Each offseason, the first focus for baseball followers is on trades and free agent exercise. Naturally, main league free agent signings garner nearly all of the eye and generate essentially the most buzz. Minor league signees include much less fanfare, sometimes with good motive. They are typically older veterans who wish to prolong their taking part in careers or maybe youthful names seeking to rebound from an harm or a disappointing exhibiting the prior season (typically the prior few seasons).
As spring coaching progresses, we’re seeing an uptick in minor league signings. Free brokers who’ve lingered in the marketplace and felt their leverage in negotiations dry up start to concede and settle for non-guaranteed pacts to get to camp in hopes of profitable a roster spot.
Wage particulars for minor league signees isn’t as prominently reported on as it’s for gamers signing assured massive league offers. The Related Press simply printed a listing of free agent signings all through the winter, together with inside wage particulars for a handful of (principally) current minor league signings. Most of the salaries reported by the AP had been already identified and mirrored right here at MLBTR, however the report does embrace greater than two dozen beforehand unreported base salaries for gamers on minor league offers. Right here’s a fast rundown (participant wage hyperlinks level again to prior MLBTR posts detailing that minor league signing):
Blue Jays:Â Jacob Barnes, RHP, $1.4MM | Ryan Yarbrough, LHP, $2MM
Braves:Â Curt Casali, C, $1.25MM | Buck Farmer, RHP, $1MM
Brewers:Â Manuel Margot, OF, $1.3MM | Mark Canha, 1B/OF, $1.4MM
Cubs:Â Brooks Kriske, RHP, $900K | Travis Jankowski, OF, $1.25MM | Chris Flexen, RHP, $1.5MM
Diamondbacks:Â Garrett Hampson, INF/OF, $1.5MM | Scott McGough, RHP, $1.25MM
Dodgers:Â Luis Garcia, RHP, $1.5MM
Giants:Â Lou Trivino, RHP, $1.5MM
Mariners:Â Shintaro Fujinami, RHP, $1.3MM | Trevor Gott, RHP, $1.35MM
Padres:Â Yuli Gurriel, 1B, $1.35MM ($100K increased than initially reported)
Rangers:Â Nick Ahmed, SS, $1.25MM | Jesse Chavez, RHP, $1.25MM | David Buchanan, RHP, $1.375MM | Kevin Pillar, OF, $1MM
Pink Sox:Â Matt Moore, LHP, $2MM
Royals:Â Luke Maile, C, $2MM | Ross Stripling, RHP, $1.75MM
White Sox:Â Brandon Drury, INF/OF, $2MM | Mike Clevinger, RHP, $1.5MM
Just a few issues bear emphasizing. First, that is clearly not a complete listing of minor league signings all through the league — neither is it even a complete listing of the listed groups’ non-roster invitees to camp. Secondly, many of those sums are of little consequence to the group. They’re not even assured, in any case, and even when a participant makes the Opening Day roster and earns the complete slate of his minor league wage, most of those salaries aren’t going to hold vital payroll ramifications.
That’s not true throughout the board, although. As an example, the Rangers are absolutely intent on remaining below the $241MM luxurious tax threshold. At current, RosterResource tasks them at $235.7MM of luxurious obligations. Opting to pick the contract of Buchanan or Chavez moderately than allocating these innings to pre-arbitration gamers who’s being paid at league-minimum ranges (or a number of thousand {dollars} north of it) would inch the Rangers’ CBT quantity ahead. They’re not going to hit the tax line even in in the event that they wind up including a number of NRIs to the precise roster, however choosing their contracts will additional slim the assets president of baseball ops Chris Younger could have at his disposal for midseason dealings.
The Pink Sox, in the meantime, are successfully seated proper on the tax threshold. RosterResource has them with $241.4MM of luxurious issues. Workforce president Sam Kennedy mentioned after signing Alex Bregman that he expects his group shall be a CBT payor in 2025. As issues stand, the Sox may duck again below that threshold, however choosing the contract of Moore, Adam Ottavino (additionally $2MM) or one other distinguished NRI would additional sign possession’s willingness to return to luxurious tax standing for the primary time since 2022.
There’s most likely no getting again below the tax line for the Blue Jays, who presently have a $273.3MM CBT quantity. Nevertheless, the entrance workplace would presumably prefer to keep away from reaching $281MM in tax obligations, as that’s the purpose at which Toronto’s prime choose within the 2026 draft could be dropped by ten spots. In-season trades could have extra of an impact on their tax quantity than choices on NRIs like Barnes, Yarbrough, Eric Lauer and others, but it surely bears mentioning that the Blue Jays are round $8MM shy of what many golf equipment think about to be essentially the most detrimental impression of straying to deep into CBT waters.
