Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mets Rumors

Players That Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins

By | at

Just about every baseball team has a full 40-man roster now, with the Astros the only team with an open spot at the moment. That means that just about every transaction, be it a free agent signing or a waiver claim, requires a corresponding move.

However, that could soon change as the injured list is coming back soon. There’s no IL from the end of a season until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training for the next campaign, which they will do next week. That means some clubs could potentially gain a bit of extra roster flexibility at that time, since players on the 60-day IL don’t count against a team’s roster total. However, it’s worth pointing out that the “60 days” don’t start until Opening Day, which is March 30 this year. That means, though a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL next week, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later.

With some notable free agents still unsigned like Jurickson Profar, Andrew Chafin, Michael Wacha, Elvis Andrus and many others, it’s possible that teams interested in their services might try to hold off on getting a deal done until next week. Or perhaps clubs that have players they would like to sneak through waivers will try to do so now, before rival clubs gain that extra roster flexibility with the IL opening up. Then again, some clubs will need to keep in mind non-roster players they are planning to promote by Opening Day and might hold off on making a move until that time.

Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon, sorted by division.

AL East

Hyun Jin Ryu/Chad Green

The Blue Jays have a pair of pitchers on their 40-man roster who are returning from Tommy John surgery. They should be on a similar timeline, as they each underwent the procedure in June of last year, though Green will most likely return first since relievers generally require less time to build up arm strength compared to starters. Regardless, the recovery time period for TJS is about 12-18 months, meaning neither pitcher is likely to return until midseason at the earliest. Ryu recently said he was targeting a July return.

Trevor Story

The Red Sox shortstop recently underwent an internal brace procedure on his throwing elbow, a similar operation to Tommy John. Though he’s confident he’ll return at some point, he’s slated to miss most of the upcoming season and is certainly headed for the injured list.

John Means

The Orioles lefty underwent Tommy John surgery in late of April of 2022. With the 12-18 month recovery window for TJS, he could theoretically return in the first couple of months of the season, so the O’s may not want to transfer him to the injured list until they have some clarity about his timeline.

Scott Effross/Luis Gil/Frankie Montas

Effross is a lock for the Yankees’ injured list as he underwent Tommy John in October and will likely miss the entire 2023 campaign. Gil had the same surgery but in May, which means he’ll likely be out until midseason. The situation with Montas is a bit less clear, as he’s dealing with shoulder inflammation that is expected to keep him out for the first month of the season. Unless he suffers some sort of setback, he probably won’t be placed on the 60-day IL right away.

Shane Baz/Andrew Kittredge

The Rays have a couple of hurlers bound for the IL as Baz underwent Tommy John in September while Kittredge had the same surgery in June. They’re both going to miss the first half of the year, with Baz potentially missing the entire season.

AL Central

Casey Mize/Tarik Skubal

Mize underwent Tommy John surgery in June and should be placed on the Tigers’ IL at some point. Skubal’s case is a bit less certain after he underwent flexor tendon surgery in August. The club hasn’t provided a timeline for his recovery but some recent comparables can give us some idea. Danny Duffy underwent the procedure in October of 2021 and was hoping to return by June of 2022, though a setback prevented him from pitching at all on the year. Matthew Boyd went under the knife for flexor tendon surgery in September of 2021 and didn’t return to a big league mound until September of 2022.

Garrett Crochet/Liam Hendriks

Crochet of the White Sox underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year but was already stretched out to throwing from 120 feet in November. Whether he’s able to return in the early parts of 2023 or not will depend on his continued progression in that recovery process. In a less conventional situation, Liam Hendriks announced last month that he’s beginning treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It’s unknown how long his treatment will take but general manager Rick Hahn said they don’t expect updates “prior to Opening Day at the very earliest.”

Chris Paddack/Royce Lewis

Paddack was recently extended by the Twins though he underwent Tommy John in May of last year and likely won’t be ready to return until the middle of the upcoming campaign. Lewis tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in June of last year, the second year in a row that he suffered that unfortunate injury. At the time, his recovery timeline was estimated at 12 months, which likely puts him on the shelf until midseason as well.

AL West

Brett Martin

It was reported last month that the Rangers lefty will require shoulder surgery. It was said that the timeline will become more clear in the aftermath of the procedure but he’s likely to miss the entirety of the upcoming season.

NL East

Bryce Harper

The Phillies superstar underwent Tommy John surgery in November and the club has announced they expect him to be out of action until around the All-Star break in July.

