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Rafael Ortega

Mets Sign Rafael Ortega To Minor League Deal

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The Mets announced this morning that they’ve signed veteran outfielder Rafael Ortega to a minor league deal. Ortega, a client of Prestige Sports, will be in spring training as a non-roster invitee to camp. The Mets also confirmed their previously reported minor league deal with infielder Donovan Walton. He’ll also be a non-roster invitee in camp, the club added.

Ortega, 33, will be in his second stint with the Mets organization. He played the bulk of the 2023 season there, logging 30 Triple-A games and another 47 big league contests. The lefty-swinging Ortega filled a bench role with the Mets in ’23, hitting .219/.341/.272 with a homer and six steals in 136 plate appearances that season. He’s a career .245/.322/.349 hitter in 1301 plate appearances as a big leaguer, dating back to his MLB debut with the Rockies in 2012.

Ortega has extensive experience at all three outfield positions in his big league career, though he’s spent the bulk of his time in center field. He’s spent at least some time in the majors in each of the past four seasons, most prominently with the Cubs in 2021-22, when he batted a combined .265/.344/.408 in 701 turns at the plate.

The Mets saw outfielders Harrison Bader and Jesse Winker reach free agency at season’s end, and they’ve already outrighted outfielder DJ Stewart off the roster and seen him elect free agency as well. Ortega replenishes some outfield depth and provides center field insurance in a way that neither Winker nor Stewart could. For the time being, Brandon Nimmo, Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte top the outfield depth chart in Queens, but there will assuredly be changes as the team pursues various free agents — headlined, of course, by Juan Soto.

10 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.

Outfielders

Pitchers

White Sox Outright Rafael Ortega

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Outfielder Rafael Ortega cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Charlotte, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times on X. The outfielder was designated for assignment by the White Sox earlier this week. He had the right to elect free agency but has chosen to accept his outright assignment.

Ortega, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Sox in the offseason and was added to their roster in late April. He was put into 14 games but mostly off the bench, getting just 17 plate appearances. He hit .071/.176/.071 in those and was designated for assignment when the club acquired Corey Julks from the Astros a couple of days ago.

It’s been a rough few years for Ortega after a strong 2021 campaign that now looks like it may have been his peak. He hit 11 home runs in 330 plate appearances for the Cubs that year. His .291/.360/.463 batting line translated to a 122 wRC+. He also stole 12 bases and spent a lot of time covering center field.

But his production dipped to .241/.331/.358 in 2022 and he was non-tendered at the end of that season. He eventually got back to the majors late in 2023, getting called up by the Mets after the trade deadline to play out the final months of a lost season for that club. He hit just .219/.341/.272 in that time and was sent back to the open market at season’s end.

Ortega will now head to Charlotte and try to get back into good form. It’s not hard to imagine a path opening up that would allow him to get back to the big leagues. The rebuilding Sox will likely make any veteran player available this year and have already traded Robbie Grossman to the Rangers. 36-year-old Tommy Pham is on a one-year deal and will almost certainly be moved if he’s healthy and playing well. Gavin Sheets and Eloy Jiménez are also trade possibilities who could, along with Pham, open up playing time in the outfield/designated hitter mix. For now, the Sox will keep running out those guys and Andrew Benintendi, as well as younger players like Julks and Dominic Fletcher.

White Sox Acquire Corey Julks From Astros

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The Astros have traded outfielder Corey Julks to the White Sox, per announcements from both clubs. The Astros, who designated Julks for assignment last week, will receive minor league right-hander Luis Rodriguez in return. Julks has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. To open a 40-man spot for Julks, the Sox designated outfielder Rafael Ortega for assignment and recalled outfielder Dominic Fletcher to take Ortega’s spot on the active roster.

Julks, 28, was an eighth-round pick of the Astros back in 2017 and wasn’t really considered a very noteworthy prospect in the years following that selection. He put himself on the radar with a strong 2022 season, hitting 31 home runs and stealing 22 bases in 130 Triple-A games. In the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, his .270/.351/.503 batting line led to a 108 wRC+.

That got him to the big leagues in 2023 but he didn’t immediately hit the ground running in the majors. He stepped to the plate 323 times for the Astros last year and hit .245/.297/.352 for a wRC+ of 80, though he also stole 15 bases and got solid grades for his outfield defense.

He’s been back at Triple-A this year and has another five home runs and six more steals in 31 games. His 12.8% walk rate is a few points higher than the 9.5% rate he had in 2022. His overall production this year is considered to be around league average for the PCL, but it’s an intriguing combination of skills.

Despite the interesting stats, Julks is 28 years old now and was blocked by a crowded outfield mix in Houston, so they nudged him off their roster. The White Sox have far more of a need and more of an ability to take a chance on a player like Julks, given their status as a rebuilding club.

