury-marred season.

There was no such commitment or legacy to ponder in the decision to cut ties with the veteran DeJong. San Francisco signed the former Cardinals shortstop to a Major League deal one month ago after he was released by the Blue Jays, who’d acquired him at the deadline when Bo Bichette sustained an injury.

DeJong gave the Giants 114 innings of strong defense at shortstop but hit just .184/.180/.286 in 50 plate appearances. He had a relative bounceback year at the plate with the Cardinals prior to his trade, but since leaving St. Louis he’s batted a combined .129/.128/.183 with no walks and 34 strikeouts in 94 plate appearances between Toronto and San Francisco. He’ll be a free agent once he formally clears release waivers, although at this point of the schedule, he may simply wait until the offseason to find a new club.

Fitzgerald, 26, was the Giants’ fourth-round pick in 2019 and will be making his big league debut when he first takes the field. He’s had a nice season in the minors, batting .324/.410/.588 in a small sample of 78 Double-A plate appearances before moving up to Triple-A and hitting .287/.358/.499 in 466 trips to the plate. Fitzgerald has smacked a combined 22 home runs and swiped 32 bags in 35 tries this year. His 9.7% walk rate in Triple-A is an above-average mark, while his 23.8% strikeout rate was also slightly higher than average.

San Francisco has bounced Fitzgerald all over the diamond in 2023. He’s logged time at shortstop, second base, third base and in center field this season, in addition to occasional stints at designated hitter. While he’s never been considered one of the Giants’ top prospects, Fitzgerald has been an above-average hitter at virtually every minor league stop and clearly possesses above-average speed (career 70-for-79 in stolen bases). He’ll add a versatile defensive repertoire and right-handed bat to the club’s bench mix.

Camargo, 29, was just added to the Giants’ roster last week for a bit of veteran infield depth. With players like Mark Mathias, Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely all producing fairly uninspiring results this year, an established utility option like Camargo was a sensible gamble to take, even though his own results have been fairly tepid in recent seasons. He hit .222/.300/.222 in a small sample of 20 plate appearances over eight games for the Giants, lining up at shortstop and third base but now losing his roster spot.

Since Camargo was selected, the Giants lost their everyday shortstop when Brandon Crawford landed on the injured list due to a left forearm strain. Rather than trying to patch together that position with their various utility infielders, the club decided to take a chance on DeJong after he was released by the Blue Jays.

That’s a low-risk move for the Giants from a financial perspective as they can bring aboard DeJong for the prorated league minimum and see what happens. It’s certainly risky in terms of results, as DeJong has been struggling in recent years and had a really poor showing with the Jays after they acquired him from the Cardinals at the deadline. But the Giants aren’t really committed and can easily walk away if it doesn’t work out.

In taking a shot on DeJong, they are giving up on Camargo, who will have to be placed on waivers in the coming days. His tiny sample of big league work this year doesn’t provide other clubs much to evaluate, but he has a longer track record they could look at. He has a career batting line of 254/.313/.407 in 1,359 career plate appearances, translating to a wRC+ of 90. The best part of that was earlier in his career, as he hit .281/.343/.455 over 2017 and 2018 but just .219/.272/.344 since then. He’s been slotted into each infield position as well as the outfield corners. This year, he has signed three separate minor league deals with the Royals, Tigers and Giants. He hit .260/.339/.466 in 165 Triple-A plate appearances between those different organizations.

If any of the 29 other clubs around the league are interested in some veteran infield depth, they could grab Camargo off waivers or perhaps sign him to another minor league in the event he clears. He has a previous career outright and would therefore be able to reject another such assignment in favor of electing free agency. He won’t be able to reach five years of service time this year and could therefore be retained for 2024 via arbitration by any club willing to give him a roster spot.

DeJong’s career has been on a downward slope in recent years, with his offensive production declining in each season since his 2017 rookie year. He hit .285/.325/.532 in his first campaign for a wRC+ of 123, indicating he was 23% above league average. The Cards then gave him a six-year, $26MM extension but watched him struggle more and more as time went on. His wRC+ dropped to 103 in 2018, then 101, 87, and 85 in the years after. In 2022, he spent a couple of months on optional assignment and only hit .157/.245/.286 in the majors for a wRC+ of just 55.

He seemed to have turned things around somewhat this year, having hit .233/.297/.412 through 81 games with the Cards. He was striking out in 28.4% of his plate appearances but had popped 13 home runs in that time. His 95 wRC+ indicated he was still a tad below average at the plate overall, but for a shortstop who’s considered an above-average defender, that was a serviceable showing.

With the Cardinals out of contention this year and DeJong in the final guaranteed year of that extension, he was a sensible trade candidate. The Jays found themselves with a sudden need at short just before the deadline when Bo Bichette landed on the IL with a knee injury. They sent minor league pitcher Matt Svanson to the Cards in order to get DeJong as an emergency fill-in for Bichette.

Unfortunately, switching the red bird on his jersey for a blue one coincided with an incredible swoon in his performance. He recorded just three hits in 44 plate appearances for the Jays, all singles, while striking out 18 times and not drawing any walks. When Bichette was reinstated from the injured list, the Jays could have optioned a less-experienced player like Santiago Espinal or Davis Schneider but instead decided to just move on from DeJong.

At the time of the trade, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals are covering half of DeJong’s remaining salary and the buyouts on two club options. DeJong’s salary is $9MM this year, which left about $3MM to be paid out at the time of the trade and $2MM now. After being released, any club could sign him and pay him just the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the other clubs pay.

It seems like the Giants will take that chance on another DeJong bounceback, which is a fairly logical move for them. Their regular shortstop, Brandon Crawford, just landed on the injured list over the weekend due to a left forearm strain. Thairo Estrada is also day-to-day after being hit by a pitch on the hand on Sunday. That leaves veteran utility man Johan Camargo and rookie Casey Schmitt as their healthiest middle infield options at the moment. Camargo has hit .220/.273/.345 since the start of 2019 while Schmitt is hitting .197/.249/.279 through his first 226 plate appearances.

Though DeJong may be inconsistent at the plate, it’s a sensible chance for the Giants to take. If he’s able to get back into decent form, he could certainly be an upgrade over their current options. By getting added to the roster prior to 11:59pm ET on August 31, DeJong will be eligible for the postseason roster as well. The Giants are currently 65-60 and in possession of the final Wild Card spot in the National League.

The club currently has a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to add DeJong whenever this move becomes official. They will also need a spot for pitching prospect Kyle Harrison, who is reportedly going to be added and start tonight’s game, meaning some further roster moves are coming for the Giants.

DeJong, 30, was only just acquired from the Cardinals at the deadline less than three weeks ago. Bichette had just suffered a knee injury and the club quickly struck a deal to get DeJong from the Cards to cover the shortstop position. Unfortunately, DeJong’s time as a Jay has been abysmal. He has just three hits in his 44 plate appearances, all singles, with no walks and 18 strikeouts in that stretch. Now that Bichette is healthy enough to rejoin the roster, DeJong has quickly been jettisoned.

It’s the latest downturn of an incredibly inconsistent career for DeJong. In 2017, his rookie season, he launched 25 home runs and slashed .285/.325/.532 for a wRC+ of 123. The Cardinals believed in him enough to sign him to a six-year, $26MM extension with a couple of club options. Unfortunately, his offense declined in each season after that, hitting a nadir in 2022. He struck out in a third of his plate appearances last year and finished with a batting line of .157/.245/.286, a season in which he was optioned to the minors for over two months.

He seemed to right the ship somewhat here in 2023. Prior to the trade, he had hit 13 home runs in 81 games. He was still striking out at a 28.4% clip but his .233/.297/.412 line translated to a wRC+ of 95. That means he was still 5% below league average but it was miles better than his wRC+ of 55 last year. It was also plenty passable for an above-average defender at shortstop, which is the consensus around DeJong.

It was a sensible shot for the Jays to take on short notice. With Bichette suffering his injury just days before the deadline, they quickly grabbed DeJong, sending minor league reliever Matt Svanson the other way. There is no replacing Bichette, who is one of the better shortstops in the league, but DeJong could have been a fine stopgap if he maintained his near-average offense and solid glovework. If he had done so, he may have even been moved to second base once Bichette was back, with Whit Merrifield capable of playing the outfield. But as mentioned, DeJong’s production absolutely cratered after switching jerseys and the Jays have decided to simply cut their losses.

