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Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher And Current Scout Tim Fortugno

By Tim Dierkes | February 6, 2023 at 10:00am CDT

Tim Fortugno’s path to a Major League life was an unlikely one. He’d played in high school, but didn’t seem to have much shot at the Majors. But as Danny Knobler told it in a Bleacher Report article, Tim threw around a tennis ball during his lunch hour on a construction job as a 20-year-old, which led to him joining the baseball team at Southern California College.

He was drafted multiple times, but didn’t end up signing due to shoulder pain. After a bout of acupuncture seemed to heal Tim’s shoulder, he landed with the Mariners on a $500 signing bonus.

Fortugno was eventually traded to the Phillies, who went on to sell his contract to the Brewers for $2,500 and 12 dozen baseballs. The Angels snagged the lefty in the Rule 5 draft, and in 1992 Fortugno made his MLB debut at the age of 30.

In his second big league appearance, Tim pitched the game of his life: a complete game, 12 strikeout, 129 pitch masterpiece against a vaunted Tigers lineup featuring Tony Phillips, Travis Fryman, Cecil Fielder, and Mickey Tettleton. Toward the end of that season, Tim gave up George Brett’s 3,000th hit – only to pick him off first base.

Tim bounced around after that, eventually finishing his career in Taiwan. Despite pitching only 110 1/3 innings over three seasons with the Angels, Reds, and White Sox, Fortugno can list Brett, Roberto Alomar, Don Mattingly, and Edgar Martinez among his strikeout victims.

After his pitching career, Fortugno moved into scouting. He spent seven years with the Rangers and 14 with the Mets, and has worked for the Rays since October 2019.

Tim chatted with MLBTR readers today, providing many interesting answers about a life in scouting. Click here to read the transcript.

The Opener: DFA, Extensions, Player Chat

By Nick Deeds | February 6, 2023 at 8:57am CDT

With Spring Training set to begin next week, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Coonrod DFA to be resolved:

The Phillies decision to designate right-hander Sam Coonrod for assignment last week will reach a conclusion today. Coonrod, who was designated in order to make room for Josh Harrison on the 40-man roster, struggled to the tune of a 7.82 ERA (4.61 FIP) over 12 2/3 innings in a 2022 season that was mostly wiped out by a shoulder strain. That said, Coonrod was a useful middle reliever as recently as 2021, when he posted a 4.04 ERA (3.71 FIP) over 42 1/3 innings. If he goes through waivers unclaimed, Coonrod does have enough service time to reject an outright assignment. However, given his $775K arbitration salary for 2023 would be lost in doing so, it’s possible he could accept the outright assignment anyway rather than test free agency.

2. Are more extensions on the way?

The run-up to Spring Training is frequently seen as a time for teams and players to discuss extensions, with most of the heavy lifting done in terms of transactions and baseball activities not yet started up. This past weekend saw the Dodgers announce an extension with shortstop Miguel Rojas that will keep him in L.A. through at least the 2024 season, with a club option for 2025 as well. Rojas joins a handful of players such as Jeff McNeil and Yandy Diaz who have inked extensions recently, and it’s possible more deals could be on the way. Giants ace Logan Webb has reportedly discussed an extension with San Francisco’s front office. It was also recently reported that the Royals front office is looking into extensions for the team’s young core as well.

3. Player Chat today at 10am CT:

MLBTR’s Player Chat series will continue this week, and we’re excited to welcome former big league right-hander and longtime MLB scout Tim Fortugno to host a chat with readers today. Fortugno pitched in parts of three MLB seasons from 1992-95, suiting up for the Angels, Reds and White Sox along the way. He pitched a total of 12 seasons in the minors, three in the majors and another in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League. Fortugno has since spent more than 20 years in Major League scouting departments, working for the Rangers, Mets and Rays, who’ve employed him since 2019. Tune in at 10am CT today to ask any questions you have and to read about Fortugno’s wide array of experiences in baseball!

