FREE AGENCY PICKUPS. CARDS PICK UP SONNY GRAY AND MORE!
Edition #6
1)
The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a deal with free agent pitcher Sonny Gray, according to ESPN and multiple reports.
Gray, 34, joins a revamped Cardinals rotation that also includes recent free agent additions Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.
Gray is coming off a strong 2023 season with the Minnesota Twins. He finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting behind Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole and earned his third career All Star Game appearance.
The veteran right-hander made 32 starts, going 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA, striking out 183 batters over 184 innings.
Over 11 seasons with the A's, Yankees, Reds and Twins, Gray is 98-85 with a 3.47 ERA.
The Cardinals entered the winter seeking three starting pitchers to fill out a beleaguered rotation whose 5.08 ERA was the fifth worst in baseball. Gray joins a new-look rotation with holdovers Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz along with Lynn and Gibson. The Cardinals also have young left-handers Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson and Drew Rom, who all started games to varying degrees of effectiveness last season.
St. Louis ranked 26th in starters' ERA last season and wasn't shy about the need to add to its rotation after trading Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery during the season, combined with the retirement of Adam Wainwright.
St. Louis' poor pitching led to the team's worst full season (71-91) since 1990.
2)
Outfielder Jason Heyward is returning to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a one-year deal for $9 million, sources told ESPN on Monday.
The deal is pending a physical.
Heyward had a bounce-back 2023 season in Los Angeles, hitting .269 with 15 homers and compiling 2.2 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs. The left-handed hitter played all three outfield spots and first base in a platoon role, which he figures to return to in 2024 for the Dodgers.
His return also paves the way for Mookie Betts to play more second base in 2024.
Heyward was one of the best players in baseball when he signed an eight-year, $184 million contract with the Chicago Cubs in 2015. He didn't meet expectations and was released after the 2022 season by Chicago, with one year left on his contract.
Heyward, 34, will be entering his 15th season, having also played for the Braves and Cardinals. He has a .258 batting average with 174 home runs and 681 RBIs.
3)
Right-hander Kenta Maeda and the Tigers agreed Sunday on a two-year, $24 million contract, lengthening Detroit's rotation as it hopes to improve on a 78-84 finish in the winnable American League Central.
Maeda, who will be 36 on April 11th, joins a Tigers team that went 39-34 in the second half and had a positive run differential, matching their win total in 89 first-half games. Detroit had targeted starting depth in the mid-tier pitching market, and Maeda, coming off Tommy John surgery, posted a 4.23 ERA in 104⅓ innings with 117 strikeouts and 28 walks for the Minnesota Twins.
Detroit is hoping Maeda can replicate his performance after he came off the injured list in late June with a triceps strain. In his final 16 starts, Maeda put up a 3.39 ERA and struck out 98 against 23 walks in 85 innings. If he did have a weakness, it was the home run ball, with 17 allowed on the season.
Cavernous Comerica Park could help with that. His two most effective season were first with the Los Angeles Dodgers after joining them from the Hiroshima Carp, then when he finished second in the 2020 AL Cy Young voting after getting traded to Minnesota, which came when he limited homers.
Staying in the AL Central shouldn't hurt. The division-winning Twins expect to cut payroll. Cleveland Guardians does return one of baseball's most dangerous rotations, but its offense remains lackluster. The Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals both lost 100-plus games this year and aren't yet a threat to take the division.