With the deadline now passed, the Jays will put DeJong on waivers in the coming days. He’s virtually a lock to clear, given his struggles and contract. He’s making $9MM this year, with about $2.13MM still to be paid out and then a $2MM buyout on his 2024 option. At the time of the trade, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals are covering the buyouts and half of DeJong’s remaining salary.

No club will want to take on that kind of salary for a player struggling as badly as DeJong. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and therefore seems bound to be released in the coming days. At that point, any club could sign him for the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Cards and Jays are paying.

The Jays will now proceed with Bichette back at shortstop as a combination of Merrifield, Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio and Davis Schneider covers second base. They currently sit half a game behind the Mariners for the final Wild Card spot with about six weeks left on the schedule.

The Jays haven’t released any information about how long they expect Bichette to be out of action, but it will be a blow to the club regardless. He suffered the injury on Monday, pulling up after rounding first and trying to stop to go back to the bag. Yesterday, manager John Schneider said there was “no significant structural damage” and that the club was still deciding on an IL stint. It now seems they have made the call to let Bichette have at least a week-plus to rest his knee.

The fact that the IL stint was a tough decision perhaps indicates he’s in for a quick stay, but that will still be an unwelcome development for the club. Bichette is hitting .321/.352/.494 this year for a wRC+ of 135, the highest such mark among qualified shortstops this year. The Jays will have to proceed without that production for a little bit as they have some key divisional matchups. They have two more games against the Orioles, after dropping the first two of the four-game set, before heading to Fenway Park for three against the Red Sox. The Jays hold a Wild Card spot in the American League but Boston are just a game and a half back coming into today’s action.

For now, the Jays will try to proceed with DeJong in Bichette’s spot. He was just acquired from the Cardinals at yesterday’s deadline, likely spurred on by Bichette’s injury, and is in the lineup at shortstop tonight. He has bounced back from a really rough showing last year, when he hit .157/.245/.286 while striking out in 33.3% of his plate appearances. He’s dropped the strikeout rate to 28.4% this year while slashing .233/.297/.412. His wRC+ of 96 is still a bit below average but is miles better than his 55 wRC+ from last year.

Even with the bounceback, DeJong’s offensive numbers still pale in comparison to Bichette’s. DeJong’s glovework is generally considered stronger between the two, which should make up some of the difference, but it’s unquestionably a challenge for the Jays. Once Bichette is healthy, DeJong could perhaps move over to second base. Whit Merrifield is having a solid season but can also play left field.

DeJong, who turns 30 tomorrow, has bounced back offensively this year from an increasingly rough three-year period.  DeJong has a 96 wRC+ on the season with 13 home runs in 306 plate appearances.

DeJong burst on the scene with a 123 wRC+ for the Cardinals in 2017, hitting 25 home runs and garnering a second place Rookie of the Year finish.  In March of the following year, the Cards inked him to a six-year, $26MM extension.  That deal includes a $12.5MM club option with a $2MM buyout for 2024, plus a $15MM option with a $1MM buyout for ’25.  For the remainder of this season, DeJong is owed about $3MM.  According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals are covering buyouts and half of DeJong’s remaining salary.

The Blue Jays are set to pay the competitive balance tax this year for the first time in franchise history.  Their current CBT payroll appears to be right around the second tier of $253MM, beyond which a 32% tax will be paid.

DeJong’s bat slipped to a league average level in 2018-19, but he still popped 30 home runs, made the All-Star team, and posted a career-best 3.7 WAR in ’19.  However, his offense fell further in 2020, and by 2022 Tommy Edman supplanted him as the Cardinals’ primary shortstop by defensive innings played.  2022 was a low point for DeJong, as he was optioned to Triple-A for a period of nearly three months.

This year, DeJong started the season on the IL with a back injury, joining the Cardinals in late April.  He was able to regain the team’s starting shortstop job on the strength of a huge couple weeks.

As a defender, DeJong has posted above-average marks in recent years.  His Statcast outs above average ranks 21st among qualified shortstops since 2021, similar to Brandon Crawford and Ha-Seong Kim.  His defensive runs saved ranks 15th in that time, despite fewer innings than many of those ahead of him.

DeJong might not be the right-handed bat the Blue Jays had been seeking, but assuming he can continue as a league average hitter, he’s likely the best possible shortstop replacement for Bichette that GM Ross Atkins could find on deadline day.

