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Rangers Sign Kyle Higashioka To Two-Year Deal

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The Rangers announced the signing of catcher Kyle Higashioka to a two-year contract with a mutual option for 2027. Higashioka, a Beverly Hills Sports Council client, is reportedly guaranteed $13.5MM. He’ll make successive salaries of $5.75MM and $6.75MM over the next two seasons. He’s also guaranteed a $1MM buyout on the ’27 option, which is valued at $7MM. The Rangers now have 39 players on their 40-man roster.

Higashioka was one of the top catchers in a weak free agent class. He’d been a first-time free agent even though he’ll turn 35 in April. Drafted out of high school by the Yankees in 2008, Higashioka spent nine seasons in the minors before he got his first big league call. He bounced on and off the MLB roster for another three years. It wasn’t until he’d exhausted his minor league options that he got a permanent big league job in 2020.

New York never gave Higashioka a look as a legitimate starting catcher. He spent four-plus seasons in a backup role while working as Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher. The Yankees packaged him to the Padres in last winter’s Juan Soto blockbuster. While San Diego was looking for a veteran backup who could work behind Luis Campusano, Higashioka was generally viewed as the final piece of their five-player Soto return.

The Huntington Beach native ended up as a surprisingly key contributor to San Diego’s 93-win team. Campusano struggled on both sides of the ball and eventually played his way off the big league roster. Higashioka, on the other hand, had the best season of his career. He hit a personal-high 17 home runs over 84 games. The longball made him a decent offensive player despite terrible on-base marks. Higashioka ran a bizarre .220/.263/.476 batting line over 267 trips to the plate.

Only 21 hitters (minimum 200 plate appearances) had a lower on-base percentage. Still, Higashioka is the only player who ranked among MLB’s bottom 30 in OBP who nevertheless graded as an above-average overall hitter by measure of wRC+ — a testament to his power production. By year’s end, Higashioka had overtaken Campusano as Mike Shildt’s starting catcher. He drilled three more homers in seven postseason games.

Higashioka has earned a solid defensive reputation. Statcast has looked favorably on his pitch framing skills, while he’s generally well-regarded for his ability to work with a pitching staff. Higashioka has struggled as a blocker in consecutive seasons, though. He was charged with nine passed balls across 665 2/3 innings this year. Only Francisco Alvarez (11) was charged with more. Korey Lee and Patrick Bailey tied Higashioka with nine passed balls, but they each caught 150+ more innings than he did. Statcast placed him in the bottom third of qualified catchers in average pop time, though his 20% caught stealing rate was in line with the MLB average.

The on-base deficiencies and perhaps some concern about his arm strength have kept Higashioka from getting a full-time starting job. He has never tallied 300 plate appearances in an MLB season. Teams have viewed him more as a high-quality backup than a true #1 catcher.

Texas has 2023 All-Star Jonah Heim as their primary option behind the plate. Heim had a disappointing ’24 campaign, slumping to a .220/.267/.336 line over 491 plate appearances. Heim has topped 125 games in three straight seasons. Between the regular season and playoffs, he appeared in 148 contests in 2023. Higashioka isn’t likely to supplant him as the starting catcher, but the veteran’s presence could allow manager Bruce Bochy to scale back Heim’s workload by 15-20 games.

Texas got almost nothing out of backup catcher Andrew Knizner for the first few months of the season. The Rangers acquired Carson Kelly at the deadline, but he stumbled to a .235/.291/.343 showing in 31 games. With Kelly hitting free agency, GM Chris Young and his staff targeted Higashioka to hopefully solidify the catching corps.

RosterResource now calculates the Rangers’ payroll around $185MM, while they have about $195MM in luxury tax obligations. Texas reportedly intends to stay underneath the tax threshold in 2025. They’ve got around $46MM in breathing room before they hit that mark, though it’s unclear precisely where ownership will draw the line as the Rangers try to arrange a new setup for their in-market local broadcasting.

