Josh

Rojas

Rojas will head to Chicago and assuredly be a regular, likely as the starting third baseman. The 30-year-old got off to a roaring start for Seattle, but plummeted over the final few months of the campaign. Even with playing time guaranteed, there’s no real reason to roster Rojas in 2025.

Rojas’ market was surprisingly active this offseason given that the 30-year-old can play most positions on the diamond and is a career .247/.323/.362 hitter. He did have a bit of a down year in 2024 but posted a career-high barrel rate and fly ball rate, so perhaps getting out of T-Mobile Park, which is the worst park in baseball for left-handed hitters, according to Statcat Park Factors, will be a boost for him. Rojas should be the everyday third baseman for the White Sox and could post 15 steals with a .260 average which is valuable in deeper formats.

Rojas’s .225/.304/.336 line last season was ugly, but he was spending half of the time hitting in a dreadful ballpark in Seattle. He actually wound up with a 91 OPS+ that’s practically a match for his career mark of 92. He also graded out very well defensively at third last season after looking weaker at the middle infield spots earlier in his career. He’s a better spare part than a regular, but he’d make a lot of sense for the Cubs as a fallback at third if Matt Shaw needs more time.

The Mariners tendered contracts to most of their arbitration-eligible players on Friday, but Rojas was one of three that didn’t make the cut. He had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $4.3 million through arbitration. The versatile 30-year-old struggled mightily at the dish in 2024, slashing an anemic .225/.304/.336 with eight homers, 31 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 476 plate appearances. He’ll now hit the open market where he’ll likely have to settle for a bench spot on an Opening Day roster if he can find the right opportunity.

Rojas hit a solo homer off Jacob deGrom to give Seattle a 1-0 lead. That’s his first homer since August 18, and the eighth of the season. Hopefully managers realized his red-hot start over the first month wasn’t sustainable, because even with it he’s hitting .227/.307/.342.

The Mariners aren’t interested in trying anything new right now; the only variation in their starting lineup these last six games was a result of Victor Robles missing two days. Luis Urías last played third base over Rojas on Sept. 4, which was also the last time the Mariners faced a lefty. Urías had a homer, two doubles and four RBI that day. Rojas has one homer, three doubles and three RBI in his last 30 games combined. He’s hit .198/.276/.283 in his last 104 games.

The 30-year-old infielder also drew a walk in the contest, reaching base safely in three of his four plate appearances. Rojas led off the fifth inning with a single off of Sean Hjelle and scored the tying run as Julio Rodriguez grounded into a fielder’s choice. He then plated Justin Turner with a two-out RBI single in the sixth that increased the M’s lead to 4-2. With his two-hit attack, Rojas is now hitting .230/.309/.345 with seven homers, 26 RBI and seven stolen bases on the season.

Rojas took Bryan Bello deep for a solo homer in the fifth inning. He later knocked a base hit in the seventh for his second hit of the day. The 30-year-old infielder is up to six homers with 36 runs scored, 21 RBI, and six steals while slashing .241/.322/.366 across 341 plate appearances.

Rojas destroyed a Drew Thorpe offering in the first inning to make it 6-0. His roundtripper would be followed by homers by Dylan Moore and Victor Robles in a rare double-digit scoring game for the Seattle offense. Rojas got off to a fantastic start, but even with the dinger, his line has dropped to .234/.311/.352 with five homers and 20 RBI.

He also opened the door for the Angels’ five-run inning with two miscues in the fifth. Rojas is 4-for-39 with one RBI and two runs scored in his last 13 games, and he’s hitting just .193/.264/.261 since May 6. Luis Urías isn’t exactly tearing it up in Triple-A, but he can’t be any worse than this.