Svanson, 24, was drafted in the 13th round by the Blue Jays in 2021 out of Lehigh University.  Though he made some A-ball starts last year, Svanson has worked exclusively in relief this year as he’s made his way to High-A.  At that level, he has a 1.23 ERA, 31.3 K% and 9.6 BB%.  Svanson has deployed his sinker to get a nifty 56.3% groundball rate in his 29 1/3 innings.  He’ll now head to Double-A with his new organization.

Luplow, 29, signed a one-year, $1.4MM deal with the Braves in December of last year.  He was designated for assignment in early April and claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays.  The Jays had booted Luplow off their 40-man by the end of that month, but he returned in July for three games with the big club.  Luplow had a 92 wRC+ in 208 Triple-A plate appearances this year.

GMs Ross Atkins of the Jays and John Mozeliak of the Cardinals have gotten along well in recent weeks, striking separate trades that sent relievers Genesis Cabrera and Jordan Hicks to Toronto.  Neither GM expected to be in such a position on deadline day: the Blue Jays adding a shortstop, and the Cardinals acting as a seller.  St. Louis has also shipped off Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton, with Jack Flaherty likely on the way out within the next four hours.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network was first to report a deal was close and name the player coming to the Cardinals, while Katie Woo of The Athletic reported the agreement was in place.

9:45am: The Blue Jays expect to have more information about Bichette’s injury by noon ET, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll publicly divulge anything at that point, but it’ll give them around six hours to search for alternatives if Bichette ends up missing time and the Jays feel it best to seek for help from outside the organization.

8:49am: Blue Jays star shortstop Bo Bichette suffered a right knee injury last night, and his prognosis figures to weigh heavily on the club’s trade deadline plans.  In the third inning of the club’s eventual loss to Baltimore, Bichette hit a potential double down the right field line, rounding first and then slamming on the brakes when right fielder Anthony Santander got the ball in quickly.  As you can see in the linked video, Bichette’s injury was significant enough that he gave himself up between first and second base.  He was able to walk off the field on his own accord, but with a limp.

As The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath reported last night, the Jays are currently calling the injury “right knee discomfort.”  It stands to reason the club might keep further information under wraps until after today’s 5pm central time trade deadline so as not to reduce their leverage in talks for some sort of help at shortstop.  The Blue Jays currently hold the last wild card spot in the American League.

Bichette, the AL leader in batting average and hits, is irreplaceable.  He’s rarely missed a game in the last three seasons, and was well on his way to a five-WAR season.  Certainly Jays GM Ross Atkins cannot go out and find another player of Bichette’s caliber.  Santiago Espinal replaced Bichette in the game and represents the short-term solution.  MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson ran through the Jays’ Triple-A shortstop situation, which does not present a clear replacement.

Matheson throws out a pair of potentially-available names in Tim Anderson of the White Sox and Paul DeJong of the Cardinals.  The Blue Jays and Cardinals already got together a couple days ago on the Jordan Hicks trade, and Atkins has suggested “bigger concepts” were discussed (Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reporting).

As McGrath put it, adding a right-handed bat to the lineup was already “a huge priority” for Toronto, but it’s possible adding a middle infielder could jump to the top of the list.  The team has used Whit Merrifield, Espinal, and Cavan Biggio at second base, all of whom are capable of playing elsewhere on the diamond.

Plenty of middle infielders have already been on the move in the past week, including Jace Peterson, Nicky Lopez, Amed Rosario, and Kiké Hernandez.  Most second basemen likely to be available are hitting quite poorly this year, such as Kolten Wong, Tony Kemp, and Aledmys Diaz.  Elvis Andrus is capable of playing shortstop, but he too is struggling with the bat.

DeJong seems very likely to be dealt within the next few days. The Cards are preparing to move a number of short-term pieces as they regroup for 2024. DeJong is in the final guaranteed season of his contract; the club holds a $12.5MM option for next season but seems unlikely to exercise it.

After a pair of dismal offensive seasons, DeJong has had something of a return to form in 2023. The right-handed hitter owns a .237/.303/.422 line over 297 plate appearances. He’s striking out at a lofty 29% clip but has connected on 13 home runs in roughly half a season of playing time.

