FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported Saturday that Braves utilityman Sean Rodriguez will miss three to five months as a result of shoulder surgery stemming from a January car crash. But Atlanta expected Rodriguez to be ready for spring training as recently as Friday morning, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, who notes that newfound concerns over his health helped lead to the team’s acquisition of second baseman Brandon Phillips (Twitter links). David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution classifies Rodriguez’s situation as “not good,” meanwhile, and backs up Rosenthal in reporting that he could sit out most or all of the season.
Now the latest from Boston:
- Along with Eduardo Rodriguez, Red Sox hurlers Steven Wright and Drew Pomeranz are set to vie for the fifth spot in the club’s rotation this spring, but it could be at least a week before the latter two are ready to throw off a mound, manager John Farrell revealed Sunday (via Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald). Wright still hasn’t returned to full strength since suffering a right shoulder injury as a pinch-runner last August, while Pomeranz received a stem cell injection on his ailing left elbow in October. Rodriguez hurt his right knee in December, but he got a clean bill of health in a recent checkup, per Ian Browne of MLB.com.
- On the offensive end, the Red Sox didn’t attempt to replace retired designated hitter David Ortiz with another big bat in the offseason. Farrell explained why Sunday, telling reporters – including Scott Lauber of ESPN.com – that the team didn’t want to make a long-term commitment to a right-handed-hitting veteran and block prospect Sam Travis. The Red Sox instead wanted a lefty-swinger, which led them to reel in Mitch Moreland on a one-year, $5.5MM deal. Moreland is no Ortiz, of course, but Farrell regards the longtime Ranger as an “ideal fit” for the Red Sox considering both his handedness and defensive prowess. Boston still feels it’ll have a high-end offense without Ortiz, so it prioritized upgrading its defense and went after Moreland.
It really sucks if Sean has to miss most of the season, however, this all but confirms we will see Albies as soon as the All star break.
I’m predicting late-May right after Super Two Deadline
Did you miss that the Braves got Phillips? Albies probably won’t get a call up until September unless something happens to Phillips and/or Swanson.
Yes, I understand Phillips was signed. The Braves clearly have their eyes set to call him up this season. Given their lack of a good third baseman currently, it wouldn’t surprise me if at some point they allow Phillips to play third, so they can give Albies second. This whole, “Phillips agreed to the trade because the Braves promised him more playing time” reenforces my point even more. If need be, they will let him play third. Who knows! Garcia is replaceable!
Traded for*
Haha RIP!
Real talk, MLBTR needs to increase the edit timer a bit!
Phillips was moved off short in the minors because of a weak arm. There’s no way the Braves are going to play him at third.
Last year I think was more of a need, with Jace not doing well. If Phillips performs at replacement level, I think they’ll leave him down in AAA until September.
Jace hit as well as Phillips did last season, so if the Braves were worried about Pettersons lack of production they sure picked an odd target…
Dude, let it go already. Phillips is not comparable to Peterson.
Let it go? He’s absolutely correct. Peterson was slightly better offensively than Phillips was last year.
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&…
Peterson is nothing more than a bench/utility player right now. Phillips is clearly no longer a top second baseman, but he is still a better overall player than Peterson and more importantly, proven. But i honestly don’t care to argue the point because both play for the same team. I’m happy about the stopgap trade.
You don’t seem to know (or want to admit) much about Phillips…
.315 wOBA, 92 wRC+ – BP in 2016
.310 wOBA, 92 wRC+ – BP combined 2013 to 2016
He just isnt the hitter you Atlanta fans want to act like he is, or at least hasn’t been for the last 4 years (hence the Reds being on the verge of straight cutting him)
Meanwhile, in his sophomore season at the age of 26,
.317 wOBA, 95 wRC+ – Jace 2016
…sorry you don’t like it, but it’s just the facts…
Atlanta seemed pretty happy with Adonis on 3b.
.290 wOBA, 79 wRC+ – Jace Peterson 2014-2016.
.299 wOBA, 83 wRC+ – JP 2016 Steamer Projection
.299 wOBA, 83 wRC+ – BP 2016 Steamer Projection
Peterson had a solid 2016, but that’s not the player he is, IMO, and that should not be expected again. I believe his true talent level to be around the 83 wRC+ he’s projected for. I think Phillips, while declining with both the glove and bat, is, at this point, a better option as an everyday player than Peterson Peterson is best suited as a utility player, IMO.