Huascar Ynoa/Tyler Matzek

Both these Braves pitchers underwent Tommy John last year, with Ynoa going under the knife in September and Matzek in October. That makes them both long shots for appearing at all this year, but especially not in the first half.

Max Meyer/Anthony Bender/Sixto Sanchez

The Marlins have a couple of arms that will certainly miss time this year and one more that’s a wild card. Meyer and Bender both underwent Tommy John in August and will miss most of the upcoming campaign. Sanchez underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in October with the club announcing at that time they expected him back by spring. It was reported last month that Sanchez is already throwing bullpens, which perhaps points against an IL stint. However, after the shoulder issues completely wiped out his 2021 and 2022 seasons, it’s hard to know how much to rely on his health going forward.

Danny Mendick

The Mets signed Mendick after he was non-tendered by the White Sox. The infielder/outfielder tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in June of last year and missed the second half of the season. There haven’t been any updates on his status recently, but further clarity will likely come when camp gets rolling.

Tanner Rainey/Stephen Strasburg

The Nationals have one fairly straightforward case in Tanner Rainey, who underwent Tommy John in August and will likely miss most of the upcoming season. What’s less clear is the situation surrounding Strasburg, who’s hardly pitched at all over the past three years due to thoracic outlet syndrome and various issues seemingly related to that. He made one appearance in the big leagues last year, pitching 4 2/3 in one start in June but went on the IL right after and never returned. He spoke about the issue in September, saying he hadn’t thrown in months and that he is “not really sure what the future holds.”

NL Central

Ethan Roberts/Codi Heuer/Kyle Hendricks

Roberts underwent Tommy John in June and likely won’t be available for the Cubs until midseason. Heuer had TJS in March but the latest reporting suggests he won’t return until June or July. The status of Hendricks is less clear, with the righty trying to recover from a capsular tear in his shoulder. The club is hoping to have him back by Opening Day but also said they won’t rush him. He recently said that he’s expecting to be on a mound by March 1.

Vladimir Gutierrez/Tejay Antone

Gutierrez, a Reds righty, underwent Tommy John in July and should miss the first few months of the upcoming season at least. Antone was rehabbing from a Tommy John of his own when he suffered a flexor strain in his forearm. He announced today he’s received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat the issue and suggested he might miss the first half of the season.

Max Kranick

The Pirates right-hander required Tommy John in June and will miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.

NL West

Antonio Senzatela/Tyler Kinley

The Rockies have a couple of murky situations on their hands with these hurlers. Senzatela tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last year and required surgery in August. The timeline at that point was given at 6-8 months, which would place his return somewhere in the February-April window. Whether he’ll require a lengthy IL stint will depend on if his recovery is still on that track. Kinley was diagnosed with an elbow strain and a flexor tear in his forearm in June of last year. He underwent surgery in July with the club announcing they expected him to miss one calendar year, which should prevent him from pitching early in the campaign.

Walker Buehler/Blake Treinen/J.P. Feyereisen

The Dodgers have a trio of pitchers that are likely to miss most or perhaps all of the upcoming season. Buehler required Tommy John in August and could potentially return very late in the year. Treinen underwent shoulder surgery in November with an estimated recovery time of 10 months. Feyereisen underwent shoulder surgery in December and won’t be able to begin throwing until four months after that procedure, or around April. His eventual return to game shape will depend on how long it takes him to progress from simply throwing to getting up to full game speed.

Luke Jackson

The Giants signed the right-hander in free agency, despite Jackson undergoing Tommy John in April. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters last month that there was a chance Jackson begins the year on the 60-day IL, though that doesn’t seem to indicate any kind of setback. “He’s doing great in his rehab, so we’re going to wait and see how he’s doing in spring training,” Zaidi said.

Extension Candidate: Pete Alonso

By | at

The Mets hammered out a multi-year deal with one of their top arbitration-eligible players two weeks ago, guaranteeing Jeff McNeil $50MM to extend their window of control by as much as three seasons. General manager Billy Eppler predictably expressed openness to more deals of that nature. Of the other players on the roster, slugger Pete Alonso stands out as the most obvious candidate.

Alonso would certainly cost more than McNeil. He’s already racked up far greater earnings via the arbitration process and he’s nearly three years younger than his infield mate. While they’re each in the same service window — between four and five years of MLB time — Alonso’s in position to cash in to a much greater extent. If discussions between the Mets and his representatives at Apex Baseball get underway, there’s one obvious recent precedent to kick off discussions: division rival Matt Olson.

