The AL West: An interim report on front office work
Texas Rangers front office, +0.6
Although the record of the Rangers front office is ordinary by MLB standards, it looks good when compared with the Rangers’ divisional foes. It also roughly reflects the team’s tentative improvement in the standings, from dead last in 2021 to a solid third so far in 2022.
The Rangers leadership team has made 30 moves since the conclusion of the 2021 season involving players who impacted a major league roster this year. Eleven of those moves benefitted the Rangers, 15 hurt and four were neutral.
Those moves included several prominent pickups: Corey Seager, a free agent pickup from the Dodgers, and Marcus Semien, formerly of Oakland.
Here are the five most consequential.
March 14: At the conclusion of the lockout, the Rangers signed free agent left-hander Martin Perez to a one-year, bargain-basement deal. Perez has been found gold: a 7-2 record and 234 ERA in 16 starts and a +2.2 WAA.
April 2: The trade of platoon catcher Jose Trevino to New York for a minor leaguer and a backup pitcher made few headlines. But Trevino has been working to change that. In New York, he’s improved his OPS by more than 100 points, from .607 last year to .722 so far in 2022. That works out to +1.5 WAA.
March 17. Brad Miller signed for two years as a free agent after playing his way through six cities since 2014. Miller has played rover, doing duty at third base, in the outfield and as a pinch hitter. What he hasn’t done has hit; Miller is hitting .210 with a .608 OPS and a -1.5 WAA.
April 7: Rookie Brock Burke made the team out of spring training and has justified the front office confidence in him. In 25 relief appearances, Burke has no saves, but a 1.09 ERA, having allowed only two earned runs since mid-April. On the Texas pitching staff, only Perez has a better WAA than Burke’s +1.3.
Dec. 1. Seager was one of the off-season’s big pickups by any team. He signed with Texas for $321 million through 2031. Seager’s .233 average has been a disappointment, but he has upped his power game – 16 home runs – to keep his OPS a respectable if not typical .724. Seager’s WAA is +0.9.
Houston Astros front office, -1.3
The Astros are so far out front in the division, and their roster so universally praised, that this rating must come as a surprise. So let’s unwrap it. This is a team that lost Carlos Correa to free agency. Click and his front office team did relatively little during the off-season, making only 19 moves of major league consequence. Only four of those have helped the Astros.
That tells you a lot about the talent base Click inherited. Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Yuli Gurriel are among eight regulars who are holdovers from 2019, and who also are a large part of the team’s core.
Still it’s worth looking at the front office’s five most impactful moves of this season.
April 7. Jeremy Pena was handed the opening day shortstop position to take the place of Correa. Whatever the Astros expected of Pena, he has provided it. He’s batting .270 with a dozen home runs, a .792 OPS and positive defensive numbers. It all works out to a +2.5 WAA.
March 12. The Astros let Justin Verlander hit the free agent market in November, but managed to woo him back with a two-year, $50 million contract. Verlander may be 39 and coming off Tommy John surgery, but the Astros still need him as an anchor to an otherwise young staff. In 15 starts he’s produced a league-leading 10 wins with a 2.03 ERA and +1.6 WAA. That’s on pace to be off Verlander’s peak, but still entirely useful.
Nov. 3. The decision to bid farewell to Correa may have been tempered by expectations regarding Pena, but it still had to be chancy. Signed by the Twins, Correa has produced a +1.0 WAA. That’s below Pena’s production, but it’s still a valuable player.
Nov. 19. The Astros traded catcher-outfielder Garrett Stubbs to Philadelphia for Logan Cerny, a minor league prospect. Whatever Cerny eventually becomes, they probably didn’t anticipate Stubbs ramping up his game in Philly. His .275 average is 100 points higher than his Houston work, and he’s carrying a .900 OPS in backup duty. That’s good for a +0.6 WAA.
Nov, 3. Marwin Gonzalez was a 30-something journeyman allowed to walk to free agency because there was no long-term role for him in Houston. Signing with the Yankees, he’s provided his best offensive numbers in five seasons, a .257 average and .725 OPS. It works out to +0.5 WAA.
Seattle Mariners front office, -1.7
The off-season headlines talked up a healthy free agent class, pitcher Robbie Ray and outfielder Justin Upton among them. Trades that brought in Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez also stoked enthusiasm.
As always, Dipoto was active, making 38 personnel moves. Thus far, only 11 of them have worked out in Seattle’s favor – 20 are negative and seven neutral – and most of the headline acquisitions have generated modest value at best. But the arrival of one rookie has proven to be the real headline-grabber.
April 7: When the front office announced during the spring that rookie Julio Rodriguez would make the opening day roster, it imposed great expectations on the 21 year old. Rodriguez has proven his value. A front-line Rookie of the Year candidate, he’s batting .277 with 15 home runs and a league-leading 21 steals. It works out to a solid .823 OPS. His defense, while not yet All Star level, is modestly positive. His value measures +2.4 WAA.
Nov. 27. Did the Mariners front office really believe that Adam Frazier, obtained in a trade with San Diego, would play a meaningful role? He hasn’t. Taking over at second base, he has labored to a .219 average and .576 OPS, the worst half season of his seven-year career. Frazier is carrying a -1.7 WAA.
