We’re only a month away from spring training, baseball fans. Here is each team’s spring training report date. Now here are Friday’s hot stove rumors as you wait for baseball to return in a few weeks.
Yankees checked Harrison, Profar
Yankees have checked free agents Josh Harrison and Jurickson Profar, reports the New York Post. To complicate this, however, their goal is to stay under the fourth tax penalty tier of $293 million. FanGraphs estimates its competitive tax payroll for 2023 at $292.3 million, leaving no room for upgrades unless they can cut the salary first.
Despite committing $522 million to Aaron Judge and Carlos Rodón this offseason, the Yankees haven’t added to an offense that spat in the second half (despite Judge’s MVP campaign) and in the playoffs. Oswaldo Cabrera and Aaron Hicks are currently penciled in left field and that’s a position where upgrades would be easy. Profar is a full-time left fielder now, while Harrison is more of a utility guy, although he does have some left field experience.
Look for a left-handed reliever
The Mets are looking for a second left-handed reliever to partner with Brooks Raley, according to the New York Post, and they are interested in free agents Zack Britton and Andrew Chafin. Britton, who missed most of 2022 with Tommy John surgery and then suffered a shoulder injury after returning in September, recently pitched for interested teams.
Chafin, 32, has been one of baseball’s best relievers the past two seasons and is effective against both right-handers and left-handers, so he doesn’t need to be immune in the era of minimum of three batters. The Mets could put David Peterson in the bullpen to serve as a second left-hander, though he’s also a big part of the rotation, and could go to Triple-A to stay stretched.
Phillies don’t anticipate big change to replace Harper
The Phillies aren’t planning a “big acquisition” to replace Bryce Harper, President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said in an interview with WIP-FM (94.1) on Thursday (per the Philadelphia plaintiff). Harper had Tommy John surgery in November and is on schedule with his rehab according to Dombrowski, although he’s not expected before the star break, or thereabouts.
Although all the big names have signed, free agency offers a few potential DH candidates, namely guys like Franmil Reyes, Miguel Sanó and Luke Voit. That said, the Phillies could rotate Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber to DH to get playing time for Kody Clemens and Dalton Guthrie, and they could give JT Realmuto DH starts to reduce catch wear.
Phillies want to sign Nola long-term
In other Phillies news, the club would like to sign co-ace Aaron Nola for a contract extension. They exercised their $16 million club option to retain Nola earlier this winter, and he is expected to become a free agent after the 2023 season. We explored what an expansion might look like earlier this month. Nola leads all pitchers in innings (871 1/3) and is third in WAR (23.9) since 2018.
