In Canha and Margot, a Pair of Brewers NRIs Find New Homes Elsewhere

As spring training ends and rosters are finalized, one team’s flotsam and jetsam becomes another team’s reserve outfielder. Such was the case this past weekend as two outfielders who were in camp with the Brewers but deemed superfluous subsequently found homes within the AL Central. The Brewers traded Mark Canha to the Royals and released Manuel Margot, who signed a deal with the Tigers.

When camps opened last month, the 36-year-old Canha and the 30-year-old Margot were both still free agents, but within a two-day span in late February, Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold inked them to minor league deals with non-roster invitations to spring training. Ultimately, the team decided to head into the season with a starting outfield of Jackson Chourio in left, Garrett Mitchell in center, and Sal Frelick in right, with designated hitter Christian Yelich and switch-hitting second baseman/outfielder Isaac Collins also in the mix, and Blake Perkins recovering from a fractured right shin. As free agents who ended last season on major league rosters, signed minor league deals this past offseason, and had at least six years of service time, both Canha and Margot had the first of three opt-out dates looming on March 22.

This was Canha’s second go-round with the Brewers, who acquired him from the Mets on July 31, 2023, and played him regularly down the stretch on a squad that claimed a Wild Card spot. Canha was on a $26.5 million, two-years-plus-option deal at the time; after that season, the Brewers flipped him to the Tigers in exchange for righty prospect Blake Holub, and Detroit picked up his $11.5 million option for 2024. During the first four months of the season, Canha made 30 starts at DH, 29 at first base, 19 in left field, and 11 in right field. He mustered less power than usual, hitting a modest .231/.337/.350 (101 wRC+) with seven homers in 377 plate appearances.

With the team 52-56 at the time, the Tigers dealt Canha to the Giants on July 30 in exchange for another righty prospect, Eric Silva. Canha hit a similarly thin .288/.376/.329 (108 wRC+) without a homer in 85 PA for the Giants while serving mainly as the short half of a first base platoon with LaMonte Wade Jr. But where the Giants, who were 53-55 when they acquired Canha, continued on a similar course afterwards and missed the playoffs, the Tigers went an AL-best 34-20 after the trade and qualified for a Wild Card spot. Sometimes a guy just Canha win, right? (Ducking)

Canha’s overall numbers were a step down from his 2023 ones. His power receded, and somewhat ominously, he had a harder time making contact in the strike zone:

That drop of 4.9 percentage points in Z-Contact% was the fifth largest in the majors among players with at least 300 PA in both seasons. Canha’s whiff rate on pitches in the strike zone rose from 11.3% in 2023 to 17% in 2024; whereas he had whiff rates above 10% only on four-seamers, changeups and cutters in 2023, he whiffed at least that frequently against five different types of pitches in ’24, and his whiff rates against all of those offerings except changeups rose:

Meanwhile, Canha’s quality of contact, whether on pitches in or outside the zone, declined as well:

Canha actually had a higher average exit velocity in 2024 than ’23, but he hit the ball on the ground more often. Both his EV and hard-hit rates placed in the 34th percentile, while his barrel rate was in the ninth percentile. His Statcast xSLG plummeted for the 24th percentile to the second.

All of which helps to explain why Canha had to settle for a minor league deal, one that will pay him $1.4 million if he’s in the majors, with as-yet-undisclosed performance bonuses reportedly in the contract as well. To get him, the Royals will either send a player to be named later or cash. General manager J.J. Picollo views him as a useful platoon bat and someone whose patience at the plate stands out on a team that had the majors’ third-lowest walk rate (7.2%) and seventh-highest chase rate (30.2%) last year. Here’s what Piccolo said of the acquisition:

“It’s a professional at-bat… You look at his track record over the years, he’s always been good against lefties. He gets on base. But it’s more the type of at-bat. I think we saw firsthand last year when you get some guys that have a lot of experience in the league, they go about their at-bats differently. And we thought we needed that. We thought we needed it from the right-handed side who could go out to the outfield.”