March 14. The Winker-Suarez trade – coming over in exchange for four players—has produced mixed results. They are the third and fourth most impactful moves, but only one has been helpful. Winker is batting .226 with just six homers and a .678 OPS, working out to -1.3 WAA. The good news involves Suarez. He’s only hitting .236 with 112 strikeouts, but he also has 13 homers and a .755 OPS. Suarez’s value to date amounts to +1.0 WAA.
Nov. 3. Tyler Anderson had an unremarkable 2021 for the Mariners, winning just two of his 13 starts with a 4.81 ERA. So the m’s let him go to free agency, Anderson signed with the Dodgers, and out of nowhere he is having a first-rate season. In 13 starts for the dodgers, Anderson is 9-1 with a career-best 3.09 ERA, allowing just 74 hits in 84 innings. Among 25 pitchers used by the Mariners so far in 2022, only Logan Gilbert has a better WAA than Anderson’s +1.0.
Los Angeles Angels front office, -4.5
Or two seasons the Minasian’s front office has been laboring to do what his predecessors could not do, namely build a playoff-worthy team around Mike Trout. Things aren’t getting any better.
The Angels execs have made 36 moves since the end of the 2021 season impacting a major league player. That doesn’t count the removal of Joe Maddon as manager in June. But only 13 of those moves have produced positive value, and the team hits the halfway point nine games under .500.
This off-season the big move involved the signing of free agent pitcher Noah Syndergaard, coming off arm trouble that sidelined him for almost all of the past two seasons. But Syndergaard has been an unremarkable 5-7, 3.84 with a modest +0.3 WAA impact.
In fact there is little good to say about any of the Angels’ moves. Here are the five most impactful.
May 8. When Juan Lagares showed little offensive potential last season, the Angels cut him loose. But in May, needing a backup outfielder, Minasian brought Lagares back. Bit players aren’t supposed to be important, but in just 20 games, Lagares managed to undermine the Angels to the tune of a -1.1 WAA. A .183 average.460 OPS and unremarkable defense will do that to you.
Nov. 22. It’s a bad sign when you’ve cut your two most statistically impactful pickups by mid-season. The Angels picked up Tyler Wade from the Yankees for a player to be named, the idea being to use him as a backup jack-of-all-trades. But 67 games and 163 plate appearances into that role, with Wade sitting at .218 and a.544 OPS, the Angels last week designated him for assignment. The final fate of Wade and his -1.0 WAA will be determined in a few days.
Nov. 22. Aaron Loup remains with the Angels, although privately his team may be less-than-enchanted with that fact. Signed as a free agent coming off a superb 2021 with the Mets, Loup has illustrated he volatility of relievers. In 34 appearances he’s 0-2 with a 4.66 ERA and a -0.9 contribution to his new team’s lack of success.
Nov. 3. Alex Cobb was 8-3 with a 3.76 ERA for the Angels in 2021, yet they let him go to free agency. Cobb signed with the Giants, for whom his 4.74 ERA and -0.6 WAA has not been impressive. Give the Angels credit for not competing with San Francisco’s offer of three years and $28 million.
April 8. The final season of Justin Upton’s six-year, $128 million contract ended abruptly just after opening day when the Angels released him and ate the final $28 million. Upton found work with the Mariners, where his experience has included as much time in Triple A Tacoma as with the big club. In Seattle, Upton’s .122 average amounts to a -0.5 WAA, something the Angels are only too happy to avoid.
Oakland Athletics front office, -12.0
They’re calling it a rebuild in Oakland, and perhaps some day it will be looked upon that way. But since the end of the 2021 season, the A’s have rid themselves of Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Mark Canha, Sean Manaea, Starling Marte and Chris Bassitt, all with no measurable return.
The Beane-Forst front office has acquired nine 2022 major leaguers via trade or purchase, not one of whom has generated a positive value. They signed or extended a dozen free agents, only one of whom (Parker Martel, +0.1) has produced positive value. The roster of the team’s most impactful moves will not inspire short-term joy in Oakland. Nonetheless, here is that list.
March 26. After granting infielder Jed Lowrie his free agency the previous November, the A’s signed him back for one more season in March. His 2022 season has involved two stints on the injured list to repair a shoulder sprain, between which he’s hit .185 with a .523 OPS and a -1.6 WAA.
Nov. 3. Starling Marte became a free agent in early November and signed with the Mets at month’s end. New York’s gain has been Oakland’s loss. Marte is batting .288 in New York with 40 RBIs and an imposing .803 OPS. That works out to a 1.5 WAA.
March 14. The trade with Atlanta that separated Matt Olson from the A’s returned three minor leaguers plus hot outfield prospect Cristian Pache. He may develop enough to fit his reputation some day, but it hasn’t happened yet. Brought north with the A’s, Pache hit .159 in 214 plate appearances, good for a -1.3 WAA and on June 30 was sent down to Las Vegas to work things out.
April 7. Pitcher Adam Oller’s introduction to major league life has been an up-and-down experience. Working around May 1, May 15 and June 30 trips to Las Vegas, Oller has made four starts, five relief appearances and is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA. That will get you -1.3 WAA.
dark. Next. Assessing the front offices of the AL Central
Sept. 22. Journeyman catcher Aramis Garcia was released by the A’s in the final days of the 2021 season. Signed in November by the Reds, he’s provided lackluster backup duty behind the plate, hitting just .221 in 45 games. That works out to a -1.0 WAA for the Reds…and as big a plus as it’s possible to find on the Oakland transaction list.