Within one day of acquiring Olson from the Athletics last spring, the Braves signed him to an eight-year, $162MM guarantee. The deal also came with what looks to be an affordable club option for a ninth season, an almost universal feature in Atlanta’s pre-free agency extensions. Olson’s nine months older than Alonso; he was entering his age-28 campaign last spring, as the Met is now. They obviously play the same position. Olson was in the same 4-5 year service bucket in which Alonso now finds himself, making for a direct comparison.

How do they align as players? Olson had a down season by his standards during his first year with Atlanta. The Braves couldn’t have known that at the time of his extension, however, so any comparison between the two has to isolate Olson’s production through 2021. At that time, he carried a career .252/.348/.511 line in just under 2400 plate appearances — offense that wRC+ calculated as 32 percentage points above league average after accounting for Oakland’s cavernous ballpark. Alonso has a bit under 2300 career trips to the dish and owns a .261/.349/.535 mark, with that production measured 38 points above par. The latter has a slight edge in power production, hitting home runs in around 6.47% of his career plate appearances against Olson’s nearly even 6% rate through 2021.

The power gap probably isn’t as significant as one might expect given Alonso’s status as a two-time Home Run Derby champion and his MLB-best 53 longballs as a rookie, though. Olson makes hard contact more consistently and hits the ball harder on average than Alonso does. Alonso has been a little better at translating his hard contact into home runs, though they’re each clearly elite power threats.

Both hitters have roughly average bat-to-ball skills. Olson carried a career 23.4% strikeout rate into the 2022 season; Alonso has fanned in 22.1% of his trips to the plate. Olson has a patient approach that gives him a slight edge in walks but it’s again a small gap. There’s also very little difference in their performance the year before hypothetical extension talks. Olson hit .271/.371/.540 with 39 homers and a 16.8% strikeout rate in 2021. Alonso’s coming off a .271/.352/.518 showing with 40 longballs and an 18.7% strikeout percentage. His on-base and slugging marks are a little behind Olson’s from the previous season, though that’s largely explainable by the league drop in offense last year. As measured by wRC+, Alonso’s offensive production was 43 points above par while Olson was 47 points better than average in ’21 — again, a minimal distinction.

Given their similarities as hitters, the Olson deal works as a strong starting point for gauging the terms it might take to keep Alonso. Olson has the advantage as a defender. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner who’d gotten above-average grades from public metrics throughout his career, with Defensive Runs Saved crediting him as +34 runs compared to an average first base defender throughout his time in Oakland. Alonso’s glove isn’t as poor as some evaluators had worried during his prospect days, though public metrics paint him as a slightly below-average first baseman. He’s playable but doesn’t add the kind of value there Olson does.

There’s a reasonable debate as to whether Olson’s superior glove negates Alonso’s slight advantage as a power bat and makes him the better overall player. Alonso has a few financial advantages that might tip the scale in his favor in extension negotiations, however.

Alonso was in a better spot with regards to his final two arbitration years. He and the Mets have already agreed to a $14.5MM salary for the upcoming season; Olson had been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $12MM salary for his second-to-last arbitration year. Considering those salaries escalate year-over-year based in large part on a player’s previous salary, Alonso likely would’ve had a similar edge for their final arbitration seasons. It’s not a huge difference but Alonso would likely have earned around $5-6MM more over his final two arbitration campaigns than Olson would have.

That’s not a factor for the would-be free agent years. Olson will be paid $22MM annually for the six free agent seasons he signed away. Considering Alonso’s a comparatively valuable all-around player, that’s a reasonable starting point. However, Alonso’s camp could get an edge from the spike in spending on star talent from this offseason. The best free agents generally surpassed market expectations. Rafael Devers, meanwhile, signed an extension that pays him $31.35MM for ten free agent seasons (though deferrals knocked its actual value to around $29.15MM).

Alonso isn’t likely to get to Devers money. The Red Sox slugger is two years younger, was a season closer to free agency and has more defensive value in his ability to play third base, at least in the short term. Still, the Devers deal is illustrative of the top of the market pushing up in the past 12 months — last spring, the Red Sox were reportedly pointing to Olson money as a comparable factor in talks with Devers but eventually went way beyond that — and Alonso’s camp could reasonably look for something a bit above the Olson average annual value in talks this spring.