Giants, Stephen Piscotty Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | February 6, 2023 at 8:25am CDT

The Giants are in agreement on a minor league contract with free-agent outfielder Stephen Piscotty, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The CAA client will be in big league camp this spring and would earn a $1MM base salary upon making the roster.

It’s a return to the Bay Area for the Pleasanton native, who’s spent the past five seasons in an A’s uniform. Piscotty’s first season in Oakland resulted in a terrific .267/.331/.491 batting line and 27 home runs, but he’s batted just .229/.287/.378 in four seasons since that time, tallying 891 plate appearances along the way.

Originally selected by the Cardinals with the No. 36 pick in the 2012 draft, Piscotty debuted with a flourish, hitting .282/.348/.468 with 29 long balls across 216 games in his first two big league seasons. The Cardinals signed him to a six-year, $33.5MM extension in April 2017, but the majority of the deal was played out in Oakland. Following the 2017 campaign, the A’s and Cardinals worked out a trade sending Yairo Munoz and Max Schrock to St. Louis and sending Piscotty to Oakland. The trade was largely driven by a desire to allow Piscotty to play closer to home, where he could be with his ailing mother as she battled ALS before sadly passing away in 2018.

Now back in the Bay Area, Piscotty will look to get back to his 2015-18 form and reestablish himself as a quality big league outfielder. The Giants signed both Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto this winter, though both have had their recent careers beset by injuries. San Francisco also has Joc Pederson back after accepting his qualifying offer and will see Mike Yastrzemski reprise his role in center field. Other outfield options on the 40-man roster include Austin Slater, Luis Gonzalez and prospect Heliot Ramos.

Mets To Hire Carlos Beltran As Special Assistant To The GM

By Mark Polishuk | February 5, 2023 at 10:06pm CDT

Carlos Beltran is back with the Mets in a new front office role, according to Jon Heyman, Joel Sherman, and Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. Beltran will work as an assistant to Mets GM Billy Eppler, SNY’s Andy Martino tweets. Beltran hasn’t officially signed a contract yet, though “it’s far enough down the line” that Beltran felt secure in leaving his broadcasting job at the YES Network.

The news comes a little over three years after Beltran stepped down as the club’s manager in the aftermath of the Astros sign-stealing scandal, as Beltran ended up resigning without ever actually managing the Mets in a regular-season game. The scandal created plenty of fallout around baseball, with the Red Sox also firing Alex Cora (who was the Astros’ bench coach in 2017) from his managerial post, and Houston fired both manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow. However, more than three years removed from the scandal, only Luhnow has yet to resurface in a new baseball-related role. The Red Sox re-hired Cora after the 2020 season was over, while the Tigers hired Hinch as their new skipper in advance of the 2021 campaign.

For Beltran, he returned to the fold last year, covering the Yankees as part of the YES Network’s team. Marchand reports that YES was going to shift Beltran from calling games into a studio position for pre-game and postgame coverage heading into 2023, though Beltran recently told the network that he wasn’t returning next season.

In terms of on-field jobs, the Padres had some interest in Beltran for a coaching role last winter. There were also speculative rumblings about a possible reunion between Beltran and the Mets last year, and Heyman, Sherman, and Marchand write that Beltran was indeed under consideration to be New York’s assistant hitting coach.

Instead, Beltran will now be working in the Amazins’ front office. This marks the second front office job of Beltran’s career, as he worked as a special assistant to Yankees GM Brian Cashman in 2019. The Yankees also considered hiring Beltran as manager before Aaron Boone got the job in the 2017-18 offseason, which would’ve marked an even quicker transition for Beltran given that he had only just ended his playing career when the Astros won the 2017 World Series.

While it raised some eyebrows when the Mets hired a manager who had never managed or coached at any level before, it wasn’t an entirely shocking move, given how much respect Beltran commanded around the game. Even before he retired, Beltran was often cited as a possible future manager, or a future front-office executive after he took the advisory role with the Yankees. Of course, that natural leadership ability was a double-edged sword, given that Beltran was reportedly the player who had the biggest role in the Astros’ sign-stealing methods, both helping to mastermind the plan and influencing teammates to follow suit.