Giving playing time to a veteran can yield to a positive result, as the Sox just recently traded Robbie Grossman to the Rangers for Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa. A similar path with a player like Ortega would have been ideal but he hit .071/.176/.071 in his 17 plate appearances for the Sox in recent weeks and wasn’t trending towards any kind of Grossman-like return. The Sox decided it was a better use of a roster spot to grab Julks and see how things go with him, while giving Ortega’s spot on the active roster to Fletcher.

Julks still has two options, meaning he could potentially be sent to Triple-A for the rest of this year and one more. He also has less than a year of service time, meaning he can be cheaply retained for the foreseeable future.

For now, Fletcher will share the big league playing time with guys like Andrew Benintendi, Tommy Pham and Gavin Sheets. Pham is on a one-year deal and will be a trade candidate this summer. Sheets could perhaps be on the block as well since he’ll reach arbitration for the first time this winter and has been in good form this year. That could perhaps open some playing time for Julks later in the year, though the eventual return of Luis Robert Jr. from the injured list will also be a factor. Oscar Colás and Zach DeLoach are also on the 40-man but neither is performing especially well on optional assignment right now.

For the Astros, they have  Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez, Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers, Mauricio Dubon, Joey Loperfido and Trey Cabbage in their outfield mix, with prospect Pedro León banging on the door as well. Since pitching depth is a greater concern for them, they recently grabbed Alex Speas off waivers and let go of Julks.

By doing so, they were at least able to add a pitching prospect to their system. The 20-year-old Rodriguez tossed 33 innings over 15 appearances in the Dominican Summer League last year with a 3.55 earned run average, 32.6% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate. In January, he got a brief mention on the FanGraphs list of top White Sox prospect from Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin. They noted that Rodriguez has a fastball in the 88-90 miles per hour range and a strong curveball.

The Sox will now have a week to trade Ortega or pass him through waivers. He was signed to a minor league deal this winter and added to the roster in late April. He has received sporadic playing time which hasn’t gone well for him, as mentioned. He has enough service time that he can reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. He had a strong season with the Cubs in 2021, hitting .291/.360/.463 while stealing 12 bases and spending a lot of time in center field. But he hit .241/.331/.358 the next year and got non-tendered, with only limited big league looks since then.

White Sox Designate Bailey Horn For Assignment

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The White Sox announced a series of roster moves, many of which were previously reported. Outfielders Rafael Ortega and Tommy Pham have been selected to the roster. Two more outfielders were removed, as Kevin Pillar has been designated for assignment and Dominic Fletcher has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. To open one more spot on the 40-man, left-handed pitcher Bailey Horn was also designated for assignment.

Horn, 26, was just acquired from the Cubs in February. The latter club was looking to open a 40-man spot for Cody Bellinger and flipped Horn across town for minor league right-hander Matt Thompson. That sent Horn back to his original organization, as he was drafted by the Sox but traded to the Cubs in 2021 for Ryan Tepera.

The southpaw has long shown big strikeout potential but also a concerning lack of command, trends that have continued into 2024. He has thrown 10 1/3 innings at Triple-A Charlotte so far this year, striking out 15 opponents but also giving out 10 walks. Four home runs allowed have also led to 13 runs crossing the plate, leading to an 11.32 earned run average.

Those poor results have bumped him off the 40-man and the Sox will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Despite the rough start to his season, he could perhaps garner interest based on his previous work. Over 2022 and 2023, he tossed 113 2/3 innings between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. He had a 3.56 ERA in that time, striking out 30.5% of batters faced but also issuing walks at a 13.3% rate.

The Cubs only just added him to their 40-man in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft, meaning he has a full slate of options. If any club felt they had a way to harness the control going forward, they could acquire Horn and stash him in the minors for years to come.

White Sox To Select Rafael Ortega, Option Dominic Fletcher

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In addition to their previously reported promotion of Tommy Pham and DFA of Kevin Pillar, the White Sox will select the contract of veteran outfielder Rafael Ortega and option fellow outfielder Dominic Fletcher to Triple-A Charlotte, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. They’ll need a second 40-man move to open a spot for Ortega.

The 32-year-old Ortega has appeared in parts of seven big league seasons between the Rockies, Angels, Braves, Marlins, Cubs and Mets, hitting .247/.324/.352 in 1284 plate appearances. That includes a strong 2021-22 showing with the crosstown Cubs, wherein he played a semi-regular role and hit .265/.344/.408 with 18 homers, 24 steals, a 10.6% walk rate and a 20.5% strikeout rate in 701 plate appearances. He appeared in 47 games for the Mets last season and batted .219/.341/.272.