It’s also at least worth considering how hard a bargain the Mets might try to drive in negotiations. Owner Steve Cohen and the front office have shown more willingness than any team the past two years to meet lofty asking prices to add star talent. That’s not universal (see: Jacob deGrom) but the Mets haven’t shown much fear of spending, even in the face of an astronomical luxury tax bill. The Braves have a high payroll but not one wildly different from the rest of the league, and this Atlanta front office has shown a knack for extending players at rates many outside observers find at or below market.

There’s room to tinker on the margins, likely to give Alonso the edge, though the Olson deal should be a starting point in any negotiations. Speculatively speaking, perhaps something in the range of eight years and $180.5MM (including this season’s $14.5MM salary) could be mutually agreeable. That’d tack on $166MM in new money for Alonso’s final arbitration season and six free agent years, running through his age-35 campaign. Estimating his final arbitration year around $22MM, it’d represent a $24MM average annual value for the six would-be free agent seasons. Alonso would move the extension market past a similar player in Olson, while the Mets would be able to keep another star in Queens for the foreseeable future.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Mets Claim Sam Coonrod, Designate Khalil Lee

By | at

The Mets announced that they have claimed right-hander Sam Coonrod off waivers from the Phillies. The righty had been designated for assignment by the Phils last week to create room on their roster for infielder Josh Harrison. To create space on the roster for Coonrod, outfielder Khalil Lee has been designated for assignment.

Coonrod, 30, posted a 5.74 ERA with the Giants in 2019 and 2020 but had a nice breakout in 2021 after getting traded to the Phillies. He threw 42 1/3 innings that year with a 4.04 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate and 57.1% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to keep the momentum of that season going into 2022, getting shut down in Spring Training with a shoulder strain. He eventually returned but posted a 7.82 ERA over 12 appearances down the stretch.

For the Mets, they will be taking a shot on a bounceback from the righty, with reasons to believe that’s possible. There was surely some ill fortune at play in his rough results last year, as his 48.5% strand rate was well below the 72.6% league average. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA had his work graded much lower, coming in at 4.61 and 4.41, respectively. His fastball velocity could also tick up now that he’s further removed from his injury, since it was at 97 mph last year after being between 98 and 99 in the previous two years.

Coonrod has an option and won’t even need to be guaranteed an active roster spot, allowing him to serve as depth in the minors until needed on the big league club. The club’s bullpen chart is topped by Edwin Díaz, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson and Brooks Raley, while Coonrod will be trying to earn a spot further down against guys like Drew Smith, John Curtiss, Stephen Nogosek and others.

Lee, 25 in June, has served as an optionable depth outfielder for the club recently, getting into 13 MLB games in the past two seasons. He spent most of last year at Triple-A, hitting .211/.326/.366 for a wRC+ of 89 in 100 games. Last week, it was reported that he’s under investigation by Major League Baseball under the league’s domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. His ex-girlfriend filed a federal lawsuit that alleges that Lee assaulted her physically and verbally in May of last year.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported the transactions prior to the official announcements.

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

By | at

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.

If you’re a current or former MLB player, join us for a one-hour live chat!  It’s easy and fun and you get to choose which questions you publish and answer.  Click here to contact us.

Mets To Hire Carlos Beltran As Special Assistant To The GM

By | at

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.

Mets Prospect Matt Allan Undergoes UCL Revision Surgery

By | at

Matt Allan’s wretched run of injuries has continued, with the Mets announcing their pitching prospect underwent UCL revision surgery last month. The recovery typically has a similar timeframe to Tommy John surgery, which Allan was just recovering from, meaning he’ll likely miss the entire 2023 campaign and possibly some of the 2024 season as well.

It’s been a brutal run for Allan, 22 in April, since being drafted out of high school in the third round of the 2019 draft. The 10 1/3 innings he pitched in 2019 mark the only innings he’s thrown as a pro, meaning he’s now set to go four straight seasons without throwing a pitch in a game.

First, the 2020 minor league season was cancelled due to the pandemic, then Allan underwent Tommy John surgery at the start of the 2021 season – a year in which he featured on a number of publication’s top-100 prospect lists. That sat him out for the remainder of the season and most of 2022, and while he was recovering well from Tommy John surgery, he underwent ulnar nerve transposition surgery in January of 2022 to further setback his recovery.

He did indeed miss the entire 2022 season, and now will miss the entire 2023 season as well. Baseball America still had him as their tenth-ranked prospect in the Mets system this winter, and their third-ranked pitcher.