No Astros players faced any punishment for their roles in the scandal, as the league gave players immunity in exchange for their details and information about the sign-stealing activities. Of course, Beltran did end up being unofficially punished via the loss of his managerial job, just two months after being hired. It is also fair to assume that the scandal impacted Beltran’s first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot — while Beltran received a solid 46.5% of the vote and seems on pace to eventually be inducted, it is still a sharp drop for a player considered a shoo-in choice at the time of his retirement.

AL Notes: Ohtani, Angels, Vespi, Yoshida, Red Sox

By Mark Polishuk | February 5, 2023 at 9:34pm CDT

Despite the busy Angels offseason, Shohei Ohtani’s future remains the team’s biggest question in 2023, and Arte Moreno’s decision not to sell the Angels adds another layer of intrigue to Ohtani’s situation. Speaking with reporters (including the Associated Press), Halos GM Perry Minasian reiterated that the organization would love to keep Ohtani, and suggested that Moreno was willing to pay Ohtani the record-setting contract it might take to keep the two-way star in Anaheim. “[Moreno has] already invested in this club throughout his whole ownership. We’ve been top-10 in payroll for a long time,” Minasian said. “I don’t see that changing. Knowing [Moreno] and knowing how much he wants to win, I wouldn’t put anything out of the realm of possibility.”

Desire to win notwithstanding, Moreno’s ability to construct a winning team is the another factor, as the Angels are mired in a string of seven consecutive losing seasons. Unsurprisingly, Ohtani was openly disappointed by the Halos’ lackluster 2022 campaign, and any doubts he has about the Angels’ ability to compete might possibly result in Ohtani signing with a more proven contender next winter. Even if Moreno is willing to splurge on Ohtani and take the Angels into luxury tax territory, it might not be enough to sway Ohtani from a comparable offer from a winning team.

More from around the American League….

Orioles left-hander Nick Vespi underwent hernia surgery in early January, and the reliever told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko that he is “cleared to throw, so I am starting to throw already and I’ll be ready for Opening Day.” There was some doubt as to whether or not Vespi’s recovery process might last into the early part of the season, and while it appears that might not be an issue, Vespi will miss pitching for Italy in the World Baseball Classic. Vespi made his MLB debut in 2022, posting a 4.10 ERA over 26 1/3 innings out of the Orioles’ bullpen. Cionel Perez and Keegan Akin are Baltimore’s top southpaw options in the relief corps, though Vespi may face further competition from any left-handed starting candidates who don’t make the rotation.
The Red Sox signed Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90MM deal in December, an investment that surpassed all projections for Yoshida as he made the move from Nippon Professional Baseball to the majors. That said, the Sox also feel “other teams were prepared to bid more aggressively for Yoshida than has been widely reported,” the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes. The Blue Jays and Dodgers were reportedly the other finalists for Yoshida’s services, though it isn’t known what those two clubs were willing to pay. The $90MM guarantee is also a sign of just how much faith the Red Sox have in Yoshida’s ability to continue his production against Major League pitching, which is a belief born from heavy scouting and evaluation of Yoshida in Japan over the last three years.

MLBTR Chat Transcript

By Mark Polishuk | February 5, 2023 at 8:28pm CDT

Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat

Rays Notes: Adam, Peralta, Extensions

By Mark Polishuk | February 5, 2023 at 5:36pm CDT

The Rays and right-hander Jason Adam have had some talks about a multi-year deal, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports, in advance of Adam’s upcoming arbitration hearing. Adam is one of seven Rays players who couldn’t reach an agreement with the team before the filing deadline, though three of those players (Yandy Diaz, Pete Fairbanks, and Jeffrey Springs) have since signed longer-term contract extensions. This leaves Harold Ramirez, Colin Poche, Ryan Thompson, and Adam still without deals for the 2023 season, until either the arbiter makes their decision or unless the Rays and any of the players avoid arbitration by working out a contract.

