It’s practically February and the free agent pool is scaling down. Many of the large names have already flown off the board. By our projections, solely 5 unsigned gamers forecast to amass at the least 1 WAR within the upcoming season, solely three of whom are place gamers. Most groups have already stuffed out their Opening Day beginning lineups; now their focus shifts to bettering the fringes of their 26-man roster, trying to find a few further wins or insurance coverage in case of accidents. The Mariners and the A’s, two AL West groups with very completely different outlooks for 2023, every lately made such an addition, inking a veteran to bolster infield depth. Let’s have a look.
Mariners signal Tommy La Stella to a league-minimum deal
Previously a bench infielder and designated pinch hitter for the Cubs (his league-leading 91 pinch hit appearances in 2018 has not been matched since), La Stella was traded to the Angels with two years of staff management remaining for a prospect who by no means threw a pitch in Chicago’s system. In 2019, he maintained the contact abilities and wonderful plate self-discipline that made him a league-average hitter, however he improved in one other side of his recreation that was emblematic of the juiced ball period. That 12 months, his fly ball fee, which had beforehand sat across the 20% mark, climbed to 25%; that, mixed with a small enhance in his pull fee, led to an influence get away. Regardless of missing conventional energy indicators like barrels and a excessive most exit velocity, La Stella made essentially the most of his aerial contact (and the favorable dimensions of Angels Stadium) to put up a career-high .486 slugging proportion and hit house runs at a fee of 30 per 600 PA, a superb mark even through the heightened offensive setting. His absolute refusal to swing and miss performed a giant half on this as properly; his minuscule 8.7% strikeout fee gave him loads of balls in play, a lot of which left the yard:
Tommy La Stella’s 2019 Season
Stat/Metric
Percentile Rank
Exhausting Hit%
16
Barrel%
26
Avg. Exit Velocity
32
Max Exit Velocity
43
HR%
72
SOURCE: Baseball Savant
Within the shortened 2020 season, La Stella continued his robust efficiency. His house run fee dipped, probably as a result of a midseason commerce to Oakland’s unforgiving park dimensions, however he posted the most effective method numbers of his profession, drawing free passes greater than twice as typically as he struck out. In his remaining 12 months earlier than hitting free company, he set a profession excessive in wRC+ (128). With two consecutive seasons with a .350 wOBA (and a equally robust xwOBA), multi-positional versatility (he had appearances at first, second, and third), and among the finest approaches in baseball, it’s simple to see why the Giants supplied him a backloaded three-year contract value $18.8 million via the 2023 season.
Sadly for the Giants, La Stella’s numbers rapidly regressed. His 2021 peripheral stats largely matched up his numbers in Anaheim and Oakland, however he posted a career-low OBP and had only a 93 wRC+ in 242 plate appearances in a bench and platoon function. Nonetheless, it appeared attainable that he would return to his .342 xwOBA and turn into an above-average run producer once more. However that didn’t occur. La Stella underwent an Achilles surgical procedure within the offseason (which was later revealed to be two surgical procedures — one for every Achilles) and the lingering results of damage by no means appeared to go away. His dash velocity, which had by no means been nice, fell to a career-worst seventh percentile; he hit simply two homers in virtually 200 plate appearances and walked on the lowest fee of his profession. And whereas he had beforehand been often known as a utility defender, he was value -4 RAA in simply 76 infield innings. In complete, his contributions had been value -0.8 WAR. San Francisco lower ties with La Stella a couple of weeks in the past, consuming roughly $10 million owed to him.
In signing La Stella coming off a career-worst season, the Mariners are putting a raffle on a return to his pre-injury type, that of an above-average hitter with superior self-discipline who at the least gained’t damage you within the discipline or on the basepaths. Whereas Seattle gained 90 video games final season, their offense ranked 18th in runs scored, and so they’ve solely made one influence addition to the roster in Teoscar Hernández. RosterResource at present initiatives AJ Pollock, who had a .284 OBP and 69 wRC+ towards right-handed pitching final season, because the full-time beginning DH. If his struggles towards righties proceed, La Stella may take a few of his begins there. He may additionally slide in to present first baseman Ty France the occasional time off, or be a short lived substitute if new second baseman Kolten Wong misses time with damage. Wong hasn’t certified for the batting title since 2019, and has had quite a few short-term accidents in current reminiscence. Lefty masher Dylan Moore is a strong possibility, however he’s most respected in a super-utility function (he began video games at seven positions final 12 months), and gamers on the Mariners 40-man who don’t challenge to make the Opening Day roster embrace 9 pitchers, three outfielders, a catcher, and a primary baseman – an actual dearth of infield choices. With La Stella, they at the least have an infielder with large league expertise, somebody who ought to match advantageous because the twenty fifth or twenty sixth man on the roster. He virtually actually gained’t carry out to his 2019-20 degree, however La Stella raises the ground barely for a staff with virtually no infield depth on the 40-man.