Quick Hits: Narvaez, Gallo, Monfort, Tatis Jr., Mets

By | at

Omar Narvaez signed a one-year, $8MM deal (with a $7MM player option for 2024) with the Mets just before Christmas, and Will Sammon of The Athletic shed a little more light on the market for the veteran backstop before he eventually wound up in New York. Sammon notes that the Giants strongly considered a move for Narvaez while the Twins, Tigers and Reds all had varying levels of interest.

The Giants have since inked Roberto Perez, the Reds are set with the trio of Tyler Stephenson, Curt Casali and Luke Maile while the Twins signed Christian Vazquez to the position. The Tigers are an interesting one though, as they’ve only added Triple-A backstop Donny Sands in a trade with the Phillies. They’re set to use some combination of Eric Haase, Jake Rogers and Sands in 2023 but it’s interesting to hear they were at least interested in a higher profile addition there this winter. If they do still look to add an external catcher, Gary Sanchez, Robinson Chirinos and Kevin Plawecki are the remaining notable catchers on the market.

Here’s some more bits and pieces from around baseball:

  • Joey Gallo could be set to see a bit of time at first base in 2023. As Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic noted in a recent mailbag, Gallo could well be the back up first baseman to Alex Kirilloff. That’s not to say Gallo will be on the bench, as the former Ranger, Yankee and Dodger will get plenty of reps in the outfield, but if Kirilloff’s struggles extend into 2023 the Twins could utilize Gallo a fair bit at the position. He rates well as a defender in the outfield, and has made just one appearance at first since 2018 but he’s also graded out solidly defensively at first in his time there.
  • Rockies owner Dick Monfort made headlines recently when he boldly stated he thought the Rockies could play .500 ball this season. That’d be a big ask in a competitive NL West, and the Rockies have done little to improve on their 68-94 record in 2022. Whatever record they wind up with this year, Monfort – in an interview with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post – said they wouldn’t go down the rebuilding path: “I guess the connotation on rebuilding is you just get rid of everybody. You try to draft low, which we’re not [going to do]. We’re not trying to get the first pick. We’re not going to tank. We never have, never will,” Monfort said.
  • With the Padres adding Xander Bogaerts on a long-term deal and still having Manny Machado under contract for at least the next season, the left side of their infield appears set. Of course, that led to an expectation that Fernando Tatis Jr. would head to the outfield moving forward. That still looks to be the case, although the player didn’t commit to a position and said he’s been working out in both the infield and outfield this winter (via Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Tribune-Review). It’s been a challenging few seasons for Tatis, but he also added that he’s feeling “as close to 100%” as he’s been the past few seasons after dealing with wrist and shoulder injuries, and is expecting to be a full participant in spring training.
  • Sammon’s report in The Athletic also includes details on the Mets plans for Tylor Megill and David Peterson. Both players figure to be in and around the team at some stage over the course of the season, but Sammon reports that the team’s ideal scenario would be to have both players go to Triple-A to start the season and work as starters there, rather than starting the season in the big league bullpen. Of course, injuries in the spring could force one or both of them into rotation spots to begin the season anyway, but it seems the Mets are hoping to avoid using them in relief roles to begin the season.

Big Hype Prospects: Cowser, Bleday, Alvarez, Outman, Steer

By | at

Pitchers and catchers report in 10 days, at which point we’ll have more to discuss in virtually every facet of the sport. Until then, let’s review more prospects tangentially connected to the news. Today’s episode coincidentally includes a number of left-handed hitters with holes in their swing.

Five BHPs In The News

Colton Cowser, 22, OF, BAL (AAA)
(A+/AA/AAA) 626 PA, 19 HR, 18 SB, .278/.406/.469

In a recent radio spot, Orioles general manager Mike Elias indicated a belief Cowser will debut later this season. A recent review of the Baltimore farm system published by FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen offers modest cause for concern. There are now questions about Cowser’s ability to perform against low-in-the-zone breaking balls and inside fastballs. Those are two very large holes for a big league hitter, indicating Cowser might require a carefully managed role once he is promoted. The lower-half stiffness noted by Longenhagen is a new issue and might relate to the workload Cowser shouldered last season. In order to improve and adjust, Cowser could require a long stint in Triple-A.