Ortega inked a minor league deal with the Sox over the winter and has gotten out to a .241/.378/.431 slash in Charlotte. He’s homered three times, swiped six bags and drawn a walk in 18.7% of his plate appearances on the young season. He’s a left-handed hitter who can handle all three outfield spots.

Fletcher, 26, was acquired in an offseason swap that sent pitching prospect Cristian Mena to the Diamondbacks. The hope for the Sox was that he’d give them an MLB-ready outfielder with solid defensive skills who could build on an impressive rookie showing with the ’23 D-backs. Fletcher hit .301/.350/.441 with a pair of homers, five doubles and a triple in his first 102 MLB place appearances with the Snakes last season. He didn’t walk much (6.9%) but also posted a 21.6% strikeout rate that was lower than average.

Unfortunately, Fletcher hasn’t been able to sustain that pace or anything close to it following his change of scenery. He’s appeared in 20 games and taken 66 turns at the dish, hitting just .203/.277/.271. Though last year’s strikeout rate was solid, he’s fanned in more than 30% of his plate appearances on the young season. He’ll head down to Triple-A just one day after older brother David Fletcher was sent to Triple-A by the Braves (albeit David via outright assignment rather than optional assignment).

The younger Fletcher brother already has a strong track record in the upper minors, which lends some hope that he can right the ship in a lower-pressure setting. If he’s able to get back on track, the current state of the White Sox’ roster should rather easily afford him another opportunity to prove that he can stick at the big league level. The White Sox can control the former No. 75 overall draft pick for six full seasons, and Fletcher has a minor league option remaining beyond the current year as well.

White Sox Sign Rafael Ortega To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox signed Rafael Ortega to a minor league contract last week, as reflected on the MLB.com transaction log and the outfielder’s Instagram page. It’s likely he’ll be in MLB camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.

Ortega is looking to get back to the majors for a fourth straight season and an eighth campaign overall. The left-handed hitter has appeared for six different teams. The only time he spanned multiple seasons with the same club came on the other side of Chicago. Ortega was a Cub between 2021-22, operating as their starting center fielder and leadoff hitter for a time.

Those years on the North Side have been Ortega’s most productive to date. He combined for a solid .265/.344/.408 batting line in just over 700 plate appearances. That made it moderately surprising both that the Cubs non-tendered him last offseason and that he was forced to settle for a minor league deal with the Yankees.

Ortega didn’t secure an outfield spot in the Bronx, kicking off a nomadic 2023. He was granted his release from the Yankees. A minor league pact with the Rangers also didn’t get Ortega back to the majors. He signed another non-roster pact, this time with the Mets, in mid-June. After New York fell out of contention and traded Mark Canha and Tommy Pham at the deadline, they brought Ortega to the majors.

He didn’t hit at the level he had with the Cubs. Ortega reached base at a solid .341 clip but only hit one home run over 136 plate appearances. His .213/.341/.272 slash was well below average. New York outrighted him off the 40-man roster at the end of the year, the equivalent of an early non-tender.

For the second straight spring, Ortega will try to secure a roster spot in Spring Training. The 32-year-old can play all three outfield spots but is a better fit in a corner than in center field. Chicago has Luis Robert Jr. locked into center and Andrew Benintendi set for a bounceback opportunity in left. Right field, where the Sox got a .219/.271/.344 showing last year, is wide open. As thing stand, Óscar Colás and Gavin Sheets project to split time.

General manager Chris Getz acknowledged on Tuesday the front office could add a more established option. Ortega shouldn’t stand in the way of that pursuit. The transaction tracker indicates his deal was signed on January 5, even if it wasn’t officially logged until yesterday. Getz was surely aware Ortega was part of the organization before Tuesday’s comments about a potential right field acquisition. Brett Phillips, Wynton Bernard and Mark Payton are also in the organization as non-roster players.

Five Mets Elect Free Agency

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The Mets announced this afternoon that five players — infielders Jonathan Araúz and Danny Mendick, outfielder Rafael Ortega, catcher Michael Pérez and right-hander Vinny Nittoli — went unclaimed on outright waivers. All five players declared minor league free agency. The Mets had waived that group along with left-hander Anthony Kay, claimed by Oakland, last week.

It’s not surprising to see any of the others go unclaimed. Only Mendick held a spot on the 40-man roster for the entire season. The righty-hitting utilityman had signed a $1MM free agent deal after being non-tendered by the White Sox. He spent the bulk of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Syracuse, where he had a decent .282/.369/.424 batting line. Mendick didn’t produce much in a limited MLB look, hitting .185/.232/.277 in 35 games.

