The Weekly Rundown: 12/26/22 - 12/31/22
A complete recap of the top stories in baseball for the final week of 2022.
Good morning and Happy New Year!
I want to start 2023 with a sincere thank you to those who have subscribed. Moving on from TheLedgeSports.com hurt — I wrote more about that here — but your support has helped me immensely. I’m grateful for each and every one of you.
For those who are just stumbling across this page, you can learn more about The Ledge here. And if that was enough to convince you to get new posts sent to your e-mail inbox as soon as it’s published, you can subscribe below. It’s free!
Reminder: You can also gift a subscription. With the amount of content I have planned for 2023, whoever you send a subscription to will be glad you did. Especially if they’re a baseball fan.
Speaking of baseball, we wrapped up 2022 with a handful of notable news items in MLB. Though the offseason is dying down with the top free agents off the board, we’re at where the trade market should start to heat up. Stay tuned for that as we continue on with the Weekly Rundown.
Home of the Brave
Atlanta Braves president Alex Anthopoulos continues to work his magic. This time, he inked star catcher Sean Murphy to a six-year, $73 million contract extension just a couple of weeks after acquiring him from the Oakland A’s.
The Braves announced the news in a press release Wednesday:
Murphy joins a long list of All-Star-caliber Braves players under team control through at least the next five years. Here’s what that list looks like (via MLB.com).
Players under club control through 2027: Murphy, Michael Harris II, Spencer Strider, Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña ($17M club option), Ozzie Albies ($7M option in 2026 and 2027), and Austin Riley.
Through 2028: Murphy, Harris, Strider, Olson, Acuña ($17M club option) and Riley
Through 2029: Murphy ($15M club option), Harris, Strider ($22M club option), Olson, and Riley.
Through 2030: Olson ($20M club option), Riley (guaranteed through 2032 with a $20M club option for 2033).
Atlanta is set up to be a problem in the National League East for at least the next half-decade. And even without shortstop Dansby Swanson, who signed with the Chicago Cubs in free agency, the Braves lineup is among the best in the game for 2023. Anthopoulos is showing why he was named MLB Executive of the Year in 2022 and why he should have a shot at the award for years to come.
Eovaldi out, Kluber in
Nathan Eovaldi’s Boston Red Sox tenure has officially come to an end. The veteran right-hander is heading closer to home as he signed a two-year, $34 million contract with the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.
Eovaldi joins a revamped Rangers rotation that also includes two-time Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom, Martin Perez, Andrew Heaney, and Jon Gray. It’s a high-risk, potentially high-reward group. Eovaldi and deGrom have been plagued by injuries during their careers but offer tremendous upside. Perez is coming off a career season. Heaney and Gray are solid arms to have at the back end of the rotation, but the season can go downhill quickly if the top arms go down.
Shortly after Eovaldi’s signing was announced, the Red Sox reportedly replaced him with another veteran righty in Corey Kluber. The two-time Cy Young award winner signed a one-year deal with a $10 million guarantee for 2023 and a team option for 2024.
Kluber’s Cy Young days are well behind him — he’s entering his age-37 season — but he still has enough left in the tank to be a dependable arm in the middle or back of the rotation. He went 10-10 with a 4.34 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 3.57 FIP in 31 starts last season with the Tampa Bay Rays. His 1.2 BB/9 was the lowest walk rate in the league among qualified pitchers.
While adding Kluber is a solid rebound after losing Eovaldi, Boston’s starting pitching remains filled with question marks. It starts with Chris Sale, who’s made of paper mache. After that, it’s the aging Kluber, a reliever-turned-starter in Garrett Whitlock, a wildly inconsistent Nick Pivetta, the rookie Brayan Bello, and Chris Sale Pt. 2 in the injury-plagued James Paxton. Decent upside, but far too many what-ifs for my liking.
Perhaps more moves are on the way. There are three more months of the offseason, after all.
Not Over the Hill
Veteran left-hander Rich Hill reportedly signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. At 43 years old, he will become the oldest active player in MLB.
It’s another loss in free agency for the Red Sox, who benefitted from having Hill at the back end of their rotation in 2022. He started 26 games for Boston, posting an 8-7 record with a 4.27 ERA and a 3.92 FIP. That’s exactly the kind of production the Red Sox hoped they would get when they signed him to a one-year, $5 million deal last offseason.
The Pirates likely will be cellar dwellers in the National League Central again next season, but Hill fortifies their rotation while giving them a much-needed veteran presence in the clubhouse. That goes a long way for a young team in the midst of a rebuild.
Marlins Make A Splash
The Miami Marlins finally made their first free-agent signing of the offseason, reportedly inking ex-Philadelphia Phillies infielder Jean Segura to a two-year deal worth $17 million.
Marlins manager Skip Schumaker says the plan is to play Segura — primarily a middle infielder — at third base next season. Segura has played only 24 games at the hot corner in his 11-year MLB career. He has played 911 games at shortstop and 399 games at second base, where he spent the majority of 2022.
Miami already has Jazz Chisholm Jr., Joey Wendle, and Miguel Rojas in the middle of the infield, so moving Segura over to third makes sense. And while Chisholm has shown great potential, he has missed time due to injuries. Segura is a great insurance policy at second base in case Chisholm goes down again in 2023.
Segura is a fine defender and an above-average hitter who brings valuable veteran experience to this young Marlins squad. He’ll help them bridge the gap from an up-and-coming club to a team that can one day compete in the stacked National League East. Next year, they’ll take a back seat again in 2023 while the Mets, Phillies, and Braves battle it out.
Longo Lands In Arizona
Veteran third baseman Evan Longoria is staying in the National League West. The 37-year-old reportedly signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
This was Longoria’s first time hitting free agency in his 15-year MLB career. He spent his first 10 seasons with the Rays before joining the San Francisco Giants for the next five.
A three-time All-Star, Longoria was among the most durable players in the league during his prime Rays years. But in his 30s with the Giants, he’s struggled with injuries. He has played in just 170 games over the past two seasons.
When healthy though, Longoria has proven to still have plenty of pop. He hit .244 with 14 homers, 42 RBI, and a .767 OPS in 89 games for the Giants in 2022. Obviously, his All-Star days are in the past, but he brings a ton of value as a solid bat and a big leadership presence for a D'Backs team that could surprise some people.
The Rumor Mill
We still have no clue what’s going on with the whole Carlos Correa situation. The star shortstop’s future remains in limbo after he failed both his Giants and Mets physicals. Giants president Farhan Zaidi addressed the situation saying, “We’ve had some conversations since then, but our understanding is they’re focused on a deal elsewhere at this point. So I think the chances of a deal with us at this point are pretty unlikely based on their position.” I’d bet on Correa either finding common ground with the Mets or ending up back with the Minnesota Twins.
According to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the San Diego Padres are listening on trade offers for outfielder Trent Grisham and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim. The report comes after their signings of Matt Carpenter and Xander Bogaerts. Fernando Tatis Jr. also is expected to move to the outfield when he returns next season. Teams in need of a shortstop — *cough* Red Sox *cough* — should be ringing the Padres’ front office phone off the hook.
I brought up Trevor Bauer’s reinstatement in last week’s edition of The Weekly Rundown. The Dodgers have until Jan. 6 to make a decision on the pitcher’s future with the organization. According to The New York Post’s Jon Heyman, they’re leaning toward releasing him. That certainly would make things interesting. Will any teams be willing to brave the PR shitstorm and give Bauer another shot?