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Astros To Re-Sign Michael Brantley

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The Astros have reached a two-year, $32MM agreement with free-agent outfielder Michael Brantley, Mark Berman of Fox 26 reports. Brantley is a client of Excel Sports Management.

That Brantley is returning to Houston is stunning, as just hours ago it appeared he would join friend and former Astros outfielder George Springer in Toronto. However, in the wake of reports suggesting Brantley would head north, a Toronto official shot down the notion that the club had a deal with him. The Blue Jays did indeed have interest in the 33-year-old Brantley, but they couldn’t close the deal for reasons that aren’t yet known. As a result, it appears Brantley will spend a third consecutive season with the Astros.

This is the second straight two-year, $32MM contract Brantley, formerly with Cleveland, has inked with Houston. The previous deal worked out for both sides, as Brantley earned his fourth All-Star nod in 2019 and has combined for a stellar .309/.370/.497 line with 27 home runs over 824 plate appearances during his run with the Astros. Thanks to his continued success, MLBTR ranked Brantley as the game’s 13th-best free agent at the beginning of the offseason and predicted he would land a two-year, $28MM pact.

With Brantley staying in Houston, the team has addressed a key need in its outfield, where it opened the offseason with major questions. The Astros were at risk of losing all of Brantley, Springer and Josh Reddick on the open market (Reddick is still a free agent). Now, though, they have two corner spots spoken for with Brantley and Kyle Tucker. It’s not yet clear who will replace Springer in center, and it’s certainly worth noting that Brantley may not be an optimal solution as an everyday outfielder anymore. Brantley has dealt with serious injuries in the past, and he missed time last year with a quad issue. When healthy, Brantley appeared in left field in just 19 of 46 games, spending the rest of his season at designated hitter. That spot won’t be available to Brantley on a regular basis in 2021 if offensive standout Yordan Alvarez returns to health after undergoing surgeries on both knees last August.

Losing out on Brantley may be a significant disappointment for the Blue Jays, but they’re not devoid of talent in the outfield and at DH. Springer, Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk give the team a strong outfield quartet on paper, though adding Brantley obviously would have made the Jays even more formidable after they earned a playoff berth in 2020.

Phillies Rumors: Realmuto Offer, Pitching Depth, Herrera

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The Phillies’ most recent offer to J.T. Realmuto is “believed” to be about $110MM, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Jayson Stark of The Athletic reported last Friday that the Phils had recently put forth a new five-year offer worth “slightly” more than $100MM. It’s not clear whether that’ll get the job done, as Realmuto has reportedly been intent on setting a new record for average annual value among catchers — currently held by former Twins star Joe Mauer ($23MM).

Still, the Phillies’ chances have to be considered vastly improved from where they stood early in free agency. The Mets have inked James McCann on a surprising four-year deal, while other potential Realmuto suitors have spent heavily in other areas. Toronto agreed to a six-year deal with George Springer. The Nats have made several mid-tier additions (Josh Bell, Kyle Schwarber, Jon Lester). The Angels, too, have gone that route with Jose Quintana, Raisel Iglesias, Jose Iglesias and a new catcher of their own, Kurt Suzuki. Others could certainly enter the bidding, or one of those suitors could yet find room for Realmuto, but the Phillies have to be encouraged by how the market has panned out thus far.

A few more notes out of Philly…

  • The Phillies were in attendance yesterday when right-handers Julio Teheran and Anibal Sanchez threw for teams, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports. Either hurler would give the Phils some needed depth at the back of the rotation, and neither would be expensive after struggling through poor 2020 seasons. President of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski yesterday suggested he’s still on the hunt for rotation depth and could find some via minor league deals with non-roster invites to Spring Training. Sanchez has revitalized his career after one non-guaranteed deal already and could be forced to do so again. Teheran, though, won’t turn 30 until next week and was a perfectly serviceable starter as recently as 2018-19. It’s at least worth noting that Dombrowski, while serving as Tigers GM, acquired Sanchez from the Marlins and re-signed him to a five-year, $80MM contract that offseason.
  • Odubel Herrera is no longer on the Phillies’ 40-man roster but remains with the organization under the five-year, $30.5MM contract he signed back in December of 2016. Herrera hasn’t played in the Majors since receiving an 85-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, though, and Dombrowski did little when speaking to reporters this week to indicate that Herrera has a chance of returning (link via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). “We’re still in a position where we are discussing that internally,” said Dombrowski. While he noted that Herrera has gone to counseling, Dombrowski would only state that Herrera’s status is something the club will “continue to talk through from an internal perspective.” Herrera’s contract expires at season’s end.