Ortega has the most MLB experience of the group. The lefty-swinging outfielder has appeared for six teams over a seven-season big league run. He topped 100 games with the Cubs in both 2021 and ’22, operating as their starting center fielder and leadoff man for a time. The 32-year-old played most of this past season in Triple-A, hitting .228/.352/.388. He got into 47 games for New York late in the year, running a .219/.341/.272 line over 136 trips.

Pérez has played in nine games for the Mets over the last two seasons. The depth catcher owns a .179/.248/.306 line in 599 career plate appearances between the Rays, Pirates and Mets. Araúz has played parts of four seasons between the Red Sox, Orioles and Mets. The switch-hitting infielder owns a .184/.253/.308 slash in 95 games, including a .136/.203/.288 showing this past season.

Nittoli made three MLB appearances after coming over from the Cubs in a minor trade. He turns 33 next month and has six big league outings between three teams. The Xavier product posted a 4.64 ERA over 42 2/3 innings in Triple-A this year.

Mets Place Six Players On Outright Waivers

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The Mets have placed six players on outright waivers, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. They are left-hander Anthony Kay, right-hander Vinny Nittoli, catcher Michael Pérez, outfielder Rafael Ortega, and infielders Danny Mendick and Jonathan Araúz. This will open six spots on the club’s 40-man roster. As noted by DiComo, each player will have the right to elect free agency if they pass through waivers unclaimed.

Kay, 28, was only with the Mets a short time, coming over from the Cubs in mid-September via a waiver claim. Between the two clubs, he tossed 14 2/3 innings with a 6.14 earned run average. He was much better in the minors, with a 3.76 ERA in 40 2/3 Triple-A innings this year. He will be out of options next year.

Nittoli, 33 next month, was also a midseason acquisition from the Cubs. He opted out of his minor league deal and was flipped to the Mets for cash in early June. He spent most of the rest of the season on optional assignment, only making three appearances at the major league level. He tossed 42 2/3 Triple-A innings between the two organizations with an ERA of 4.64 in that time. He will also be out of options next year.

Pérez, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason and was added to the roster in May. He got into three games in the big leagues this year, spending most of his time on optional assignment. He hit .204/.309/.352 in 70 Triple-A games, leading to a wRC+ of 66. He, too, will be out of options next year.

Mendick, 30, had an encouraging performance with the White Sox in 2022, hitting .289/.343/.443 for a wRC+ of 125. But that came in just 31 games since he tore the ACL in his left knee in June of that year. The Sox non-tendered him and the Mets decided to take a chance, signing him to a $1MM guarantee. He hit well in the minors this year, slashing .282/.369/.424 in Triple-A, but his 35 major league games resulted in a paltry line of .185/.232/.277.

Araúz, 25, was selected from the Orioles in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He was selected to the major league roster in August and got into 27 games but hit just .136/.203/.288 in those. His 100 games at the Triple-A level resulted in more palatable line of .239/.340/.415.

Ortega, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in June and was added to the roster at the start of August. He hit .219/.341/.272 in 47 games as the season was winding down for a wRC+ of 83. He had a strong season with the Cubs in 2021, hitting .291/.360/.463, but his career line of .247/.324/.352 translates to a wRC+ of 89.

Most of these players were added to the club late in the year, after they traded away various players at the deadline and needed some fresh bodies to play out the string. None of them were key parts of the long-term plans and they have been removed from the roster in order to give the club some greater flexibility with the offseason set to begin shortly. If they clear waivers, they will become free agents and look to find minor league deals this winter.

Minor 40-Man Moves: Adams, Ortega, Capra

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With the trade deadline behind us, a few smaller 40-man transactions from throughout the day that weren’t previously covered:

  • The Angels selected outfielder Jordyn Adams onto the big league roster while transferring Jo Adell and Sam Bachman to the 60-day injured list. The 17th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Adams is set for his major league debut. The 23-year-old outfielder is hitting .264/.351/.466 through 389 plate appearances with Triple-A Salt Lake. Strikeout issues have knocked down his former top prospect stock, but he’s capable of playing center field and has stolen 37 bases in 42 attempts this year.
  • The Pirates selected infielder Vinny Capra. Pittsburgh acquired the 27-year-old for catcher Tyler Heineman in a minor swap with the Blue Jays at the end of April. His big league experience consists of eight games with Toronto last season. The right-handed hitter owns a massive .350/.457/.485 showing with more walks than strikeouts over 34 games at Triple-A Indianapolis for the Bucs.
  • The Mets selected Rafael Ortega. Signed to a minor league deal in mid-June, the lefty-hitting outfielder returns to the big leagues for a seventh season. Ortega hit .265/.344/.408 for the Cubs between 2021-22. He owns a .228/.352/.388 line between two Triple-A affiliates this season. The 32-year-old will be eligible for arbitration after the season if he finished the year on the MLB roster.

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