Higashioka’s deal meets expectations. MLBTR predicted he’d receive a two-year, $15MM pact that’s marginally higher than what he actually landed. Four free agent catchers have come off the board within the first few weeks of the offseason. Higashioka joins Travis d’Arnaud as recipients of multi-year deals, while Jacob Stallings and Austin Hedges each signed for one guaranteed season. Alongside Kelly, Danny Jansen stands as the top free agent for teams looking for help behind the dish.

The Padres are one of those clubs. Higashioka’s departure leaves the Padres with an obvious need behind the plate. Campusano and Brett Sullivan are the only catchers on their 40-man roster. Neither looks like a viable starter for a team with postseason aspirations. Top prospect Ethan Salas is hopefully the long-term solution, but the teenager is unlikely to make an MLB impact by next season.

Jon Morosi of the MLB Network first reported the Rangers and Higashioka were making progress on an agreement. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News confirmed the deal was in place. Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reported the salary breakdown. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Diamondbacks Interested In Re-Signing Joc Pederson

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Free agent Joc Pederson is one of the better left-handed bats available and the Diamondbacks are interested in bringing him back, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rosenthal also mentions the Rays and Rangers as possible landing spots, though those seem more speculative, so it’s unclear to what degree those clubs are interested.

Pederson, 33 in April, is a limited player but does one thing very well. He doesn’t run well nor provide much of anything defensively. He’s also been a liability when a left-hander is on the mound, but he does crush righties.

Last winter, the Diamondbacks signed Pederson to a one-year deal with a $12.5MM guarantee. He got into 132 games for the Snakes this year but didn’t take the field at all. On account of his poor defensive track record, he was used exclusively as a designated hitter or pinch hitter. Of his 449 plate appearances on the year, only 42 of them were against southpaws. He actually produced a strong .219/.405/.344 line and 124 wRC+ in that split thanks to a 16.7% walk rate, and in spite of a 42.9% strikeout rate. But for his career, he has a .210/.300/.330 line and a 76 wRC+ without the platoon advantage.

In his 407 plate appearances against righties this year, his strikeout rate was a far more palatable 21.4%. His 11.8% walk rate was quite a strong, a few ticks above league average. He also hit 22 home runs, which helped him produce a slash of .281/.392/.531 and a 154 wRC+.

Overall, Pederson hit .275/.393/.515 on the year for a 151 wRC+, the second of the past three years with very strong offensive production. He hit .274/.353/.521 with the Giants in 2022 for a 144 wRC+. San Francisco gave him a $19.65MM qualifying offer on the heels of that showing, which he accepted. His batting line dropped to .235/.348/.416 in 2023, for a 109 wRC+, but the Snakes may have had a hunch that was bad luck. His batting average on balls in play went from .310 in 2022 to .268 in 2023, despite his batted ball metrics staying strong. His BABIP corrected to .322 in 2024 and his overall offense climbed back up along with it.

Even with that unlucky dip last year, Pederson has still managed to produce a 135 wRC+ over the past three years combined. Among players with at least 1200 plate appearances in that time frame, that figure is one of the top 15 in the majors, just ahead of guys like José Ramírez, Matt Olson and Rafael Devers. Pederson’s deficiencies put limits on his ability to contribute, but he’s a huge difference maker at the plate. MLBTR predicted him for a two-year, $24MM contract as part of the annual Top 50 Free Agents post.

It’s understandable that the Diamondbacks would want Pederson back, as they saw first-hand what a huge impact he can make at the plate. General manager Mike Hazen has said that he expects the 2025 payroll to be in the same range as 2024. RosterResource currently projects the club for $149MM in spending next year, which is about $14MM shy of last year’s Opening Day figure. Re-signing Pederson would eat up most of that but trading some of Jordan Montgomery’s salary could perhaps create some extra wiggle room for further offseason moves.

For the Rays, they usually aren’t big players in free agency but it wouldn’t be unprecedented to do something like this. Just two years ago, they gave Zach Eflin a $40MM guarantee. RosterResource pegs them at $79MM for next year’s payroll, about $20MM shy of where they started 2024. That could give them some room to work with this offseason, depending on how their ongoing stadium uncertainty is going to impact their spending plans.