Jays Refute Report Of Deal With Brantley

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12:20pm: Though Mae, The Athletic, MLB Network and several other national outlets have all reported a deal is in place, a Blue Jays official now refutes that notion to Mae (Twitter link). That official’s statement, per Mae: “The team remains interested in Michael Brantley but there is no deal currently in place.”

It’s possible that there are some semantics at play, of course, as the reported contractual agreement was still pending completion of a physical. Reports after the initial word of yesterday’s agreement with Kirby Yates pushed back similarly, stressing no deal was completed, as Yates was still in the process of taking his physical.

Jeff Passan of ESPN and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com both tweet that a deal could yet be pushed across the finish line, even though nothing is final just yet. Still, the door seems to remain cracked for Brantley to yet land elsewhere.

10:57am: The Blue Jays have continued their frenzied free-agent strike, agreeing to a three-year contract with outfielder/designated hitter Michael Brantley, Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae reports (via Twitter). The deal is pending a physical. Brantley is represented by Excel Sports Management.

Michael Brantley | Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Brantley follows his former Astros teammate, George Springer, to Toronto on the heels of the Jays’ agreements with right-handers Kirby Yates and Tyler Chatwood. It’s a dramatic crescendo after months of the Jays being linked to virtually every free agent on the market — one that gives Toronto one of the deepest lineups not just in the American League but in all of Major League Baseball.

While Springer was rightly heralded as the top bat on the offseason market, Brantley has a legitimate claim to being the second-best hitter available. The former seventh-round pick has displayed elite bat-to-ball skills and hit for a high average since his Major League debut back in 2009, but since a breakout showing with Cleveland in 2014, Brantley has more quietly ranked among the game’s elite bats, hitting a combined .311/.371/.481 in more than 3100 plate appearances over that stretch. In that time, Brantley’s 131 wRC+ — indicating he’s been 31 percent better than an average hitter after adjusting for park and league — ranks 29th among 398 qualified hitters. (Springer’s 134, in fact, sits just five spots higher.)

Not only has Brantley been among the best overall hitters in the game during that seven-year stretch — he’s also been one of the most difficult to strike out. Only four players have a lower strikeout percentage than Brantley’s 10.1 dating back to 2014. Springer himself has dropped his strikeout rate considerably, punching out at a career-low 17.1 percent in 2020. The Jays’ newest pairing, then, not only brings plenty of power to the table but also will further improve upon a 22.4 percent strikeout rate that was the 11th-lowest in MLB.

The addition of Brantley and Springer gives the Jays a host of outfield options on the 40-man roster, as that pair will join incumbents like Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Randal Grichuk and Derek Fisher. Between that potential logjam and a similar collection of options behind the plate (Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen, Reese McGuire, Riley Adams, Gabriel Moreno), there’s been plenty of speculation about the Jays utilizing those ostensible surpluses to acquire pitching help on the trade market.

Springer and Brantley will become anchors in a lineup that already boasts an impressive collection of young talent, headlined by budding superstar Bo Bichette as well as Gurriel, Hernandez, Cavan Biggio, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Rowdy Tellez. It’s still possible the Jays will add an infielder to that mix, but the rotation, led by Hyun Jin Ryu, figures to be the primary area of focus in the days and weeks to come.

Prior to their agreement with Brantley, the Jays had about $98MM committed to a dozen players and were more than $80MM shy of the $210MM luxury tax barrier. For a club that carried a payroll of nearly $165MM as recently as 2017-18, there’s obviously considerable room to further supplement the roster even after signing Brantley. It’s possible, too, that the Jays could trade away some players who alter that financial outlook; Grichuk is owed $28MM over the next three years, while Gurriel is owed $13.4MM in that same stretch. Hernandez is signed for $4.325MM in 2021 and controlled via arbitration through 2023.