That’s exactly league average offense by measure of wRC+. The scope of the production could lend itself particularly well to more matchup usage. DeJong entered play tonight hitting only .227/.279/.411 against same-handed pitching, but he’s teed off on lefties at a .274/.378/.468 clip.

The Giants are as aggressive as any team in leveraging platoon matchups. They haven’t had to do so at shortstop in recent years. Brandon Crawford has had a hold on the everyday job there. Yet the lefty-swinging Crawford is hitting only .207/.285/.333 in 65 contests this season. He’s not hitting well against pitchers of either handedness. He also landed on the injured list with left knee inflammation 10 days ago, his second IL stint of the year.

Crawford joined Thairo Estrada on the shelf. San Francisco’s second baseman has been down for three weeks after breaking his hand on a hit-by-pitch. Estrada recently began baseball activities and could make it back before too long, but the Giants are presently relying on a rookie rotation of Brett Wisely, Marco Luciano and Casey Schmitt up the middle without much success.

DeJong would bring above-average shortstop defense and some pop against left-handed pitching. Lopez would strictly be a defensive target. The lefty-swinging infielder hasn’t hit a home run in two years and carries a .223/.292/.276 batting line since the start of 2022. Yet he has drawn strong marks for his second base defense and is capable of manning shortstop or third base effectively as well.

Lopez would be easier to accommodate financially. The 28-year-old is playing this season on a $3.7MM arbitration salary, around $1.3MM of which is still to be paid out. He’s controllable for another two years after this but seems to be trending towards a non-tender. DeJong is making $9MM this year and still due around $3.2MM in salary, plus a $2MM buyout on next year’s option.

Both Kansas City and St. Louis have alternatives who could take on a larger middle infield role if they were to push across a deal with San Francisco. The Royals have already curtailed Lopez’s playing time in favor of a longer look at Michael Massey. DeJong is playing every day in St. Louis, but the Cards have Tommy Edman as a potential immediate replacement and top shortstop prospect Masyn Winn in Triple-A.

St. Louis also has depth on the other side of the second base bag. Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman are quality bat-first second basemen with extended control windows. With that middle infield strength in mind, Feinsand writes that St. Louis has also gotten interest from various clubs (not necessarily San Francisco) on Donovan and Edman.

Of course, the asking price on Edman or Donovan would be far higher. They’re a lot less likely to move than DeJong. Not only do they have extended control windows (Edman through 2025, Donovan past ’28), neither is fully healthy right now.

Edman is on the injured list with wrist inflammation. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat relayed this afternoon (on Twitter) that he’ll begin a minor league rehab stint over the weekend. Donovan is healthy enough to hit but playing through a flexor tendon injury in his right arm. He’s unable to throw and relegated to DH duty for now. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote earlier in the week that Donovan was hoping to avoid surgery and return to defensive work at some point this season. Even if that proves to be the case, he wouldn’t be a middle infield option for anyone in the immediate future.

Elsewhere on the roster, the Cards have made clear to other clubs that they expect to trade starters Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty as well as shortstop Paul DeJong, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. Passan adds Jordan Hicks as a possible trade candidate, and it’s only natural that righty Chris Stratton — another potential free agent — would also be on the block.

Moving the 28-year-old O’Neill at this stage would unequivocally be selling low. The two-time Gold Glove winner and eighth-place finisher in 2021 NL MVP voting has played in just 130 games since Opening Day 2022, batting a paltry (by his standards) .229/.309/.381 in 502 plate appearances along the way. It’s a far cry from O’Neill’s mammoth .286/.352/.560 batting line and 34 homers in 2021.

The Cards control O’Neill through the 2024 season, as he’ll be arbitration-eligible for the final time this offseason. Woo quotes both O’Neill and manager Oli Marmol in a piece that Cards fans, in particular, will want to read. Broadly speaking, the organization believes an emphasis on routine and collaborative communication can help O’Neill remain on the field more regularly (though that makes the decision to buck his routine by placing him in center field early in the season seem particularly curious).

O’Neill is one of several outfielders vying for playing time in St. Louis. Lars Nootbaar has become entrenched in center field, and top prospect Jordan Walker is currently patrolling right field. O’Neill’s return pushed former top prospect Dylan Carlson to a bench role, and there’s been ample reporting and speculation on the possibility of a Carlson trade looming on the horizon. First baseman/outfielder and utilitymen extraordinaire Brendan Donovan and Tommy Edman also factor into the outfield mix — at times being pushed there by Nolan Gorman’s presence at second base.

