The big story of the day is the Matt Harvey inning debacle. The Marlins intend to avoid a similar issue with their ace Jose Fernandez. Another Scott Boras client, Fernandez returned from Tommy John surgery earlier this season. He’s currently sidelined with a biceps strain. The club expects him to make a couple more starts to close out the season. Over the winter, a suitable plan of action will be put in place to best serve Fernandez and the Marlins.
- Padres starter Josh Johnson has had a setback in his rehab, reports Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. We learned on Thursday that the oft-injured righty was ready for a rehab assignment. That lasted just four pitches before elbow or forearm discomfort forced him to leave the game. We can probably assume Johnson won’t appear in the majors this season. He’s a free agent after the season.
- The Braves will have “more flexibility” to spend on free agents this winter, assistant GM John Coppolella tells David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We’ll have even more [money] in 2017,” per Coppolella. The Braves are currently suffering through an ugly rebuilding process. At one point this season, they were dark horse contenders in a weird NL East. After a 12-39 plunge since July 7, the club is now just 1.5 games ahead of the basement-dwelling Phillies. Based solely on recent performance, the Braves might be the odds on favorites to land the first pick in the 2016 draft. The club is opening their new stadium in 2017 so it’s no surprised to see their decisions geared a couple years down the line.
Marlins best be careful not to count on Fernandez next year…..
Over last winter, a suitable plan of action was put in place to best serve Harvey and the Mets. The plan changed on September 4, on a team fighting to get into the playoffs.
I looked up “Setback” in the encyclopedia………and they had Josh Johnson’s picture posted there……..LOL.
Braves having “more money” doesn’t necessarily mean that they will “make the right choices”……..their track record is the opposite of that.
Their track record not under John Hart means nothing.
What does bad signings by Frank Wren have anything to do with the current Braves? Markakis could thought to be an overpay, but he’s provided above-average hitting and fielding with almost no power, which was expected with his neck injury. Jim Johnson, Jason Grilli, AJ Pierzynski were all great deals that could have been even better if all were flipped for prospects (Grilli was hurt before he could be, Braves opted to keep Pierzynski, Johnson traded to LAD (where he has imploded). Honestly, that’s a pretty good track record in a small sample size. I would expect similar smart deals, though I wouldn’t doubt being interested in aces Price/Greinke, considering they’ve shown interest in ATL in the past, and being from the area.
“Padres starter Josh Johnson has had a setback in his rehab.” In other news, water is still wet, and the earth revolves around the sun.