Frankly, the Blue Jays ought to have the payroll capacity to take their pick of available free-agent starters and relievers, should they choose. They’ve already met with Trevor Bauer who, like Brantley, is a known entity to Jays president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins, who were the Indians’ general manager and director of player development at the time Bauer was traded from Arizona to Cleveland. Toronto has also been tied to Jake Odorizzi, a client of the same agency that represents Springer, Brantley and Chatwood alike. The trade market presents myriad opportunities, and now that the Jays have Springer and Brantley set in place, they’ll have a better idea of their budget and which players they feel are potentially expendable.

Regardless of which specific arms the Jays add to the mix, it’s clear that they’ll be adding some form of pitching. The magnitude of those additions will go a long way in determining just how good this club can be, but it’s clear right now that the Jays are emerging as credible threats to both the Yankees and the Rays in the American League East.

Royals Sign Wade Davis To Minor League Deal

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The Royals announced Wednesday that they’ve signed right-hander Wade Davis to a minor league contract. Davis, a client of Jet Sports, will presumably be invited to Major League Spring Training and compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster..

This marks the second straight year in which Kansas City has brought back one of its former All-Star closers on a minor league arrangement. The Royals inked Greg Holland to a similar contract a year ago and reaped considerable benefit when Holland not only turned in a rebound campaign but also agreed to return in 2021 on an affordable one-year deal.

Interestingly, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis reports (via Twitter) that Davis signed the exact same contract as Holland did a year ago. Davis will earn a $1.25MM salary if he makes the big league roster and can secure an additional $1.125MM via incentives. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Davis can also opt out of the contract late in Spring Training if he does not make Kansas City’s Opening Day roster.

The Royals traded Davis to the Cubs in exchange for Jorge Soler prior to the 2017 season — a deal that has paid off for GM Dayton Moore and his staff in the long run. Soler led the league in home runs in 2019 and has emerged as a key piece in the Royals’ lineup, though he’s currently controlled for just one more season. Still, the Royals will now have the potential to benefit from both players in that one-for-one swap just four years after making the deal.

Davis was quite good in what proved to be a one-year stop with the Cubs, but things went south for him not long after going to the Rockies on a three-year deal with a record-setting (for a reliever) $17.33MM annual salary. Davis racked up 43 saves in the first year of the deal but did so with a rather pedestrian 4.13 ERA. A few particularly ugly blown saves were the culprit in that lackluster mark, however, and Davis’ strikeout and walk numbers remained strong.

In the second and third years of the deal, though, the wheels completely came off, as Davis was blown up for a 9.77 ERA and a 5.37 SIERA in 47 innings. At his best with the Royals, Davis was striking out 39 percent of the hitters he faced and walking just eight percent of them. In 2019-20, he punched out 19.5 percent of opponents, walked 13.9 percent of them and surrendered 10 home runs in those 47 frames. Davis was hampered by a shoulder strain in 2020, which may have contributed to a greatly diminished 91.7 mph average velocity on his fastball.

There’s little harm for the Royals in seeing if they can catch lightning in a bottle with Davis as they did last winter with Holland and, even more so, Trevor Rosenthal. He’ll vie for a spot in a bullpen that is set to lose some notable veterans but has a handful of intriguing, young, hard throwers hoping to establish themselves in 2021.

Blue Jays Still Pursuing Michael Brantley

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Even after agreeing to a franchise-record $150MM deal with George Springer last night, the Blue Jays are trying to hammer out a deal with outfielder/designated hitter Michael Brantley, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). There are “legit legs” to a potential Springer/Brantley package deal, TSN’s Scott Mitchell adds, noting that the Jays are “very open” to such an arrangement despite a glut of outfield options already on the roster.

Of course, few of the Jays’ in-house options can plausibly stack up to Brantley at the dish. The 33-yeaar-old has been among the sport’s best pure hitters throughout his Major League career and, since his power developed in a breakout age-27 campaign back in 2014, he’s been one of the game’s best all-around performers at the plate.

In that time, Brantley has logged 731 games and tallied 3145 plate appearances while posting a brilliant .311/.371/.481 batting line. He drew a walk in 8.3 percent of those plate appearances and has been one of the game’s toughest players to strike out, fanning at just a 10.1 percent pace.

Brantley just wrapped up a two-year, $32MM deal in Houston, where he and Springer were teammates and, as Rosenthal explored over the weekend when first suggesting an NBA-esque “package deal,” where they became close friends. Given Brantley’s consistency and his recent excellence in Houston, another multi-year deal seems likely.

