Morning Rundown: Josh Rojas signs with the White Sox, Reds ZiPS Projections, Brewers add pitcher
White Sox sign infielder, FanGraphs ZiPS projections of Reds, Brewers make trade
The Chicago White Sox signed infielder Josh Rojas on Thursday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reported.
Rojas, 30, played in a career-high 143 games this past season with the Seattle Mariners. He is primarily a third baseman, but he also played 11 games at second, six in left field, and one other at first.
He batted .225/.304/.336 with eight home runs, 31 RBI, and 10 stolen bases and put up a 1.9 fWAR despite being a platoon-heavy hitter (15 wRC+ against lefties).
FanGraphs continues to release their ZiPS projections for the upcoming season, with Thursday looking at the Cincinnati Reds.
Some notable things that stood out in the article
The collective middle infield positions are projected to account for a 9.0 fWAR. That included Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain.
Speaking of De La Cruz, they projected him to hit 25 home runs and steal 54 bases. Their 20th/80th percentile OPS+ was 97/138, and their fWAR 20/80 was 3.2 and 6.7.
On the pitching side, Nick Martinez had the highest ERA+ at 122, followed closely by Hunter Greene (119). Former first-round pick Rhett Lowder, who was selected in the same class as Paul Skenes, is at a 90 ERA+ currently.
The Milwaukee Brewers made a trade with the Texas Rangers, acquiring right-handed pitcher Grant Anderson in exchange for minor leaguer Mason Molina.
Texas DFA’d Anderson previously to make room on the 40-man roster when they signed Joc Pederson. He has a career 8.10 ERA in the majors but has 29 strikeouts in 26.2 innings pitched.
Molina was the Brewers’ seventh-round pick in 2024 out of Arkansas. He pitched twice in the Carolina League for the Carolina Mudcats after being drafted.
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Livvy Dunne posted picure of Paul, Bubba Chandler and his girlfriend on Bourbon Street just a few hours before the attack. The four had been to NYE celebrations and left about 1am
Was looking at profar a bit out of curiosity.
Looks like hes consistently had elite walk, K, and chase rates for multiple seasons running now. However, he hit the ball significantly harder this past season than he ever had before and has never graded out very well defensively. He's an interesting case because how likely is it that this ability to impact the ball will stick starting in his age 30 season? Im not sure if the market will really know how to value him. I think he would be much less risky if he was even a middling defender to go along with elite walk and K rates, but without that base his floor could crater even if his upside is as elite as we saw last year