JJ Bleday, 25, OF, MIA (MLB)
(MLB) 238 PA, 5 HR, 4 SB, .167/.277/.309

The left-handed hitting slugger has two massive issues to overcome – a weakness against up-and-away fastballs and a pulled, fly-ball-oriented approach lacking in high-quality exit velocities. Both issues were on full display in Bleday’s first season, and he has used up his rookie eligibility. Bleday is currently expected to compete with Jesus Sanchez and Bryan De La Cruz for playing time in left field. Unless he improves upon both shortcomings, the former fourth-overall pick will be limited to heavily scripted usage against right-handed sinkerballers. Achieving such an adjustment will likely require a new swing and a return to Triple-A to digest the changes.

Francisco Alvarez, 21, C, NYM (MLB)
(AA/AAA) 411 PA, 27 HR, .260/.374/.511

A burly backstop who frequently draws hitting comps to Salvador Perez, Alvarez will need to play his way onto an Opening Day roster that already includes catchers Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido. While neither player is expected to block Alvarez, he also has a second pathway onto the roster – designated hitter. As we learned yesterday, the Mets are carrying a veteran tandem of Daniel Vogelbach, Darin Ruf, and Tommy Pham in part to leave a door open for Alvarez and Brett Baty (covered last week) to get at-bats as part of the revolving door at DH.

As a hitter, Alvarez appears primed for the Show. There is near-term concern about his rate of contact and occasional lapses into over-selectivity. Even so, these are small issues to polish rather than fatal flaws.

James Outman, 25, OF, LAD (MLB)
(AA/AAA) 559 PA, 31 HR, 13 SB, .294/.393/.586

Although the Dodgers have made peace with crossing the first luxury tax threshold, they’ve done little to fortify their left field mix. Outman will compete with the likes of Chris Taylor and Jason Heyward for a regular role this spring. Outman’s approach could serve as a roadmap for Bleday. The left-handed hitting Outman makes frequently pulled, fly ball contact, but he isn’t nearly as extreme as the similarly built Marlins outfielder. Outman also consistently delivers line drives which allows him to post above-average BABIPs. Toss in above-average plate discipline, and he has a chance to hit for average, OBP, and power despite expectations of a 30 percent strikeout rate.

Spencer Steer, 25, 3B, CIN (MLB)
(AA/AAA) 427 PA, 23 HR, 4 SB, .274/.364/.515

Acquired as part of the return in the Tyler Mahle trade, Steer looks the part of a future second-division starter or frequently-used utility man. The Reds are in a year of transition with Steer eyeing a role as the regular third baseman. Long-term, he’ll need to contend with the likes of Elly De La Cruz, Edwin Arroyo, Noelvi Marte, and Matt McLain – whichever among those doesn’t take over at shortstop. Steer is considered a well-rounded hitter with a feel for contact, above-average plate discipline, and an ability to pop mistakes. The cozy confines of Great American Ballpark should help his power production. One question he’ll need to answer relates to his consistency of contact quality. In a 108-plate appearance trial last season, Steer posted an 84.7-mph average and 104.4-mph max exit velocity, which were well below Major League average.

Three More

George Valera, CLE (22): After managing a league-average batting line at Triple-A last season, Valera is on pace to debut at some point in 2023. He won’t be making the Opening Day roster due to a recent hamate injury. Such injuries are hard to predict, as the recovery is speedy in some cases, but some players are left with lesser bat control for weeks or months after returning. Occasionally, as with Alex Kirilloff, a secondary issue can linger indefinitely.

Kyle Stowers, BAL (25): Currently in the outfield and designated hitter mix for Baltimore, Stowers has a brief window to cement a role as a righty-masher before a flood of high-ceiling prospects joins the roster. Stowers is patient, strikeout-prone, and powerful, rendering him a Three True Outcomes option. Such hitters are volatile as they’re heavily reliant on hitting home runs at just the right time.

Grayson Rodriguez, BAL (23): General manager Mike Elias reiterated his belief that Rodriguez will make the Opening Day rotation. There’s still the messy part of actually navigating Spring Training, especially since Rodriguez’s stuff had declined at last look, though he was returning from a lat injury at the time. Even the September version of Rodriguez looked like a future rotation mainstay.