Canha declined from a 104 wRC+ against righties in 2023 to 94 in ’24, but he was much more effective against lefties in both seasons, even if the shape of his performance shifted: He hit .264/.361/.464 (125 wRC+) in 166 PA against them in 2023 and .275/.380/.394 (124 wRC+) in ’24. Given that lefty-swinging left fielder MJ Melendez hit .164/.176/.219 (0 wRC+) in 74 PA against lefties last year and .222/.264/.333 (57 wRC+) in 133 PA the year before, Canha represents a substantial upgrade. He can also back up Vinnie Pasquantino at first base, which may be of immediate relevance given that Pasquantino suffered a Grade 1+ strain of his right hamstring while running out a grounder in the Royals’ final Cactus League game on Saturday. His status for the Opening Day roster is pending, though he’s still hoping to play.

Like Canha, Margot hasn’t stayed in once place for very long lately either. After a four-season run with the Rays, he was sent to the Dodgers on December 16, 2023, along with Tyler Glasnow in exchange for outfielder Jonny DeLuca and righty Ryan Pepiot. He played just two spring training games for the Dodgers before being traded to the Twins on February 26, 2024, along with infield prospect Rayne Doncon and $6 million cash in exchange for infield prospect Noah Miller. He spent the whole season with the Twins, playing 129 games — his highest total since 2019 — but hitting just .238/.289/.337 with four homers in 343 PA and setting career lows with a 79 wRC+ and -0.2 WAR.

Unlike Canha, the owner of a career 115 wRC+, Margot has never been much of a hitter. In his nine-year major league career, he’s had just one season with a 95 wRC+ or higher (104 in 2023), and his career mark is just 89. His numbers took a tumble from his 2023 performance (.264/.310/.376, 92 wRC+) despite the fact that he hit the ball a bit harder, and that both his strikeout and walk rates improved:

Margot hit the ball in the air more often, but his pulled air rate dropped from 17% to 11.7%. He was particularly weak against righties, hitting just .208/.257/.283 against them in 172 PA; his 54 wRC+ represented a drop of 40 points. By contrast, he hit .269/.322/.391 (103 wRC+) in 171 PA against lefties, up 20 points from 2023 but more in line with his career marks.

Margot signed a minor league deal with the Brewers, but they released him. His new deal with the Tigers pays him $1.3 million if he’s in the majors, with additional $300,000 bonuses for topping the 200, 300, 400, and 500 plate appearance thresholds — and right now it looks like he’s going to get some work. The Tigers made room for Margot on the 40-man roster by placing center fielder Parker Meadows on the 60-day injured list with inflammation around a nerve in his upper right arm. Matt Vierling, who was in line to serve as the short half of a platoon with Meadows when he wasn’t playing right field, is currently rehabbing from a right rotator cuff strain and will miss at least the first half of April. On Monday, the Tigers announced that Wenceel Pérez, who had been tabbed to contribute in center amid the other injuries, will himself miss a month due to lower back inflammation, for which he received a cortisone injection.

Margot made just 21 appearances (14 starts) in center field last year, down from 55 (and 49 starts) in 2023. He was one run below average in that minimal playing time via both DRS and FRV. Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said on Monday that he did not sign Margot with a particular eye toward center. “You may see him in center field a little bit throughout the year… We think he is more additive to this group on the corners.”

Still, Harris and manager A.J. Hinch seem to be scrambling for other center field options. Riley Greene has 199 games of center field experience across the past three seasons, but the team prefers to keep him in left field given his injury history. Javier Báez, who last played center field in the spring of 2016, played the position in back-field scrimmages earlier this spring and made his Grapefruit League debut at the spot on Saturday; he did not have to make a play except when an errant throw from the catcher sailed into center. He’s hit for just a 70 wRC+ over his three seasons with the Tigers and lost the starting shortstop job to Trey Sweeney. Utilityman Ryan Kreidler, who has some minor league experience in center, started at the position for Monday’s exhibition at Oracle Park in San Francisco, but he owns a 17 wRC+ in 167 PA in the majors thus far. Does anyone have Chet Lemon’s phone number?

Canha and Margot both have their limitations even when things are going well, and things didn’t go great for them last year. Yet both have proven to be productive role players for contenders in recent years, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that they’re each getting another chance with a team hoping to be in the hunt for a playoff spot.