The latest noteworthy roster decisions across Major League Baseball as Opening Day draws ever closer…
- The Brewers announced that they’ve selected the contract of Ji-Man Choi, who’ll make their Opening Day roster. (Sung Min Kim of Fangraphs and River Ave. Blues first tweeted that Choi had made the roster.) That means both Choi and the out-of-options Jesus Aguilar will make a roster which also includes first base options Eric Thames and Ryan Braun. However, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel points out (via Twitter), the composition is likely to change quickly — possibly as soon as Friday. Choi has an option remaining, Haudricourt notes. More interestingly, Haudricourt adds that the Brew Crew is pursuing an external pitching addition, and if said move goes through, then Choi could quickly be optioned to Colorado Springs to clear a 25-man roster spot. Also of particular note for the Brewers is that Wade Miley was reassigned to minor league camp and won’t be making the club.
Earlier Decisions & Moves
- The White Sox have selected the contract of left-hander Hector Santiago, giving them a full 40-man roster, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times was among those to report on Twitter. In other moves, the club sent southpaw Carlos Rodon (left shoulder rehabilitation) and catcher Kevan Smith (left ankle sprain) to the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26. Santiago will now officially begin his second major league stint as a member of the White Sox, with whom he started his career in 2011 and stayed with through 2013. Santiago was successful during that span, but his career has trended downward lately – particularly last season as a Twin – which prevented him from landing a major league contract over the winter. The minors deal the 30-year-old signed with Chicago includes a $2MM salary in the bigs, which he’s now in position to earn. Santiago’s a longtime starter, but he’ll open 2018 in the Sox’s bullpen.
- The Dodgers have optioned outfielder Andrew Toles, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). Toles’ demotion means Joc Pederson is likely to be the Dodgers’ Opening Day left fielder, DiGiovanna notes. Toles had been part of a crowded corner outfield battle during spring action alongside Pederson, Matt Kemp, Enrique Hernandez, Alex Verdugo and the just-jettisoned Trayce Thompson. The fact that Toles had options remaining – unlike the expensive, apparently immovable Kemp – probably didn’t do him any favors in his bid to make the Dodgers. The 25-year-old Toles has been successful in Los Angeles since debuting in 2016, having batted .294/.341/.483 with 2.1 fWAR n 217 plate appearances. He missed all but 31 games last season, though, after suffering a torn ACL in May.
- Outfielders Gregor Blanco and Gorkys Hernandez will open the season with the Giants, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The Giants signed Blanco, 34, to a minors pact back in January. Per that deal, he’ll earn a $1MM salary in the majors and have a chance at $500K in incentives in San Francisco, with which he previously played from 2012-16 and won a pair of World Series. Hernandez is out of options, so he was also in a do-or-die position this spring. The 30-year-old rose to the challenge, though he’ll surely need to improve on last season’s showing (.255/.327/.326 line with no home runs in 348 PAs) to keep his roster spot for all of 2018.
- Outfielder Matt Szczur and righty Jordan Lyles will be part of the Padres’ Opening Day roster, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets. The out-of-options Szczur, 28, will continue to provide outfield depth in San Diego after coming over in a trade with the Cubs last summer. Lyles, meanwhile, spent a bit of time with the Padres in 2017 and then re-signed on a major league contract in the offseason. The deal also features a club option for 2019 for Lyles, who’ll begin the year in the Friars’ bullpen. Having pitched to a 5.43 ERA/4.55 FIP across 681 combined innings (182 appearances, 107 starts) with the Astros, Rockies and Padres, Lyles hasn’t lived up to the billing he had as a prospect. He’s still just 27, however.
- Catchers A.J. Ellis and Raffy Lopez will also be on the Padres’ roster, the team announced. Those two and starter Austin Hedges will give the Padres three backstops on their 25-man roster. Ellis, an established veteran backup, is now set to make $1.25MM after signing a minor league deal in the offseason. The 30-year-old Lopez, who brings just 83 PAs of MLB experience, also signed a minors pact over the winter.