Mets Notes: Senga, DH, McNeil, Extensions

By | at

One of the bigger moves of the Mets’ active offseason was the signing of starter Kodai Senga to a five-year, $75MM guarantee. The 30-year-old righty is making the jump from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he posted a 2.59 ERA across 11 seasons. Senga was one of the highest-upside hurlers available in free agency, though there’s naturally some amount of performance risk until he translates his production against MLB competition.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports the Mets also expressed some concern about Senga’s medical evaluations before finalizing the contract in December. Further details aren’t clear, though Heyman notes Mets personnel have expressed confidence in Senga’s health prognosis for the upcoming season. That’s hardly surprising, as whatever concerns the organization had raised didn’t deter them from agreeing to the fourth-largest deal for a free agent pitcher this offseason. That contract also affords Senga an opportunity to opt out and retest the market after the 2025 season, though the Associated Press reports that’s contingent on the righty throwing a combined 400 innings over the next three years.

In other news out of Queens:

  • The Mets never pursued a full-time designated hitter upgrade this offseason partially out of a desire to preserve a path to at-bats for their younger hitters, writes Andy Martino of SNY. Top prospects Francicso Álvarez and Brett Baty each reached the majors late in the 2022 season. Each is a polished hitter but faces questions about their defense at catcher and third base, respectively. That’s also true of corner infielder Mark Vientos, who’s not quite the same caliber of prospect as Álvarez or Baty but earned an MLB look with a .280/.358/.519 showing at Triple-A Syracuse. Martino suggests the Mets aren’t likely to give them early-season looks at DH in hopes of each continuing to show progress defensively, though there could be a path to bat-only reps later in the year — or for veteran Eduardo Escobar to slide to DH if Baty seized the third base job at some point. Lefty-swinging veteran Daniel Vogelbach earned the larger share of a DH platoon to open the year with an excellent .261/.382/.497 showing against righties anyhow. Offseason signee Tommy Pham or last summer’s deadline pickup Darin Ruf are righty bats who could shoulder the load against southpaws. Ruf’s second-half struggles give Pham the upper hand in that regard, but Martino writes the Mets are at least likely to carry Ruf on the roster into Spring Training.
  • New York locked up one of their homegrown stars last Friday, signing Jeff McNeil to a four-year, $50MM extension to potentially buy out a trio of free agent years. General manager Billy Eppler addressed the deal earlier this week, expressing broad openness to negotiations with other important players who are early in their careers (link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). First baseman Pete Alonso is the most logical candidate for those kinds of talks as he enters his penultimate season of arbitration control, though neither Eppler nor Alonso’s representatives at Apex Baseball have indicated publicly whether discussions might take place over the coming weeks. Discussions with McNeil, at least, were a long time running before culminating in a deal. Will Sammon of the Athletic reports Eppler and McNeil’s camp at Paragon Sports International first opened extension talks in November 2021, just before the lockout froze communications between teams and 40-man roster players until March.

Mets Sign DJ Stewart To Minor League Contract

By | at

The Mets announced a number of non-roster Spring Training invitations this evening. Among those included was corner outfielder DJ Stewart, indicating he’s signed a minor league contract with the club.

Stewart joins the second organization of his career. A first-round selection of the Orioles in 2015, he hit well in the minors and reached the big leagues roughly three years after being drafted. Stewart appeared in parts of five seasons with the O’s, working mostly as a role playing left-handed bat in the outfield rotation. He played in 100 games and tallied 318 plate appearances in 2021 but otherwise didn’t top 44 MLB contests in any season.

Altogether, Stewart has taken 622 trips to the dish at the big league level. In a bit more than one season’s worth of playing time, he’s hit 26 home runs and walked at an excellent 13.2% clip. That’s been largely offset by a higher than average 26.8% strikeout percentage and a modest .256 batting average on balls in play. Overall, he owns a .213/.327/.400 line against MLB pitching. He has rated as a below-average defender in both left and right field.

Baltimore outrighted the 29-year-old off their 40-man roster last April after he’d tallied just three big league plate appearances on the season. He was on and off the minor league injured list throughout the remainder of the year, only getting into 29 games for Triple-A Norfolk. He hit .256/.390/.488 in limited action for the Tides, bringing his career Triple-A mark up to .255/.358/.449 in a little under 900 plate appearances.

Stewart brings a patient plate approach and some power upside to the Mets’ organization. He joins Tim Locastro, Abraham Almonte and former Reds’ farmhand Lorenzo Cedrola among non-roster outfielders who’ll be in big league camp. If Stewart gets to the 40-man roster at any point, the Mets could bounce him between Flushing and Triple-A Syracuse for the rest of the season by virtue of his remaining minor league option year.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top