As the Royals sort out the new arms they have on hand, the team intends to utilize lefty Matt Strahm as a reliever in 2017, skipper Ned Yost told reporters, including Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. The same holds true of fellow southpaw Mike Minor. Strahm, 25, is one of the most highly regarded young arms in the Royals organization and was dominant out of the ’pen in his 2016 debut. In 22 innings, he posted a sensational 1.23 ERA with a 30-to-11 K/BB ratio (one intentional walk) and a 46.7 percent ground-ball rate while averaging 93.8 mph on his heater. Yost made clear that the Royals still view Strahm as a starter in the long run, but it looks as if he’ll reprise his late-inning role in 2017.
Minor, meanwhile, was once a key member of the Braves pitching staff but has missed the past two seasons due to shoulder troubles. He wasn’t able to take the hill for Kansas City in the first season of his two-year, $7.25MM pact with the Royals — though he did throw 34 2/3 innings in Triple-A — and will hope to return to health in 2017 as he looks to reestablish himself in the Majors.
A bit more from the division…
- The Twins are still talking to free agents, chief baseball officer Derek Falvey told reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger), but if they make an addition, it’s likelier to be on the pitching side of the equation. Bollinger notes that it’d be “a surprise” to see the team add a bat at this juncture. In a similar vein, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that the Twins attended Justin Masterson’s workout earlier today. Masterson has an obvious tie to Minnesota, as he once starred in the Indians’ rotation while Falvey was working in the Cleveland front office. Injuries have derailed the past three seasons for Masterson, who spent the 2016 campaign with the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate (4.97 ERA, 32 strikeouts, 26 walks in 54 1/3 innings).
- Bollinger also writes that longtime Twins closer Glen Perkins threw his first bullpen session since undergoing shoulder surgery last season. The left-hander hadn’t thrown off a mound since exiting his April 10 appearance in 2016, and he gave some Twins fans a bit of a scare when last Friday’s throwing session was pushed back. However, after working with the Twins’ training staff over the weekend, Perkins felt strong enough to throw a 15-pitch session earlier today and reported no issues after the fact. Perkins will be aiming to show display his health this spring in order to reclaim his spot in the ninth inning for Minnesota, though he’ll face some competition from righty Brandon Kintzler. The 32-year-old Kintzler filled in with aplomb following Perkins’ injury in 2016, logging a 3.15 ERA and picking up 19 saves in 54 1/3 innings.
- White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told reporters today that the Sox are open to trades but aren’t likely to make another addition to the roster, barring injuries (Twitter links via Colleen Kane of the Chicago Trib and Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago). Hahn said he’s had “extensive conversations on various fronts,” but at this point, “there’s nothing that’s gnawing at us or appealing enough to make us move.” The Sox will keep an open mind throughout the spring, though Hahn also noted some of the team’s focus will inevitably shift to prepping for the season as opposed to making deals. Hahn recently spoke with MLBTR contributor Brett Ballantini about his offseason rebuilding efforts in a two-part Q&A (Part 1, Part 2).
I’m glad Blank is vying to recover his closing job for the twins. Glad Blank is recovering well from his surgery.
I’m going to draft him on my fantasy team this year
Kyle Blank? Ernie Blanks? Mel Blanc?
You’re right, it seemed like a blanket statement.
Hey look out for Blank. He’s got a 70-grade heater, a plus slider and at least solid-average command. Makeup is off the charts, too!
Meanwhile, I’ve added Perkins’ actual name to the post 🙂
Haha, thanks.
The true player to be named later!
Strahm is 25. Obviously still extremely young but he’s not aging backwards. In all likelihood the Royals will not be competing for a playoff spot this year, in a situation where Strahm could be a missing piece out of the bullpen. All of this adds up to it making no sense for him to be a reliever this year if they view him as a starter in the long run.
That’s exactly what the Royals did with Zack Grienke and it turned out just fine….Danny Duffy to some extent too.
“In all likelihood the Royals will not be competing for a playoff spot this year”
I see no reason why the Royals shouldn’t be in at least wild card contention all summer.
I can give you 5 reasons – it’s their rotation
Their rotation can’t compete with Cleveland…..if Clevelands rotation stays healthy….which is a legitimate if.
But Duffy, Kennedy, Hammel have the ability to make to rotation a bit above average – which is what KC needs to compete.
Tigers are probably better than them at pitching and hitting as well
May I ask what injury concerns you have? Carrasco broke his finger and Salazar had recovered by the end of the year. I’ll concede that Kluber’s ridiculous innings total is cause for concern, but that’s it. I don’t see KC in the wild card picture come August.
Cleveland fans talkin smack yet they can’t support a World Series team. Less than 20,000 per game? What a joke!
During last year’s world series, I didn’t see a team choking away a 3-1 game advantage, especially losing the final 2 games at their home stadium, but it did happen. The Royals have exceeded their expectations for 7 straight years. Last year they were plagued by injuries and down years by their core players. Their 4th and 5th starters sucked most the year also. If they stay healthy, I can see them easily competing for the play on game aka a wild card spot.