In terms of the roster construction, it would be a bit of a pivot for the Rays, as they usually place a high value on defensive versatility. The last time they had one player take more than 400 plate appearances as a designated hitter was Johnny Damon in 2011. But if they view Pederson as the best bat available in their price range, perhaps they would be willing to have him lock up the DH spot, at least against righties.

For the Rangers, as mentioned by Rosenthal, squaring up right-handed pitching was a struggle this year. They put up a collective line of .238/.304/.379 for a wRC+ of 95, putting them in the bottom third of the league. Installing Pederson in their lineup would be the most straightforward way of improving that line in 2025. The club didn’t have a strict designated hitter in 2024, so fitting Pederson in shouldn’t be too hard. 11 different players took at least 22 trips to the plate in that spot in 2024, with Wyatt Langford leading the pack with 105 plate appearances. Pederson’s presence would make it more difficult to spread around the DH time to so many guys, but it could be viewed as worth it, given how good he’s been at the plate recently.

Rangers Finalize 2025 Coaching Staff

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The Rangers formally announced their coaching staff for the upcoming season today, including the additions of bench coach Luis Urueta, assistant pitching coach Dave Bush, bullpen coach Jordan Tiegs and hitting coach Justin Viele.

The 43-year-old Urueta served as the Marlins’ bench coach under Skip Schumaker and also held a bench coach position with the Diamondbacks prior to his time in Miami. The Rangers hired Schumaker as a senior advisor to president of baseball operations Chris Young earlier this month, and it was reported at the time that Urueta was expected to be named bench coach to manager Bruce Bochy. In addition to his time as a bench coach in Miami and Arizona, Urueta spent more than a decade coaching and managing in the D-backs’ minor league system.

Bush, 45, was the Red Sox’ pitching coach from 2020-23 and joined the Rangers as the organization’s director of pitching strategy back in January. He worked with both the coaching staff and front office in that role, and Bush even stepped in as interim pitching coach during the 2024 season when pitching coach Mike Maddux was briefly away from the club.

Tiegs, 37, will be suiting up on a big league coaching staff for the first time but has spent six years in the Rangers organization already. He’s been a pitching coach at multiple minor league levels and worked with the Rangers’ player development staff as the team’s minor league pitching coordinator. He’s also coached college ball at two different schools in his native Indiana (University of Indianapolis and Indiana State University).

Viele’s hiring was first reported back on Nov. 1. The 34-year-old had been an assistant hitting coach with the Giants and overlapped with current Rangers offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker on San Francisco’s staff in 2020-21.

Bochy will be returning to the Rangers for his third year as manager. In addition to Urueta, Bush, Viele and Tiegs, the Rangers will welcome back Ecker, first base coach Corey Ragsdale, third base coach Tony Beasley, catching coach Bobby Wilson, assistant hitting coach Seth Conner and quality control coach Brett Hayes.

Rico Carty Passes Away

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Former All-Star Rico Carty passed away yesterday, according to a report from Dominican newspaper Listin Diario. The 15-year MLB veteran was 85 years old.

Born in San Pedro de Macoris, Carty signed with the then-Milwaukee Braves prior to the 1960 season as a catcher. During his time in the minor leagues, he converted to the outfield and, after a brief cup of coffee in 1963, emerged as the Braves’ regular left fielder during the 1964 season. In 133 games, Carty slashed an excellent .330/.388/.554 with 22 homers and 28 doubles. That excellent season earned him a second place finish behind Phillies infielder Dick Allen in Rookie of the Year voting. Back issues limited Carty to just 83 games the following year, though he continued to hit well when healthy enough to take the field.

