FREE AGENCY ROUNDUP: MARCH 10-13

MLB / Baseball

Written by Gus Cousins

Since MLB Free Agency opened at 6 pm last Thursday, many of the big-name players - Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman, Trevor Story, Kris Bryant - remain unsigned. Although rumours have circulated that mention the possibility of an imminent Freeman-to-the-Dodgers deal, nothing is concrete - same with Correa, with reports swirling that he and the Cubs may have mutual interest. The big dogs on the market may have not signed the dotted line quite yet, but let’s take a look at a number of signings that have transpired over the past few days:

From Left to Right: Clayton Kershaw, Sonny Gray, Martín Pérez | Source (Background photo): AP & Getty Images

DODGERS - CLAYTON KERSHAW - 1 YEAR, 17 MILLION:

After an extended, albeit impromptu, lockout, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally got their household name back. Kershaw, who hit the market after rejecting a Dodgers’ qualifying offer prior to the lockout, returns on a one-year, seventeen-million dollar deal. Likely to slot into the rotation amidst ace Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, and Trevor Bauer - who may or may not be suspended by the MLB - Kershaw provides veteran stability, even if he’s not the pitcher he once was. Other options in David Price (now a reliever), Dustin May (Tommy John surgery), and Ryan Pepiot (struggled in AAA) all lead to the near-inevitable decision that Kershaw returning was the best move to make.

CUBS - ANDRELTON SIMMONS - 1 YEAR, 4 MILLION:

Right off the bat, this may appear to be evidence that a Correa- to-Chicago deal is off the table - it isn’t. Simmons is an elite SS on the defensive side of the ball, winning four Gold Gloves while playing for the Braves and Angels, but his offensive production took a severe dip last year in Minnesota. In 131 games, Simmons hit a measly .223 while getting on base at a .283 clip - both the lowest in his ten Major League seasons. Arriving at a re-tooling Chicago team, Simmons joins the likes of Nico Hoerner, David Bote, Trent Giambrone, and Nick Madrigal up the middle of the diamond - none of whom have much power. Simmons is a one-year, useful defensive stopgap until a Correa signing does take place or until prospects Christian Hernandez & Ed Howard start rising.

RANGERS - MARTIN PEREZ - 1 YEAR, 4 MILLION:

After spending 7 years in Texas to begin his MLB career - his most successful season being in 2012 with the Rangers - Perez most recently struggled over parts of two seasons with Boston. The Rangers are pitching-needy, and Perez is no more than a familiar back-end of the rotation piece. 23-year-old A.J. Alexy and 25-year-old Spencer Howard are currently the 4-5 starters for Texas, although a successful spring by Perez could easily change that.

GIANTS - CARLOS RODON - 2 YEARS, 44 MILLION:

The best left-handed starter on the market, in my opinion, this deal is immensely beneficial to both Rodon and the Giants. Coming off a stellar season with the White Sox in which Rodon briefly pitched himself into the Cy Young conversation, the oft-injured lefty boasted an astounding 2.37 ERA, with his ERA+ (183), K/9 (12.6), and BB/9 (2.4) all being the best of his career. The problem with Rodon, as seen over the last few years with Chicago, is his inability to stay healthy. He’s only managed over 130 innings three times out of his seven MLB seasons, with his highest being 165 IP in 2016. Now 29 years old and headed to league-renowned pitching coaches in Andrew Bailey and Brian Bannister, there is an overwhelming amount of optimism that Rodon can improve upon the success he had in 2021 amidst a rotation that, although losing Kevin Gausman, is ripe with talented arms.

BLUE JAYS - YUSEI KIKUCHI - 3 YEARS, 36 MILLION:

The third - and likely final - multi-year rotation deal that Toronto will make this offseason (Gausman & Berrios being the others), Kikuchi adds good value as the Jays’ fifth starter. 12 million per year is a little pricey, but with a rotation that currently sits as; Gausman, Berrios, Manoah, Ryu, and Kikuchi - with Ross Stripling and Nate Pearson waiting in the wings - it’s definitely worth it. An All-Star in 2021, Kikuchi struggled over the second half of the season due to dips in his fastball velocity. Pitching Coach Pete Walker now has a new toy to play with within Kikuchi, with lower expectations now that he’s left Seattle - a team that attempted to use him and Marco Gonzalez as a one-two punch. Kikuchi averaged just over 5 ⅓ innings per start last season with a decent K/9 rate (9.3), and should, at the very least, provide some innings to be eaten.

CARDINALS - DREW VERHAGEN - 2 YEARS, 5.5 MILLION:

Although the lowest yearly salary of anyone mentioned thus far, Drew VerHagen is the most interesting Free Agent signing thus far. Having up-and-down years with the Detroit Tigers from 2012-2019, VerHagen then opted to sign with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the NPB - Japan’s professional league. Playing alongside ex-MLBers in Nick Martinez, Christian Villanueva, Ronny Rodriguez, Robbie Erlin, Toru Murata, and current Texas Ranger Kohei Arihara over the span of two seasons, VerHagen faired well over 39 games and 208 ⅔ innings. A 3.49 ERA with a K/9 of 9.3 isn’t anything to scoff at, although hardly being Shohei Ohtani numbers. St. Louis has already stated that VerHagen will compete for a rotation spot, although the more likely scenario is he ends up in the bullpen; Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, Miles Mikolas, and Dakota Hudson are the current five. VerHagen is either a sixth arm or long-man unless an underwhelming Spring Training by Hudson forces a swap to be made. It should be noted that this is John Mozeliak’s second time in recent history signing an NPB pitcher - Miles Mikolas returned to the Majors on a similar deal in 2018, which proved to be a success.

Many other deals have taken place as well, with a few notable ones listed here:

• BLUE JAYS - Andrew Vasquez, —unknown contract—

• METS - Adam Ottavino, 1 year/4 million

• PHILLIES - Jeurys Familia, 1 year/7 million

• BREWERS - Brad Boxburger, 1 year/2.5 million

• RED SOX - Jake Diekman, multi-year deal

• WHITE SOX - Joe Kelly, 2 year/—unknown— & Josh Harrison, 1 year/5.5 million

• ROCKIES - Jose Iglesias, 1 year/5 million & Alex Colome, 1 year/—unknown—

• NATIONALS - Nelson Cruz, 1 year/15 million

TRADES:

From Left to Right: Sonny Gray, Chris Bassitt & Mitch Garver | Source (Background photo): AP & Getty Images

The Twins have acquired SP Sonny Gray and prospect Francis Peguero from the Reds for top prospect, 18-year-old Chase Petty.

In the Mets’ first move since the lockout, New York acquired SP Chris Bassitt from Oakland in exchange for prospect arms JT Ginn and Adam Oller.

Along with a number of signings, the Rangers acquired catcher Mitch Garver from Minnesota in exchange for utility-man Isiah Kiner-Falefa and pitcher Ronny Henriquez.

A day after acquiring Kiner-Falefa, Minnesota has now flipped him, Josh Donaldson, and light-hitting catcher Ben Rortvedt to the Yankees in exchange for Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez.