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AL West Notes: Iwakuma, Bassitt, Altuve

By Mark Polishuk | March 18, 2018 at 10:44pm CDT

Some notes from around the AL West…

  • Mariners manager Scott Servais is hopeful that Hisashi Iwakuma can throw a bullpen session before the end of Spring Training, Servais told MLB.com’s Greg Johns (Twitter link) and other reporters.  Iwakuma is roughly expected to return by late May or early June, as the veteran righty continues his recovery from undergoing shoulder surgery last September.  Iwakuma re-signed with Seattle on a minor league deal, giving the M’s a potential extra bit of rotation depth once he is fully healthy.
  • The Athletics optioned right-hander Chris Bassitt to Triple-A today in the wake of a rough Spring Training, though Bassitt told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he believes a lack of communication about his role contributed to his 7.11 ERA over 6 1/3 IP.  According to Bassitt, “I was told coming into camp I was going to compete for a starting spot and never got a single chance…It’s hard to prepare when you don’t know what you’re preparing for. Anyone just wants to know what they’re expecting out of you and so far no one can really answer that yet.”  Bassitt said he was willing to pitch in whatever role the A’s wanted, except he just wanted more notice and more clarity about that role.  “The way my mechanics are, I pretty much have to go out of the stretch when I come out of the bullpen, and I wasn’t prepared to be a reliever, I really wasn’t. It’s frustrating all around that wasn’t relayed to me all offseason,” he said.  Oakland manager Bob Melvin said he felt the team “tried to intimate that to” Bassitt that he would be deployed in an undefined role as a swingman, long reliever, or starter depending on the situation.  Bassitt last pitched in the majors in April 2016, as he was sidelined for much of that season due to Tommy John surgery, and he tossed 50 2/3 innings in the minors in 2017.
  • Though Jose Altuve’s five-year, $151MM extension doesn’t begin until the 2020 season, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards believes the Astros aren’t facing too much risk in locking up the star second baseman.  Comparing the Altuve deal to other extensions of five-plus years for players who were at least two seasons away from free agency, Altuve is younger than three of the names cited (Miguel Cabrera, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Howard) and is coming off a much better platform year than Ryan Zimmerman when he inked his six-year, $100MM pact with the Nationals.  The best comp might actually be Joey Votto’s ten-year, $225MM extension from the Reds, though Houston’s commitment to Altuve was only half as long.  Since Altuve still projects to be an excellent player going forward, the extension also shouldn’t be considered a “gift” — as in, the Astros weren’t simply giving him a make-good deal since his original extension proved to be such an incredible bargain for the team.
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Chris Bassitt Hisashi Iwakuma Houston Astros Jose Altuve Oakland Athletics Seattle Mariners

NL West Notes: Greinke, Thompson, Dodgers, Shaw
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Quick Hits: Extensions, Rizzo, Cardinals, Kelly
23 comments
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Comments

  1. AstrosWS20

    3 years ago

    Can I get a $151 million gift? How about $151.00? $1.51?

    4 Like
    Reply
    • wrigleywannabe

      3 years ago

      No, but if you are an elite baseball player, you might get a contract b

      Like
      Reply
    • joshua.barron1

      3 years ago

      Maybe if you provided your employer with $500mm in value, then you would get $151mm gift yea. Ever heard of this thing called a salary?

      Like
      Reply
  2. oaksbossko

    3 years ago

    If the A’s still had an option with bassitt, they should of just told him to work out of a starter.

    Like
    Reply
  3. oaksbossko

    3 years ago

    If the A’s still had a option with bassitt, they should of just told him to work out as a starter.

    Like
    Reply
    • ellisburks

      3 years ago

      Try a third time, you might get it right. “Should have”.

      5 Like
      Reply
      • oaksbossko

        3 years ago

        I’m sorry grammar police. Whenever I post a comment, it doubles it.

        Like
        Reply
        • wrigleywannabe

          3 years ago

          Nothing was doubled. They aren’t the same comment.

          5 Like
          Reply
      • oaksbossko

        3 years ago

        Also, that’s such a minuscule error to judge me for.

        Like
        Reply
        • migg

          3 years ago

          2 errors….and english is not even my first language

          3 Like
          Reply
        • oaksbossko

          3 years ago

          And you did not capitalize English, and you did not place a period at the end of your statement.

          Like
          Reply
        • oaksbossko

          3 years ago

          This is baseball, not English class. Get over yourselves.

          Like
          Reply
        • brucewayne

          3 years ago

          Exactly ! This grammar

          Like
          Reply
        • brucewayne

          3 years ago

          and punctuation crap is ridiculous ! Get a life nerds!

          Like
          Reply
        • rbgraf

          3 years ago

          Gibberish is the new English!

          Like
          Reply
        • tedbow00

          3 years ago

          I absolutely love when the comment section turns into the Grammar Olympics. Everyone battling to see who will come out on top, it’s riveting. Gentlemen, you’re all winners!

          Like
          Reply
      • oaksbossko

        3 years ago

        The period is supposed to be inside the quotation mark, not outside.

        Like
        Reply
  4. NickM18

    3 years ago

    Genoa Ohio

    Like
    Reply
  5. Mbutler88

    3 years ago

    Jeez. At least when Tyler Cravy lashed out in spring he had good numbers to back him. 7.11 era is no bueno buddy.

    Like
    Reply
    • wrigleywannabe

      3 years ago

      I’d hardly call this lashing out.

      1 Like
      Reply
  6. stubby66

    3 years ago

    Uh oh did Bassitt just do the Tyler Cravy kiss of death lol

    Like
    Reply
  7. arc89

    3 years ago

    lame excuse by Bassit to pretend he didn’t know he was trying out for the bullpen. Nothing melvin has said from the beginning of spring training said he was part of the rotation. He was a long shot on making the starting staff. Go down to the minors and make them have to bring you up. To complain that it was because of a undefined role is weak when you were trying to make the team in any way possible.

    2 Like
    Reply
    • justin-turner overdrive

      3 years ago

      God, stop homering for 5 seconds and realize that if a team tells you to get ready to be a SP and you do that and then never start an actual game, that’s on the team. Melvin is washed up as a manager and needs to go.

      The A’s are NOT a well-run team despite how badly you want them to be and Bassit’s claims are more than valid. Ryan Christenson will hopefully change this for them, but the A’s constantly make the wrong moves, A great example of this will be the number of times Olson will hit in the 2-spot this season and how many times he hits in the 5 spot. Just watch. Despite every other team in MLB realizing you hit your best guy 2, the A’s won’t. Melvin is just a clueless manager nowadays. He got too old and the game passed him by.

      1 Like
      Reply

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