Following the Braves’ relocation to Atlanta in 1966, Carty remained a fixture of the club’s lineup. He hit well during the club’s first year in Atlanta but slumped somewhat the following year as he slashed a relatively tepid .255/.329/.401 that, while decent, fell well short of his typical standards as a hitter. Carty then proceeded to miss the 1968 season due to a tuberculosis diagnosis. The ailment wiped out his entire season, but the slugger managed to recovery in time to return to the Braves early in May of 1969. Upon his return, he enjoyed the best offensive season of his career to that point with an excellent .342/.401/.549 slash line in 104 games.

After impressing in his return from illness the previous year, the 1970 season saw Carty reach his peak in his first full season back after recovering from tuberculosis. Then in his age-30 season, the slugger slashed an incredible .366/.454/.584 as he slugged 25 homers and 23 doubles while leading the league in both batting average and on-base percentage across 136 games. The superlative season saw Carty named an All-Star for the first and only time in his career and led him to a tenth-place finish in NL MVP voting behind titans of the game such as Johnny Bench, Billy Williams, Bob Gibson, and Willie McCovey.

Before Carty could follow up on that excellent season, however, he suffered a disastrous knee injury while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. He underwent surgery and tried to return to action in time for Spring Training 1971, but ultimately missed the entire season due to the injury. He returned to the lineup in 1972 but struggled to stay healthy once again and found himself limited to 86 games as he hit .277/.378/.408 with just six homers. That was Carty’s final season in a Braves uniform, as he was traded to the Rangers in October 1972.

The 1973 season was a tumultuous one for Carty. After suffering a fractured jaw while playing winter ball in the offseason, he began the season as the first regular DH in Rangers history but hit just .232/.311/.301 in 86 games with the club and bounced from the Cubs to the A’s throughout the remainder of the season after being placed on waivers. Those struggles seemed as though they may be the end of Carty’s career, but he caught fire after signing with the Mexican League’s Cafeteros de Cordoba. That excellent play in Mexico earned him another chance in the big leagues, as Cleveland brass decided to sign him to return to the big leagues.

It’s a gamble that wound up paying off, as Carty would spend four seasons in Ohio. From his signing in 1974 to his departure following the 1978 season, Carty slashed an excellent .303/.372/.455 with 47 homers and 81 doubles as the club’s regular DH. His best season in Cleveland came in 1976, when he slashed .310/.379/.442 and earned some down ballot consideration for the AL MVP award. Carty was traded to the Blue Jays (who had briefly selected him in the 1976 expansion draft before quickly trading him back to Cleveland that same offseason) prior to the 1978 season, and he continued to provide value as he slashed .282/.348/.502 with a career-best 31 homers at the age of 38 in a season split between Toronto and Oakland.

Carty’s big league career came to a close in 1979, when he hit .256/.322/.390 in 132 games for the Blue Jays. He later worked for Toronto as a scout in Latin America and was inducted to the Braves Hall of Fame in 2023. Overall, the 15-year veteran was a career .299/.369/.464 hitter in the big leagues and collected 1677 hits, including 204 home runs, during his time as a major leaguer. MLBTR joins the rest of the baseball world in extending our condolences to Carty’s family, friends, loved ones, and fans.

Rangers Re-Sign Codi Heuer To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have re-signed right-hander Codi Heuer to a minor league deal, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The deal presumably includes an invitation to big league Spring Training next year.

Heuer, 28, was a sixth-round pick by the White Sox back in 2018. The right-hander made it to the big leagues in fairly short order after being drafted, as he made his MLB debut during the shortened 2020 season. It was an impressive debut, as he pitched to an excellent 1.52 ERA in 23 2/3 innings of work in his first taste of big league action. He struck out 27.2% of opponents while walking 9.8% and posted a solid 2.77 FIP during the regular season, though he struggled in two postseason appearances against the A’s during the Wild Card series that October.