I agree. I want him working to strengthen his arm so he can be a 180 to 200 innings pitcher. We may not “need” him as a starter this season, but putting him in relief where he will pitch 60 to 70 innings at best makes no sense to me.
I wonder if he has any relation to the Agent Strahm that was crushed to a pulp in Saw 5.
Was Agent Strahm a lefty?
The White Sox shouldn’t wait to trade the Todd Father. Already dealt Eaton and Sale so it just seems logical. They should hold on to Abreu and Quintana because they are team friendly. The White Sox should also listen on Robertson because I believe Nate Jones could be a viable closer option.
I feel like they should wait until the deadline to move Frazier, since the market was just flooded with power bat-first options and any team that had a hole filled it via free agency. Worst-case scenario, they give him he QO after the season and recoup a draft pick
Draft pick compensation is a bit less straightforward in the new bargaining agreement. Potential free agent has to score a big contract to send a pick to former team
I disagree, Frazier is a great leader for the young talent that has come to Chicago. They should keep Abreu because the Sox don’t have anyone else that can play 1B everyday, but they should trade Q and get around the same as what they got for Sale. Definitely trade Robertson and Melky to clear up some budget room, keep Jones.
What does “team friendly” mean to a team in year 1 of a complete rebuild? Trade assets, that’s what. A trade for prospects would be the best outcome for all parties involved.
Sox fans need to understand this is a LONGTERM process. Neither Quintana nor Abreu will be around four years from now when the team is ready to contend, hypothetically.
So true about a long term rebuild but it’s not out of the question that the White Sox might consider keeping a player such as Jose Abreu through his remaining 3 years and also extend him. Abreu has pretty much been the face of the franchise since they signed him following the 2013 season as an international free agent when they embarked on their last retool/rebuild.
Abreu has shown leadership qualities despite his cultural difference coming from a foreign country. He could continue to be a highly influential teammate and mentor for the new players that will begin filtering onto the White Sox roster as soon as this season. It’s not unheard of for such a player to remain with a rebuilding club. Alex Gordon was one in Kansas City and he helped younger players reach two World Series and win a championship with the Royals in 2015 and 2016.
Abreu has declined each year and will be 33 in 3 years, not exactly a prime extension candidate?
Abreu also produced numbers in the second half of last season that were comparable to those of his historic rookie season of 2014. It’s too early to write him off and Abreu, who plays at 1B and ideally should DH also has a better opportunity to continue that production at a later age in the American League. Obviously, any discussion of an extension would only come if he were to put up excellent numbers in the coming years. That same production should also maintain his trade value even as his team control diminishes.
“Obviously, any discussion of an extension would only come if he were to put up excellent numbers in the coming years.”
Should have probably included that in your original post then, since it’s a pretty big condition that fundamentally alters your point. Right now they may be able to extend him cheaply, if he goes back to putting up good numbers that’s gonna make an extension less likely and the price for it much higher.
Wouldn’t have thought that such an obvious point of extending a guy only if he’s good had to be made. As for extending him now, not many 30+ year olds with 3 years left on their deals get extensions.
Inn guessing Frazier proving he’s healthy would somewhat raise his stock.
Quintana during/after ST but before OD when a contenders starter goes down. Robertson, Frazier, Melky, all at the deadline. Just how I think (hope) it will shake out
There needs to be demand for a player to trade them (unless you are just giving them away more or less)
Sorry, but the Sox are doing a complete rebuild and all they did this whole off season is trade Sale and Eaton? I know it’s not an overnight process and I was happy with how well they made out on those deals but I thought for sure they’d move two or three more players. Even Hahn said he wanted it to move along as fast as possible. Abreu would’ve been a great fit for several contending clubs and a replacement wouldn’t be hard to come by. The whole thing seems strange to me unless it really is all about other teams offers and Hahn’s firm stance on demands.
It doesn’t have to be done fast but it has to be done right. He sold Reinsdorf on this rebuild. It HAS to be a “home run”. Hahn will not trade guys to just hurry the rebuild along. He will wait for the best return.
Robertson should be kept until the deadline to see if he can rebuild value. For Abreu and Frazier, there were so many free agent bats that teams could have one for an equivalent salary or less without giving up prospects, so why would they trade for one of them? That basically leaves Melky, who negates most of his value as a hitter by being a poor defender, and Q, for whom the WS are demanding a king’s ransom. I think it will eventually be either Houston or Pittsburgh, whichever one feels it needs just a little boost to get to the playoffs once the season is underway.
Yes, have patience. It’s not going to make a difference in 2020 if Hahn gets a better haul for Quintana/Robertson/Frazier right now or three months from now.
Still need to get a Quintana deal done, Rick. Frazier too, if possible. Keeping those guys to start the season will artificially inflate the team’s win total while the other rebuilding teams are piling up losses and moving ahead on the draft board.
Sox did well in the Eaton deal and Sale became a trouble maker with the uniform and that punk that fought it was ok for his kid to get privileges others can’t have
But right now this team will surprise the central well maybe not the Indians but 2nd ain’t bad long as we got good kids coming