Many Atlanta fans are thinking they are getting the 2011 version of Brandon Phillips, but that’s just not reasonable. But even this average or slightly below average version of Brandon Phillips, for $1M and two fringe minor leaguers? All. Day. Long.
Peterson has all of 2 seasons and a cup-of-coffee (less than 2 years of PAs total) under his belt – to post career numbers as if its meaningful is a joke. Most players struggle at least one of their first 2 years, he is no different
Now what is his actual talent level? We dont know for absolute sure, but we do know he has already out-hit Phillips once and considering that alternative is a 36 YO who is arguably already the worst hitting 2B in the game and was quite possibly going to get released by his old club…
But honestly, this really says it all;
“.299 wOBA, 83 wRC+ – JP 2016 Steamer Projection
.299 wOBA, 83 wRC+ – BP 2016 Steamer Projection”
So not only was Peterson a bit better bat than Phillips last season, he’s projected to be equal to him next year as well – and unlike Phillips, Peterson actually comes with something resembling both upside and a future in the game
So you play Jace and he hits then you have a young, controllable trade commodity on your hands – he doesnt hit and you still get Phillips level production anyway, so no loss. BP is likely playing his last season in the majors though, and apparently is only willing to play down the street from his home. He is nothing more than a complete waste all around.
I think you guys are blowing this out of proportion. The braves traded two non prospects for Phillips. If he doesn’t work out, they are only paying him 1 mil so it’s not out of the realm of possibility he gets cut or traded whenever Albies is ready. If he performs well, great.
Wright STILL hasn’t recovered? What did he do? Separate his shoulder? Tear a labrum? Rotator cuff? Pomeranz is a Tommy John waiting to happen. Reminds me of John Lackey and his year of trying to pitch through an elbow injury.
Wow that Rodriguez crash situation is so messed up.
Prayers for he and his family. What a tough break
I agree. It’s especially horrible for him considering he’s coming off his best offensive season to date. I hope him and the rest of his family fully recover.
Pomeranz will spend much of this year on the DL, circumstances point to same. I still marvel at Farrell’s stupidity in choosing Wright to pinch run, though never did I figure Wright would be laid up this long. Wright needs to be in the rotation, knuckleball relievers are a bad idea. Rodriguez has tools, but needs to string together some positive, healthy momentum. The Sox top three are good enough to sustain some early 4th-5th starter growing pains, but not over 162 games.
How’s Sean Rodriguez family doing? Are they all okay? Last I heard I thought someone was critical.
Prayers to him and his family. Such a terrible thing to happen.
Won’t two of Pomeranz, Rodriguez and Wright be in the rotation behind Sale, Price and Porcello? Why does the article say they will all be vying for the 5th spot?
#4 could be in play different ways.. Wright is it obviously, but if he’s unavailable somehow opening day? Pomeranz and Wright have both pitched successfully in relief, Rodriquez has never pitched in relief professionally. He stays on 25 man roster and pretty sure either Wright/Pomeranz goes to pen, tho Wright was the best of the trio. Rodriquez is the ONLY one with MiLB options left however (2), so that, IMO is the answer to start the season, as bad as it may be.
Best option is (my opinion here) start season with Pomeranz on the DL by citing some concerns over his elbow after working him in relief all spring. He’s not the top flight AL starter they thought he was, but probably would be of use in the pen
What gets me is why they didn’t send him back to San Diego when they had a chance. They already have so many lefties, they really don’t need another. Never mind the fact that his elbow isn’t in the best of shape.
If DD was willing to trade Espinoza & Moncada he should have passed on Hill and Pomerantz last June and instead sent Espinoza, Moncada, & both Basbes to the WS for Sale and Frazier. No need to sign Moreland and no commitment to Frazier past 2017. They would have had a better chance in both 2016 &2017.
It would have created a roster crunch for the Red Sox. It was after the trade deadline. They probably figured pomeranz, even hurt, was better than whoever was in AAA for them.
If the accident happened in january, why did it take until now for them to realize how seriously he was injured? Had he just not told them, was it not painful and went undetected, or were there further complications? Attempting to click on the ken rosenthal thing in this just links to the other bphil thread. Is there a story out there that explains this situation better?
I don’t know about any further facts, but from my own experience when someone is in this kind of accident everything hurts. It is only after a period of time that it becomes evident that a particular injury is not getting better. The doctor then does extensive tests that show injuries not revealed by routine x-rays.
Rodriguez is a true turd, but you don’t like to see that happen to even the worst of guys. Hope his family is okay.
You don’t replace a David Ortiz