The youngster’s strong first impression was more than enough to earn him a spot with the White Sox headed into 2021, though he struggled early in the year. In 23 innings of work through June 4 of the year, Heuer posted a lackluster 6.26 ERA despite striking out a solid 25% of opponents and walking just 4%. Those strong peripherals left him with a solid 3.34 FIP despite his lackluster run prevention results, and the righty went on to post a much more characteristic 3.45 ERA over his next 18 appearances, which proved to be his final outings in a White Sox uniform. At the trade deadline, Heuer found himself traded across town to the Cubs alongside Nick Madrigal in exchange for closer Craig Kimbrel.

Results-wise, Heuer was impressive over the final two months of the season with the Cubs. He stepped into a late inning role with the club and collected two saves and four holds, posting a 3.14 ERA in 28 2/3 innings of work. Unfortunately, however, the peripheral numbers raised several red flags about the righty’s performance. His strikeout rate fell to just 14.8%, only slightly higher than his 11.3% walk rate during his time on the north side. Concerning as those warning signs were, however, the Cubs retained Heuer headed into the 2022 season with little to lose given they were just beginning to embark on a rebuild after dismantling their 2016 World Champion core of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez.

Unfortunately, Heuer wouldn’t make it back to the mound in order to try and dispel any concerns that arose after his stretch run with the Cubs. He underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2022, a procedure that left him away from the big league mound until midway through the 2023 season. Just when he was nearing a return to action, however, the right-hander underwent his second consecutive season-ending surgery in as many years when he suffered a fractured elbow. The right-hander eventually signed with the Rangers on a minor league deal after being non-tendered by the Cubs last November, and though he did not make it back to a pro mound in 2024, that they’ve now re-signed him seems to suggest they believe he could impact the club at some point in 2025.

Given the fact that he’s pitched just 12 2/3 innings over the past three years, it’s hard to know what to expect from Heuer once he finally makes it back to the mound. If he manages to shake off the rust of that long layoff, however, it’s not hard to imagine the right-hander proving to be a valuable piece of the bullpen puzzle next year for a Rangers club that had the fifth-worst bullpen in the majors by ERA last year despite standout performances from veterans David Robertson, Jose Leclerc, and Kirby Yates, all three of whom elected free agency earlier this month. That said, this reunion with Heuer won’t come close to moving the needle as much as is required for the Rangers to bolster their weakened bullpen, and they’re sure to look into more certain options for their relief corps as the winter continues.

Josh Sborz Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Will Miss First 2-3 Months Of 2025 Season

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The Rangers announced yesterday that they’d avoided arbitration with reliever Josh Sborz, as the two sides agreed to a one-year, $1.1MM contract for the 2025 season.  However, the right-hander is going to miss a big chunk of the season after recently undergoing a shoulder debridement surgery, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (X link).  Sborz is expected to miss the first two or three months of the 2025 campaign while recovering.

It isn’t surprising that Sborz went under the knife, as an ailing shoulder limited him to only 16 1/3 innings and 17 appearances out of the Texas bullpen last year.  Sborz was sent to the injured list four separate times — twice due to a right rotator cuff strain, and then twice due to fatigue in that same shoulder.  He pitched just once after August 7, and he told Grant at the end of the season that he was going to consult Dr. Neal ElAttrache to try and “get clarity” about the root of his shoulder issues.

Sborz earned a $1.025MM salary in 2024, and was projected to get just a slight bump up to a $1.3MM salary in his second year of arbitration eligibility.  Undoubtedly the surgery was a factor in Sborz agreeing to an even more minimal raise, though the agreement does give him some contractual piece of mind as he can now focus on a lengthy rehab process.  The Rangers probably at least thought about non-tendering Sborz in the wake of the surgery, yet $1.1MM isn’t a huge amount of money to invest, plus Sborz is also arb-controlled through the 2026 season.

Sborz (who turns 31 in December) has pitched in parts of the last six MLB seasons, breaking into the Show with the Dodgers in 2019 before the Rangers acquired him prior to the 2021 season.  He posted a 3.97 ERA over 59 innings with Texas in 2021, though elbow problems factored into a 6.45 ERA over only 22 1/3 frames in 2022, and Sborz also had a 5.50 ERA in 52 1/3 innings in 2023.

