Free agent profile: Robbie Grossman

Spring Training is getting going but there are still plenty of unsigned free agents. The market is headlined by the so-called “Boras Four,” which consists of Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman, but there are also lots of guys who could be nice under-the-radar pickups at this stage of the offseason.

Just over a year ago, February 17 of 2023, the Rangers signed outfielder Robbie Grossman. The deal guaranteed him $2M and also came with $5M in possible incentives. The Rangers had a fairly unsettled outfield mix, with Adolis García’s presence the only certainty at the time.

The switch-hitting Grossman ended up getting into 115 games for the Rangers, drawing a walk in 13.6% of his 420 plate appearances and hitting 10 home runs. His .238/.340/.394 batting line translated to a 102 wRC+, indicating he was just a bit above league average, though his defense was subpar.

It’s not an overwhelming profile but digging a little deeper is where the enticing stuff lies. Though he bats from both sides of the plate, Grossman has always been better against left-handed pitching. For his career, he’s hit southpaws to the tune of .282/.381/.426 for a 126 wRC+. Against righties, his .229/.332/.360 batting line translates to a 94 wRC+. The split was even starker in 2023, as he limped to a line of .206/.304/.329 against righties for a 75 wRC+ but lit up lefties for a .309/.416/.536 slash and 158 wRC+.

The Rangers ended up going 90-72 last year, sneaking into the playoffs by securing a Wild Card spot in the final weekend of the regular season. From there, they went on to charge through the postseason and win the World Series for the first time in franchise history. That was obviously thanks to huge contributions from superstars like Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, but small pickups like Grossman and Travis Jankowski played their roles as well.

Grossman’s received a fairly regular role over the years, having stepped to the plate at least 420 times in each of the past six full seasons and 192 in the shortened 2020 campaign. Now that he’s 34 years old and set to turn 35 in the latter parts of the upcoming campaign, perhaps he would be best utilized by a club that could limit his exposure to right-handed pitching.

The Red Sox are reportedly looking for outfield additions with a righty being preferred to match with lefties Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida. The Tigers have a lefty-heavy outfield featuring Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Akil Baddoo. They acquired Mark Canha to add a righty bat to their outfield and the signing of infielder Gio Urshela might push righties Matt Vierling and Andy Ibañez into the outfield mix, though those two may also be used at second base with left-handed-hitting rookie Colt Keith. The Blue Jays have a couple of lefty-hitting regulars in Kevin Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho. The Twins have a bunch of lefties for their corner outfield/designated hitter rotation in Max Kepler, Matt Wallner and Alex Kirilloff. The White Sox have lefties Dominic Fletcher, Óscar Colás, Zach DeLoach and Gavin Sheets competing for their right field job, though they brought in righty Kevin Pillar on a non-roster pact. The Athletics have lefties Seth Brown and JJ Bleday set for regular roles in their outfield. The Mariners have Luke Raley, Taylor Trammell, Cade Marlowe and Dominic Canzone competing for time in the outfield.

In the National League, the Brewers have lefty swingers Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell in their outfield. The Reds have Jake Fraley TJ Friedl and Will Benson in their outfield mix, with righties like Spencer Steer and Jonathan India perhaps moving off the infield to help them out. The Padres have a wide open outfield apart from Fernando Tatis Jr.

There are lots of plausible fits right now and injuries will inevitably crop up over the course of the season that create other sensible landing spots. Plenty of veteran players have signed for modest deals in recent days, with Amed Rosario and Urshela each getting $1.5M to fill roles on the Rays and Tigers, respectively. Randal Grichuk got $2M from the Diamondbacks and Jurickson Profar $1M from the Friars. For a fairly modest price, Grossman could be a similar piece for another club.