Adam is in his first year of arb eligibility, and there isn’t a huge gap between the two sides — the 31-year-old is seeking $1.775MM while the Rays countered with $1.55MM. After intriguing but inconsistent results in his first four MLB campaigns, Adam signed with the Rays last winter and enjoyed the best overall season of his career. The righty posted a 1.56 ERA over 63 1/3 innings in Tampa, with one of the best sets of Statcast metrics of any reliever in baseball.

Twins Sign Locke St. John To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | February 5, 2023 at 2:39pm CDT

The Twins have signed left-hander Locke St. John to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’ll presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.

St. John, 30, has eight major league games on his track record thus far, with seven of those coming with the 2019 Rangers. He posted a 5.40 for Texas that year in a small sample size, getting outrighted off the roster in September. In 2021, he signed a minor league deal with the Tigers and had a strong season, though never got called up to the big leagues. He tossed 59 1/3 innings for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens with a 2.58 ERA, striking out 29.2% of opponents and walking 9.7%.

2022 was a less of a success for St. John, however. He began the year on a minor league deal with the Cubs, eventually getting selected to the big league roster. He made one appearance for the Cubs but allowed three earned runs in two innings of work. He was claimed off waivers by the Mets but they kept him in the minors and later outrighted him. Between the two organizations, he threw 49 Triple-A innings with a 5.88 ERA, striking out just 18.7% of hitters while giving free passes at a 12.6% clip.

Despite that down season, the Twins will give him a shot to see if he can get back to the solid form he showed in 2021. The Twins have a couple of lefties likely to be in their bullpen in Caleb Thielbar and Jovani Moran but the only other southpaw on the 40-man is starter Brent Headrick. St. John will give the club another non-roster option in that department, alongside Danny Coulombe and various other depth arms. If St. John can earn his way onto the roster, he still has a couple of option seasons and less than a year of MLB service time.

Yankees Sign Ian Hamilton To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | February 5, 2023 at 12:45pm CDT

The Yankees have signed right-hander Ian Hamilton to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Hamilton will presumably be invited to participate in major league Spring Training.

Hamilton, 28 in June, has 15 scattered major league appearances, with 10 of those coming in 2018, four in 2020 and one last year. He has a 4.91 ERA over 14 2/3 innings in that time, striking out 14.1% of hitters while walking 12.5% of them and posting a 39.1% ground ball rate.

Last year, he was in the Twins’ system but not on the 40-man roster. He was briefly added to the big league club as a COVID substitute, making a single appearance of 2 2/3 innings. He made 23 appearances for the Triple-A St. Paul Saints, posting a 1.88 ERA with a 32.1% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 51.6% ground ball rate. He was then traded to the Guardians for catcher Sandy León, but the switch seemed to throw him off his rhythm. He posted a 6.27 ERA in 15 appearances after the deal with his walk rate jumping up to 13.1%, though he still got strikeouts at a 28.6% rate and kept 50% of balls in play on the ground.

Between the two organizations, Hamilton posted a 3.61 ERA in 47 1/3 Triple-A innings while striking out 30.6% of batters faced and getting grounders on more than half of balls in play. His 9.7% combined walk rate was a bit high, but it was still a solid showing and the Yankees are intrigued enough to give him a closer look. The club has lost some bullpen pieces this winter, with Chad Green, Aroldis Chapman and Miguel Castro having signed elsewhere, while Zack Britton is still a free agent. The most significant addition to the Yankee bullpen so far has been the signing of Tommy Kahnle, but Hamilton will provide some non-roster depth and try to earn his way into the club’s plans. If he can succeed in that regard, he still has an option season remaining and comes with plenty of club control since he’s yet to cross the one-year service time mark.