The Cards would also be selling low on Carlson in many ways, though the 24-year-old switch-hitter’s remaining three seasons of club control beyond the current year give him more appeal than O’Neill’s one remaining year. Carlson’s ability to play all three outfield spots — center field, in particular — at a high level could also increase the chances of landing direly needed controllable pitching in a trade. O’Neill certainly isn’t likely to command that type of return on the heels of two injury-plagued seasons; he only just returned from a 60-day IL stint thanks to a back strain.

The likely trades of Montgomery and Flaherty have been discussed ad nauseum by now. Both are free agents at season’s end. Montgomery is the more valuable arm at present, touting a 3.37 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 45.2% grounder rate in 115 innings. He’d be a veritable lock to receive and reject a qualifying offer, so the Cardinals figure to insist on greater value than a 2024 compensatory pick in return. He’s being $10.01MM in 2023.

Flaherty looked like a burgeoning ace in 2019 but has seen several recent seasons ruined by injury. He’s been healthy in ’23, pitching 104 2/3 innings of 4.49 ERA ball. His 22.2% strikeout rate is roughly average, but his 11.3% walk rate is a glaring red flag. He’s three years younger than Montgomery and earning roughly half the salary ($5.4MM) in 2023, however.

DeJong’s status as a likely trade target registers as a clear bonus for the Cards. Entering the season, he didn’t even appear like a lock to make the roster, having slashed just .182/.269/.352 in 190 games from 2021-22. But DeJong has enjoyed a rebound season in ’23, hitting .237/.304/.424 (101 wRC+) with his typical brand of plus defense. With about $3.29MM remaining on his contract (plus a $2MM buyout on next year’s $12.5MM option), DeJong now seems affordable and productive enough to be a viable trade candidate — particularly if the Cardinals help out financially in any sense. DeJong’s bat has cooled after a torrid start, but his overall batting line is about league average, he’s shown some power and he’s played good defense.

Both Hicks and Stratton are natural trade candidates, too. Hicks is likely more appealing and costlier to acquire, given his youth and triple-digit heater. The 26-year-old is averaging better than 100 mph on his sinker and has a 1.88 ERA dating back to early May, punching out batters at a gaudy 31.4% of his hitters with an 8.5% walk rate and mammoth 66.7% grounder rate. Stratton, 33 next month, has a 4.38 ERA with better peripheral marks (27% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate, 3.01 FIP, 3.37 SIERA).

In any trade, St. Louis is eyeing near-MLB-ready pitching, Passan adds. That, again, is hardly a surprise and has long been speculated upon, given the team’s lack of rotation clarity beyond the current season. Both Montgomery and Flaherty are free agents. Adam Wainwright is retiring. Steven Matz and Matthew Liberatore have struggled.

Many of the names in question wouldn’t fetch a close-to-the-Majors arm in a straight-up swap, but someone like DeJong or Stratton could potentially be packaged with Flaherty or Hicks to improve the Cards’ return. Either Montgomery or certainly Carlson on his own could feasibly fetch immediate but unproven pitching help — Montgomery’s status as a rental notwithstanding. For instance, the Cards themselves traded away a big league-ready arm last summer when they shipped Johan Oviedo to the division-rival Pirates in order to acquire Stratton and Jose Quintana, who was then a rental player. Oviedo has struggled in July but notched a 4.06 ERA through his first 16 starts and is controllable through the 2027 season.

President of baseball operations John Mozeliak admitted last week the Cards were turning their attention towards 2024. He expanded upon that in a wide-ranging conversation with the St. Louis beat this afternoon (YouTube link via Charlie Marlow of 590 The Fan). Cards’ fans will want to check out the complete media session.

Mozeliak conceded there wasn’t much hope of avoiding a sell-off of short-term pieces at this stage of the season. “Does performance (over the next two weeks) change our direction? Probably not at this point. Where we are in the standings, it’s going to make it very difficult to change that.” He left open the possibility of something like an eight-game win streak altering the equation but it’s clear the front office anticipates parting with a number of veteran players over the next couple weeks.

The front office leader restated they’re prioritizing trade targets who could help the big league team in the near future. Mozeliak indicated they’d look for players who’d be MLB factors by 2024-25 and was rather blunt about their positional desires.