- The Marlins will add catcher Bryan Holaday to their 40- and 25-man rosters, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Holaday, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason. He’ll be one of three catchers on their season-opening roster, joining Tomas Telis (out of options) and Chad Wallach, son of bench coach Tim Wallach. It’s not an ideal setup for Miami, which won’t have standout starter J.T. Realmuto at the outset of the season. Realmuto is on the DL with a bone bruise.
- The Twins will roster outfielder Ryan LaMarre to open the year, Phil Miller of the Star Tribune tweets. LaMarre, an offseason minor league signee of the Twins, spent last year with the Triple-A affiliates of the Angels and Athletics, combining for a meager .628 OPS. He’s a lifetime .268/.335/.388 hitter at the Triple-A level (954 PAs) who has seen very brief MLB action with the Reds, Red Sox and A’s.
- The Tigers announced that they’ve selected infielder Niko Goodrum’s contract, which puts their 40-man roster at capacity. Goodrum, who signed a minors deal with Detroit in November, spent 2010-17 with the Minnesota organization and batted .250/.333/.379 in 2,796 minor league PAs. He saw minimal big league action with the club (18 PAs, all of which came last season).
- The Mariners made the DL placements of Erasmo Ramirez, Ben Gamel and David Phelps official, and they also announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Casey Lawrence, who will return to the team after spending parts of the 2017 campaign on Seattle’s big league roster. The M’s also optioned infielder/outfielder Taylor Motter to Triple-A Tacoma.
Ha. Great picture.
Niko Goodrum was a September call up last year for the Twins
HATE the Padres wasting a roster spot with a third catcher…. AGAIN. The “AJ Ellis may not hit well, but has good defense and is good with a young pitching staff” excuse is absolute garbage. Isn’t that pretty much what hedges is?!?! A defensive catcher who struggles to hit .220?? And Ellis is gonna help with a young staff?? WHAT YOUNG STAFF? Clayton Richard? Tyson Ross? Robbie Erlin? Luis Perdomo? Brian Mitchell? All of whom have AT LEAST 3 years in the majors. Ellis is literally a much lighter hitting version of Hedges, and hedges is a light hitter as it is! Also, if Ellis was here to help a young staff, one of our top prospects (lucchessi, Lauer, etc) would have taken the rotation spot of the injured Lamet…. but nope. Throw Robbie Erlin back out there…. from 3-4 years ago.
You guys will get to see Lauer/Lucchesi in the Majors in May most likely.
And I agree that giving a roster spot to A.J. Ellis is stupid.
I get it, it’s not sexy…but you think a bet backstop could help Hedges? Recently read an article about Ellis and Brad Auus; this could be the same. They’re into get guys helping with how to be a pro.
It’s not about 2018. My Pads, your Pads, AJ’s Pads are t making the playoffs this season.
Lopez is more a bat off the bench than a C… im more c nursed by the inclusion of Szczur
No, I don’t really think Ellis helps hedges in any way. Hedges is already a well regarded defensive backstop, including game calling, pitch framing, and runners caught stealing. If he was a rookie, MAYBE I’d understand. But he is over three years into the majors now…. he has had to split time with the likes of Norris, Bethancourt, Torrens, Santiago…. and in sure I’m missing a couple. At what point do you say “THIS IS OUR CATCHER”. How does Ellis help in ANY way? If, after three + seasons in the majors, hedges is still in need of guidance behind the plate…. then he shouldn’t be in the majors. Or at least not as a starter. I don’t see how they just don’t deploy hedges as their everyday catcher, with Lopez being a left handed hitting option on rest days/difficult right handed matchups. You now have TWO bench spots taken up by players who can only play one position, the same position.