Quick Hits: Muñoz, Sadler, Vavra

By Darragh McDonald | February 5, 2023 at 10:55am CDT

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto spoke with the media this week, including Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN, in advance of the start of Spring Training. During those talks, Dipoto provided an update on reliever Andrés Muñoz.

Muñoz, 24, had a tremendous breakout last year, posting a 2.49 earned run average over 64 appearances. That ERA probably shortchanges Munoz a bit, who struck out 38.7% of batters faced while walking just 6% of them and got ground balls at a 52.6% clip. ERA estimators all thought he actually deserved better, including a 2.04 FIP, 1.84 xERA and 1.74 SIERA. After the club was eliminated from the postseason in October, he underwent foot surgery, but he’s already out of a walking boot and began a throwing program two weeks ago.

The fireballer has emerged as a key piece of the club’s bullpen, something they seemingly anticipated when they extended him after the 2021 season. The righty had just returned from Tommy John surgery and made a single appearance that year, but the M’s had enough faith to sign him to a four-year, $7.5MM extension with three club options. That could keep him as a fixture of the club’s relief corps through the 2028 season, and his current health is surely a good sign for the club going into 2023.

Other notes from around the league…

Dipoto also provided an update on another reliever in 32-year-old Casey Sadler, who is coming off a season lost to shoulder surgery but is going to be ready to go for Spring Training this year. In 2021, Sadler made 42 appearances for the M’s with a ridiculous 0.67 ERA. That level of run prevention was in no way sustainable, with Sadler benefitting from a .188 batting average on balls in play and 90.9% strand rate. But his 25.5% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 62.9% ground ball rate all point to an excellent campaign nonetheless, with Sadler pegged for a 2.48 FIP, 2.41 xERA and 3.06 SIERA. Unfortunately, he required the surgery on his shoulder in March of 2022, which kept him out for all of that year. The Mariners outrighted him off the roster in November but re-signed him to a minor league deal. “If we get that ’21 version of Casey Sadler with the bullpen group we currently have, that just takes us to a different level,” Dipoto said. Despite trading Erik Swanson to the Blue Jays in the Teoscar Hernández deal, the M’s bullpen is still pretty packed. Munoz should be joined by Paul Sewald, Diego Castillo, Matt Brash, Penn Murfee, Matt Festa and Trevor Gott, as well as Rule 5 draftee Chris Clarke. If the rotation is fully healthy, Chris Flexen should be in the bullpen as well as a long reliever. Sadler was so good in 2021 that he could force his way into the picture if he looks like he’s back on track. Despite the crowding, pitcher injuries are fairly inevitable and this pile of depth should serve Seattle well as the season progress.
Orioles utility player Terrin Vavra, 26 in May, cracked the majors last year and managed fairly well by hitting .258/.340/.337 in his first 103 plate appearances. That production was just barely below league average, with his wRC+ coming in at 97, though he hit a much sturdier .324/.435/.451 in Triple-A. Between the two levels, he played second base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions, making him a usefully versatile piece of the club’s roster. It seems he’s not satisfied with that level of versatility and has been working to add first base to his repertoire this offseason. “I don’t think until I really play a game over there, I’ll truly feel the most comfortable, but that’s what spring training’s for,” Vavra tells Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun. “I think I’ll get some opportunities to showcase that and showcase other talents and try and make my case. I want to be able to show that I can do that, and I want the coaching staff to be confident if they had to send me out there, Day 1 of spring training even.” The O’s have been looking to find left-handed bats to complement right-hander Ryan Mountcastle in the first base mix, acquiring Lewin Díaz and Ryan O’Hearn this offseason, as well as signing Franchy Cordero, Josh Lester and Nomar Mazara to minor league deals. But Vavra, who also hits left-handed, could have a leg up on that group since none of them are on the 40-man but Vavra is. On the other hand, Vavra has option years remaining and could be ticketed for some more time in the minors if he gets squeezed off the active roster.

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