It adds up to a 4.86 ERA over his time in Arlington, though with a much more impressive 3.46 SIERA.  Sborz’s numbers are somewhat inflated by his issues keeping the ball in the park, as well as some unfortunate batted-ball luck (primarily a .396 BABIP during that rough 2022 season).  A 10% walk rate also hasn’t helped, but Sborz has missed a good number of bats, as indicated by his 28.7% strikeout rate.  The 2023 season was particularly inconsistent for Sborz, though he got on track when the Rangers needed him most — Sborz had an 0.75 ERA in 12 playoff innings to help Texas secure the World Series title.

Kirby Yates, David Robertson, Jose Leclerc, Jose Urena, and Andrew Chafin are all free agents, so rebuilding the bullpen is a priority for the Rangers this winter.  Retaining a familiar face in Sborz will add one piece to the puzzle, even if it’ll be a while before Sborz is able to make his 2025 debut.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 11/22/24

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The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm CT. Throughout the day, we’ll surely see a handful of arb-eligible players agree to terms with their clubs to avoid a hearing.

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,

American League Non-Tenders: 11/22/24

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The deadline to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm CT. Here’s a rundown of the players on American League teams that have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all players eligible for arbitration last month. All players who are non-tendered before this evening’s deadline go directly into free agency, where they’re eligible to sign with any of MLB’s 30 clubs.

Onto the transactions…

  • The Angels announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Patrick Sandoval, infielder Eric Wagaman, as well as outfielders Jordyn Adams and Bryce Teodosio. You can read more about those moves here.
  • The Astros tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Athletics announced that they did not tender a contract to right-hander Dany Jiménez, who was projected for a $1MM salary. He posted a 4.91 in 25 appearances for the A’s in 2024. He struck out 21.4% of opponents but gave out walks at a 16.2% clip.
  • The Blue Jays are planning to non-tender righty Dillon Tate, per Ben Nicholson Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (X link). Tate was just claimed off waivers at the start of September and had a projected salary of $1.9MM. He’s a former fourth overall pick with some good numbers in his career but he missed most of 2023 due to injury and then posted a 4.66 ERA in 2024. The Jays are also non-tendering righty Jordan Romano, which you can read more about here.
  • The Guardians have non-tendered outfielder George Valera and right-hander Connor Gillispie, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (X link). Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week.
  • The Mariners are going to non-tender outfielder Sam Haggerty, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). He was limited to just eight games in 2024 due to a torn achilles. He was only projected for a salary of $900K but the M’s have decided to move on. They also non-tendered infielder Josh Rojas and righties Austin Voth and JT Chargois, moves that are covered with more depth here.
  • The Orioles plan to non-tender right-hander Jacob Webb, per Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X link). Webb was projected for a salary of $1.7MM next year. The righty tossed 56 2/3 innings for the O’s in 2024 with a 3.02 ERA and 24.5% strikeout rate, but an 11.4% walk rate.
  • The Rays announced they have non-tendered outfielder Dylan Carlson as well as left-handers Tyler Alexander, Colin Poche and Richard Lovelady. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relayed the news (X link) prior to the official announcement. Carlson once seemed like a building block in St. Louis but his offense has declined for three straight years now and he was projected for a $2.7MM salary. Alexander was projected for $2.8MM and had a 5.10 ERA this year. Poche had a solid 3.86 ERA but was projected for $3.4MM. Lovelady was designated for assignment a few days ago.
  • The Rangers tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Red Sox announced that right-handers Bryan Mata and Isaiah Campbell were both non-tendered. Those two had been designated for assignment earlier this week.
  • The Royals tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Tigers announced that they have non-tendered infielder Eddys Leonard as well as right-handers Ricky Vanasco, Brendan White and Wilmer Flores. Three of those four were designated for assignment earlier this week. Flores, the lone exception, is the younger brother of the same-named Wilmer Flores of the Giants. The younger Flores was once a notable pitching prospect but was injured for most of 2024.
  • The Twins tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Yankees have non-tendered infielder Jon Berti, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). He was projected for a salary of $3.8MM. He was injured for much of the year and only got into 25 games. The Yankees also announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Tim Mayza, who was projected for a $4MM salary but had a 6.33 ERA in 2024.
  • The White Sox will non-tender first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets, which MLBTR covered earlier today. The Sox later announced Sheets and also that they non-tendered right-hander Enyel De Los Santos as well. De Los Santos was projected for a salary of $1.7MM but posted a 5.20 ERA this year.