Beyond the relationship between Springer and Brantley, the Blue Jays’ front office knows exactly what type of player and teammate they’d be getting in Brantley. President/CEO Mark Shapiro was the Indians’ general manager when Cleveland acquired Brantley from the Brewers as part of 2009’s CC Sabathia blockbuster, while current Jays GM Ross Atkins was Cleveland’s director of player development at the time. Brantley was still in Cleveland at the time Shapiro and Atkins were hired away by the Blue Jays.

There are myriad avenues for the Jays to make a lineup work, were Brantley to eventually join the fray. Presumably, he’d split his time between left field and designated hitter, joining Springer, Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in that outfield carousel. Randal Grichuk and Derek Fisher seem the likeliest outfield bets to be squeezed out of playing time, but that’s largely true even with only Springer on board. Grichuk, still owed $28MM over the next three seasons, would seem an even likelier trade candidate than he already does if Brantley were signed.

Adding Brantley would also chip away at the DH time available to Rowdy Tellez. The Jays could work him into the mix at first base if they’re earnest about giving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. another shot at third base, although the general expectation is that Guerrero will eventually settle in as a first baseman/designated hitter himself. The Jays could look at moving Gurriel from left field back to the infield, be it at second base or third base (depending on where Cavan Biggio settles in), though such an infield alignment would come with some notable defensive questions.

All of that, of course, is putting the cart before the horse unless or until negotiations with Brantley pick up steam. Such “problems” are also the type of headaches that rebuilding teams look forward to having while struggling through their lean years; having “too many” talented hitters for nine spots in the lineup is hardly a bad thing, and the inherent depth associated with that situation has become one of the hallmarks of World Series-caliber clubs in recent years. And, as Mitchell notes, signing Brantley would allow the Jays to be even more comfortable dipping into their outfield and catching depth to improve the pitching staff on the trade market.

Whether Brantley ultimately joins Springer in Toronto (or Buffalo), one of the broader takeaways from the Blue Jays’ interest is that this is a team that is still intent on improving even after adding Springer and agreeing to terms with former Padres closer Kirby Yates. Toronto is still more than $80MM shy of the $210MM luxury-tax barrier and, assuming an even distribution of Springer’s $25MM annual salary, only has about $98MM in guaranteed contracts, spread among 12 players. For a team that has twice hiked its payroll north of $160MM (2017-18), there’s still an enormous amount of space for further additions.

Diamondbacks To Sign Chris Devenski

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8:28am: Devenski’s contract is a minor league deal, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The right-hander would earn a $1MM salary in the Majors with the opportunity to pick up an additional $350K via incentives for appearances and games finished.

7:34am: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a deal with right-handed reliever Chris Devenski, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The ALIGND Sports client underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery in September and elected free agency after clearing waivers in October.

Devenski, 30, has spent his entire Major League career to date with the Astros organization. Originally a 25th-round pick of the White Sox back in 2011, he found himself traded to Houston just 14 months after the draft, as part of the deal sending Brett Myers to Chicago.

It wasn’t that long ago that Devenski looked to be an emerging bullpen weapon for the ’Stros. “Devo” finished fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting back in 2016 after racking up 108 1/3 innings of 2.16 ERA ball with a 3.23 SIERA, a 25.5 percent strikeout rate and a minuscule 4.9 percent walk rate. He was similarly effective in 2017, tossing 80 2/3 frames with a 2.68 ERA/2.99 SIERA and what still stands as a career-best 31.6 percent strikeout mark.

Devenski took a step back in 2018-20, however. Although his strikeout and walk numbers remained generally solid, he began giving up hard contact at increasing rates and became exceptionally homer-prone, averaging 1.73 long balls surrendered per nine frames in that time. Statcast measured his 2016-17 hard-hit rate at just 26.7 percent, but his 2018-19 mark jumped all the way to 35.2 percent.

Prior to this past September’s elbow surgery, Devenski threw just 3 2/3 innings, having spent the rest of the year on the injured list. In that small sample of work, his once-94.8 mph average fastball had dipped to 92.9 mph.

There’s plenty of upside for the D-backs in signing Devenski, who’ll add an experienced arm to a largely untested group of Arizona relievers. In terms of service time, right-hander Yoan Lopez (2.011) is the most experienced reliever on the Diamondbacks’ 40-man roster. Arizona also added veteran southpaw Ryan Buchter on a minor league contract just yesterday, and it stands to reason that GM Mike Hazen and his staff will continue to hunt for affordable bullpen help in the weeks ahead.

