Tag: New York Yankees

Right-handed pitcher Jonathan Loáisiga has signed a one-year contract with the New York Yankees, which guarantees him $5 million as he returns from Tommy John surgery. He could earn up to $10.5 million over the next two seasons.

Loáisiga’s deal includes a $500,000 signing bonus and a $4.5 million salary for the upcoming season. The Yankees also have a $5 million team option for 2026, with no buyout. He could earn an additional $500,000 in performance bonuses in 2026: $100,000 for pitching 50 innings and then $100,000 for every additional five innings up to 70.

Pitching coach Matt Blake mentioned last week that the 30-year-old Loáisiga could return to action in late April or May after undergoing Tommy John surgery on May 1.

“I imagine him being one of the high-leverage guys,” Blake said. “Obviously, we got to take some time to get him right, make sure we don’t rush him into competition.”

Loáisiga had a $2.5 million salary in 2023 during his final season of arbitration eligibility, after which he became a free agent.

He made three relief appearances in the first week of the season but was placed on the injured list due to a strained right flexor muscle. He then had Tommy John surgery performed by the team’s physician, Dr. Christopher Ahmad.

In 2023, Loáisiga was limited to 17 games because of right elbow inflammation, which kept him out from April 5 to August 8.

For his career, Loáisiga has a record of 19-11 with a 3.44 ERA across 11 starts and 152 relief appearances over seven seasons. He has struck out 207 batters and walked 72 in 219 2/3 innings. In 2023, his sinker averaged 97.8 mph.

The New York Yankees made a strong push to re-sign Juan Soto, but ultimately failed, as Soto instead signed a 16-year, $765 million contract with their rivals, the New York Mets.

At the Mets, Soto will join forces with Francisco Lindor and possibly Pete Alonso (if he remains in Queens), with hopes of securing the team’s first World Series title since the 1980s.

While the Yankees were involved in the Soto discussions until the very end, they were ultimately unable to match the Mets’ final offer, which, with incentives, could reach over $800 million over the life of the contract.

In response, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and his team decided to allocate some of that money to other players, aiming to replace Soto by committee while also addressing key needs. The primary acquisitions include Max Fried, Devin Williams, Cody Bellinger, and Paul Goldschmidt.

Goldschmidt’s addition, however, has sparked some controversy among Yankees fans. The 37-year-old first baseman is coming off a subpar season by his standards in 2024.

“This is probably the worst I’ve performed on the field in my career,” Goldschmidt admitted at the end of the Cardinals’ season.

“That was disappointing, a good bit of that burden was on me. If I could’ve played how I believe I’m capable of playing, we could’ve won more games and maybe this might have turned out differently.”

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Despite Goldschmidt’s recent struggles, the Yankees are still offering him a $12 million contract, potentially positioning him as their cleanup hitter — at least for now. This may change as the team makes additional moves following the holidays.

Reports indicate that Goldschmidt chose to sign with the Yankees for less money, a decision that underscores the significance of being part of the storied franchise.

For Soto, however, money was the primary motivator. As he’s at the peak of his value, his agent, Scott Boras, secured the most lucrative deal possible.

No one can fault Soto for that decision. What remains to be seen is whether Soto believes in the Mets’ long-term success plan. If not, the difference between $750 million and $765 million might end up being the key factor in Soto’s pursuit of a World Series title.

After spending six years in the bullpen, Clay Holmes is confident that he can become a successful starting pitcher, and he’s excited about this change.

He’s also hopeful that his move to the New York Mets might even inspire a superstar teammate to join him: slugger Juan Soto.

Holmes agreed to a three-year, $38 million contract with the Mets this month, just two days before Soto left the New York Yankees to join the Mets on a record $765 million, 15-year deal. Both signings were finalized last week.

“Deep down, I can’t lie,” Holmes said Tuesday during a Zoom call with reporters. “I mean, I obviously made my decision because I think it’s the best place. But hopefully, you know, I was like, maybe Juan sees this and sees that the water’s fine and will follow me over here. So, I’m super pumped for it.”