Athletics signal Jesús Aguilar for one 12 months, $3 million
Like La Stella, Aguilar is a previously excellent hitter whose abilities have considerably declined lately. However earlier than we tackle his struggles, let’s speak about what made Aguilar an All-Star and MVP vote-getter in 2018, a season by which he posted a 135 wRC+ and hit 35 homers. A 2007 Cleveland worldwide signee, the hulking slugger was claimed off waivers by the Brewers after struggling in restricted large league motion together with his earlier membership. After getting constant enjoying time at age 27 as the first first baseman in Milwaukee, he broke out, displaying that he may get to his plus uncooked energy in video games, hitting loads of balls within the air, and strolling at a excessive clip whereas managing his strikeout totals higher than many different energy hitters. In brief, he was your prototypical middle-of-the-order first base/DH kind with a great quantity of thump in his bat.
Aguilar has spent many of the final three seasons with the Marlins, the place he had a 113 wRC+ from 2020-21 as one of many few competent hitters in Miami’s rebuilding lineup. However final 12 months he had the worst full season of his profession, bottoming out in exit velocity, barrel fee, and particularly his stroll and chase charges. His OBP sat at simply .281, his WAR at -0.4 WAR, and he confirmed below-average uncooked energy (measured by most exit velocity) for the primary time in his profession, resulting in his launch in August. It’s unclear whether or not this decline was as a result of Aguilar being deliberately extra aggressive on the plate, or if he suffered from unintentional plate imaginative and prescient points. Hitters round Aguilar’s age do have a tendency to start out swinging extra as they transfer alongside the getting older curve, however such a sudden and precipitous drop in stroll fee is rare:
Jesús Aguilar Plate Self-discipline Metrics
12 months
BB%
O-Swing%
BB/Okay
2017
8
33.4
.27
2018
10.2
35.6
.41
2019
11.7
29.8
.53
2020
10.6
36
.58
2021
9
32
.49
2022
5.5
38.9
.24
At his greatest, Aguilar destroyed pitches in his wheelhouse for homers — he isn’t a contact-oriented unhealthy ball hitter. As such, his enhance in out-of-zone swings has led to particularly poor outcomes on contact. For his profession, Aguilar has a .420 wOBAcon towards pitches within the strike zone, however only a .327 mark on out-of-zone pitches. Final 12 months, pitches he had beforehand taken for balls had been popped up or rolled over to shortstop for the simple putout:
Jesús Aguilar Out of Zone Balls in Play
12 months
Balls in Play on Out of Zone Swings
PA
Share of Complete PA
2017
43
311
13.8
2018
97
566
17.1
2019
63
369
17.1
2020
35
216
16.2
2021
76
510
14.9
2022
101
507
19.9
SOURCE: Baseball Savant
The A’s offense can actually use all the assistance it could get, because the staff ranked final in each triple-slash class final season and gave at the least 100 PA to 10 hitters with a decrease wRC+ than Aguilar’s mark of 86. That mentioned, the A’s have already got a wide range of first base and DH choices, from Rule 5 decide Ryan Noda to extremely regarded prospect Jordan Diaz and fellow rookie Dermis Garcia. Aguilar will probably get an honest chunk of enjoying time at DH and will probably squeeze in a while at first if Noda finds an on a regular basis function within the outfield. Like La Stella, Aguilar probably provides a slight increase to this staff’s ground, however whereas a few additional wins imply loads to a Wild Card contender, they’re much less vital for a staff that gained simply 60 video games final season. Nonetheless, so long as he’s not taking plate appearances away from guys who might be future on a regular basis fixtures within the A’s lineup, Aguilar ought to present a strong veteran bat on a roster stuffed with gamers attempting to profit from their first large league alternative.