“We’re going to treat the trading deadline as ’pitching, pitching, pitching,'” he said. “That’s not to say we’re going to ignore a position player that may be uber-great … but the goal would be to address as much pitching as possible.”

It isn’t hard to understand why. The rotation has been St. Louis’ biggest problem area. Cardinals’ starters entered play Monday ranked 25th in MLB with a 4.64 ERA. That’s obviously insufficient to begin with and it’s only likely to thin out over the next few weeks. Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty are impending free agents who both seem likely to change uniforms by August 1. Adam Wainwright isn’t a trade candidate but he’s retiring at season’s end.

That’s three vacancies arising before 2024. Only Miles Mikolas seems a lock for next year’s season-opening rotation. Steven Matz is under contract for two more seasons but has bounced between the starting staff and the bullpen this year. Matthew Liberatore has been tagged for a 6.39 ERA over eight MLB starts. Righty Jake Woodford wasn’t much more effective in an early-season rotation look. Former first round draftee Zack Thompson could compete for a ’24 rotation spot but has one MLB start to his name.

While St. Louis will scour the trade market for upper level starting pitching, they’ll also have to dip into free agency next winter. Mozeliak conceded it’d be nearly impossible to envision the Cards not adding a free agent starter and indicated the organization should have enough financial flexibility to attack the open market.

Interestingly, he indicated the organization’s approach to pitching acquisition could be a little different moving forward. St. Louis has prioritized ground-ball pitchers in recent seasons, relying on an excellent infield defense to support a pitch-to-contact staff. That hasn’t worked this year. St. Louis has allowed an MLB-worst .324 batting average on grounders. That’s a huge change from seasons past, one Mozeliak admitted could impact the way the front office approaches things.

The team is likely to prioritize “more swing-and-miss versus ground-ball types,” he said. Only the Rockies and Royals have gotten a lower strikeout rate out of their rotation than St. Louis’ 18.4% clip. The bullpen has been more effective, ranking 12th with a 24.5% strikeout percentage.

A few members of the relief corps are also likely to be on the way out. The Cards already designated lefty Génesis Cabrera for assignment this morning. Mozeliak called that a “change of scenery” decision, noting that Cabrera is hopeful of landing a higher-leverage role than the one he’d received in St. Louis. Jordan Hicks and Chris Stratton seem likely to be dealt strictly because of their contractual situations. Both are impending free agents and having quality seasons, with the flamethrowing Hicks standing out as a particularly desirable rental trade chip.

There aren’t any true rentals on the position player side, although the Cards seem likely to opt for a $1MM buyout over a $12.5MM club option on shortstop Paul DeJong. A middle infield logjam also comprising Tommy Edman, Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman and eventually top prospect Masyn Winn makes a DeJong trade seem likely.

Left fielder Tyler O’Neill has seemed a potential trade candidate amidst a season decimated by back issues. Mozeliak didn’t expressly rule that out but seemed to cast some doubt on that possibility today, saying the Cardinals anticipated playing O’Neill as their everyday left fielder. He has been on the injured list since May 4 but could be reinstated before tomorrow’s game against Miami.

O’Neill is playing this season on a $4.95MM salary. The club can retain him for one more season via arbitration. St. Louis has enough outfield depth that O’Neill could be a non-tender candidate next winter, though it’s also possible they deal another outfielder to clear space. Star rookie Jordan Walker isn’t going anywhere, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote last week the Cards were telling other clubs they had no intention of moving Lars Nootbaar.

That arguably leaves Dylan Carlson as an odd man out. The former top prospect is hitting .243/.350/.376 over 203 trips to the plate. He reaches arbitration for the first time next winter and isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2026 campaign. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com indicated this evening (on Twitter) the Yankees could have some interest in Carlson as they search for outfield help.

Of course, there are no bigger names the Cardinals could put on the trade market than their star corner infield tandem of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. Mozeliak declined to declare either player categorically untouchable but strongly downplayed the possibility of moving either. “I don’t have any intentions of trading anybody like them,” he said. “If you’re willing to listen on anything, you have to understand (anything’s possible), but I doubt that would happen.” As he subsequently noted, both players have full no-trade rights, and it seems very unlikely a St. Louis team gearing back up for 2024 would want to part with either of its top two position players regardless.