Holmes, a two-time All-Star who was the Yankees’ closer, was a starter in the minors, and he said the idea of going back to starting has always been in the back of his mind. In fact, he was “somewhat excited” in 2020 about the possibility of starting for a team overseas.

As a reliever, Holmes relied heavily on his sinker, which averaged 96.6 mph last season. He threw it 56% of the time, along with 23% sliders and 21% sweepers. This combination helped him achieve the highest groundball rate (68.6%) in the majors over the past three years.

These numbers make Holmes a pitcher who could go deep into games and quiet hitters from both sides of the plate.

However, he also worked on a changeup and four-seam fastball to add variety during bullpen sessions this year with Yankees assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel, who was hired by the Mets this offseason to serve in the same role.

“I think just, there’s some room there for an arsenal that’s kind of tough to do as a reliever,” Holmes said. “You have a very limited window and pitches you can keep sharp, and you kind of have to rely on your strengths a lot more.

But I do think I have the depth, the arsenal to be a little more unpredictable than just relying on my sinker all the time. And I think starting gives me the best opportunity to do that and expose it. So, I’m excited to see what this could bring, the changeup and the four-seam.”

Holmes made 114 starts in the minor leagues, but only four in the majors, all as a rookie with Pittsburgh in 2018.

Once he became a free agent this fall, Holmes said he met with clubs that were interested in him as a starter, and he didn’t want to look back on his career and regret never trying it again. He said the Yankees never discussed this possibility with him.

He’s happy to stay in New York and believes the Mets are a great fit as he makes this transition, due to their solid pitching staff under president of baseball operations David Stearns — including Druschel, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, and manager Carlos Mendoza, who was the Yankees’ bench coach during most of Holmes’ time with them.

Stearns and Mendoza helped the Mets make an unexpected run to the National League Championship Series last season, their first with the team.

“I think the culture here they’ve created is something that I think people want to be a part of. There’s a real momentum here,” Holmes said. “It just gave me a lot of confidence. This is definitely not going to be a transition that just happens, (that) I can do by myself. And so, surrounding myself with people that I felt really good about was important.”

Holmes, who will turn 32 in March, has a $12 million player option for 2027 with no buyout. He said he wants to pitch 160 innings next season and is glad the Mets aren’t setting any pre-determined limits on his workload.

He joins a rotation that is expected to include Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Frankie Montas, and Paul Blackburn, with other possible candidates like Tylor Megill.

Holmes mentioned that he may need to adjust his conditioning but feels fortunate to be working out this offseason with All-Star lefty Garrett Crochet, who was recently traded from the Chicago White Sox to the Boston Red Sox.

Crochet is one of several former relievers who have successfully transitioned to starting roles in recent years, including San Diego’s Michael King, Atlanta’s Reynaldo López, and Kansas City’s Seth Lugo.

Holmes said he’s excited to talk to King — the two were teammates with the Yankees before King was traded to the Padres in December 2023, a trade that also sent Soto to the Yankees for one season.

“There’s kind of somewhat of a little road map. You see how guys do it. It’s not super common, but you don’t feel like you’re in uncharted waters,” Holmes said. “I’m excited to take this on.”

The New York Yankees are hoping Max Fried can pitch like he did in 2021 when he helped the Atlanta Braves win the World Series.

Two days after the Yankees lost Juan Soto to the Mets, Fried agreed to join the Yankees with an eight-year, $218 million contract, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, who spoke to The Associated Press.

Fried’s contract is the largest ever for a left-handed pitcher, surpassing David Price’s seven-year, $217 million contract with the Boston Red Sox in 2016. The deal, first reported by ESPN, is subject to a successful physical examination, according to the person who requested anonymity because the deal had not been finalized yet.

Yankees fans were upset after Soto accepted the Mets’ offer of $765 million for 15 years, choosing it over the Yankees’ $760 million for 16 years. In response, the Yankees shifted their focus and money toward improving their starting pitching, although Fried comes with some risk.