No, Padres aren’t making the playoffs this year…. no debating that. However, with this style of roster management, they aren’t making the playoffs for a loooong time. Example, the hosmer signing. Now Myers is in the outfield (a terrible idea)… so where is hunter renfroe going to get at bats? When has a prospect coming up and playing once every 4 days ever been a good idea? Oh, and then franchy Cordero is on his way also…. so two of our top hitting prospects are now going to be on the major league roster, relegated to bench roles and spot starts… VERY POOR ROSTER MANAGEMENT. In my opinion
Agree when it comes to Ellis. However, disagree regarding Hosmer. I think anyone can debate whether signing Hosmer at this stage of the rebuild was smart – fair enough. But if it’s because it limits Renfroe’s opportunities, I disagree. He has had more than enough opportunity already to show what he can and can’t do. He’s got tons of power, but he is still fooled by MLB level pitching. It’s no surprise he was sent back down to the minors last year. He needs to show he can consistently hit before the team makes special arrangements for him. Moving Myers to the outfield merely puts him back in the position he came up to the majors in, and gives the team more hitting by accommodating Hosmer. I’m pulling for Renfroe as much as anyone and I hope he figures it out, but you have to call it like it is – at this stage he’s still hugely inconsistent at the plate and it may never happen for him. Margot, on the flip side, has seized his opportunity and is reaping the rewards, so I don’t think the club is against promoting young players… as long as they are deserving, which Renfroe isn’t YET..
I don’t think the Padres backup catchers mean much this year. Ellis has a good reputation; he’s sort of like Jeff Mathis, in that his skills aren’t reflected in many stats. Hedges shouldn’t get more than 120 starts, so somebody else has to play some games, and a lot of managers would love to still carry 3 catchers because it helps with double-switching and such. But it’s mostly not a pressing issue for a team that’s going to finish in last.
Basically agree with Kwflanne on this. Hedges is already top 5 defensively. He doesn’t NEED a mentor. And the Padres have enough “veteran presence” guys with Clayton Richard, Tyson Ross, Eric Hosmer and Freddy Galvis on the team. Of Lopez and Ellis, Lopez fits the team better because of his left-handed bat. Ellis brings nothing to the table that Hedges doesn’t already bring.
There is more to the position of catcher than throwing out runners and pitch framing.
I understand your take, but think this will help Hedges AND the pitchers on this roster and those coming up in the next few years.
Hedges is already good enough with the Padres’ pitchers as it is.
I actually agree with you; indeed, Ellis may bring other things to the table, as far as mentoring not just young catchers, put pitchers too. It may be less about helping Hedges than it is about helping Lauer, Lucchesi, Perdomo, Lamet and others. This being said, you have to wonder whether that skill set would be best deployed as part of the coaching team, rather than occupying a spot on the 25 man roster. If the Padres feel these young players need that extra guidance, fair enough. But why use a roster spot for the mentor? Just bring in an assistant to do the job. I’m sure there have got to be loads of recently retired catchers who would be thrilled to have the opportunity to share their experience.
LH’er Ty Brach starts for Giants against Dodgers on opening day, Matt Kemp will start in LF not Joc Pederson
Baseball starts tomorrow
Like xmas eve
Is there a story behind this picture?
Brewers sign Greg Holland…..
its dan jennings
A trade for Derek Holland maybe…
That Gorkys Hernandez got 348 PA’s in ’17 makes me want to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge……that he inexplicably made the team again makes wish I had jumped off last year
The fact that he AND Blanco both made the roster makes me sick. Yeah, these guys do a decent job of shagging fly balls and can play all 3 OF positions, but they’re lifetime banjo hitters with zero upside. These guys will get more playing time than they should (overexposed again and again) because Jackson isn’t an everyday player and Pence will inevitably see time on the DL once or twice as usual. I get that SF can’t afford any more than what they’re paying, but Trayce Thompson makes a lot more sense than both Blanco and Hernandez combined.
I doubt Kemp and Joc are a straight platoon. Kemp probably gets most of the starts while he’s hitting well, which he tends to do early in seasons. Pederson might have been better served getting regular AB in AAA.
LMFAOOOOOOO
not a fan of the padre carrying 3catchers. Weren’t Lopez and Ellis both on minor league contracts? Also I’d much rather have Jankowski over Szczur. Jankowski is a arguably one of the best outfield defenders in baseball. He’s almost as good as Billy Hamilton.