Rangers Sign Caleb Boushley To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have signed right-hander Caleb Boushley to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Round Rock for now but will presumably receive an invite to major league spring training.

Boushley, 31, has a small amount of major league experience. He made one appearance for the Brewers last year and two for the Twins this year. He has thrown 6 1/3 innings in the big leagues, allowing three earned runs.

He has naturally had a larger body of work in the minors. Over the past three years, he has made 80 Triple-A appearances, including 77 starts. In his 397 1/3 frames, he has a 4.55 earned run average, 18.4% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate.

He was outrighted off the Twins’ roster in September and was able to elect free agency at season’s end, which has led to this deal with Texas. The Rangers have plenty of rotation uncertainty, having recently lost Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Max Scherzer and José Ureña to free agency. They have interest in bringing back some guys from that group but they are reportedly planning to duck under the competitive balance tax next year, which could lead to some budgetary constraints this winter.

On paper, the current rotation includes Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, Dane Dunning, Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter and others, though there are plenty of question marks in that group. deGrom and Mahle returned from Tommy John surgery in 2024 but each of them made just three major league starts this year. Gray and Bradford missed decent chunks of the 2024 season as well. Dunning has been deployed as more of a depth/swing guy and could be a non-tender candidate. Rocker and Leiter each have less than 40 innings of major league experience.

Boushley will give the club a bit of non-roster depth. Even if he doesn’t earn a job out of camp, the Rangers might need a spot start or long reliever as the season goes along. Should Boushley get on the 40-man roster at some point, he still has options and could be freely moved to Round Rock and back, though a player can only be optioned five times in one season.

Sandro Fabian Reportedly Agrees To Three-Year Deal With NPB’s Hiroshima Toyo Carp

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Outfielder Sandro Fabian has reportedly agreed to join the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per details from Francys Romero and Mike Rodriguez (X links). It’s a three-year pact worth $5.8MM, plus $600K of incentives. Fabian was on the 40-man roster of the Texas Rangers, who have apparently received some release fee from the Carp to let Fabian go, though the exact value of that hasn’t been reported. Once this all becomes official, the Rangers’ 40-man roster count will drop from 39 to 38.

Fabian, 27 in March, was an international signing of the Giants out of the Dominican Republic back in 2014. Baseball America considered him one of the top prospects in that system from 2017 to 2020 as he performed well in the lower levels of the minors, but he struggled more as he climbed the ladder. His prospect stock dimmed and he reached minor league free agency after 2021, having not climbed higher than Double-A.

In each of the past three offseasons, he has signed a minor league deal with the Rangers. He did finally get to make his major league debut late in 2024, getting selected to the roster in the first week of September. He went hitless in five plate appearances over three games.

For the most part, Fabian has been upper level depth for the Rangers. He has taken 1,093 plate appearances in 265 games at the Triple-A level, keeping his strikeout rate down to 15.3% but only walking at a 6.9% clip. In the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, his .272/.332/.482 batting line over that time translates to a wRC+ of 95.

His grip on his roster spot was likely tenuous and he was probably looking at more time in a minor league depth role if he had stayed in North America. Even if he earned himself a regular big league job, it would have taken him three years to get enough service time to qualify for arbitration. By heading to Japan, he is leaving affiliated ball but jumping to a higher level of earning power far more quickly.

Perhaps that will lead to another MLB opportunity down the road. After three years with the Carp, Fabian will be heading into his age-30 season. If he flourishes overseas, he can look for a new deal that would allow him to return to North American ball.

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