The two-time All-Star has been on the injured list 10 times since 2018, including at least once each season.

Fried, who was a high school teammate of Jack Flaherty and Lucas Giolito at Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles, now has the fourth-largest contract for a pitcher, behind only Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers ($325 million for 12 years through 2035), Gerrit Cole of the Yankees ($324 million for nine years through 2028), and Stephen Strasburg of Washington ($245 million for seven years through 2026). Strasburg has not pitched since 2022 and has since retired.

After spending his first eight seasons with the Braves, Fried now joins a Yankees rotation that includes Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes, and Marcus Stroman, suggesting that more moves are likely. Fried reached the agreement on the same day Cortes turned 30 and Rodón turned 32.

Fried, who is a three-time Gold Glove winner and will turn 31 on January 18, has one of the most varied pitching arsenals in the majors, throwing seven different pitches. His fastball averaged 93.9 mph this year, and he threw it 33.6% of the time. Fried also mixed in 21% curveballs, 15.6% sinkers, 13.6% changeups, 5.9% sweepers, 5.6% sliders, and 4.7% cutters.

This year, Fried had an 11-10 record with a 3.25 ERA over 29 starts, striking out 166 batters and walking a career-high 57 in 174 1/3 innings. He missed time this season due to left forearm neuritis, marking his seventh straight season with an IL stint.

Fried’s past injuries include a blister on his middle finger in 2018, a strained left groin in 2018, a blister on his left index finger in 2019, a muscle spasm on his left side in 2020, a strained right hamstring in 2021, a concussion in 2022, and a strained left hamstring, strained left forearm, and blister on his left index finger in 2023.

Fried was drafted seventh overall in the 2012 amateur draft by San Diego. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2014, he was traded to the Braves in December 2014 as part of a six-player deal that sent outfielder Justin Upton to the Padres.

He made his major league debut in August 2017 and was sent down to the minors five times in 2018.

Fried was 17-6 with a 4.02 ERA in 2019 and 7-0 with a 2.25 ERA in the shortened 2020 season, finishing fifth in the National League Cy Young Award voting.

In 2021, he went 14-7 with a 3.04 ERA, including pitching six scoreless innings to help the Braves win the World Series in Game 6. He followed that with a 14-7 record and a 2.48 ERA in 2022, making his first All-Star team. In 2023, Fried was 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA over 14 starts.

Juan Soto is beginning to narrow down the teams he’s negotiating with before baseball’s winter meetings next week.

As a free agent likely to receive a record-setting contract, Soto has met with the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays.

“When you’re going through these things, he’s just got a lot of information to go through,” said Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, on Tuesday after a news conference for the Los Angeles Dodgers to introduce Blake Snell, another one of Boras’ clients.

“We’ve had meetings with a number of franchises. He’s begun the process of eliminating teams and doing things, and so he’s — Juan is a very methodical thinker. So we’ll see. But I don’t think anything is imminent in the near future.”

Soto is the top player available among this year’s free agents. A four-time All-Star, he finished third in AL MVP voting after hitting .288 with 41 home runs, 109 RBIs, and 129 walks for the Yankees. He has a .285 career batting average with 201 home runs, 592 RBIs, and 769 walks over seven seasons in Major League Baseball.

Soto turned down a $440 million, 15-year offer from Washington in 2022, leading the Nationals to trade him to San Diego, which later traded him to the Yankees last December. Soto then teamed up with Aaron Judge to help the Yankees reach the World Series, where they lost to the Dodgers.

Boras rejected the idea that high-spending teams like the Yankees and Dodgers are simply buying championships.

“I would say that, as George Steinbrenner said, whatever you do to compete, the fact that I can compete in a different way than others, so be it,” Boras said, referring to the late Yankees owner. “I don’t think that has anything to do with the number of trophies that hang over your stadium. I don’t think fans remember that.”