Blue Jays To Sign George Springer

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9:58pm: It’s a six-year, $150MM pact, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

9:54pm: The Jays and Springer have a deal, pending a physical, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets.

9:36pm: The Blue Jays and free-agent outfielder George Springer are closing in on an agreement, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Brendon Kuhn of Blue Jays Nation first reported the two sides had a contract in place, pending a physical. Springer is a client of Excel Sports Management.

This is a monumental pickup for the Blue Jays, who have been in on virtually every big name this offseason as they seek to improve their roster off a playoff campaign in 2020. The Jays had largely come up short until Tuesday, but that’s going to change with the addition of Springer.

It would be difficult to do much better on the open market than Springer, a three-time All-Star who thrived as a member of the Astros from 2014-20. Springer took 3,567 plate appearances as an Astro and batted .270/.361/.491 (134 wRC+) with 174 home runs. He helped the team to a pair of pennants and a World Series championship in the process. Springer was outstanding in the playoffs with the Astros, evidenced by his 19 home runs – the fourth most in the history of the postseason.

As a result of his success in Houston, MLBTR predicted when the offseason began that Springer would ink a five-year, $125MM contract in free agency. The Blue Jays and Mets seemingly showed more interest in the 31-year-old than anyone else this winter, and New York did offer around $120MM to $125MM over six years, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. However, Springer is taking the higher proposal – a record deal for the Jays – and heading north to join a burgeoning Toronto team that will have to overcome the Rays and Yankees in the American League East.

Springer figures to take over in center field for Toronto, which started Randal Grichuk for most of 2020 but has never seemed content with him at the position. The Springer pickup may help lead to the end of the Grichuk-Blue Jays union, as the team has Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez as corner outfield options, and it may not be done adding. According to both Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Heyman, another former Astro – Michael Brantley – is a possibility for the team in free agency. Brantley is friends with Springer and would provide Toronto yet another big bat. “There’s legit legs” regarding a Brantley-Toronto agreement, and the club’s “very open to it,” Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets.

The Springer signing will have draft-related ramifications for both the Blue Jays and Astros in 2021. Because Houston gave Springer an $18.9MM qualifying offer (which he rejected), the team will receive a fourth-round pick as compensation for his departure. For signing Springer, Toronto will surrender the No. 54 overall pick in next summer’s draft and $500K in international bonus pool money. The pick probably isn’t going to do much to make up for Springer’s exit for the Astros, though, and the Jays likely aren’t upset to lose the selection and pool money in exchange for one of baseball’s best outfielders.

Angels To Sign Jose Quintana

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The Angels have an agreement with free-agent left-hander Jose Quintana, pending a physical, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. It’s a one-year, $8MM contract for the Wasserman client, per Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports.

Quintana was one of the most accomplished innings eaters available in free agency, as the 31-year-old has thrown 1,495 frames of 3.73 ERA/3.99 SIERA ball between the White Sox and Cubs since his career began in 2012. Of course, a good portion of Quintana’s career has been spent with Angels manager Joe Maddon, who was the Cubs’ skipper when the southpaw pitched for the club from 2017-19. Maddon was with the Angels last season, when Quintana missed most of the year with thumb problems. He totaled just one start and 10 innings in his final season in Chicago.

Last year’s injury issues look like an anomaly for Quintana, who entered the season with seven straight campaigns of 170-plus innings. That’s the type of durability the Angels have lacked in recent years. They’ve battled a litany of injuries in their rotation en route to six straight seasons without a playoff berth, but a healthy Quintana may help turn their fortunes around in 2021.

Along with Quintana, the Angels are set to feature Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning in the top four of their rotation next season. Two-way player Shohei Ohtani and Jaime Barria also figure to collect plenty of starts for the club, though new general manager Perry Minasian might not be done addressing that part of the Angels’ roster.

Latest On George Springer, Blue Jays

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8:55pm: The “sense” is that Toronto is “gaining some momentum” in its attempt to sign Springer, Heytman tweets. The Blue Jays appear to be the front-runners to reel in Springer, who Heyman notes could get upward of $125MM on his contract, but the Mets aren’t out yet.

9:58am: The Blue Jays are believed to be “making a push” to bring free-agent outfielder George Springer into the fold, Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet report. The two sides were expected to reconnect early this week, per the report. In a related note, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweeted yesterday that Springer “could” make a decision by the end of the week. While that’s certainly not the most concrete phrasing, its juxtaposition with the Sportsnet update seems to suggest that Springer’s market is heating up with under a month until Spring Training is set to begin.

Earlier this month, SNY’s Jim Duquette said in a television segment that the Jays had offered Springer a five-year deal that checked in south of his $150MM asking price. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman pegged the offer in the $115MM range yesterday (video link), noting that the Mets’ best offer has been believed to be in that same ballpark.

The Springer market has been characterized as a two-horse race for weeks now, and Toronto’s primary competition in Queens has already spent aggressively to acquire Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco, James McCann and Trevor May (in addition to retaining Marcus Stroman via qualifying offer). Whether the Mets would cross the luxury-tax barrier in order to sign Springer remains to be seen. Multiple reports over the past few weeks have suggested that Springer’s preference is to play close to his home in New Britain, Conn., but Davidi and Nicholson-Smith write that Springer’s interest in the Jays is “genuine,” with geography posing a minimal obstacle.

In terms of payroll capacity, the Jays have a relatively clean slate moving forward. Toronto has just shy of $68MM committed to 10 players for the 2021 season, and they’ll of course need to round out their roster with pre-arbitration players earning somewhere in the vicinity of the league minimum. The club has just $35MM in guaranteed contracts on the books in 2022 and $36MM in 2023, with zero dollars in guarantees beginning in 2024.

The Blue Jays’ front office has spoken openly about its desire to add top-tier talent this winter as the organization continues a shift from a rebuilding mode to a win-now mindset. Last year’s signing of Hyun Jin Ryu set a precedent for acquiring high-end talent, and the Jays are known to have had interest in virtually every top free agent and trade candidate on this year’s market.

Thus far, that hasn’t resulted in much actual talent acquisition. Toronto has signed rebound candidates Robbie Ray and Tyler Chatwood, and they’re reportedly meeting with right-hander Kirby Yates today as the two sides inch closer to a potential agreement. But the Jays have also finished as a runner-up on several notable targets, including DJ LeMahieu and Lindor.

At this point, Springer appears to be the team’s priority among the market’s remaining big fish, though if he spurns their interest and lands with the Mets or an unexpected suitor, the Jays could intensify their pursuit of J.T. Realmuto and/or Trevor Bauer.

Blue Jays, Kirby Yates Agree To Deal

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7:54pm: Yates will receive a $5.5MM guarantee with up to $4.5MM in performance bonuses, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports.

7:50pm: It’s “expected” Yates will get a one-year, $8.25MM deal with incentives, Rosenthal tweets.

4:31pm: The Blue Jays and free-agent reliever Kirby Yates have agreed to a contract, pending a physical, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweeted earlier Tuesday that the two sides were nearing a deal. Yates is a Beverly Hills Sports Council client.

This could be an enormous pickup for the Blue Jays’ bullpen, but it will depend on how well Yates bounces back from the bone chips in his right elbow that limited him to 4 1/3 innings last year. Yates was arguably the premier reliever in the majors during the prior two years, in which he combined for 123 2/3 innings of 1.67 ERA pitching with a 32.7 K-BB percentage that ranked third among relievers during that span. Yates also racked up 53 saves then, including an NL-high 41 in 2019, and earned the lone All-Star nod of his career.

The Padres likely could not have imagined Yates experiencing the type of success he enjoyed in their uniform after claiming him off waivers from the Angels early in 2017. It wasn’t the first underdog experience for the 33-year-old Yates, a former undrafted free agent who failed to establish himself with the Rays and Yankees earlier in his career.

Now, if a deal between him and Toronto comes to fruition, Yates will return to the AL East to join bullpen that ranked near the bottom of the majors (24th) with a 4.71 ERA last season. The Blue Jays have since seen relievers Anthony Bass, Ken Giles and Wilmer Font reach free agency, though only Bass was an effective part of their bullpen a season ago. Giles entered last year as the club’s closer before dealing with serious injury issues of his own, but Yates may take his place during the upcoming season if he’s healthy. Regardless, Yates joins fellow righty Tyler Chatwood as the second notable bullpen addition Toronto has made this week.

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